Alissa J. Rubin, a New York Times foreign correspondent, reflects on the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq in 2026, 23 years after the 2003 invasion. She recalls arriving weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad and initially expecting to stay only a week.

Over her many trips, she observed that the U.S. never truly understood the country it invaded. Despite early optimism and the removal of a brutal dictator, the rationale for the war shifted repeatedly—from weapons of mass destruction to spreading democracy. By the time the last U.S. forces withdrew, their presence had minimal impact on daily Iraqi life.

Rubin concludes that, even after two decades, the U.S. still struggles to grasp Iraq’s complexities.