India, Oct. 1 -- More than two decades and 4,500 American military fatalities later, the US is exiting Iraq, enacting a familiar script. The withdrawal marks the official end of US military intervention which started in 2003 when George W Bush vowed to destroy Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Launched barely two years after the 9/11 attacks, this was seen as a continuation of the war on terror - an expensive adventure the Bush regime undertook in Afghanistan riding on popular sentiment. The war, however, proved to be the starting point for undermining American exceptionalism. From the Abu Ghraib torture scandal to Saddam's televised execution, the intervention in Iraq dented the US' moral authority as its troops got locked in a forever war. After a brief pullout in 2011, American boots returned to Iraq in 2014 to thwart the Islamic State's growing influence in the region. When the US exited Afghanistan in 2021, it was believed an exit from Iraq would follow. Joe Biden reached an agreement with the Iraqi government in 2024, which the Trump White House is now implementing. Had Trump not launched a war against Iran in February this year, the withdrawal could have been treated as an adherence to his stated commitment to end wars. Geopolitical experts believe the move could add further instability to West Asia. The ongoing war between Iran and the US may find a new battleground in Iraq, 70% of whose population follows Shia Islam. Islamic Resistance, an anti-US consortium of militias in Iraq, has declared victory against foreign occupation while continuing to receive support from Iran. As history has amply demonstrated, interventions and withdrawals destabilise West Asia equally. Yet, some lessons are doomed to stay on pages that nobody wants to turn....