What Happened On March 19, the official Iraqi Security Media Cell announced via Twitter that Iraq's security forces had taken over the al Qaim military base, which formerly housed U.S.-led coalition forces against the Islamic State. The seizure comes just three days after the U.S. military announced it was repositioning its forces from three of the eight bases currently housing American troops in the country, including al Qaim. The United Kingdom also announced that it, too, was pulling out half of its 400 troops participating in the U.S.-led coalition, and has since paused its coalition training mission for 60 days. Denmark, meanwhile, has announced that it would be completely withdrawing its forces from the coalition. The Risks of Repositioning The repositioning of Western and international forces in Iraq is in part a response to the growing threat posed by Iran-backed militia forces.