U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) remains committed to helping the Iraqi people establish a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq that provides neither support nor safe haven to violent extremists. CENTCOM also supports an enduring relationship between the United States and Iraqi governments that enhances regional security into the future.

U.S. and coalition forces engaged in direct combat in Iraq from the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003 to the withdrawal of American combat brigades in 2010. On Sept. 1, 2010, Operation Iraq Freedom came to an end, and the 50,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq launched operation New Dawn, with a mission to continue to aid Iraqi Security Forces in a training and advisory role. All U.S. troops in Iraq are scheduled to be withdrawn by Dec. 31, 2011.