Iraq War

This article is about the war that started in 2003 and In the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party
ended in 2011. For the initial invasion, see 2003 invasion elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Min-
of Iraq. For the ongoing war in Iraq, see Iraqi Civil War ister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014. The al-
(2014–present). For previous wars in Iraq, see Iraq War Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen
(disambiguation). as having the effect of alienating the country’s Sunni mi-
nority and worsening sectarian tensions. In the summer
of 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
The Iraq War[nb 1] was a protracted armed conflict that
began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United launched a military offensive in Northern Iraq and de-
States-led coalition that toppled the government of Sad- clared a worldwide Islamic caliphate, eliciting another
dam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next military response from the United States and its allies.
decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civil-
forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.[52] An es- ian, and thousands of military casualties (see estimates
timated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed below). The majority of casualties occurred as a result of
in the first 3–4 years of conflict. The United States offi- the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007.
cially withdrew from the country in 2011 but left private
security contractors in its place to continue the war.[53]
It again became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new 1 Background
coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil
armed conflict continue. 1.1 Western arming of Iraq
The invasion began on 20 March 2003,[54] with the U.S.,
joined by the United Kingdom and several coalition allies, See also: Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
launching a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Iraqi
forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S. forces swept A 1990 Frontline report on “The arming of Iraq” said,
through the country. The invasion led to the collapse “Officially, most Western nations participated in a to-
of the Ba'athist government; President Hussein was cap- tal arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s, but ...
tured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great
same year and executed by a military court three years Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key
later. However, the power vacuum following Saddam’s technology for its chemical, missile, and nuclear pro-
demise and the mismanagement of the occupation led to grams. ... [M]any Western governments seemed remark-
widespread sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis, ably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. ...
as well as a lengthy insurgency against U.S. and coalition [I]n Washington, the government consistently followed
forces. The United States responded with a troop surge in a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the ex-
2007. The U.S. began withdrawing its troops in the win- traordinary growth of Saddam Hussein’s arsenal and his
ter of 2012–15. The winding down of U.S. involvement power.”[62] The Western arming of Iraq took place in the
in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama. The context of the Iran-Iraq War, which had seen NATO lose
U.S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by a valuable ally in Iran after the Iranian Revolution.
December 2011.[55]
The Bush administration based its rationale for war prin-
cipally on the assertion that Iraq possessed weapons of 1.2 Iraq disarmament and pre-war intelli-
mass destruction (WMDs) and that the Iraqi government gence
posed an immediate threat to the United States and its
coalition allies.[56][57] Select U.S. officials accused Sad- See also: Lead up to the Iraq War, Rationale for the
dam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda,[58] while oth- Iraq War, Governments’ pre-war positions on invasion of
ers cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship and Iraq, Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and Stovepiping
bring democracy to the people of Iraq.[59][60] After the Main articles: Iraq disarmament timeline 1990–2003
invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the and 2002 in Iraq
initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrep-
resentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism Prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W.
within the U.S. and internationally.[61] Bush administration's main provider of intelligence on

1
2 1 BACKGROUND

Iraq. In September, a Pentagon unit called the Office of 1.3.1 Yellowcake uranium
Special Plans (OSP) was created by Paul Wolfowitz and
Douglas Feith, and headed by Feith, as charged by then-
United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to
supply senior Bush administration officials with raw intel-
ligence pertaining to Iraq.[63] Seymour Hersh writes that,
according to a Pentagon adviser, "[OSP] was created in
order to find evidence of what Wolfowitz and his boss,
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, wanted to be true—
that Saddam Hussein had close ties to Al Qaeda, and that
Iraq had an enormous arsenal of chemical, biological, and
possibly even nuclear weapons (WMD) that threatened
the region and, potentially, the United States. [...] 'The
agency [CIA] was out to disprove linkage between Iraq
and terrorism' the Pentagon adviser told me.”[64]
A UN weapons inspector examines an Iraqi factory in 2002.

1.2.1 U.N. weapons inspections resume

In 1990, before the Persian Gulf War, Iraq had stock-
piled 550 short tons (500 t) of yellowcake uranium at
The issue of Iraq’s disarmament reached a turning the Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 20 kilometres (12
point in 2002–03, when US president George W. Bush mi) south of Baghdad.[68] In late February 2002, the CIA
demanded a complete end to alleged Iraqi produc- sent former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson to investigate
tion of weapons of mass destruction and full compli- reports (later found to be forgeries) that Iraq was attempt-
ance with U.N. Security Council Resolutions requiring ing to purchase additional yellowcake from Niger. Wil-
U.N. weapons inspectors unfettered access to suspected son returned and informed the CIA that reports of yel-
weapons production facilities. The U.N. had prohibited lowcake sales to Iraq were “unequivocally wrong.”[69] The
Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after Bush administration, however, continued to allege Iraq’s
the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections con- attempts to obtain additional yellowcake were a justifica-
firming compliance. During inspections in 1999, U.S. in- tion for military action, most prominently in the January
telligence agents on the teams supplied the United States 2003, State of the Union address, in which President Bush
government with a direct feed of conversations between declared that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British in-
Iraqi security agencies as well as other information. This telligence sources.[70]
was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall
Street Journal.[65] In response, Wilson wrote a critical New York Times op-
ed piece in June 2003 stating that he had personally inves-
During 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action tigated claims of yellowcake purchases and believed them
against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress to be fraudulent.[71][72] After Wilson’s op-ed, Wilson’s
unfettered. In accordance with U.N. Security Council wife Valerie Plame was publicly identified as an under-
Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under cover CIA analyst by the columnist Robert Novak. This
United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection led to a Justice Department investigation into the source
Commission (UNMOVIC) in 2002. With the coopera- of the leak. The federal investigation led to the conviction
tion of the Iraqis, a third weapons inspection team in 2003 of Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of
led by David Kelly viewed and photographed two alleged staff, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.[68]
mobile weapons laboratories, which were actually facil-
ities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill artillery On 1 May 2005, the "Downing Street memo" was pub-
balloons.[66] lished in The Sunday Times. It contained an overview
of a secret 23 July 2002 meeting among British gov-
As part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was re- ernment, Ministry of Defence, and British intelligence
quired to supply a full declaration of its current weapons figures who discussed the build-up to the Iraq war—
capabilities and manufacturing. On 3 November 2002, including direct references to classified U.S. policy of the
Iraq supplied an 11,800-page report to the UN Secu- time. The memo stated that “Bush wanted to remove Sad-
rity Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency dam, through military action, justified by the conjunc-
(IAEA), stating that it had no WMDs. The IAEA and tion of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts
UNMOVIC, the two organizations charged with inspect- were being fixed around the policy”.[73]
ing Iraq’s weapons, reported that the declaration was
incomplete.[67] In September 2002, the Bush administration, the CIA and
the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) said attempts by
Iraq to acquire high-strength aluminum tubes were pro-
1.3 Weapons of mass destruction hibited under the UN monitoring program and pointed to
a clandestine effort to make centrifuges to enrich uranium
1.4 Preparations 3

for nuclear bombs.[74][75] This analysis was opposed by disposal and destruction of abandoned 4,990 chemical
the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and INR, weapons that had been discovered in Iraq.[87] CBS News
which was significant because of DOE’s expertise in such reported that the U.S. government had concealed the fact
gas centrifuges and nuclear weapons programs. The DOE that troops had been injured by chemical weapons.[88][89]
and INR argued that the Iraqi tubes were poorly suited for US soldiers reporting exposure to mustard gas and sarin
centrifuges and that while it was technically possible with allege they were required to keep their exposure secret,
additional modification, conventional military uses were sometimes declined admission to hospital and evacuation
more plausible.[76] A report released by the Institute for home despite the request of their commanders.[89] “We
Science and International Security in 2002 reported that were absolutely told not to talk about it” by a colonel, the
it was highly unlikely that the tubes could be used to en- former sergeant said.[89]
rich uranium.[77]
In November 2014, the Organization for the Prohibi-
An effort by the DOE to correct this detail in com- tion of Chemical Weapons reported the recovery and de-
ments prepared for United States Secretary of State struction of 4,530 aging chemical weapons by American
Colin Powell's UN appearance was rebuffed by the forces.[90]
administration[77][78] and Powell, in his address to the In February 2015, The New York Times revealed that
UN Security Council just before the war, referenced the following the recovery of 17 Borak in 2004 and early
aluminum tubes, stating that while experts disagreed on 2005, the United States began acquiring and destroying
whether or not the tubes were destined for a centrifuge Borak rockets. The “extraordinary arms purchase plan”,
program, the specifications of the tubes were unusually known as Operation Avarice, continued into 2006 and led
tight.[79] Powell later admitted he had presented what to the destroying of more than 400 Borak rockets filled
turned out to be an inaccurate case to the UN on Iraqi with sarin. The sarin was of a higher purity level than that
weapons, and the intelligence he was relying on was, produced in Iraq in the 1980s.[91]
in some cases, “deliberately misleading.”[80][81][82] Af-
ter the 2008 U.S. presidential election, and the election
of Democratic party nominee Barack Obama, President 1.3.3 Biological weapons
Bush stated that "[my] biggest regret of all the presidency
has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq”.[83]
Based on reports obtained by the German intelligence
service from an Iraqi defector codenamed "Curveball",
Colin Powell presented evidence to the United Na-
1.3.2 Poison gas tions security council that Iraq had an active biological
weapons programs. On 15 February 2011, the defector—
The CIA had contacted Iraq’s foreign minister, Naji a scientist identified as Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi—
Sabri, who was being paid by the French as an agent. admitted to journalists working for The Guardian news-
Sabri informed them that Saddam had hidden poison gas paper that he lied to the Bundesnachrichtendienst in order
among Sunni tribesmen, had ambitions for a nuclear pro- to strengthen the case against Saddam Hussein, whom he
gram but that it was not active, and that no biological wished to see removed from power.[92]
weapons were being produced or stockpiled, although re-
search was underway.[84] According to Sidney Blumen-
thal, George Tenet briefed Bush on 18 September 2002, 1.3.4 Post-invasion views on WMD
that Sabri had informed them that Iraq did not have
WMD. Further information: WMD conjecture in the aftermath
On 21 June 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives Per- of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
manent Select Committee on Intelligence released key
points from a classified report from the National Ground In December 2009, the former British prime minister,
Intelligence Center on the recovery of degraded chem- Tony Blair, stated that he “would still have thought it right
ical munitions in Iraq. The report stated, “Coalition to remove [Saddam Hussein]" regardless of whether Iraq
forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons mu- possessed weapons of mass destruction or not.[93]
nitions which contain potentially lethal mustard and pure
sarin nerve agent.” However, all are thought to be pre-
1991 Gulf War munitions.[85] According to the comman- 1.4 Preparations
der of the National Ground Intelligence Center “These
are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical In the days immediately following 9/11, the Bush Admin-
Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute istration national security team actively debated an inva-
weapons of mass destruction,”. In 2006, 2,400 nerve- sion of Iraq. A memo written by Sec. Rumsfeld dated
agent rockets were found in a single compound.[86] 27 November 2001 considers a U.S.–Iraq war. One sec-
In October 2014, the New York Times reported that tion of the memo questions “How start?", listing multiple
U.S. servicemen had been exposed and injured during the possible justifications for a U.S.–Iraq War.[94]
4 1
President George Bush, surrounded by leaders of the House and
Senate, announces the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of
United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, 2 October 2002.
Excerpt from Donald Rumsfeld memo dated 27 November
2001[94]
During 2002, the amount of ordnance used by British and
American aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones of Iraq in-
creased compared to the previous years[95] and by Au-
gust had “become a full air offensive”. Tommy Franks,
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a model
the allied commander, later stated that the bombing was
vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations
designed to “degrade” the Iraqi air defense system before Security Council
an invasion.[96]
In October 2002, a few days before the United States
Senate voted on the Joint Resolution to Authorize the
Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, about
75 senators were told in closed session that Iraq had the
means of attacking the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. with
biological or chemical weapons delivered by unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs.)[57] On 5 February 2003, Colin
Powell presented further evidence in his Iraqi WMD pro-
gram presentation to the UN Security Council that UAVs
were ready to be launched against the United States.
At the time, there was a vigorous dispute within the
U.S. military and intelligence communities over the ac-
curacy of the CIA’s conclusions about Iraqi UAVs.[97]
Other intelligence agencies suggested that Iraq did not
possess any offensive UAV capability, saying the few
they had been designed for surveillance and intended for
reconnaissance.[98] The Senate voted to approve the Joint
Resolution with the support of large bipartisan majorities
on 11 October 2002, providing the Bush administration
with a legal basis for the U.S. invasion under U.S. law.
The resolution granted the authorization by the
Constitution of the United States and the United
States Congress for the President to command the
military to fight anti-United States violence. Citing the
Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, the resolution reiterated that
BACKGROUND
it should be the policy of the United States to remove the
Saddam regime and promote a democratic replacement.
The authorization was signed by President George W.
Bush on 16 October 2002.
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix remarked in Jan-
uary 2003 that “Iraq appears not to have come to a gen-
uine acceptance—not even today—of the disarmament,
which was demanded of it and which it needs to carry
out to win the confidence of the world and to live in
peace.”[99] Among other things he noted that 1,000 short
tons (910 t) of chemical agent were unaccounted for, in-
formation on Iraq’s VX nerve agent program was missing,
and that “no convincing evidence” was presented for the
destruction of 8,500 litres (1,900 imp gal; 2,200 US gal)
of anthrax that had been declared.[99]
In the 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush
said “we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several
mobile biological weapons labs”. On 5 February 2003,
Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the UN
to present evidence that Iraq was hiding unconventional
weapons.[100] The French government also believed that
Saddam had stockpiles of anthrax and botulism toxin,
and the ability to produce VX.[101] In March, Blix said
progress had been made in inspections, and no evi-
dence of WMD had been found.[102] Iraqi scientist Rafid
Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed “Curveball”, admit-
ted in February 2011 that he had lied to the CIA about
biological weapons in order to get the U.S. to attack and
remove Saddam from power.[103]
In early 2003, the U.S., British, and Spanish govern-
ments proposed the so-called “eighteenth resolution” to
give Iraq a deadline for compliance with previous res-
olutions enforced by the threat of military action. This
proposed resolution was subsequently withdrawn due to
lack of support on the UN Security Council. In partic-
ular, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mem-
bers France, Germany and Canada and non-NATO mem-
ber Russia were opposed to military intervention in Iraq,
due to the high level of risk to the international com-
munity’s security, and defended disarmament through
1.5 Opposition to invasion 5

