Iraq, after 18 years the US puts an end to the combat mission

NEW YORK – Get out of Iraq. Eighteen years after setting foot in the region – indeed, “boots on the ground”, as they say in military jargon – the United States is decreasing its presence: ready to gradually withdraw, by the end of the year, a substantial part of the 2,500 men still on site. And, even more importantly, to change the face of the mission, which will no longer be about combat but of training and support for the Iraqi armed forces.