Viral video claiming U.S. troop withdrawal from the Middle East is not recent
A video circulating on Facebook claims the United States is withdrawing its troops from military bases across various Middle Eastern and Gulf countries. A Dismislab fact-check finds the claim to be misleading. The video has been online since February 14—well before the recent escalation involving Iran, Israel, and the United States, which began on February 28.
On March 10, a personal Facebook profile posted the 18‑second video showing troops walking in line carrying equipment and supplies. The caption asserted: “Breaking: The United States has announced withdrawal from military bases in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, the UAE, Syria, and other Gulf countries. The footage clearly shows Iran has won this war.”
By the time of reporting, the video had been viewed nearly 90,000 times and shared more than 150 times, with over 1,400 reactions. Several other Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and pages shared the same clip with identical claims.
To verify the footage, Dismislab conducted reverse image searches using several key frames. The search led to a February 14 video posted by the U.S.-based Facebook page “IntelligenceGo.” The caption accompanying the post read: “No retreat. No excuses. Only victory.” The 18‑second video matches the viral clip precisely. The same footage also appears on the Instagram account of IntelligenceGo.
The timeline of events contradicts the viral claim. The United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, sparking a wave of conflict across the Middle East. The military operation was launched amid negotiations over Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Separately, a February 18 BBC report stated that the United States was preparing to withdraw its remaining troops from Syria in the coming months. According to a senior White House official quoted in the report, the Syrian government had agreed to take the lead in counterterrorism operations within its borders, reducing the need for a “large U.S. military presence.” U.S. forces have been stationed in Syria since 2015 as part of operations against the Islamic State (IS) group. The official said that withdrawing the remaining 1,000 troops would be a conditional process and emphasized that the U.S. remains prepared to respond to threats in the region.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has said the war against Iran will “end very soon.” However, despite the claim spreading online, no credible news outlet has reported that the United States is withdrawing all its troops from every Middle Eastern country following the latest confrontation with Iran and Israel.
In short, the video being shared as evidence of U.S. troop withdrawal from the Middle East is not recent. It has been online since February 14 and predates the current Iran–Israel–U.S. conflict.