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Res-

From the left: French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. President
George W. Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Chirac was against the inva-
sion, the other three leaders were in favor.
olution of 2002, although a majority of Democrats in the
Senate voted in favor of it. Sen. Jim Webb wrote shortly
before the vote “Those who are pushing for a unilateral
war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if
we invade.”[110]
In the same period, Pope John Paul II publicly con-
demned the military intervention. During a private meet-
ing, he also said directly to George W. Bush: “Mr Pres-
ident, you know my opinion about Iraq War. Lets talk
about something else. Every violence, against one or a
million, is a blasphemy addressed to the image and like-
ness of God.”[111]

diplomacy.[104][105]
A meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair took
place on 31 January 2003, in the White House. A secret
memo of this meeting purportedly showed that the Bush
administration had already decided on the invasion of
Iraq at that point. Bush was allegedly floating the idea of
painting a U‑2 spyplane in UN colors and letting it fly low
over Iraq to provoke Iraqi forces into shooting it down,
thereby providing a pretext for the United States and
Britain to invade. Bush and Blair made a secret deal to
carry out the invasion regardless of whether WMD were
discovered by UN weapons inspectors, in direct contra-
diction with statements Blair made to the British House
of Commons afterwards that the Iraqi regime would be
given a final chance to disarm. In the memo, Bush is para-
phrased as saying, “The start date for the military cam-
paign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when
the bombing would begin.”[106] Bush said to Blair that he
“thought it unlikely that there would be internecine war-
fare between the different religious and ethnic groups” in
Iraq after the war.
Anti-War protest in London, September 2002. Organised by the
British Stop the War Coalition, up to 400,000 took part in the
protest.[112]
1.5 Opposition to invasion
Further information: criticism of the Iraq War, On 20 January 2003, French Foreign Minister
legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, legality of the Dominique de Villepin declared “we believe that
Iraq War, and Protests against the Iraq War military intervention would be the worst solution”.[113]
Meanwhile, anti-war groups across the world organ-
In October 2002, former U.S. President Bill Clinton ised public protests. According to French academic
warned about possible dangers of pre-emptive military Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April
action against Iraq. Speaking in the UK on a Labour 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in
Party conference he said: “As a preemptive action to- almost 3,000 protests against war in Iraq, with demon-
day, however well-justified, may come back with unwel- strations[114] on 15 February 2003, being the largest and most
come consequences in the future.... I don't care how prolific. Nelson Mandela voiced his opposition in
precise your bombs and your weapons are, when you late January, stating “All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi
set them off, innocent people will die.” [107][108]
Hillary oil,” and questioning if Bush deliberately undermined
Clinton while serving as senator voted in favor for mil- the U.N. “because the secretary-general of the United
[115]
itary action, though she now says it was a mistake. [109] Nations [was] a black man”.
The majority of Democrats in Congress voted against the In February 2003, the U.S. Army’s top general, Eric Shin-
6 2 2003: INVASION

seki, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it

would take “several hundred thousand soldiers” to secure
Iraq.[116] Two days later, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said the post-war troop commitment would be
less than the number of troops required to win the war,
and that “the idea that it would take several hundred thou-
sand U.S. forces is far from the mark.” Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Shinseki’s estimate was
“way off the mark,” because other countries would take
part in an occupying force.[117]
In March 2003, Hans Blix reported that “no evidence
of proscribed activities have so far been found” in Iraq,
saying that progress was made in inspections, which Destroyed remains of Iraqi tanks near Al Qadisiyah
would continue. He estimated the time remaining for
disarmament being verified through inspections to be
“months”.[102] But the U.S. government announced that
“diplomacy has failed”, and that it would proceed with
a coalition of allied countries—named the "coalition of
the willing"—to rid Iraq of its alleged WMD. The U.S.
government abruptly advised UN weapons inspectors to
leave Baghdad immediately.[118]
There were serious legal questions surrounding the
launching of the war against Iraq and the Bush Doctrine
of preemptive war in general. On 16 September 2004,
Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations,
said of the invasion, “I have indicated it was not in con-
formity with the UN Charter. From our point of view,
from the Charter point of view, it was illegal.”[119] US Marines escort captured enemy prisoners to a holding area in
the desert of Iraq on 21 March 2003.
In November 2008 Lord Bingham, the former British
Law Lord, described the war as a serious violation of
international law, and accused Britain and the United
States of acting like a “world vigilante". He also criti-
cized the post-invasion record of Britain as “an occupy-
ing power in Iraq”. Regarding the treatment of Iraqi de-
tainees in Abu Ghraib, Bingham said: “Particularly dis-
turbing to proponents of the rule of law is the cynical
lack of concern for international legality among some top
officials in the Bush administration.”[120] In July 2010,
Deputy Prime Minister of the UK Nick Clegg, in an of-
ficial PMQs session in Parliament, condemned the inva-
sion of Iraq as illegal.[121] Theorist Francis Fukuyama has
argued that “the Iraq war and the close association it cre-
ated between military invasion and democracy promotion U.S. soldiers at the Hands of Victory monument in Baghdad
tarnished the latter”.[122]

joined by members of the U.S. military’s elite Joint Spe-

cial Operations Command (JSOC).[124] Together, they
2 2003: Invasion prepared for the invasion of conventional forces. These
efforts consisted of persuading the commanders of sev-
Main articles: 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2003 in Iraq, 2003 eral Iraqi military divisions to surrender rather than op-
Iraq war timeline, and List of people associated with the pose the invasion, and to identify all the initial leadership
2003 invasion of Iraq targets during very high risk reconnaissance missions.[124]
See also: Coalition military operations of the Iraq War Most importantly, their efforts organized the Kurdish
and Iraq War order of battle Peshmerga to become the northern front of the invasion.
The first Central Intelligence Agency team entered Iraq Together this force defeated Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kur-
on 10 July 2002.[123] This team was composed of mem- distan before the invasion and then defeated the Iraqi
bers of the CIA’s Special Activities Division and was later army in the north.[124][125] The battle against Ansar al-
 7

Islam led to the death of a substantial number of mili-

tants and the uncovering of a chemical weapons facility
at Sargat.[123][126]
At 5:34 a.m. Baghdad time on 20 March 2003 (9:34
p.m., 19 March EST) the surprise[127] military invasion
of Iraq began.[128] There was no declaration of war.[129]
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by U.S. Army General
Tommy Franks, under the code-name “Operation Iraqi
Freedom”,[130] the UK code-name Operation Telic, and
the Australian code-name Operation Falconer. Coalition
forces also cooperated with Kurdish Peshmerga forces
in the north. Approximately forty other governments,
the "Coalition of the Willing,” participated by providing
troops, equipment, services, security, and special forces,
with 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000
British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish
soldiers from Special Forces unit GROM sent to Kuwait
for the invasion.[131] The invasion force was also sup-
ported by Iraqi Kurdish militia troops, estimated to num-
ber upwards of 70,000.[132] Map of the invasion routes and major operations/battles of the
Iraq War as of 2007

Coalition troops launched air and amphibious assault on

Iraqi tank on Highway 27 destroyed in April 2003
the Al-Faw peninsula to secure the oil fields there and
the important ports, supported by warships of the Royal
Navy, Polish Navy, and Royal Australian Navy. The
United States Marine Corps' 15th Marine Expeditionary
Unit, attached to 3 Commando Brigade and the Polish
Special Forces unit GROM attacked the port of Umm
Qasr, while the British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade
secured the oil fields in southern Iraq.

According to General Tommy Franks, there were eight

objectives of the invasion, “First, ending the regime of
Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate, and elimi-
nate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search
for, to capture, and to drive out terrorists from that coun-
try. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can relate
to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as
we can relate to the global network of illicit weapons of
mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to imme-
diately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and
to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq’s
oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people.
And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a
U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion 7th Marines enter a palace dur-
transition to a representative self-government.”[133] ing the Fall of Baghdad.
The invasion was a quick and decisive operation encoun-
tering major resistance, though not what the U.S., British The heavy armor of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division moved
and other forces expected. The Iraqi regime had prepared westward and then northward through the western desert
to fight both a conventional and irregular war at the same toward Baghdad, while the 1st Marine Expeditionary
time, conceding territory when faced with superior con- Force moved more easterly along Highway 1 through the
ventional forces, largely armored, but launching smaller center of the country, and 1 (UK) Armoured Division
scale attacks in the rear using fighters dressed in civilian moved northward through the eastern marshland. The
and paramilitary clothes. Since the initiation of the war in U.S. 1st Marine Division fought through Nasiriyah in a
Iraq, numerous programs were created to “enhance psy- battle to seize the major road junction and nearby Talil
chological resilience and prevent psychological morbidity Airfield. The United States Army 3rd Infantry Division
in troops.”[134] defeated Iraqi forces entrenched in and around the air-
8 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

field.
With the Nasiriyah and Talil Airfields secured in its rear,
the 3rd Infantry Division supported by 101st Airborne
Division continued its attack north toward Najaf and Kar-
bala, but a severe sand storm slowed the coalition advance
and there was a halt to consolidate and make sure the sup-
ply lines were secure. When they started again they se-
cured the Karbala Gap, a key approach to Baghdad, then
secured the bridges over the Euphrates River, and U.S.
forces poured through the gap on to Baghdad. In the mid-
dle of Iraq, the 1st Marine Division fought its way to the
eastern side of Baghdad, and prepared for the attack into
Baghdad to seize it.[135] A Marine Corps M1 Abrams tank patrols a Baghdad street after
In the north, OIF‑1 used the largest special operations its fall in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
force since the successful attack on the Taliban govern-
ment of Afghanistan just over a year earlier.
On 9 April, Baghdad fell, ending Saddam’s 24‑year rule.
U.S. forces seized the deserted Ba'ath Party ministries
and stage-managed[136] the tearing down of a huge iron
statue of Saddam, photos and video of which became
symbolic of the event, although later controversial. Not
seen in the photos or heard on the videos, shot with
a zoom lens, was the chant of the inflamed crowd for
Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric.[137] In Novem-
ber 2008, Iraqi protesters staged a similar stomping on
and burning of an effigy of George W. Bush.[138] The
abrupt fall of Baghdad was accompanied by a widespread
outpouring of gratitude toward the invaders, but also 18 May 2004: Staff Sgt. Kevin Jessen checks the underside of
massive civil disorder, including the looting of pub- two anti-tank mines found in a village outside Ad Dujayl in the
lic and government buildings and drastically increased Sunni Triangle.
crime.[139][140]
According to the Pentagon, 250,000 short tons (230,000
t) (of 650,000 short tons (590,000 t) total) of ordnance
was looted, providing a significant source of ammunition
for the Iraqi insurgency. The invasion phase concluded
when Tikrit, Saddam’s home town, fell with little resis-
tance to the U.S. Marines of Task Force Tripoli.
In the invasion phase of the war (19 March–30 April), an
estimated 9,200 Iraqi combatants were killed by coalition
forces along with an estimated 3,750 non-combatants,
i.e. civilians who did not take up arms.[141] Coalition
forces reported the death in combat of 139 U.S. military
personnel[142] and 33 UK military personnel.[143]
Polish GROM forces in sea operations during Operation Iraqi
Freedom

3.1 2003: Beginnings of insurgency

On 1 May 2003, President Bush visited the aircraft car-
3 2003–11: Post-invasion phase rier USS Abraham Lincoln operating a few miles west of
San Diego, California. At sunset Bush held his nation-
ally televised "Mission Accomplished" speech, delivered
Main article: History of Iraq (2003–11) before the sailors and airmen on the flight deck: Bush
Further information: Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War) and declared victory due to the defeat of Iraq’s conventional
Iraq War insurgent attacks forces.
Nevertheless, Saddam remained at large and significant
3.1 2003: Beginnings of insurgency 9

tar launching positions. Surveillance of major routes, pa-

trols, and raids on suspected insurgents were stepped up.
In addition, two villages, including Saddam’s birthplace
of al-Auja and the small town of Abu Hishma were sur-
rounded by barbed wire and carefully monitored.

3.1.1 Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq

Survey Group

See also: Iraqi Governing Council, International Ad-

visory and Monitoring Board, CPA Program Review
Marines from D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Board, Development Fund for Iraq, and Reconstruction
Battalion guard detainees prior to loading them into their vehicle. of Iraq
Shortly after the invasion, the multinational coalition cre-
pockets of resistance remained. After President Bush’s
speech, coalition forces noticed a gradually increasing
flurry of attacks on its troops in various regions, espe-
cially in the "Sunni Triangle".[144] The initial Iraqi insur-
gents were supplied by hundreds of weapons caches cre-
ated before the invasion by the Iraqi army and Republican
Guard.
Initially, Iraqi resistance (described by the coalition as
“Anti-Iraqi Forces”) largely stemmed from fedayeen and
Saddam/Ba'ath Party loyalists, but soon religious radicals
and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the
insurgency. The three provinces with the highest number
of attacks were Baghdad, Al Anbar, and Salah Ad Din.
Those three provinces account for 35% of the population,
but as of 5 December 2006, were responsible for 73% of Occupation zones in Iraq as of September 2003
U.S. military deaths and an even higher percentage of re-
cent U.S. military deaths (about 80%.)[145] ated the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA; Arabic:
‫)سلطة الائتلاف الموحدة‬, based in the Green Zone, as a
Insurgents used guerrilla tactics including: mortars, mis- transitional government of Iraq until the establishment of
siles, suicide attacks, snipers, improvised explosive de- a democratic government. Citing United Nations Secu-
vices (IEDs), car bombs, small arms fire (usually with rity Council Resolution 1483 (22 May 2003) and the laws
assault rifles), and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), as of war, the CPA vested itself with executive, legislative,
well as sabotage against the petroleum, water, and elec- and judicial authority over the Iraqi government from the
trical infrastructure. period of the CPA’s inception on 21 April 2003, until its
Post-invasion Iraq coalition efforts commenced after the dissolution on 28 June 2004.
fall of Saddam’s regime. The coalition nations, together
The CPA was originally headed by Jay Garner, a for-
with the United Nations, began to work to establish a sta- mer U.S. military officer, but his appointment lasted only
ble, compliant democratic state capable of defending it-
until 11 May 2003, when President Bush appointed L.
self from non-coalition forces, as well as overcoming in- Paul Bremer. On 16 May 2003 on his first day on the
ternal divisions.[146][147] job Paul Bremer issued CPA executive order No1 to ex-
Meanwhile, coalition military forces launched several op- clude from the new Iraqi government and administra-
erations around the Tigris River peninsula and in the tion members of the Baathist party. This eventually led
Sunni Triangle. A series of similar operations were to the removal of 85,000 to 100,000 Iraqi people from
launched throughout the summer in the Sunni Triangle. their job,[148] including 40,000 school teachers who had
Toward the end of 2003, the intensity and pace of insur- joined the Baath Party simply to keep their jobs. U.S.
gent attacks began to increase. A sharp surge in guerrilla army general Sanchez called the decision a “catastrophic
attacks ushered in an insurgent effort that was termed the failure”[149] Bremer served until the CPA’s dissolution in
"Ramadan Offensive", as it coincided with the beginning July 2004.
of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Another group created by the multinational force in Iraq
To counter this offensive, coalition forces began to use air post-invasion was the 1,400-member international Iraq
power and artillery again for the first time since the end of Survey Group who conducted a fact-finding mission to
the invasion by striking suspected ambush sites and mor- find Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) pro-
10 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

grammes. In 2004 the ISG’s Duelfer Report[150] stated of insurgent attacks, some concluded the multinational
that Iraq did not have a viable WMD program. forces were prevailing in the fight against the insurgency.
The provisional government began training the new Iraqi
security forces intended to police the country, and the
3.1.2 Capturing former government leaders United States promised over $20 billion in reconstruction
money in the form of credit against Iraq’s future oil rev-
See also: Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal and Trial of enues. Oil revenue was also used for rebuilding schools
Saddam Hussein and for work on the electrical and refining infrastructure.
In the summer of 2003, the multinational forces focused
Shortly after the capture of Saddam, elements left out of
the Coalition Provisional Authority began to agitate for
elections and the formation of an Iraqi Interim Govern-
ment. Most prominent among these was the Shia cleric
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The Coalition Provi-
sional Authority opposed allowing democratic elections
at this time.[153] The insurgents stepped up their activ-
ities. The two most turbulent centers were the area
around Fallujah and the poor Shia sections of cities from
Baghdad (Sadr City) to Basra in the south.

