[329][330] On August 31, 2010, Obama announced that the United States combat mission in Iraq was over.[331] On October 21, 2011, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time to be "home for the holidays."[332]
In June 2014, following the capture of Mosul by ISIL, Obama sent 275 troops to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. ISIS continued to gain ground and to commit widespread massacres and ethnic cleansing.[333][334] In August 2014, during the Sinjar massacre, Obama ordered a campaign of U.S. airstrikes against ISIL.[335] By the end of 2014, 3,100 American ground troops were committed to the conflict[336] and 16,000 sorties were flown over the battlefield, primarily by U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots.[337] In early 2015, with the addition of the "Panther Brigade" of the 82nd Airborne Division the number of U.S. ground troops in Iraq increased to 4,400,[338] and by July American-led coalition air forces counted 44,000 sorties over the battlefield.