This article is an opinion piece from The Hindu’s View From India newsletter. It discusses the U.S.’s withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, 2026, nearly 23 years after the invasion, which was based on false claims about weapons of mass destruction. The piece highlights how this move destabilized West Asia and empowered Iran, while also drawing parallels with the ongoing conflict in Gaza since October 7, 2023, noting that over 74,000 Palestinians have died, including more than 64,000 children injured or killed, despite a ceasefire agreement.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts.
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article → curate → experts
On September 30, 2026, more than 23 years after the invasion, U.S. troops finally left Iraq, amid another American war in the region.
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troops → leave → region
The basis for the United States’ March 2003 invasion was that “Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and harboured terrorist groups”.
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regime → possess → groups
Over two decades later, the world knows that the WMD claim turned out to be false, if not an outright lie, while al-Qaeda built one of its most violent branches in post-war Iraq, The Hindu
Calling the invasion “one of the gravest strategic and humanitarian disasters of the 21st century”, it contends: “It is an irony that the U.S. is leaving Iraq at a time when it is trying to defeat Iran in a major regional war.
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it → know → war
But beneath the irony lies everything that went wrong with America’s regime-change wars, which destabilised parts of West Asia, gave rise to militias and jihadists and exposed the limits of American power in the region.
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which → lie → region
”
Did the U.S. meet its originally stated goals?
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U.S. → meet → goals
“If in Afghanistan the U.S. exited after 20 years of war leaving the country in the hands of the same Taliban that it had toppled in 2001, in Iraq, America is leaving behind a war-ravaged country in the hands of a weak government and powerful militias backed by a resurgent Iran,” as the editorial points out.
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editorial → exit → Iran
In these 23 years, the U.S. spent close to $1.7 trillion and lost 4,500 troops in Iraq.
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U.S. → spend → Iraq
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were killed during the war.
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thousands → kill → war
Connecting the U.S.’s war on Iraq, with its current war on Iran, our Foreign Affairs Editor Stanly Johny, who has been closely tracking developments in West Asia, writes that American troops leaving Iraq, could further tilt the balance in Iran’s favour.
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troops → connect → favour
Read his analysis on why the United States might find it increasingly harder to keep a large group of troops in an increasingly hostile region.
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it → read → region
As we near three years of the U.S.-Israel combine’s bloody war on Gaza — following Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,400 people — Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed that Palestinian death toll has crossed 74,000 .
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toll → near → 74,000
More than 64,000 children were either killed or injured in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, according to the UN.
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children → kill → UN
UNICEF estimates that at least 300 children have been reportedly killed in Gaza in the 300 days since the October 2025 ceasefire.
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children → estimate → ceasefire
“This amounts to an average of one child every day, despite an agreement for the suspension of military operations,” the agency pointed out in August 2026.
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agency → amount → August
A UN expert has warned that checkpoints in the occupied West Bank are “choking Palestinian life”.
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checkpoints → warn → life
While a ceasefire that took effect about a year ago paused heavy fighting, Israeli strikes have only continued, with the world watching what experts and scholars of international law have termed a genocide.
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experts → take → law
Significantly, we are seeing more reports that the U.A.E. and Egypt ), among others, warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an impending attack, days ahead of the Hamas attack.
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U.A.E. → see → attack
However, damage of enormous proportions is done.
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damage → do → proportions
An updated Google Maps capture of the region has revealed the extent of devastation during the three-year Gaza war.
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capture → update → war
Taken in June 2026, the images show the mass scale of destruction, of homes, businesses, places of worship and infrastructure.
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images → take → worship
“Any available open space in Gaza city is packed with shacks, tents and huts,” The Guardian
A turn?
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space → pack → shacks
Days ago, visuals of 94-year-old Jewish human rights lawyer Margaret Owen being arrested in the United Kingdom for protesting in support of Palestine Action went viral on social media.
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visuals → arrest → media
“I’ve been trying to get arrested for quite some time,” she told Al Jazeera.
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she → try → Jazeera
“I’m rather proud and glad to have finally joined the club,” she said.
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she → ’m → club
It is only some of the most powerful states that have remained at best, tentative.
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that → remain → states
Ahead of Mr. Netanyahu’s address at the UNGA, we saw delegates boo and walk out.
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delegates → see → UNGA
Addressing pro-Palestine activists, British Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband recently said: “We hear you, you were right”.
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you → address → you
This weekend, Britain’s Green Party voted to categorise Zionism as a form of racism.
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Party → vote → racism
Adopting a motion that sets out the party’s opposition to Zionism, defined as an ethnonationalist political project, it stated that anti-Zionism should not be equated with antisemitism.
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Zionism → adopt → antisemitism
The Aporia