3.2 2004: Insurgency expands

Main article: 2004 in Iraq

Saddam Hussein being pulled from his hideaway in Operation
Red Dawn, 13 December 2003.
See also: Military operations of the Iraq War
for a list of all Coalition operations for this
period, 2004 in Iraq, Iraqi coalition counter-
insurgency operations, Iraqi insurgency (2003–
11), United States occupation of Fallujah, Iraq
Spring Fighting of 2004

Two insurgents in Iraq with SA-7b and SA-14 MANPADS

on capturing the remaining leaders of the former govern-

ment. On 22 July, a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Di-
vision and soldiers from Task Force 20 killed Saddam’s
sons (Uday and Qusay) along with one of his grandsons.
In all, over 300 top leaders of the former government
were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser func- Footage from the gun camera of a U.S. Apache helicopter killing
tionaries and military personnel. suspected Iraqi insurgents[154]

Most significantly, Saddam Hussein himself was cap- The start of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence.
tured on 13 December 2003, on a farm near Tikrit in Insurgent forces reorganised during this time, studying
Operation Red Dawn.[151] The operation was conductedthe multinational forces’ tactics and planning a renewed
by the United States Army's 4th Infantry Division and
offensive. However, violence did increase during the Iraq
members of Task Force 121. Intelligence on Saddam’s Spring Fighting of 2004 with foreign fighters from around
whereabouts came from his family members and former the Middle East as well as al-Qaeda in Iraq (an affiliated
bodyguards.[152] al-Qaeda group), led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi helping
With the capture of Saddam and a drop in the number to drive the insurgency.
3.3 2005: Elections and transitional government
Coalition Provisional Authority director L. Paul Bremer signs
over sovereignty to the appointed Iraqi Interim Government, 28
June 2004.
U.S. troops fire mortars
As the insurgency grew there was a distinct change in tar-
geting from the coalition forces towards the new Iraqi
Security Forces, as hundreds of Iraqi civilians and po-
lice were killed over the next few months in a series of
massive bombings. An organized Sunni insurgency, with
deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations,
was becoming more powerful throughout Iraq. The Shia
Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition
targets in an attempt to seize control from Iraqi security
forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq were
beginning to erupt in urban guerrilla combat as multina-
tional forces attempted to keep control and prepared for
a counteroffensive.
The most serious fighting of the war so far began on 31
March 2004, when Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed
a Blackwater USA convoy led by four U.S. private mil-
itary contractors who were providing security for food
caterers Eurest Support Services.[155] The four armed
contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Bat-
alona, and Michael Teague, were killed with grenades and
small arms fire. Subsequently, their bodies were dragged
from their vehicles by local people, beaten, set ablaze,
and their burned corpses hung over a bridge crossing the
Euphrates.[156] Photos of the event were released to news
agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation
11
A USMC M198 artillery piece firing outside Fallujah in October
2004.
and moral outrage in the United States, and prompting an
unsuccessful “pacification” of the city: the First Battle of
Fallujah in April 2004.
The offensive was resumed in November 2004 in the
bloodiest battle of the war so far: the Second Battle of
Fallujah, described by the U.S. military as “the heavi-
est urban combat (that they had been involved in) since
the battle of Hue City in Vietnam.”[157] During the as-
sault, U.S. forces used white phosphorus as an incendi-
ary weapon against insurgent personnel, attracting con-
troversy. The 46‑day battle resulted in a victory for the
coalition, with 95 U.S. soldiers killed along with approx-
imately 1,350 insurgents. Fallujah was totally devastated
during the fighting, though civilian casualties were low, as
they had mostly fled before the battle.[158]
Another major event of that year was the revelation of
widespread prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, which re-
ceived international media attention in April 2004. First
reports of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, as well as
graphic pictures showing U.S. military personnel taunt-
ing and abusing Iraqi prisoners, came to public atten-
tion from a 60 Minutes II news report (28 April) and a
Seymour M. Hersh article in The New Yorker (posted
online on 30 April.)[159] Military correspondent Thomas
Ricks claimed that these revelations dealt a blow to the
moral justifications for the occupation in the eyes of many
people, especially Iraqis, and was a turning point in the
war.[160]
2004 also marked the beginning of Military Transition
Teams in Iraq, which were teams of U.S. military advisors
assigned directly to New Iraqi Army units.
3.3 2005: Elections and transitional gov-
ernment
Further information: 2005 in Iraq and Military transition
team
On 31 January, Iraqis elected the Iraqi Transitional Gov-
ernment in order to draft a permanent constitution. Al-
12 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

3.4 2006: Civil war and permanent Iraqi

government
Further information: 2006 in Iraq, Civil war in Iraq
(2006–07), Operation Together Forward, and Provincial
Reconstruction Team
The beginning of 2006 was marked by government cre-

Convention center for Council of Representatives of Iraq

though some violence and a widespread Sunni boycott

marred the event, most of the eligible Kurd and Shia pop-
ulace participated. On 4 February, Paul Wolfowitz an-
nounced that 15,000 U.S. troops whose tours of duty had
been extended in order to provide election security would
be pulled out of Iraq by the next month.[161] February to
April proved to be relatively peaceful months compared U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines clear a house in Al
to the carnage of November and January, with insurgent Anbar Governorate.
attacks averaging 30 a day from the prior average of 70.
ation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous
The Battle of Abu Ghraib on 2 April 2005 was an
anti-coalition attacks. Sectarian violence expanded to a
attack on United States forces at Abu Ghraib prison, new level of intensity following the al-Askari Mosque
which consisted of heavy mortar and rocket fire, under
bombing in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on 22 February
which armed insurgents attacked with grenades, small 2006. The explosion at the mosque, one of the holiest
arms, and two vehicle-borne improvised explosive de-
sites in Shi'a Islam, is believed to have been caused by a
vices (VBIED). The U.S. force’s munitions ran so low that bomb planted by al-Qaeda.
orders to fix bayonets were given in preparation for hand-
to-hand fighting. An estimated 80–120 armed insurgents Although no injuries occurred in the blast, the mosque
launched a massive coordinated assault on the U.S. mili- was severely damaged and the bombing resulted in vio-
tary facility and internment camp at Abu Ghraib, Iraq. It lence over the following days. Over 100 dead bodies with
was considered to be the largest coordinated assault on a bullet holes were found on 23 February, and at least 165
U.S. base since the Vietnam War.[162] people are thought to have been killed. In the aftermath
of this attack the U.S. military calculated that the average
Hopes for a quick end to the insurgency and a with- homicide rate in Baghdad tripled from 11 to 33 deaths per
drawal of U.S. troops were dashed in May, Iraq’s blood- day. In 2006 the UN described the environment in Iraq
iest month since the invasion. Suicide bombers, believed as a "civil war-like situation”.[165]
to be mainly disheartened Iraqi Sunni Arabs, Syrians and
Saudis, tore through Iraq. Their targets were often Shia On March 12, five United States Army soldiers of the
gatherings or civilian concentrations of Shias. As a result, 502nd Infantry Regiment, raped the 14-year-old Iraqi girl
over 700 Iraqi civilians died in that month, as well as 79 Abeer Qassim Hamza al‑Janabi, and then murdered her,
U.S. soldiers. her father, her mother Fakhriya Taha Muhasen and her
six-year-old sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. The
The summer of 2005 saw fighting around Baghdad and at soldiers then set fire to the girl’s body to conceal evidence
Tall Afar in northwestern Iraq as U.S. forces tried to seal of the crime.[166] Four of the soldiers were convicted of
off the Syrian border. This led to fighting in the autumn rape and murder and the fifth was convicted of lesser
in the small towns of the Euphrates valley between the crimes for the involvement in the war crime, that became
capital and that border.[163] known as the Mahmudiyah killings.[167][168]
A referendum was held on 15 October in which the new On 6 June 2006, the United States was successful in track-
Iraqi constitution was ratified. An Iraqi national assem- ing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in
bly was elected in December, with participation from the Iraq who was killed in a targeted killing, while attend-
Sunnis as well as the Kurds and Shia.[163] ing a meeting in an isolated safehouse approximately 8
Insurgent attacks increased in 2005 with 34,131 recorded km (5.0 mi) north of Baqubah. Having been tracked
incidents, compared to a total 26,496 for the previous by a British UAV, radio contact was made between the
year.[164] controller and two United States Air Force F-16C jets,
3.5 2007: U.S. troops surge 13

that has no foreseeable end.” The report’s 79 recommen-

dations include increasing diplomatic measures with Iran
and Syria and intensifying efforts to train Iraqi troops.
On 18 December, a Pentagon report found that insurgent
attacks were averaging about 960 attacks per week, the
highest since the reports had begun in 2005.[169]
Coalition forces formally transferred control of a
province to the Iraqi government, the first since the war.
Military prosecutors charged eight U.S. Marines with the
murders of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November
2005, 10 of them women and children. Four officers
were also charged with dereliction of duty in relation to
the event.[170]
Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006, after
being found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi
court after a year-long trial.[171]

3.5 2007: U.S. troops surge

Nouri al-Maliki meets with George W. Bush, June 2006

which identified the house and at 14:15 GMT, the lead

jet dropped two 500‑pound (230 kg) guided bombs, a
laser-guided GBU‑12 and GPS-guided GBU‑38 on the
building where he was located at. Six others—three male
and three female individuals—were also reported killed.
Among those killed were one of his wives and their child.
The current government of Iraq took office on 20 May
2006, following approval by the members of the Iraqi
National Assembly. This followed the general election
in December 2005. The government succeeded the Iraqi
Transitional Government, which had continued in office
in a caretaker capacity until the formation of the perma-
nent government.

3.4.1 Iraq Study Group report and Saddam’s exe-

cution
President George W. Bush announces the new strategy on Iraq
Main articles: Iraq Study Group and Execution of from the White House Library, 10 January 2007.
Saddam Hussein
Further information: 2007 in Iraq, Iraq War troop surge
The Iraq Study Group Report was released on 6 Decem- of 2007, Timeline of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007,
ber 2006. Iraq Study Group, made up of people from and Strategic reset
both of the major U.S. parties, was led by co-chairs James
Baker, a former Secretary of State (Republican), and Lee In a January 10, 2007, televised address to the U.S. pub-
H. Hamilton, a former U.S. Representative (Democrat). lic, Bush proposed 21,500 more troops for Iraq, a job
It concluded that “the situation in Iraq is grave and deteri- program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and
orating” and “U.S. forces seem to be caught in a mission $1.2 billion for these programs.[172] On 23 January 2007,
14 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

in the 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush announced

“deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 addi-
tional soldiers and Marines to Iraq”.
On 10 February 2007, David Petraeus was made com-
mander of Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I), the
four-star post that oversees all coalition forces in country,
replacing General George Casey. In his new position, Pe-
traeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq and employed
them in the new “Surge” strategy outlined by the Bush
administration.[173][174] 2007 also saw a sharp increase in
insurgent chlorine bombings.
U.S. soldiers take cover during a firefight with insurgents in the
On 10 May 2007, 144 Iraqi Parliamentary lawmakers Al Doura section of Baghdad 7 March 2007.
signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United
States to set a timetable for withdrawal.[175] On 3 June
2007, the Iraqi Parliament voted 85 to 59 to require the officials.
Iraqi government to consult with Parliament before re-
Historically, the daily counts tallied by The New York
questing additional extensions of the UN Security Coun-
Times have underestimated the total death toll by 50% or
cil Mandate for Coalition operations in Iraq.[176] Despite
more when compared to studies by the United Nations,
this, the mandate was renewed on 18 December 2007,
which rely upon figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry
without the approval of the Iraqi parliament.[177]
and morgue figures.[185]
Pressures on U.S. troops were compounded by the con-
The rate of U.S. combat deaths in Baghdad nearly dou-
tinuing withdrawal of coalition forces. In early 2007,
bled to 3.14 per day in the first seven weeks of the “surge”
British Prime Minister Blair announced that following
in security activity, compared to previous period. Across
Operation Sinbad British troops would begin to withdraw
the rest of Iraq it decreased slightly.[186][187]
from Basra Governorate, handing security over to the
Iraqis.[178] In July Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh On 14 August 2007, the deadliest single attack of the
Rasmussen also announced the withdrawal of 441 Dan- whole war occurred. Nearly 800 civilians were killed
by a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks on the
ish troops from Iraq, leaving only a unit of nine soldiers
manning four observational helicopters.[179] northern Iraqi settlement of Kahtaniya. More than 100
homes and shops were destroyed in the blasts. U.S. offi-
cials blamed al‑Qaeda. The targeted villagers belonged to
3.5.1 Planned troop reduction the non-Muslim Yazidi ethnic minority. The attack may
have represented the latest in a feud that erupted earlier
See also: Provincial Iraqi Control that year when members of the Yazidi community stoned
to death a teenage girl called Du'a Khalil Aswad accused
of dating a Sunni Arab man and converting to Islam. The
In a speech made to Congress on 10 September 2007, Pe-
killing of the girl was recorded on camera-mobiles and
traeus “envisioned the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 U.S.
the video was uploaded onto the internet.[188][189][190][191]
troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contin-
gent [in September].”[180] On 13 September, Bush backed On 13 September 2007, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was
a limited withdrawal of troops from Iraq.[181] Bush said killed in a bomb attack in the city of Ramadi.[192] He was
5,700 personnel would be home by Christmas 2007, and an important U.S. ally because he led the "Anbar Awak-
expected thousands more to return by July 2008. The ening", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that opposed al-
plan would take troop numbers back to their level before Qaeda. The latter organisation claimed responsibility for
the surge at the beginning of 2007. the attack.[193] A statement posted on the Internet by the
shadowy Islamic State of Iraq called Abu Risha “one of
the dogs of Bush” and described Thursday’s killing as a
3.5.2 Effects of the surge on security “heroic operation that took over a month to prepare”.[194]

By March 2008, violence in Iraq was reported curtailed

by 40–80%, according to a Pentagon report.[182] Indepen-
dent reports[183][184] raised questions about those assess-
ments. An Iraqi military spokesman claimed that civilian
deaths since the start of the troop surge plan were 265 in
Baghdad, down from 1,440 in the four previous weeks.
The New York Times counted more than 450 Iraqi civil- A graph of U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq March 2003 – July 2010,
ians killed during the same 28‑day period, based on ini- the orange and blue months are the period of the troop surge and
tial daily reports from Iraqi Interior Ministry and hospital its aftermath.
3.5 2007: U.S. troops surge 15

