"I had incorrect information," the official said.

NBC News reported earlier on August 18 night that the last U.S. combat troops had left Iraq. An NBC reporter traveling with the 4th Stryker Brigade drove through the night and arrived in Kuwait just before 4 a.m. local time on August 19, with TV footage showing the convoy rolling through the border gates and the gate shutting as the last vehicle passed through.

That report set off a flurry of media interest in the drawdown, which will be a milestone in the seven-year war launched under Republican President George W. Bush.

But it appeared that even if a combat brigade was on its way out of the country, it did not mean the U.S. combat mission was ending ahead of target.

The Obama administration has said it expects to draw down troop levels to 50,000 by August 31, ending the combat mission and leaving those who remain to train Iraqi armed forces and police units.

Reuters