America’s victory in Iraq is becoming one of its greatest defeats. The United States and Iraq announced a deal on September 27 that will end America’s military mission in Iraq. U.S. forces will leave military bases they’ve occupied for over two decades.

The U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force—Operation Inherent Resolve will wind down in two phases. After November 5, all U.S. forces will start leaving Ain al-Asad Air Base, and U.S. presence in Baghdad will significantly decrease. It is likely that hundreds of troops will leave Iraq during this stage; others will travel to Iraq’s al-Harir Air Base. This phase will likely last through September 2025, after which America’s mission in the country will officially end. The Biden administration refused to detail how many of the estimated 2,500 U.S. soldiers in Iraq will remain.

In the second phase, Iraq will allow the U.S. to use its territory to fight the Islamic State in Syria until September 2026. After this, U.S. military presence in Iraq will be renegotiated. Some U.S. forces may remain at the request of Kurdistan’s regional government. The Biden administration stressed that this is not a full withdrawal but a transition to a bilateral security relationship.

The U.S. military first entered Iraq in 2003 to destroy its weapons of mass destruction and depose Saddam Hussein. In February 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama began bringing troops home. The war ended in 2011 as America’s final combat troops left the country. A detachment of marines remained behind to guard the embassy compound, along with a small number of military personnel for security assistance.

When the Islamic State began rampaging across the country in 2014, U.S. troops returned. In December 2021, America again withdrew, leaving an estimated 2,500 troops who remain today.

Last Friday’s decision marks a major change. Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said, “I think it’s fair to say that … our footprint is going to be changing within the country.”

This may look like a U.S. victory on the surface: It fulfilled its military objectives and can now bring its troops home. But the end of America’s mission in Iraq is no victory; it is a defeat that puts the power of America and its allies in the Middle East in jeopardy. U.S. exploits in the region have merely empowered a greater threat.

Iran

For decades, Iraq and Iran were rivals fighting for power. Though both powers were American enemies, each helped the U.S. somewhat by weakening the other. Now the U.S. has destroyed one of those rivals without hurting the other. The result is Iran has become a much greater thorn in America’s side.

Not only has Iran’s terrorist-sponsoring influence in the Middle East grown, it has specifically gained greater influence in Iraq. Senior fellow with the Middle East Institute research center in Washington Charles Lister said, “The withdrawal is [happening] because there’s a significant proportion of the policy-making community in Baghdad that doesn’t want American troops on Iraqi soil.” That “significant portion” is there because of Iran.

In Iraq’s 2023 elections, the Shia Coordination Framework—sponsored by Iran—won 101 of 285 available seats, the largest share. The Popular Mobilization Forces (pmf)—Iran’s Iraqi proxy that attacked U.S. troops over 170 times in the six months following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel—helped Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani get into office. Sudani is using his office to increase the pmf’s influence; it now composes about half of Iraq’s military.

Theoretically, the U.S. could use its presence in Iraq to knock out Iran. Its Iraqi campaign made the U.S. dominant in the Middle East. Its presence not only hurt the Islamic State but disrupted Iran’s ability to supply its proxies in Syria and Lebanon. However, the U.S. seems to have no such intentions. Qais Khazali, founder of Asaib Ahl al-Haq—an Iran-backed militia that has attacked U.S. forces in Iraq—said, “We thank the government for its position to expel the international coalition forces.”

Prophesied Trend

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned that this sequence of events would happen. In 1994, he wrote an article titled “Is Iraq About to Fall to Iran?”—an idea that few others agreed with at the time. In 2003, Mr. Flurry updated and reprinted that article, writing, “Now that Iraq has been taken out of the picture, Iran is even closer to becoming the reigning king of the Middle East. It may seem shocking, given the U.S. presence in the region right now, but … Iran will probably take over Iraq. At least, it will have a heavy influence over the Iraqi people.” He concluded that America would not “have the will or strength to guard the spoils of war.”

How could he know this? Because it was prophesied in the Bible.

The book of Daniel was written for “the time of the end” (Daniel 12:4, 9)—the time we are in now. Daniel 11:40 prophesies of a coming “king of the south” and “king of the north.” Through Bible prophecy, Mr. Flurry proved that the king of the south is radical Islam led by Iran. Some of Iran’s future allies are listed in the following verses of Daniel 11. The allies of the king of the north are given in Psalm 83. Iraq is missing from this list. Mr. Flurry wrote:

Notice that Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia are missing in the prophecy of Psalm 83. Is this because these countries by this point have already been defeated or are controlled by the king of the north? Put this together with the events prophesied in Daniel 11:40-43 and it seems clear that Psalm 83 lists the nations that will not be allied with Iran when [the king of the north conquers] that nation and radical Islam. Daniel’s prophecy could certainly account for Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia not being in the Psalm 83 alliance.

In light of these prophecies, Mr. Flurry prophesied that the Islamic State was merely a “distraction from the real danger in the Middle East,” even as a U.S. general said, “The face of radical Islam is now [the Islamic State].” Mr. Flurry maintained his forecast even when America returned to Iraq in 2014 because he knows Bible prophecy is sure.

Regardless of whether the Biden administration admits to or plans a full withdraw from Iraq, the Bible reveals that the U.S. will eventually leave Iraq!

The Bible reveals that Iran will use its growing power to spark World War iii. And the same Bible tells us how this will end. World events are leading to the most important turning point in world history.

To learn more about these prophecies, read Mr. Flurry’s free booklet The King of the South.