There was a reported trend of decreasing U.S. troop

deaths after May 2007,[195] and violence against coali-
tion troops had fallen to the “lowest levels since the first
year of the American invasion”.[196] These, and several
other positive developments, were attributed to the surge
by many analysts.[197]
Data from the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies such as
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that
daily attacks against civilians in Iraq remained “about the
same” since February. The GAO also stated that there
was no discernible trend in sectarian violence.[198] How-
ever, this report ran counter to reports to Congress, which
showed a general downward trend in civilian deaths and
ethno-sectarian violence since December 2006.[199] By
late 2007, as the U.S. troop surge began to wind down,
violence in Iraq had begun to decrease from its 2006
highs.[200]
Entire neighborhoods in Baghdad were ethnically
cleansed by Shia and Sunni militias and sectarian vio-
lence has broken out in every Iraqi city where there is a Official Iraq-benchmark of the Congress, 2007
mixed population.[201][202][203] Investigative reporter Bob
Woodward cites U.S. government sources according to
which the U.S. “surge” was not the primary reason for the 3.5.4 Tensions with Iran
drop in violence in 2007–08. Instead, according to that
view, the reduction of violence was due to newer covert Further information: United States-Iran relations and
techniques by U.S. military and intelligence officials to Karbala provincial headquarters raid
find, target and kill insurgents, including working closely
with former insurgents.[204]
In 2007, tensions increased greatly between Iran and Iraqi
In the Shia region near Basra, British forces turned over Kurdistan due to the latter’s giving sanctuary to the mil-
security for the region to Iraqi Security Forces. Basra is itant Kurdish secessionist group Party for a Free Life in
the ninth province of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be returned Kurdistan (PEJAK.) According to reports, Iran had been
to local security forces’ control since the beginning of the shelling PEJAK positions in Iraqi Kurdistan since 16 Au-
occupation.[205] gust. These tensions further increased with an alleged
border incursion on 23 August by Iranian troops who at-
tacked several Kurdish villages killing an unknown num-
ber of civilians and militants.[210]
3.5.3 Political developments
Coalition forces also began to target alleged Iranian Quds
force operatives in Iraq, either arresting or killing sus-
More than half of the members of Iraq’s parliament re-
pected members. The Bush administration and coalition
jected the continuing occupation of their country for the
leaders began to publicly state that Iran was supplying
first time. 144 of the 275 lawmakers signed onto a leg-
weapons, particularly EFP devices, to Iraqi insurgents
islative petition that would require the Iraqi government
and militias although to date have failed to provide any
to seek approval from Parliament before it requests an
proof for these allegations. Further sanctions on Iranian
extension of the UN mandate for foreign forces to be in
organizations were also announced by the Bush adminis-
Iraq, which expires at the end of 2008. It also calls for a
tration in the autumn of 2007. On 21 November 2007,
timetable for troop withdrawal and a freeze on the size
Lieutenant General James Dubik, who is in charge of
of foreign forces. The UN Security Council mandate
training Iraqi security forces, praised Iran for its “con-
for U.S.‑led forces in Iraq will terminate “if requested
tribution to the reduction of violence” in Iraq by uphold-
by the government of Iraq.”[206] Under Iraqi law, the
ing its pledge to stop the flow of weapons, explosives and
speaker must present a resolution called for by a majority
training of extremists in Iraq.[211]
of lawmakers.[207] 59% of those polled in the U.S. sup-
port a timetable for withdrawal.[208]
In mid-2007, the Coalition began a controversial pro- 3.5.5 Tensions with Turkey
gram to recruit Iraqi Sunnis (often former insurgents) for
the formation of “Guardian” militias. These Guardian Further information: 2008 Turkish incursion into north-
militias are intended to support and secure various Sunni ern Iraq
neighborhoods against the Islamists.[209]
16 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

Border incursions by PKK militants based in Northern tanks began to point to improvements in the security sit-
Iraq have continued to harass Turkish forces, with ca- uation, as measured by key statistics. According to the
sualties on both sides. In the fall of 2007, the Turk- U.S. Defense Department, in December 2008 the “over-
ish military stated their right to cross the Iraqi Kurdis- all level of violence” in the country had dropped 80%
tan border in “hot pursuit” of PKK militants and began since before the surge began in January 2007, and the
shelling Kurdish areas in Iraq and attacking PKK bases in country’s murder rate had dropped to prewar levels. They
the Mount Cudi region with aircraft.[212][213] The Turk- also pointed out that the casualty figure for U.S. forces in
ish parliament approved a resolution permitting the mili- 2008 was 314 against a figure of 904 in 2007.[219]
tary to pursue the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan.[214] In Novem-
According to the Brookings Institution, Iraqi civilian fa-
ber, Turkish gunships attacked parts of northern Iraq in talities numbered 490 in November 2008 as against 3,500
the first such attack by Turkish aircraft since the border
in January 2007, whereas attacks against the coalition
tensions escalated.[215] Another series of attacks in mid- numbered somewhere between 200 and 300 per week in
December hit PKK targets in the Qandil, Zap, Avashin
the latter half of 2008, as opposed to a peak of nearly
and Hakurk regions. The latest series of attacks involved 1,600 in summer 2007. The number of Iraqi security
at least 50 aircraft and artillery and Kurdish officials re-
forces killed was under 100 per month in the second half
ported one civilian killed and two wounded.[216] of 2008, from a high of 200 to 300 in summer 2007.[220]
Additionally, weapons that were given to Iraqi security Meanwhile, the proficiency of the Iraqi military increased
forces by the U.S. military were being recovered by au- as it launched a spring offensive against Shia militias,
thorities in Turkey after being used by PKK in that which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had previously
state.[217] been criticized for allowing to operate. This began with a
March operation against the Mehdi Army in Basra, which
led to fighting in Shia areas up and down the country, es-
3.5.6 Blackwater private security controversy
pecially in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. By October,
the British officer in charge of Basra said that since the
Main article: Blackwater Baghdad shootings
operation the town had become “secure” and had a mur-
der rate comparable to Manchester in England.[221] The
On 17 September 2007, the Iraqi government announced U.S. military also said there had been a decrease of about
that it was revoking the license of the U.S. security firm a quarter in the quantity of Iranian-made explosives found
Blackwater USA over the firm’s involvement in the killing in Iraq in 2008, possibly indicating a change in Iranian
of eight civilians, including a woman and an infant,[218] in policy.[222]
a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State
Progress in Sunni areas continued after members of the
Department motorcade.
Awakening movement were transferred from U.S. mili-
tary to Iraqi control.[223] In May, the Iraqi army – backed
by coalition support – launched an offensive in Mosul,
3.6 2008: Civil war continues
the last major Iraqi stronghold of al-Qaeda. Despite de-
taining thousands of individuals, the offensive failed to
Further information: 2008 in Iraq
lead to major long-term security improvements in Mo-
Throughout 2008, U.S. officials and independent think
sul. At the end of the year, the city remained a major
flashpoint.[224][225]

3D map of southern Turkey and northern Iraq

Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army division graduate
from basic training. In the regional dimension, the ongoing conflict between
3.6 2008: Civil war continues 17

Turkey and PKK[226][227][228] intensified on 21 February,
when Turkey launched a ground attack into the Quandeel
Mountains of Northern Iraq. In the nine-day-long opera-
tion, around 10,000 Turkish troops advanced up to 25 km
into Northern Iraq. This was the first substantial ground
incursion by Turkish forces since 1995.[229][230]
Shortly after the incursion began, both the Iraqi cabi-
net and the Kurdistan regional government condemned
Turkey’s actions and called for the immediate withdrawal
of Turkish troops from the region.[231] Turkish troops
withdrew on 29 February.[232] The fate of the Kurds and
the future of the ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk re-
mained a contentious issue in Iraqi politics.
U.S. military officials met these trends with cautious op-
timism as they approached what they described as the
“transition” embodied in the U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces
Agreement, which was negotiated throughout 2008.[219]
The commander of the coalition, U.S. General Raymond
T. Odierno, noted that “in military terms, transitions are
the most dangerous time” in December 2008.[219]
commander of the Qods brigades of Iran’s Revolutionary
Guard Corps, and the intercession of the Iranian govern-
ment, on 31 March 2008, al‑Sadr ordered his followers
to ceasefire.[235] The militiamen kept their weapons.
By 12 May 2008, Basra “residents overwhelmingly re-
ported a substantial improvement in their everyday lives”
according to The New York Times. “Government forces
have now taken over Islamic militants’ headquarters and
halted the death squads and 'vice enforcers’ who attacked
women, Christians, musicians, alcohol sellers and any-
one suspected of collaborating with Westerners”, accord-
ing to the report; however, when asked how long it would
take for lawlessness to resume if the Iraqi army left, one
resident replied, “one day”.[234]
In late April roadside bombings continued to rise from a
low in January—from 114 bombings to more than 250,
surpassing the May 2007 high.
3.6.2 Congressional testimony

3.6.1 Spring offensives on Shiite militias

Further information: Iraq Spring Fighting of 2008, Siege

of Sadr City, and Battle of Basra (2008)
At the end of March, the Iraqi Army, with Coalition air

An Iraqi soldier and vehicles from the 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi General David Petraeus in testimony before Congress on 8 April
Army Division during a firefight with armed militiamen in the 2008
Sadr City district of Baghdad 17 April 2008.
Speaking before the Congress on 8 April 2008, General
support, launched an offensive, dubbed “Charge of the David Petraeus urged delaying troop withdrawals, saying,
Knights”, in Basra to secure the area from militias. This “I've repeatedly noted that we haven't turned any corners,
was the first major operation where the Iraqi Army did not we haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel,” refer-
have direct combat support from conventional coalition encing the comments of then President Bush and former
ground troops. The offensive was opposed by the Mahdi Vietnam-era General William Westmoreland.[236] When
Army, one of the militias, which controlled much of the asked by the Senate if reasonable people could disagree
region.[233][234] Fighting quickly spread to other parts of on the way forward, Petraeus said, “We fight for the right
Iraq: including Sadr City, Al Kut, Al Hillah and others. of people to have other opinions.”[237]
During the fighting Iraqi forces met stiff resistance from
Upon questioning by then Senate committee chair Joe
militiamen in Basra to the point that the Iraqi military
Biden, Ambassador Crocker admitted that Al‑Qaeda in
offensive slowed to a crawl, with the high attrition rates
Iraq was less important than the Al Qaeda organiza-
finally forcing the Sadrists to the negotiating table.
tion led by Osama bin Laden along the Afghan-Pakistani
Following talks with Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, border.[238] Lawmakers from both parties complained
18
that U.S. taxpayers are carrying Iraq’s burden as it earns The pact was subject to possible negotiations which could
billions of dollars in oil revenues.
3.6.3 Iraqi security forces rearm
An Iraqi Army unit prepares to board a Task Force Baghdad
UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for a counterinsurgency mission in
Baghdad in 2007.
Iraq became one of the top current purchasers of U.S.
military equipment with their army trading its AK‑47 as-
sault rifles for the U.S. M‑16 and M‑4 rifles, among other
equipment.[239] In 2008 alone, Iraq accounted for more
than $12.5 billion of the $34 billion U.S. weapon sales to
foreign countries (not including the potential F-16 fighter
planes.).[240]
Iraq sought 36 F‑16s, the most sophisticated weapons sys-
tem Iraq has attempted to purchase. The Pentagon noti-
fied Congress that it had approved the sale of 24 Ameri-
can attack helicopters to Iraq, valued at as much as $2.4
billion. Including the helicopters, Iraq announced plans
to purchase at least $10 billion in U.S. tanks and armored
vehicles, transport planes and other battlefield equipment
and services. Over the summer, the Defense Depart-
ment announced that the Iraqi government wanted to or-
der more than 400 armored vehicles and other equipment
worth up to $3 billion, and six C-130J transport planes,
worth up to $1.5 billion.[241][242] From 2005 to 2008, the
United States had completed approximately $20 billion in
arms sales agreements with Iraq.[243]
3.6.4 Status of forces agreement
Main article: U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement
The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement was approved 3.7 2009: Coalition redeployment
by the Iraqi government on 4 December 2008.[244] It es-
tablished that U.S. combat forces would withdraw from
Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009, and that all U.S. forces Further information: 2009 in Iraq
would be completely out of Iraq by 31 December 2011.
3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE
have delayed withdrawal and a referendum scheduled for
mid-2009 in Iraq, which might have required all U.S.
forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010.[245][246]
The pact required criminal charges for holding prison-
ers over 24 hours, and required a warrant for searches of
homes and buildings that are not related to combat.[247]
U.S. contractors working for U.S. forces will be subject to
Iraqi criminal law, while contractors working for the State
Department and other U.S. agencies may retain their im-
munity. If U.S. forces commit still undecided “major pre-
meditated felonies” while off-duty and off-base, they will
be subject to the still undecided procedures laid out by
a joint U.S.‑Iraq committee if the United States certifies
the forces were off-duty.[248][249][250][251]
Some Americans have discussed “loopholes”[252] and
some Iraqis have said they believe parts of the pact re-
main a “mystery”.[253] U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates has predicted that after 2011 he would expect to see
“perhaps several tens of thousands of American troops”
as part of a residual force in Iraq.[254]
Several groups of Iraqis protested the passing of the
SOFA accord[255][256][257] as prolonging and legitimizing
the occupation. Tens of thousands of Iraqis burned an
effigy of George W. Bush in a central Baghdad square
where U.S. troops five years previously organized a tear-
ing down of a statue of Saddam Hussein.[136][253][258]
Some Iraqis expressed skeptical optimism that the U.S.
would completely end its presence by 2011.[259] On 4 De-
cember 2008, Iraq’s presidential council approved the se-
curity pact.[244]
A representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini
al‑Sistani expressed concern with the ratified version of
the pact and noted that the government of Iraq has no au-
thority to control the transfer of occupier forces into and
out of Iraq, no control of shipments, and that the pact
grants the occupiers immunity from prosecution in Iraqi
courts. He said that Iraqi rule in the country is not com-
plete while the occupiers are present, but that ultimately
the Iraqi people would judge the pact in a referendum.[258]
Thousands of Iraqis have gathered weekly after Friday
prayers and shouted anti‑U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans
protesting the security pact between Baghdad and Wash-
ington. A protester said that despite the approval of the
Interim Security pact, the Iraqi people would break it in
a referendum next year.[260]
3.7 2009: Coalition redeployment
Aerial view of the Green Zone, Baghdad International Airport,
and the contiguous Victory Base Complex in Baghdad
3.7.1 Transfer of Green Zone
On 1 January 2009, the United States handed control
of the Green Zone and Saddam Hussein’s presidential
palace to the Iraqi government in a ceremonial move de-
scribed by the country’s prime minister as a restoration of
Iraq’s sovereignty. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
said he would propose 1 January be declared national
“Sovereignty Day”. “This palace is the symbol of Iraqi
sovereignty and by restoring it, a real message is directed
to all Iraqi people that Iraqi sovereignty has returned to
its natural status”, al‑Maliki said.
The U.S. military attributed a decline in reported civil-
ian deaths to several factors including the U.S.‑led “troop
surge”, the growth of U.S.-funded Awakening Councils,
and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s call for his militia to
abide by a cease fire.[261]
3.7.2 Provincial elections
Main article: Iraqi governorate elections, 2009
On 31 January, Iraq held provincial elections.[262]
Provincial candidates and those close to them faced
some political assassinations and attempted assassina-
tions, and there was also some other violence related to
the election.[263][264][265][266]
Iraqi voter turnout failed to meet the original expecta-
tions which were set and was the lowest on record in
[267]
Iraq, but U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker character-
[268]
ized the turnout as “large”. Of those who turned out
to vote, some groups complained of disenfranchisement
and fraud.[267][269][270] After the post-election curfew was 3.7.5 Coalition forces withdraw
lifted, some groups made threats about what would hap-
pen if they were unhappy with the results.[271]
3.7.3 Exit strategy announcement
On 27 February, United States President Barack Obama United States Armed Forces.
gave a speech at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in On 28 July, Australia withdrew its combat forces as the
19
Election map. Shows what was the largest list in every
governorate.
the U.S. state of North Carolina announcing that the
U.S. combat mission in Iraq would end by 31 August
2010. A “transitional force” of up to 50,000 troops
tasked with training the Iraqi Security Forces, conduct-
ing counterterrorism operations, and providing general
support may remain until the end of 2011, the president
added. However, the insurgency in 2011 and the rise of
ISIS in 2014 caused the war to continue[272]
The day before Obama’s speech, Prime Minister of
Iraq Nuri al‑Maliki said at a press conference that the
government of Iraq had “no worries” over the impending
departure of U.S. forces and expressed confidence in the
ability of the Iraqi Security Forces and police to maintain
order without U.S. military support.[273]
3.7.4 Sixth anniversary protests
On 9 April, the 6th anniversary of Baghdad’s fall to coali-
tion forces, tens of thousands of Iraqis thronged Bagh-
dad to mark the anniversary and demand the immedi-
ate departure of coalition forces. The crowds of Iraqis
stretched from the Sadr City slum in northeast Baghdad
to the square around 5 km (3.1 mi) away, where protesters
burned an effigy featuring the face of U.S. President
George W. Bush.[274] There were also Sunni Muslims in
the crowd. Police said many Sunnis, including prominent
leaders such as a founding sheikh from the Sons of Iraq,
took part.[275]
On 30 April, the United Kingdom formally ended combat
operations. Prime Minister Gordon Brown characterized
the operation in Iraq as a “success story” because of UK
troops’ efforts. Britain handed control of Basra to the
[276]
20 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

