How many foreign troops remain in Iraq?

asherbassad

Now that we hear....or rather nobody talks about anymore, Iraq, how many US, and NATO soldiers are still in the place? I've tried to get a "guesstimate" from the British and US contingents.

Witcher

None, both the UK and US forces have been withdrawn in their entirety.

Manic Moran

A quick check on Wiki indicates that he is, indeed, correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_of_U.S._troops_from_Iraq

All US Forces were mandated to withdraw from Iraqi territory by 31 December 2011 under the terms of a bilateral agreement signed in 2008 by President Bush. The U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq was completed on 18 December 2011 early Sunday morning.

I would presume there's at least a platoon of Marines at the embassy, if not a company.

Jonny7

asherbassad wrote: »

Now that we hear....or rather nobody talks about anymore, Iraq, how many US, and NATO soldiers are still in the place? I've tried to get a "guesstimate" from the British and US contingents.

About 350 NATO personnel went into Iraq in 2004, they left in 2011.

Victor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withdrawal_of_U.S._troops_from_Iraq#Full_withdrawal_.282011.29

Full withdrawal (2011)
See also: U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement

With the collapse of the discussions about extending the stay of any U.S. troops,[22][23] on 21 October 2011, President Obama announced the full withdrawal of troops from Iraq as scheduled before.[23] The U.S. will retain an embassy in Baghdad[23] with some 17,000 personnel,[24] consulates in Basra, Mosul and Kirkuk, which have been allocated more than 1,000 staff each[24] and between 4,000 to 5,000 defence contractors.[23] President Obama and al-Maliki outlined a broad agenda for post-war cooperation without American troops in Iraq during a joint press conference on 12 December 2011 at the White House. This agenda includes cooperation on energy, trade and education as well as cooperation in security, counter-terrorism, economic development and strengthening Iraq's institutions. Both leaders said their countries will maintain strong security, diplomatic and economic ties after the last U.S. combat forces withdraw at the end of 2011.[25][26]

President Barack Obama paid tribute to the troops who served in Iraq on 14 December 2011, at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. As the last of the American troops prepared to exit Iraq, he said the United States was leaving behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant" Iraq.[27] On 15 December, an American military ceremony was held in Baghdad putting a formal end to the U.S mission in Iraq.[28][29][30] The latest 500 soldiers left Iraq under cover of darkness and under strict secrecy on early morning of 18 December 2011 and ended thereby the U.S. military presence in Iraq after nearly nine years.[5][31][32][33][34][35] At the time of withdrawal, the United States had one remaining soldier, Staff Sergeant Ahmed K. Altaie, still missing in Iraq since 23 October 2006, and had offered a $50,000 reward for his recovery.[36] On 26 February 2012, his death was confirmed.[37][38][39] About 160 embassy guards guard the U.S. embassy in Baghdad,[40]just like all the other American embassies around the world.

I presume the "160 embassy guards" are state department, which would be augmented by some marines or vice versa. 160 to defend 20,000 embassy staff would suggest that many of the defence contractors are armed, but I imagine many are also in training and monitoring roles.

There seems to be 15,000 in Kuwait, where certainly up to 2003 there was a lot of pre-positioned equipment.