Australian military presence in Iraq ended, per an agree- to al-Masri, and al-Baghdadi’s son. A suicide vest was
ment with the Iraqi government.
The withdrawal of U.S. forces began at the end of June, subsequently stated.
with 38 bases to be handed over to Iraqi forces. On 29
June 2009, U.S. forces withdrew from Baghdad. On 30
November 2009, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials reported
that the civilian death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest level in corpses.
November since the 2003 invasion. [277]
3.7.6 Iraq awards oil contracts
U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel stand guard aboard the
Al Basrah Oil Terminal in July 2009.
On 30 June and 11 December 2009, the Iraqi ministry
of oil awarded contracts to international oil companies
for some of Iraq’s many oil fields. The winning oil com-
panies enter joint ventures with the Iraqi ministry of
oil, and the terms of the awarded contracts include ex-
traction of oil for a fixed fee of approximately $1.40
per barrel.[278][279][280] The fees will only be paid once
a production threshold set by the Iraqi ministry of oil is
reached.
indeed found on al-Masri’s corpse, as the Iraqi Army
[283]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-
Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference in Bagh-
dad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody
“The attack was carried out by ground forces
which surrounded the house, and also through the use of
missiles,” Mr Maliki said. “During the operation com-
puters were seized with e-mails and messages to the two
biggest terrorists, Osama bin Laden and [his deputy] Ay-
man al-Zawahiri”, Maliki added. U.S. forces comman-
der Gen. Raymond Odierno praised the operation. “The
death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant
blow to al‑Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insur-
gency”, he said. “There is still work to do but this is a
significant step forward in ridding Iraq of terrorists.”
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden stated that the deaths of
the top two al‑Qaeda figures in Iraq are “potentially dev-
astating” blows to the terror network there and proof that
Iraqi security forces are gaining ground.[284]
On 20 June, Iraq’s Central Bank was bombed in an attack
that left 15 people dead and brought much of downtown
Baghdad to a standstill. The attack was claimed to have
been carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq. This attack
was followed by another attack on Iraq’s Bank of Trade
building that killed 26 and wounded 52 people.[285]

3.8 2010: U.S. drawdown and Operation

New Dawn
Further information: 2010 in Iraq and Withdrawal of
Iraqi commandos training under the supervision of soldiers from
U.S. troops from Iraq
the U.S. 82nd Airborne in December 2010.

On 17 February 2010, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert In late August 2010, insurgents conducted a major at-
Gates announced that as of 1 September, the name “Op- tack with at least 12 car bombs simultaneously detonating
eration Iraqi Freedom” would be replaced by “Operation from Mosul to Basra and killing at least 51. These attacks
New Dawn”.[281] coincided with the U.S. plans for a withdrawal of combat
[286]
On 18 April, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed Abu Ayyub al- troops.
Masri the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq in a joint Ameri- From the end of August 2010, the United States at-
can and Iraqi operation near Tikrit, Iraq.[282] The coali- tempted to dramatically cut its combat role in Iraq, with
tion forces believed al-Masri to be wearing a suicide vest the withdrawal of all U.S. ground forces designated for
and proceeded cautiously. After the lengthy exchange of active combat operations. The last U.S. combat brigades
fire and bombing of the house, the Iraqi troops stormed departed Iraq in the early morning of 19 August. Con-
inside and found two women still alive, one of whom voys of U.S. troops had been moving out of Iraq to Kuwait
was al-Masri’s wife, and four dead men, identified as al- for several days, and NBC News broadcast live from Iraq
Masri, Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi, an assistant as the last convoy crossed the border. While all combat
3.8 2010: U.S. drawdown and Operation New Dawn 21

brigades left the country, an additional 50,000 personnel

(including Advise and Assist Brigades) remained in the
country to provide support for the Iraqi military.[287][288]
These troops are required to leave Iraq by 31 Decem-
ber 2011 under an agreement between the U.S. and Iraqi
governments.[289]
The desire to step back from an active counter-insurgency
role did not however mean that the Advise and Assist
Brigades and other remaining U.S. forces would not be
caught up in combat. A standards memo from the Asso-
ciated Press reiterated “combat in Iraq is not over, and we
should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even
if they come from senior officials”.[290] Alabama Army National Guard MP, MSG Schur, during a joint
State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley stated "... community policing patrol in Basra, 3 April 2010
we are not ending our work in Iraq, We have a long-
term commitment to Iraq.”[291] On 31 August, Obama Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division fought
announced the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the Iraqi insurgents near Diyala.
Oval Office. In his address, he covered the role of the
United States’ soft power, the effect the war had on the According to reports from Iraq, hundreds of members of
United States economy, and the legacy of the Afghanistan the Sunni Awakening Councils may have switched alle-
and Iraq wars.[292] giance back to the Iraqi insurgency or al Qaeda.[296]
On the same day in Iraq, at a ceremony at one of Saddam Wikileaks disclosed 391,832 classified U.S. military doc-
Hussein's former residences at Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, uments on the Iraq War.[297][298][299] Approximately, 58
a number of U.S. dignitaries spoke in a ceremony for tele- people were killed with another 40 wounded in an at-
vision cameras, avoiding overtones of the triumphalism tack on the Sayidat al‑Nejat church, a Chaldean Catholic
present in U.S. announcements made earlier in the war. church in Baghdad. Responsibility for the attack was
Vice President Joe Biden expressed concerns regarding claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq organization.[300]
the ongoing lack of progress in forming a new Iraqi gov- Coordinated attacks in primarily Shia areas struck
ernment, saying of the Iraqi people that “they expect a throughout Baghdad on 2 November, killing approxi-
government that reflects the results of the votes they cast”. mately 113 and wounding 250 with around 17 bombs.[301]
Gen. Ray Odierno stated that the new era “in no way sig-
nals the end of our commitment to the people of Iraq”.
Speaking in Ramadi earlier in the day, Gates said that 3.8.1 Iraqi security forces transition towards self-
U.S. forces “have accomplished something really quite reliance
extraordinary here, [but] how it all weighs in the balance
over time I think remains to be seen”. When asked by Preparing to buy $13 billion worth of American arms, the
reporters if the seven-year war was worth doing, Gates Iraq Defense Ministry intends to transform the country’s
commented that “It really requires a historian’s perspec- degraded conventional forces into a state-of-the-art mil-
tive in terms of what happens here in the long run”. He itary and become among the world’s biggest customers
noted the Iraq War “will always be clouded by how it be- for American military arms and equipment. Part of the
gan” regarding Saddam Hussein’s supposed weapons of planned purchase includes 140 M1 Abrams main bat-
mass destruction, which were never confirmed to have tle tanks. Iraqi crews have already begun training on
existed. Gates continued, “This is one of the reasons them. In addition to the $13 billion purchase, the Iraqis
that this war remains so controversial at home”.[293] On have requested 18 F-16 Fighting Falcons as part of a
the same day Gen. Ray Odierno was replaced by Lloyd $4.2 billion program that also includes aircraft training
Austin as Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. and maintenance, AIM‑9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles,
laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment.[302]
On 7 September, two U.S. troops were killed and nine
If approved by Congress, the first aircraft could arrive in
wounded in an incident at an Iraqi military base. The
spring 2013. Under the plan, the first 10 pilots would be
incident is under investigation by Iraqi and U.S. forces,
trained in the United States.[303]
but it is believed that an Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S.
forces.[294] The Iraqi navy also inaugurated U.S.‑built Swift Class pa-
trol boat at Umm Qasr, Iraq’s main port at the northern
On 8 September, the U.S. Army announced the arrival in
end of the gulf. Iraq is to take delivery of 14 more of
Iraq of the first specifically-designated Advise and Assist
these $20 million, 50‑foot craft before U.S. forces de-
Brigade, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. It was an-
part. The high-speed vessels’ main mission will be to
nounced that the unit would assume responsibilities in five
protect the oil terminals at al‑Basra and Khor al-Amiya
southern provinces.[295] From 10–13 September, Second
through which some 1.7 million barrels a day are loaded
22 3 2003–11: POST-INVASION PHASE

into tankers for export. Two U.S.‑built offshore support in central Iraq, while the other two troops were deliber-
vessels, each costing $70 million, were expected to be de- ately shot by one or two Iraqi soldiers during a training
livered in 2011.[302] exercise.[307]
On 6 June, five U.S. troops were killed in an apparent
rocket attack on JSS Loyalty.[308] A sixth soldier, who
was wounded in the attack, died 10 days later of his
wounds.[309]
On 13 June 2011, two U.S. troops were killed in an IED
attack located in Wasit Province.[310]
On 26 June 2011, a U.S. troop was killed.[311] Sergeant
Brent McBride was sentenced to four years, two months
for the death.[312]
On 29 June, three U.S. troops were killed in a rocket at-
tack on a U.S. base located near the border with Iran. It
was speculated that the militant group responsible for the
attack was the same one which attacked JSS Loyalty just
over three weeks before.[313] With the three deaths, June
2011, became the bloodiest month in Iraq for the U.S.
M1 Abrams tanks in Iraqi service, January 2011 military since June 2009, with 15 U.S. soldiers killed,
only one of them outside combat.[314]
The United States Department of Defense had issued no- In September, Iraq signed a contract to buy 18 Lock-
tification of an additional $100 million proposed sales of heed Martin F-16 warplanes, becoming the 26th nation
arms from the U.S. to Iraq. General Dynamics is to be to operate the F-16. Because of windfall profits from oil,
the prime contractor on a $36 million deal for the sup- the Iraqi government is planning to double this originally
ply of ammunition for Iraq’s Abrams M1 A1 tanks. The planned 18, to 36 F-16s. Iraq is relying on the U.S. mil-
sale consists of: 14,010 TP-T M831A1 120mm Car- itary for air support as it rebuilds its forces and battles a
tridges; 16,110 TPCSDS-T M865 120mm Cartridges; stubborn Islamist insurgency.[315]
and 3,510 HEAT-MP-T M830A1 120mm Cartridges.
Raytheon is proposed as the prime contractor for a $68 With the collapse of the discussions about extending the
million package of “Command, Control, Communica- stay of any U.S. troops beyond 2011, where they would
tions, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Recon- not be granted any immunity from the Iraqi government,
naissance (C4ISR) Systems”.[304] on 21 October 2011, President Obama announced at a
White House press conference that all remaining U.S.
troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the
3.8.2 UN lifts restrictions on Iraq year as previously scheduled, bringing the U.S. mission
in Iraq to an end.[316] The last American soldier to die in
In a move to legitimize the existing Iraqi government, Iraq before the withdrawal was killed by a roadside bomb
[317]
the United Nations lifted the Saddam Hussein-era UN re- in Baghdad on 14 November.
strictions on Iraq. These included allowing Iraq to have In November 2011, the U.S. Senate voted down a resolu-
a civilian nuclear program, permitting the participation tion to formally end the war by bringing its authorization
of Iraq in international nuclear and chemical weapons by Congress to an end.[318]
treaties, as well as returning control of Iraq’s oil and gas
revenue to the government and ending the Oil-for-Food
Programme.[305]

3.9 2011: U.S. withdrawal

Main article: Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq

Further information: 2011 in Iraq

Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq in the holy city of Najaf

to lead the Sadrist movement after being in exile since
2007.[306]
On 15 January 2011, three U.S. troops were killed in U.S. and Kuwaiti troops closing the gate between Kuwait and Iraq
Iraq. One of the troops was killed on a military operation on 18 December 2011.
 23

The last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on 18 Decem- Kurdish land.[322]
ber, although the U.S. embassy and consulates continue Iraqi insurgency surged in the aftermath of the U.S. with-
to maintain a staff of more than 20,000 including U.S. drawal. The terror campaigns have since been engaged by
Marine Embassy Guards and between 4,000 and 5,000 Iraqi, primarily radical Sunni, insurgent groups against
private military contractors.[319][320] The next day, Iraqi the central government and the warfare between various
officials issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni Vice- factions within Iraq. The events of post U.S. withdrawal
President Tariq al-Hashimi. He has been accused of in- violence succeeded the previous insurgency in Iraq (prior
volvement in assassinations and fled to the Kurdish part to 18 December 2011), but have showed different pat-
of Iraq.[321]
terns, raising concerns that the surging violence might
slide into another civil war. Some 1,000 people were
killed across Iraq within the first two months after U.S.
4 Aftermath – post U.S. with- withdrawal.
drawal Sectarian violence continued in the first half of 2013—
at least 56 people died in April when a Sunni protest in
Main article: Iraqi insurgency (2011–13) Hawija was interrupted by a government-supported heli-
See also: Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014) and copter raid and a series of violent incidents occurred in
Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014) May. On 20 May 2013, at least 95 people died in a wave
See also: American-led intervention in Iraq (2014– of car bomb attacks that was preceded by a car bomb-
present) ing on 15 May that led to 33 deaths; also, on 18 May, 76
The invasion and occupation led to sectarian violence people were killed in the Sunni areas of Baghdad. Some
experts have stated that Iraq could return to the brutal
sectarian conflict of 2006.[323][324]
On 22 July 2013, at least five hundred convicts, most
of whom were senior members of al-Qaida who had re-
ceived death sentences, broke out of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib
jail when comrades launched a military-style assault to
free them. The attack began when a suicide bomber
drove a car packed with explosives into prison gates.[325]
James F. Jeffrey, the United States ambassador in Bagh-
dad when the last American troops exited, said the as-
sault and resulting escape “will provide seasoned leader-
ship and a morale boost to Al Qaeda and its allies in both
Iraq and Syria ... it is likely to have an electrifying impact
on the Sunni population in Iraq, which has been sitting on
the fence.”[326]
November 25, 2016 military situation: By mid-2014 the country was in chaos with a new govern-
Controlled by Iraqi government
ment yet to be formed following national elections, and
Controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)
Controlled by Iraqi Kurds
the insurgency reaching new heights. In early June 2014
Controlled by Syrian government the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took over
Controlled by Syrian rebels the cities of Mosul and Tikrit and said it was ready to
Controlled by Syrian Kurds march on Baghdad, while Iraqi Kurdish forces took con-
trol of key military installations in the major oil city of
Kirkuk. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked his par-
which caused widespread displacement among Iraqi civil- liament to declare a state of emergency that would give
ians. The Iraqi Red Crescent organization estimated him increased powers, but the lawmakers refused.[327]
the total internal displacement was around 2.3 million in
In the summer of 2014 President Obama announced the
2008, and as many as 2 million Iraqis leaving the coun-
return of U.S. Forces to Iraq, but only in the form of
try. Poverty led many Iraqi women to turn to prostitution
aerial support, in an effort to halt the advance of ISIS
to support themselves and their families, attracting sex
forces, render humanitarian aid to stranded refugees and
tourists from regional lands. The invasion led to a consti-
stabilize the political situation.[328] On 14 August 2014,
tution which supported democracy as long as laws did not
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki succumbed to pressure
violate traditional Islamic principles, and a parliamentary
at home and abroad to step down. This paved the way
election was held in 2005. In addition the invasion pre-
for Haidar al-Abadi to take over On 19 August 2014. In
served the autonomy of the Kurdish region, and stability
what was claimed to be revenge for the aerial bombing
brought new economic prosperity. Because the Kurdish
ordered by President Obama, ISIS, which by this time
region is historically the most democratic area of Iraq,
had changed their name to the Islamic State, beheaded
many Iraqi refugees from other territories fled into the
24 6 CRITICISM AND COST

an American journalist, James Foley, who had been kid- and the wounded. Casualty figures, especially Iraqi ones,
napped two years previously. Despite U.S. bombings and are highly disputed.
breakthroughs on the political front, Iraq remained in There have been several attempts by the media, coalition
chaos with the Islamic State consolidating its gains, and governments and others to estimate the Iraqi casualties.
sectarian violence continuing unabated. On 22 August The table below summarizes some of these estimates and
2014, suspected Shia militants opened fire on a Sunni methods.
mosque during Friday prayers, killing 70 worshippers.
Separately, Iraqi forces in helicopters killed 30 Sunni
fighters in the town of Dhuluiya.[329] A day later, appar-
ently in retaliation for the attack on the mosque, three 6 Criticism and cost
bombings across Iraq killed 35 people.[330]
Further information: Criticism of the Iraq War,
Opposition to the Iraq War, Legitimacy of the 2003 inva-
5 Casualty estimates sion of Iraq, Legality of the Iraq War, Views on the 2003
invasion of Iraq, Protests against the Iraq War, American
Main article: Casualties of the Iraq War popular opinion on invasion of Iraq, Governmental posi-
See also: Foreign hostages in Iraq and Suicide bombings tions on the Iraq War prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq,
in Iraq since 2003 Media coverage of the Iraq War, and Public relations
For coalition death totals see the infobox at the top preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq
See also: Iraq War misappropriations, Habbush letter,
and The Way of the World (book)
The Bush Administration’s rationale for the Iraq War has

A city street in Ramadi heavily damaged by the fighting in 2006

Wounded U.S. personnel flown from Iraq to Ramstein, Germany,
for medical treatment (February 2007)

A memorial in North Carolina in December 2007; U.S. casualty

count can be seen in the background[331]

faced heavy criticism from an array of popular and of-

Marines unload a wounded comrade from an Army UH-60 ficial sources both inside and outside the United States,
Blackhawk helicopter for medical treatment at Al Qaim. with many U.S. citizens finding many parallels with the
Vietnam War.[332] For example, a former CIA officer
right. See also Casualties of the Iraq War, which has described the Office of Special Plans as a group of
casualty numbers for coalition nations, contractors, non- ideologues who were dangerous to U.S. national security
Iraqi civilians, journalists, media helpers, aid workers, and a threat to world peace, and stated that the group lied
6.1 Financial cost 25

and manipulated intelligence to further its agenda of re- • Disruption of Iraqi oil production and related energy
moving Saddam.[333] The Center for Public Integrity al- security concerns (the price of oil has quadrupled
leges that the Bush administration made a total of 935 since 2002)[350][351]
false statements between 2001 and 2003 about Iraq’s al-
leged threat to the United States.[334] After President Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009,
Both proponents and opponents of the invasion have also some anti-war groups decided to stop protesting even
criticized the prosecution of the war effort along a num- though the war was still going on. Some of them de-
ber of other lines. Most significantly, critics have assailed cided to stop because they felt they should give the new
the United States and its allies for not devoting enough President time to establish his administration, and others
troops to the mission, not adequately planning for post- stopped because they believed that Obama would end the
invasion Iraq, and for permitting and perpetrating human war.[352]
rights abuses. As the war has progressed, critics have also
railed against the high human and financial costs. In 2016,
the United Kingdom published the Iraq Inquiry, a public 6.1 Financial cost
inquiry which was broadly critical of the actions of the
British government and military in making the case for In March 2013, the total cost of the Iraq War was esti-
the war, in tactics and in planning for the aftermath of mated to have been $1.7 trillion by the Watson Institute
the war.[335][336][337] of International Studies at Brown University.[353] Critics
have argued that the total cost of the war to the U.S.
economy is estimated to be from $3 trillion[354] to $6
trillion,[355] including interest rates, by 2053. The upper
ranges of these estimates include long-term veterans costs
and economic impacts. For example, Harvard’s public fi-
nance expert Linda J. Bilmes has estimated that the long-
term cost of providing disability compensation and med-
ical care to U.S. troops injured in the Iraq conflict will
reach nearly $1 trillion over the next 40 years.[356]
States participating in the invasion of Iraq A CNN report noted that the United States-led interim
States in support of an invasion government, the Coalition Provisional Authority lasting
States in opposition to an invasion until 2004 in Iraq had lost $8.8 billion in the Development
States with an uncertain or no official standpoint Fund for Iraq. In June 2011, it was reported by CBS
News that $6 billion in neatly packaged blocks of $100
bills was air-lifted into Iraq by the George W. Bush ad-
Criticisms include: ministration, which flew it into Baghdad aboard C‑130
military cargo planes. In total, the Times says $12 billion
• Legality of the invasion[338][339] in cash was flown into Iraq in 21 separate flights by May
• Human casualties 2004, all of which has disappeared. An inspector gen-
eral’s report mentioned that "'Severe inefficiencies and
• Human rights violations such as the Iraq prison poor management' by the Coalition Provisional Author-
abuse scandals ity would leave no guarantee that the money was properly
• Insufficient post-invasion plans, in particular inad- used”, said Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., director of the Office
equate troop levels (a RAND Corporation study of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
stated that 500,000 troops would be required for “The CPA did not establish or implement sufficient man-
success)[340] agerial, financial and contractual controls to ensure that
funds were used in a transparent manner.”[357] Bowen told
• Financial costs with approximately $612 billion the Times the missing money may represent “the largest
spent as of 4/09 the CBO has estimated the total theft of funds in national history.”[358]
cost of the war in Iraq to the United States will be
around $1.9 trillion.[341]
• Adverse effect on U.S.-led global "war on ter- 7 Humanitarian crises
ror"[342][343]
• Damage to U.S.' traditional alliances and influence Main articles: Humanitarian crises of the Iraq War and
in the region, especially Israel[344] and Saudi Ara- Refugees of Iraq
bia.[345] The child malnutrition rate rose to 28%.[359] Some 60–
70% of Iraqi children were reported to be suffering from
• Endangerment and ethnic cleansing of religious and psychological problems in 2007.[360] Most Iraqis had no
ethnic minorities by insurgents[202][346][347][348][349] access to safe drinking water. A cholera outbreak in
26 8 HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Child killed by a car bomb in Kirkuk, July 2011

Gun camera footage of the airstrike of 12 July 2007 in Baghdad,

northern Iraq was thought to be the result of poor wa-
showing the slaying of Namir Noor-Eldeen and a dozen other
ter quality.[361] As many as half of Iraqi doctors left the civilians by a U.S. helicopter.
country between 2003 and 2006.[362] The use of depleted
uranium and white phosphorus by the U.S. military has
been blamed for birth defects and cancers in the Iraqi city 8.2 Coalition forces and private contrac-
of Fallujah.[363][364][365] tors
By the end of 2015, according to the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 4.4 million Main article: Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Iraqis had been internally displaced.[366] The population
of Iraqi Christians dropped dramatically during the war,
from 1.5 million in 2003 to 500,000 in 2015,[367] and per-
haps only 275,000 in 2016.
The Foreign Policy Association reported that “Perhaps
the most perplexing component of the Iraq refugee cri-
sis ... has been the inability for the United States to ab-
sorb more Iraqis following the 2003 invasion of the coun-
try. To date, the United States has granted around 84,000
Iraqis refugee status, of the more than two million global
Iraqi refugees. By contrast, the United States granted asy-
lum to more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees during
the Vietnam War.”[368][369][370]

8 Human rights abuses

Main article: Human rights in post-invasion Iraq

Throughout the entire Iraq war, there have been human
rights abuses on all sides of the conflict.

8.1 Iraqi government

This photograph from Abu Ghraib released in 2006 shows a
• The use of torture by Iraqi security forces.[371] pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners.

• Iraqi police from the Interior Ministry accused of
forming Death Squads and committing numerous
massacres and tortures of Sunni Arabs[372] and the
police collusion with militias in Iraq have com-
pounded the problems.
• Deaths of civilians as a result of bombing and missile
strikes.[373]
• Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse by U.S.
Army personnel.[374]

• Haditha killings of 24 civilians (ongoing with some
charges dropped)
• White phosphorus use in Iraq
• Rape and murder of an Iraqi girl, and murder of her
family.[375]
• The torture and killing of prisoner of war, Iraqi Air
Force commander, Abed Hamed Mowhoush
• The killing of Baha Mousa
• Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre[376] where 42
civilians were allegedly killed by coalition forces.
• Planting weapons on noncombatant, unarmed Iraqis
by three U.S. Marines after killing them.[377][378]
According to a report by The Nation, other similar
acts have been witnessed by U.S. soldiers.[379] Mem-
bers of Iraq Veterans Against the War tell similar
stories.[380]
• Blackwater Baghdad shootings
• Allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock execu-
tions, and sexual assault by British troops were pre-
sented to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and the European
Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (EC-
CHR) on 12 January 2014.[381]
8.3 Insurgent groups
Main article: Iraq War insurgent attacks
Further information: Suicide bombings in Iraq since 2003
and Tactics of the Iraqi insurgency
Car bombings are a frequently used tactic by insurgents in Iraq.
• Killing over 12,000 Iraqis from January 2005 9 Public opinion on the war
to June 2006, according to Iraqi Interior Min-
ister Bayan Jabr, giving the first official count Main article: Public opinion on the Iraq War
for the victims of bombings, ambushes and other
27
deadly attacks.[382] The insurgents have also con-
ducted numerous suicide attacks on the Iraqi civil-
ian population, mostly targeting the majority Shia
community.[383][384] An October 2005 report from
Human Rights Watch examines the range of civil-
ian attacks and their purported justification.[385]
• Attacks against civilians including children through
bombing of market places and other locations reach-
able by suicide bombers.
• Attacks against civilians by sectarian death squads
primarily during the Iraqi Civil war.
• Attacks on diplomats and diplomatic facilities in-
cluding; the bombing of the UN headquarters
in Baghdad in August 2003 killing the top UN
representative in Iraq and 21 other UN staff
members;[386] beheading several diplomats: two Al-
gerian diplomatic envoys Ali Belaroussi and Azze-
dine Belkadi,[387] Egyptian diplomatic envoy al-
Sherif,[388] and four Russian diplomats.[389]
• The February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari
Mosque, destroying one of the holiest Shiite shrines,
killing over 165 worshipers and igniting sectarian
strife and reprisal killings.[390]
• The publicised killing of several contractors;
Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, Kenneth Bigley,
Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov (Bulgarian truck
drivers.)[391] Other non-military personnel mur-
dered include: translator Kim Sun-il, Shosei
Koda, Fabrizio Quattrocchi (Italian), charity worker
Margaret Hassan, reconstruction engineer Nick
Berg, photographer Salvatore Santoro (Italian)[392]
and supply worker Seif Adnan Kanaan (Iraqi.) Four
private armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko
Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were
killed with grenades and small arms fire, their bodies
dragged from their vehicles, beaten and set ablaze.
Their burned corpses were then dragged through the
streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the
Euphrates.[393]
• Torture or killing of members of the New Iraqi
Army,[394] and assassination of civilians associated
with the Coalition Provisional Authority, such as
Fern Holland, or the Iraqi Governing Council, such
as Aqila al-Hashimi and Ezzedine Salim, or other
foreign civilians, such as those from Kenya.[395]
28 10 RELATION TO THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM

A woman pleads with an Iraqi army soldier from 2nd Company,

Protesters on 19 March 2005, in London, where organizers claim 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division to let a suspected insurgent
over 150,000 marched free during a raid near Tafaria, Iraq

9.1 International opinion would have a negative effect.[405][406] In 2006, a poll con-
ducted on the Iraqi public revealed that 52% of the ones
According to a January 2007 BBC World Service poll polled said Iraq was going in the right direction and 61%
of more than 26,000 people in 25 countries, 73% of the claimed it was worth ousting Saddam Hussein.[402]
global population disapproved of U.S. handling of the
Iraq War.[396] A September 2007 poll conducted by the
BBC found that two-thirds of the world’s population be- 10 Relation to the Global War on
lieved the U.S. should withdraw its forces from Iraq.[397]
Terrorism
In 2006 it was found that majorities in the UK and Canada
believed that the war in Iraq was “unjustified” and – in the
UK – were critical of their government’s support of U.S. Main article: Iraq War and U.S. Global War on Terror
policies in Iraq.[398] Further information: Criticism of the War on Terrorism,
Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein and
According to polls conducted by the Arab American al-Qaeda timeline
Institute, four years after the invasion of Iraq, 83%
of Egyptians had a negative view of the U.S. role in
Iraq; 68% of Saudi Arabians had a negative view; Though explicitly [407]
stating that Iraq had “nothing” to do
96% of the Jordanian population had a negative view; with 9/11, erstwhile President George W. Bush con-
70% of the population of the United Arab Emirates sistently referred to the Iraq war as “the central front
and 76% of the Lebanese population also described in the War on Terror", and argued that if the United
their view as negative. [399]
The Pew Global Attitudes States pulled out of Iraq, “terrorists will follow us
[408][409][410]
Project reports that in 2006 majorities in the Netherlands, here”. While other proponents of the war reg-
Germany, Jordan, France, Lebanon, Russia, China, ularly echoed this assertion, as the conflict dragged on,
Canada, Poland, Pakistan, Spain, Indonesia, Turkey, and members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. public, and even
Morocco believed the world was safer before the Iraq U.S. troops questioned the connection between Iraq and
War and the toppling of Saddam, while pluralities in the the fight against anti-U.S. terrorism. In particular, a con-
United States and India believe the world is safer without sensus developed among intelligence experts that the Iraq
Saddam Hussein. [400] war actually increased terrorism. Counterterrorism ex-
pert Rohan Gunaratna frequently referred to the invasion
of Iraq as a “fatal mistake”.[411]
9.2 Iraqi opinion London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies con-
cluded in 2004 that the occupation of Iraq had become
Directly after the invasion, polling suggested that a “a potent global recruitment pretext” for Mujahideen and
slight majority supported the U.S. invasion.[401] Polls that the invasion “galvanised” al-Qaeda and “perversely
conducted between 2005 and 2007 showed 31–37% of inspired insurgent violence” there.[412] The U.S. National
Iraqi’s wanted U.S. and other Coalition forces to with- Intelligence Council concluded in a January 2005 report
draw once security was restored and that 26–35% wanted that the war in Iraq had become a breeding ground for a
immediate withdrawal instead.[402][403][404] Despite a ma- new generation of terrorists; David Low, the national in-
jority having previously been opposed to the U.S. pres- telligence officer for transnational threats, indicated that
ence, 60% of Iraqis opposed American troops leaving di- the report concluded that the war in Iraq provided ter-
rectly prior to withdrawal, with 51% saying withdrawal rorists with “a training ground, a recruitment ground, the

opportunity for enhancing technical skills ... There is
even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood
that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will,
in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will there-
fore disperse to various other countries.” The Council’s
chairman Robert Hutchings said, “At the moment, Iraq is
a magnet for international terrorist activity.”[413] And the
2006 National Intelligence Estimate, which outlined the
considered judgment of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies,
held that “The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause célèbre'
for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of U.S. involve-
ment in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for
the global jihadist movement.”[414]
11 Foreign involvement
11.1 Role of Saudi Arabia and non-Iraqis
See also: Saudi Arabia and terrorism
According to studies, most of the suicide bombers in Iraq
are foreigners, especially Saudis.[415][416][417]
11.2 Role of China and Russia
In order to encourage the re-stabilization of Iraq, China
and Russia paid the Iraqi government for access to their
oil wells by providing the highest bids.[418]
11.3 Iranian involvement
Although some military intelligence analysts have con-
cluded there is no concrete evidence, U.S. Major Gen-
eral Rick Lynch has claimed that Iran has provided train-
ing, weapons, money, and intelligence to Shiite insurgents
in Iraq and that up to 150 Iranian intelligence agents,
plus members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are
believed to be active in Iraq at any given time.[419][420]
Lynch thinks that members of the Iranian Quds Force
and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have trained mem-
bers of the Qazali terror network in explosives technology
and also provided the network with arms, munitions, and
military advisors. Many explosive devices, including im-
provised explosives (IEDs) and explosively-formed pro-
jectiles (EFPs), used by insurgents are claimed by Lynch
to be Iranian-made or designed.
According to two unnamed U.S. officials, the Pentagon
is examining the possibility that the Karbala provincial
headquarters raid, in which insurgents managed to infil-
trate an American base, kill five U.S. soldiers, wound
three, and destroy three humvees before fleeing, was sup-
ported by Iranians. In a speech on 31 January 2007, Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated that Iran was sup-
porting attacks against Coalition forces in Iraq[421] and
29
some Iraqis suspect that the raid may have been perpe-
trated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps's Qods
Force in retaliation for the detention of five Iranian offi-
cials by U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on
11 January.[422][423]
Michael Weiss and Dexter Filkins have described the ex-
tensive involvement of Iranian Quds Force commander
Qasem Suleimani in arming and training both Sunni and
Shi'ite militias in Iraq. According to Weiss, Iranian strat-
egy was designed to prevent the Iraqi government from
functioning so that Iran could exert greater control over
the country under the guise of providing stability. Weiss
also traced the origins of al Qaeda in Iraq, which en-
tered Iraqi Kurdistan through Iran, to covert Iranian op-
erations to destabilize the Iraqi government of Saddam
Hussein.[424] According to a Western diplomat quoted by
Filkins: “Suleimani wanted to bleed the Americans, so he
invited in the jihadis, and things got out of control.”[425]
In 2011, U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey stated that Ira-
nian proxies were responsible for roughly one-fourth of
U.S. casualties in Iraq.[426]
12 See also
• 12 July 2007 Baghdad airstrike (associated with
WikiLeaks in 2010)
• Iraq–United States relations
• National Network to End the War Against Iraq
• Overseas interventions of the United States
• United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War
• United States military casualties of war
• Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
• The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia
Changelogs
13 Footnotes
[1] The conflict is also known as the War in Iraq, the Oc-
cupation of Iraq, the Second Gulf War, Gulf War II,
and Gulf War 2. The period of the war lasting from 2003
to 2010 was referred to as Operation Iraqi Freedom by
the United States military.
14 References
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[2] “The JRTN Movement and Iraq’s Next Insurgency | Com-
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Retrieved 2014-08-02.
30
[3] Michael Petrou (9 September 2011). “The decline of al-
Qaeda”. Maclean’s. George W. Bush gambled on surging
thousands more troops to the embattled country. It paid
off. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is now a diminished force without
territory.
[4] Spencer C. Tucker. U.S. Conflicts in the 21st Century:
Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror. ISBN
1440838798. Al Qaeda in Iraq was decimated by the end
of the Iraq War in 2011
[5] Galbraith, Peter W. (2007). The End of Iraq: How Amer-
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[11] http://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Felter_
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[12] President Barack Obama Speaks With VICE News.
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[22] 260 killed in 2003, 15,196 killed from 2004 through 2009
(with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009), 67
killed in March 2009, 1,100 killed in 2010, and 1,067
killed in 2011, thus giving a total of 17,690 dead
[23] “Iraq War” (PDF). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved
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[28] “POW and MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts”.
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[29] “Casualty” (PDF). U.S. Department of Defense. Re-
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[30] 33 Ukrainians , 31+ Italians , 30 Bulgarians , 20 Sal-
vadorans , 19 Georgians , 18 Estonians , 16+ Poles ,
15 Spaniards , 10 Romanians , 6 Australians “Archived
copy”. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Re-
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[31] Many official U.S. tables at “Military Casualty Informa-
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[32] “Casualties in Iraq”.
[33] iCasualties.org (was lunaville.org). Benicia, California.
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[35] http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/
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[36] “Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) –
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[37] T. Christian Miller (23 September 2009). “U.S. Gov-
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[38] 185 in Diyala from June 2007 to December 2007, 4 in
assassination of Abu Risha, 25 on 12 November 2007, 528
in 2008, 27 on 2 January 2009, 53 From 6 to 12 April
2009, 13 on 16 November 2009, 15 in December 2009,
100+ from April to June 2010, 52 on 18 July 2010, total
of 1,002+ dead Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback
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[39] Moore, Solomon; Oppel, Richard A. (24 January 2008).
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[40] Greg Bruno. “Finding a Place for the 'Sons of Iraq'".
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[41] Press release (28 October 2003). “New Study Finds:
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[43] 597 killed in 2003,, 23,984 killed from 2004 through
2009 (with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009),
652 killed in May 2004, 45 killed in March 2009, 676
killed in 2010, and 590 killed in 2011, thus giving a total
of 26,544 dead
[44] “Amnesty: Iraq holds up to 30,000 detainees without
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[45] ""Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-
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[48] Hagopian, Amy; Flaxman, Abraham D.; Takaro, Tim
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41
15 Further reading
• Bellavia, David (2007). House to House: An Epic
Memoir of War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-
1416574712.
• Dexter Filkins (17 December 2012). “General Prin-
ciples: How good was David Petraeus?". The New
Yorker. pp. 76–81.
• Gates, Robert M. (2014). Duty: Memoirs of a Sec-
retary at War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN
9780307959478. 318 pages
• Gordon, Michael R. (2006). Cobra II: The Inside
Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. Pan-
theon. ISBN 978-1557782328.
• Larson, Luke S. (2008). Senator’s Son: An Iraq
War Novel. Phoenix, Arizona: Key Edition Incor-
porated. ISBN 978-1449969868.
• North, Richard (2009). Ministry of Defeat: The
British War in Iraq 2003–2009. Continuum Pub-
lishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1441169976.
• Bruce R. Pirnie; Edward O'Connell (2008). Coun-
terinsurgency in Iraq (2003–2006). Santa Monica,
CA: Rand Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-4297-2.
• Thomas E. Ricks (2006). Fiasco: The Ameri-
can Military Adventure in Iraq. Penguin. ISBN
9781594201035.
• A Bitter Legacy: Lessons of Debaathification in Iraq
(Report). International Center for Transitional Jus-
tice.
16 External links
• International Center for Transitional Justice, Iraq
• Dollar cost of war: total U.S. cost of the Iraq War
• “Bleak Pentagon study admits 'civil war' in Iraq”, by
Rupert Cornwell, The Independent, March 2007
• High resolution maps of Iraq, GulfWarrior.org
• Presidential address by George W. Bush on the
evening of 19 March 2003, announcing war against
Iraq.
• Bibliography: The Second U.S. – Iraq War (2003–
)
• "1st Major Survey of Iraq". Zogby International, 10
September 2003.
• Iraq at Polling Report.com. Chronological polls of
Americans 18 and older
42 16 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Just War in Iraq 2003 pdf Legal dissertation by

Thomas Dyhr from University of Copenhagen.
• Iraq war stories, a Guardian and Observer archive
in words and pictures documenting the human and
political cost, The Guardian, April 2009.

• Iraq: The War Card. Center for Public Integrity.

• Jargin SV. Health care in Iraq: 2013 vs. 2003.
CMAJ September 17, 2013
 43

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SmartGuy Old, Gaff, Mjolnir1984, Monstrous m, Yamaguchi , Dyslexic agnostic, Kudzu1, Aksi great, Unforgettableid, M347758, On-
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bot, Kurykh, JarrodWood, Kingsbury, Gonzalo84, Persian Poet Gal, Dangerdan97, AndrewRT, Justforasecond, Leviance, Achmelvic,
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ton Honda, Mr.K., Mgiganteus1, NYCJosh, Green Giant, Goodnightmush, XMaster4000, Cmh, Polyhymnia, IronGargoyle, Cronos2546,
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17.1 Text 45

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17.2 Images
• File:080216_3-14_graduation.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/080216_3-14_graduation.jpg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17105&Itemid=1 Origi-
nal artist: US Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Erica R. Gardner
• File:2009_Iraqi_elections.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/2009_Iraqi_elections.png License: Pub-
lic domain Contributors: Own work (Original text: I (Kermanshahi (talk)) created this work entirely by myself.) Original artist: Kermanshahi
(talk)
• File:Abu_Ghraib_53.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Abu_Ghraib_53.jpg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Apache-killing-Iraq.avi.ogg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Apache-killing-Iraq.ogv License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Army.mil-2007-03-21-084518.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/US_Army_soldiers_in_a_
firefight_near_Al_Doura%2C_Baghdad.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: [1] Original artist: Sean A. Foley
• File:Baghdad_-_airport_and_green_zone.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Baghdad_-_airport_
and_green_zone.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Baghdad_Convention_Center_inside.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Baghdad_Convention_
Center_inside.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: originally posted to Flickr as Iraqi Parlament, Convention Center, Baghdad Original
artist: James (Jim) Gordon
17.2 Images 47

• File:Blue_iPod_Nano.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Blue_iPod_Nano.jpg License: Public domain

Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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Own work Original artist: LA2
• File:Bremer_signing.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/02/Bremer_signing.jpg License: PD Contributors: ? Orig-
inal artist: ?
• File:Bush_and_al-Maliki.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Bush_and_al-Maliki.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: http://www.defenselink.mil/home/images/photos/2006-06/index/Hi-Res/060613c1-bush.jpg Original artist: U.S.
Government
• File:Bush_auth_jbc.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Bush_auth_jbc.jpg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Bush_surge_announcement_jan_2007.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Bush_surge_
announcement_jan_2007.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: whitehouse.gov, President’s Address to the Nation Original artist:
White House photo by Eric Draper
• File:C-17_Medevac_mission,_Balad_AB,_Iraq.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/C-17_Medevac_
mission%2C_Balad_AB%2C_Iraq.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: immediate image source: C-17 Medevac mission, Balad AB,
Iraq Original artist: U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Scott Reed (see 'extended details’ from metadata)
• File:Car_bomb_in_Iraq.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Car_bomb_in_Iraq.jpg License: Public do-
main Contributors: DOD Defense Visual Information Center Original artist: SPC Ronald Shaw Jr., U.S. Army
• File:Car_bomb_victim_in_Iraq.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Car_bomb_victim_in_Iraq.jpg Li-
cense: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: Flickr Original artist: James Gordon from Los Angeles, California, USA
• File:Chirac_Bush_Blair_Berlusconi.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Chirac_Bush_Blair_
Berlusconi.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/06/images/20030602_g81-515h.
html Original artist: White House photo by Eric Draper
• File:Coat_of_arms_(emblem)_of_Iraq_1991-2004.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Coat_of_
arms_%28emblem%29_of_Iraq_1991-2004.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: R-41. Original by
User:Tonyjeff, based on national symbol, with the help of User:Omar86, User:Kafka1 and User:AnonMoos.
• File:CollateralMurder.ogv Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/CollateralMurder.ogv License: Public do-
main Contributors: Wikileaks at http://collateralmurder.com/ Original artist: US Apache helicopter
• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Origi-
nal artist: ?
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artist: ?
• File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_041021-M-8096K-036.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Defense.
gov_News_Photo_041021-M-8096K-036.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
This Image was released by the United States Marine Corps with the ID 041021-M-8096K-036 <a class='external text'
href='//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Files_created_by_the_United_States_Marine_Corps_with_known_
IDs,<span>,&,</span>,filefrom=041021-M-8096K-036#mw-category-media'>(next)</a>.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.
Original artist: Lance Cpl. Daniel J. Klein, U.S. Marine Corps
• File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_051107-M-5865P-021.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Defense.
gov_News_Photo_051107-M-5865P-021.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
This Image was released by the United States Marine Corps with the ID 051107-M-5865P-021 <a class='external text'
href='//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Files_created_by_the_United_States_Marine_Corps_with_known_
IDs,<span>,&,</span>,filefrom=051107-M-5865P-021#mw-category-media'>(next)</a>.
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Original artist: Cpl. Andrew D. Pendracki, U.S. Marine Corps
• File:Edit-clear.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The
Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the file, specifically: “Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).”
• File:Fedayeen_Saddam_SSI.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Fedayeen_Saddam_SSI.svg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work. Based on patch visible in Iraqi Perspectives Project: A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from
Saddam’s Senior Leadership, page 170. Original artist: MrPenguin20
• File:Flag_of_Albania.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Flag_of_Albania.svg License: Public domain
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main Contributors: Own work Original artist: SKopp
• File:Flag_of_Australia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Flag_of_Australia.svg License: Public domain Con-
tributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Azerbaijan.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Flag_of_Azerbaijan.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: http://www.elibrary.az/docs/remz/pdf/remz_bayraq.pdf and http://www.meclis.gov.az/?/az/topcontent/21 Original
artist: SKopp and others
48 17 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

• File:Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Flag_of_Bosnia_and_

Herzegovina.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Kseferovic
• File:Flag_of_Bulgaria.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Flag_of_Bulgaria.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: The flag of Bulgaria. The colors are specified at http://www.government.bg/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0034&
n=000005&g= as: Original artist: SKopp
• File:Flag_of_Denmark.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Flag_of_Denmark.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Madden
• File:Flag_of_El_Salvador.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Flag_of_El_Salvador.svg License: Pub-
lic domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: user:Nightstallion
• File:Flag_of_Estonia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Flag_of_Estonia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.riigikantselei.ee/?id=73847 Original artist: Originally drawn by User:SKopp. Blue colour changed by User:PeepP
to match the image at [1].
• File:Flag_of_Georgia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Flag_of_Georgia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work based on File:Brdzanebuleba 31.pdf Original artist: User:SKopp
• File:Flag_of_Honduras.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Flag_of_Honduras.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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main Contributors:
• Flags of the World – Hungary Original artist: SKopp
• File:Flag_of_Iceland.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Flag_of_Iceland.svg License: Public domain
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• File:Flag_of_Iran.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Flag_of_Iran.svg License: Public domain Contrib-
utors: URL http://www.isiri.org/portal/files/std/1.htm and an English translation / interpretation at URL http://flagspot.net/flags/ir'.html
Original artist: Various
• File:Flag_of_Iraq.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Flag_of_Iraq.svg License: Public domain Contrib-
utors:
• This image is based on the CIA Factbook, and the website of Office of the President of Iraq, vectorized by User:Militaryace Original artist:
Unknown, published by Iraqi governemt, vectorized by User:Militaryace based on the work of User:Hoshie
• File:Flag_of_Iraq_(1991-2004).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Flag_of_Iraq_%281991-2004%
29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Italy.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Flag_of_Italy.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Japan.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Flag_of_Japan.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Origi-
nal artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Kazakhstan.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Flag_of_Kazakhstan.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: own code, construction sheet Original artist: -xfi-
• File:Flag_of_Kurdistan.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Flag_of_Kurdistan.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: <a href='//validator.w3.org/' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='W3C' src='https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg/88px-Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg.png'
width='88' height='30' style='vertical-align: top' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Invalid_SVG_1.
1_%28pink%29.svg/132px-Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/
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/></a>iThe source code of the previous SVG was invalid due to 12 errors.
• File:Flag_of_Latvia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Flag_of_Latvia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: SKopp
• File:Flag_of_Lithuania.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Flag_of_Lithuania.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work Original artist: SuffKopp
• File:Flag_of_Macedonia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Flag_of_Macedonia.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:SKopp, rewritten by User:Gabbe
• File:Flag_of_Moldova.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Flag_of_Moldova.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: vector coat of arms image traced by User:Nameneko from Image:Moldova gerb large.png. Construction sheet can
be found at http://flagspot.net/flags/md.html#const Original artist: Nameneko and others
• File:Flag_of_Mongolia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Flag_of_Mongolia.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Current version is SVG implementation of the Mongolian flag as described by Mongolian National Standard MNS
6262:2011 (Mongolian State Flag. General requirements [1]
Original artist: User:Zscout370
• File:Flag_of_Multi-National_Force_–_Iraq.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Flag_of_
Multi-National_Force_%E2%80%93_Iraq.png License: Public domain Contributors: https://www.flagspot.net/ Original artist: US-
AIOH
• File:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: http://www.mch.govt.nz/files/NZ%20Flag%20-%20proportions.JPG Original artist: Zscout370, Hugh Jass
and many others
17.2 Images 49

• File:Flag_of_Nicaragua.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Flag_of_Nicaragua.svg Li-

cense: Public domain Contributors: Own work based on: <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text' href='https:
//docs.google.com/viewer?a=v,<span>,&,</span>,q=cache:tRiqYRg_YJ4J:www.casc.gob.ni/index.php?option%3Dcom_
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About Characteristics And Use Of Patriotic Symbols of Nicaragua</a> Original artist: C records (talk · contribs)
• File:Flag_of_Norway.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dbenbenn
• File:Flag_of_Poland.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Flag_of_Poland.svg License: Public domain Contrib-
utors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Portugal.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Flag_of_Portugal.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: http://jorgesampaio.arquivo.presidencia.pt/pt/republica/simbolos/bandeiras/index.html#imgs Original artist: Colum-
bano Bordalo Pinheiro (1910; generic design); Vítor Luís Rodrigues; António Martins-Tuválkin (2004; this specific vector set: see sources)
• File:Flag_of_Promised_Day_Brigades.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Flag_of_Promised_Day_
Brigades.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Flag of the Promised Day Brigades; a Shiite militia aligned with the Sadrist move-
ment in Iraq. Visible here, here, and here. Original artist: Promised Day Brigades
• File:Flag_of_Romania.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Flag_of_Romania.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work Original artist: AdiJapan
• File:Flag_of_Singapore.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Flag_of_Singapore.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: The drawing was based from http://app.www.sg/who/42/National-Flag.aspx. Colors from the book: (2001). The
National Symbols Kit. Singapore: Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. pp. 5. ISBN 8880968010 Pantone 032 shade from
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx?c_id=13050 Original artist: Various
• File:Flag_of_Slovakia.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Flag_of_Slovakia.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work; here, colors Original artist: SKopp
• File:Flag_of_South_Korea.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Flag_of_South_Korea.svg License:
Public domain Contributors: Ordinance Act of the Law concerning the National Flag of the Republic of Korea, Construction and color
guidelines (Russian/English) Original artist: Various
• File:Flag_of_Spain.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Flag_of_Spain.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Thailand.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Flag_of_Thailand.svg License: Public do-
main Contributors: Own work Original artist: Zscout370
• File:Flag_of_The_Islamic_State_of_Iraq.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Flag_of_The_Islamic_
State_of_Iraq.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. Original artist: Victor falk at English
Wikipedia
• File:Flag_of_Tonga.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Flag_of_Tonga.svg License: CC0 Contributors:
? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_Ukraine.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Flag_of_Ukraine.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ДСТУ 4512:2006 — Державний прапор України. Загальні технічні умови Original artist: Government of Ukraine
• File:Flag_of_United_States_Forces_–_Iraq.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Flag_of_United_
States_Forces_%E2%80%93_Iraq.png License: Public domain Contributors: This file was derived from: USF-I Logo.png
Original artist: This image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this: <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
USF-I_Logo.png' class='image'><img alt='USF-I Logo.png' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/USF-I_
Logo.png/20px-USF-I_Logo.png' width='20' height='20' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/USF-I_
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Logo.png 2x' data-file-width='1387' data-file-height='1374' /></a> USF-I Logo.png.
• File:Flag_of_al-Qaeda_in_Iraq.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Flag_of_al-Qaeda_in_Iraq.svg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors:
• Originally uploaded by User:Lexicon as Image:Flag of al-Qaeda.svg. Original artist: Emerson Begolly
• File:Flag_of_the_Ba'ath_Party.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Flag_of_the_Ba%27ath_Party.svg
License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic.
svg License: Public domain Contributors:
• -xfi-'s file
• -xfi-'s code
• Zirland’s codes of colors
Original artist:
(of code): SVG version by cs:-xfi-.
• File:Flag_of_the_Dominican_Republic.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Flag_of_the_Dominican_
Republic.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Nightstallion
• File:Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Zscout370
• File:Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Flag_of_the_Philippines.svg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: The design was taken from [1] and the colors were also taken from a Government website Original
artist: User:Achim1999
50 17 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

• File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg Li-

cense: PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flag_of_the_United_States.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg License:
PD Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Flickr_-_DVIDSHUB_-_Iraqi_Police_Build_Relationships_in_Basra.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/4/4d/Flickr_-_DVIDSHUB_-_Iraqi_Police_Build_Relationships_in_Basra.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Iraqi
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• File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-by-
sa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:GROM_DN-SD-04-01612.JPEG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/GROM_DN-SD-04-01612.
JPEG License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:Gate_closing_Iraq-Kuwait_border.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Gate_closing_
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href='//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Files_created_by_the_United_States_Army_with_known_
IDs,<span>,&,</span>,filefrom=hires_111218-A-5968J-023ab#mw-category-media'>(next)</a>.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information.
Original artist: Corporal Jordan Johnson, United States Army
• File:General_David_Petraeus_in_testimony_before_Congress.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/
General_David_Petraeus_in_testimony_before_Congress.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/
usinfo-photo/39/week_4/012307-Petraeus-200.jpg Original artist: U.S. State Department photograph
• File:IA-Sadr-City-04242008.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/IA-Sadr-City-04242008.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/04/us_iraqi_forces_enga.php Original artist: Technical
Sergeant Adrian Cadiz
• File:IAILogo.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/43/Islamic_Army_of_Iraq_%28emblem%29.png License: PD-
US Contributors:
http://iaisite-eng.org/ Original artist:
Islamic Army of Iraq
• File:IRGC-Seal.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/IRGC-Seal.svg License: Public domain Contribu-
tors: Own work Original artist: MrInfo2012
• File:Iraq-War-Map.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Iraq-War-Map.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
Contributors: self-made, based on [1] with colors added in Photoshop off of widely-available maps of the region Original artist: ADuran
• File:Iraq_2003_occupation.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Iraq_2003_occupation.png License:
CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: Kpalion
• File:Iraq_War_montage.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Iraq_War_montage.png License: CC
BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Top (Public Domain)

Middle-right (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Bottom-right (Public Domain)

Original artist: Futuretrillionaire

• File:Iraqi_Republican_Guard_Symbol.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Iraqi_Republican_Guard_
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• File:Iraqi_army_03_2011.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Iraqi_army_03_2011.jpg License: Pub-
lic domain Contributors: http://search.ahp.us.army.mil/search/images/ -- Direct link: http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e1/-images/2010/12/09/
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• File:Iraqi_insurgents_with_MANPADS.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Iraqi_insurgents_with_
MANPADS.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.webcitation.org/6F39H7PJR Original artist: U.S. Department of Home-
land Security
• File:Iraqi_soldiers_and_Blackhawk.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Iraqi_soldiers_and_
Blackhawk.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://web.archive.org/web/http://www4.army.mil/armyimages/armyimage.php?
photo=6796 Original artist: Spc. Ronald Shaw Jr
• File:Kurdish_lands_(3D).gif Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Kurdish_lands_%283D%29.gif License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
• File:L_company_3rd_Battalion_3rd_Marines_search_house.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/L_
company_3rd_Battalion_3rd_Marines_search_house.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.
nsf/lookup/200662214650?opendocument Original artist: Photo by: Sgt. Roe F. Seigle
• File:Lock-green.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg License: CC0 Contributors: en:File:
Free-to-read_lock_75.svg Original artist: User:Trappist the monk
• File:Logo_of_the_Supreme_Command_for_Jihad_and_Liberation.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/
Logo_of_the_Supreme_Command_for_Jihad_and_Liberation.png License: PD-US Contributors:
wahdahurriyaishtirakiya.blogspot.com Original artist:
Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation
17.2 Images 51

• File:London_Anti-war_demo_2005.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/London_Anti-war_demo_

2005.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: JK the Unwise
• File:London_anti-war_protest_banners.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/London_anti-war_
protest_banners.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Users AK7, William M. Connolley on en.wikipedia
• File:M1_Abrams_tanks_in_Iraqi_service,_Jan._2011.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
3/3f/M1_Abrams_tanks_in_Iraqi_service%2C_Jan._2011.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.
defenseimagery.mil; <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text' href='http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imagery.html#guid=
251e54c3b9a8895cbd7c71c0d7c2154fd976f87d'>VIRIN: 110106-A-IF956-327</a> (cropped) Original artist: Daneille Hendrix,
U.S. Army
• File:MESFABOT.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/MESFABOT.png License: Public domain Con-
tributors: Own work Original artist: hello_rizzudo...
• File:Marines_in_Saddams_palace_DM-SD-04-12222.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Marines_
in_Saddams_palace_DM-SD-04-12222.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Defense Visual Information Center Original artist: Lance
Corporal Kevin C. Quihuis Jr. (USMC)
• File:NATO_flag.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Flag_of_NATO.svg License: Public domain Con-
tributors:
• Source file on Wikimedia Commons Flag of NATO.svg (January 2013) Original artist:
• Found by 475847394d347339 in websites noted in the source section.

• File:OIF_fatalities_by_month.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/OIF_fatalities_by_month.png Li-

cense: Public domain Contributors: Graph entirely my own work, statistics provided by iCasualties. Original artist: Smurfy
• File:Pic_of_ramadi.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Pic_of_ramadi.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Joey Buccino
• File:Pleadingforfreedom.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Pleadingforfreedom.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: navy.mil Original artist: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jackey Bratt
• File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
• File:Powell-anthrax-vial.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Powell-anthrax-vial.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: Made from video from this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20030411134510/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/
releases/2003/02/20030205-1.html. Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. Original artist: United States Government
• File:President_Obama’{}s_speech_at_Camp_Lejeune_on_2009-02-27.ogv Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
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WhiteHouse.gov Original artist: The White House
• File:Raid_during_Operation_Thar_Thar_Dam.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/
Raid_during_Operation_Thar_Thar_Dam.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/
image1.nsf/ae82f18a8e1b160b852568ba007e7e5e/6e6121c99abffd5f8525714f003050c5/\protect\char"0024\relaxFILE/
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• File:Rumsfeld-Memo-HowStart.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Rumsfeld-Memo-HowStart.jpg
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• File:SaddamSpiderHole.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/SaddamSpiderHole.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: US Army photo Original artist: ?
• File:Samsung_Galaxy_S5_Vector.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Samsung_Galaxy_S5_Vector.
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• File:Shiism_arabic_blue.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Shiism_arabic_blue.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Vector equivalent of File:Shiism arabic blue.PNG. This is a self-made image (based on font), declared by me to
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• File:Skull_and_crossbones.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Skull_and_crossbones.svg
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known<a href='https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https:
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• File:Soldiers_firing_a_M120_120mm_mortar_(Iraq).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Soldiers_
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SSGT AARON D. ALLMON II, USAF
• File:State_positions_Iraq_war.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/State_positions_Iraq_war.svg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: Own work; vectorized from the original that was created by w:User:Merat. Data was from this Wikipedia
article. Original artist: ?
• File:Syria_and_Iraq_2014-onward_War_map.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Syria_and_Iraq_
2014-onward_War_map.png License: CC0 Contributors:
• w:en:Template:Syrian and Iraqi insurgency detailed map Original artist: Haghal Jagul
52 17 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

• File:T-54s,_T-55s,_Type_59s_or_Type_69s_at_Diwaniyah,_Iraq.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/d/d1/T-54s%2C_T-55s%2C_Type_59s_or_Type_69s_at_Diwaniyah%2C_Iraq.jpg License: Public domain Con-
tributors: http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imagery.html;jsessionid=7A9D938F468B91AFAE8F2B408DEA455B#guid=
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tributors: http://www.defenseimagery.mil/assetDetails.action?guid=241c6e187d067caa64990ac273c42caec49b060c Original artist: Sgt.
Paul L. Anstine III, U.S. Marine Corps
• File:U.S._Marines_with_Iraqi_POWs_-_March_21,_2003.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/U.S.
_Marines_with_Iraqi_POWs_-_March_21%2C_2003.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
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Original artist: Lance Cpl. Brian L. Wickliffe, U.S. Marine Corps
• File:USMarineTankinBaghdad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/USMarineTankinBaghdad.jpg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/lookup/2003555231?opendocument Original artist: U.S.
Marine Corps
• File:UStanks_baghdad_2003.JPEG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/UStanks_baghdad_2003.JPEG
License: Public domain Contributors: http://arcweb.archives.gov/ Original artist: Technical Sergeant John L. Houghton, Jr., United States
Air Force
• File:Us_troop_iraq_casualty_memorial.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Us_troop_iraq_casualty_
memorial.jpg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work (self-made photograph) Original artist: Nils Fretwurst Fretwurst
• File:VS-1.6_anti-tank_mine.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/VS-1.6_anti-tank_mine.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: http://web.archive.org/web/http://www4.army.mil/armyimages/armyimage.php?photo=2246 Original artist:
by Pfc. Elizabeth Erste
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tion Contributors: http://www.iaea.org/ Original artist: Petr Pavlicek
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Contributors: This is a cropped version of Image:Wikinews-logo-en.png. Original artist: Vectorized by Simon 01:05, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Updated by Time3000 17 April 2007 to use official Wikinews colours and appear correctly on dark backgrounds. Originally uploaded by
Simon.
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Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rei-artur

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