119-526: Invasion (2003) Post-invasion insurgency (2003–2006) Civil war (2006–2008) Insurgency (2008–2011) This is a list of coalition military operations of the Iraq War , undertaken by Multi-National Force – Iraq . The list covers operations from 2003 until December 2011. For later operations, see American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) . Though the initial war lasted for only 21 days,
238-550: A joint session of Congress (simulcast live to the world), and announced his new " War on Terror ". This announcement was accompanied by the doctrine of "pre-emptive" military action, later termed the Bush Doctrine . Allegations of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda were regularly made by several senior officials in the Bush administration , who asserted that a highly secretive relationship existed between Saddam and
357-560: A 48-hour deadline. The UK House of Commons held a debate on going to war on 18 March 2003 where the government motion was approved 412 to 149 . The vote was a key moment in the history of the Blair administration , as the number of government MPs who rebelled against the vote was the greatest since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. Three government ministers resigned in protest at the war, John Denham , Lord Hunt of Kings Heath , and
476-427: A January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there
595-616: A Sunni – secured 37 seats. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ’s State of Law party got 33 seats in parliament. Al-Fatah alliance , whose main components are militia groups affiliated with the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces , sustained its crushing loss and snatched 17 seats. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) received 31 seats, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) gained 18. In June 2022, 73 members of parliament from
714-529: A counteroffensive. In response to insurgent attacks, coalition forces focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime, culminating in the shooting deaths of Saddam's two sons in July. In all, over 200 top leaders of the former regime were killed or captured, as well as supports and military personnel during the summer of 2004. Coalition and Iraqi government forces continue to battle Iraqi militants and other fighters. During early and mid-May 2005,
833-809: A design that Iraq stated did not exceed the permitted 150 km range, but which had traveled up to 183 km in tests. Shortly before the invasion, UNMOVIC stated that it would take "months" to verify Iraqi compliance with resolution 1441. In October 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the Iraq Resolution , which authorized the President to "use any means necessary" against Iraq. Americans polled in January 2003 widely favored further diplomacy over an invasion. Later that year, however, Americans began to agree with Bush's plan. The U.S. government engaged in an elaborate domestic public relations campaign to market
952-446: A dozen cities. The Allawi government vowed to crush the insurgency. An election for a government to draft a permanent constitution took place during this time ( ed . see Politics of Iraq for more information on the political state of Iraq). Although some violence and lack of widespread Sunni participation marred the event, much of the eligible Kurd and Shia populace participated. Sectarian violence has also been prominent part of
1071-423: A growing armed resistance, usually called the "Iraqi insurgency" (referred to by the mainstream media and coalition governments). The anti-occupation/anti-coalition forces are believed to be predominantly, but not exclusively, Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arabs, plus some foreign Arab and Muslim fighters, some of the latter tied to al-Qaeda. Several minor coalition members have pulled out of Iraq; this has been widely considered
1190-504: A large "surge" in US forces designed to help stabilize the region. On 10 January 2007, President Bush announced changes in the administration's political and military strategy in the Iraq War during a television speech broadcast. The speech and underlying strategy had been crafted under the working title "The New Way Forward." In the address Bush stated "America will change our strategy to help
1309-585: A marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August." Bush began formally making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in his 12 September 2002 address to the United Nations General Assembly . The United Kingdom agreed with the U.S. actions, while France and Germany were critical of plans to invade Iraq, arguing instead for continued diplomacy and weapons inspections. After considerable debate,
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#17327798802081428-522: A message to the U.S. State Department that the Iraqis wanted to discuss the accusations that the country had weapons of mass destruction and ties with Al-Qaeda. Iraq also attempted to reach the U.S. through the Syrian, French, German, and Russian intelligence services. In January 2003, Lebanese-American Imad Hage met with Michael Maloof of the U.S. Department of Defense 's Office of Special Plans . Hage,
1547-447: A parliamentary question, that "Regime change in Iraq would be a wonderful thing. That is not the purpose of our action; our purpose is to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction..." In November of that year, Blair further stated that, "So far as our objective, it is disarmament, not regime change – that is our objective. Now I happen to believe the regime of Saddam is a very brutal and repressive regime, I think it does enormous damage to
1666-431: A political success for the anti-occupation forces. Despite this, there was a reduction in violence throughout Iraq in the start of 2004 due to reorganization within the insurgent forces. During this time the tactics used by coalition forces were studied and the insurgency began to plan a new strategy. The calm did not last long however and once the insurgency had regained its footing attacks resumed and increased. Throughout
1785-445: A promised election day moratorium on attacks, even going so far as to guard the voters from attack. President Bush frequently pointed to the election as a sign of progress in rebuilding Iraq. However, post-election violence threatened to plunge the nation into civil war, before the situation began to calm in 2007. The election results themselves produced a shaky coalition government headed by Nouri al-Maliki . A parliamentary election
1904-592: A resident of Beirut , had been recruited by the department to assist in the war on terror . He reported that Mohammed Nassif, a close aide to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad , had expressed frustrations about the difficulties of Syria contacting the United States, and had attempted to use him as an intermediary. Maloof arranged for Hage to meet with civilian Richard Perle , then head of the Defense Policy Board . In January 2003, Hage met with
2023-519: A simple majority in favour to pass. In the event of competing proposals, the multiple proposals are put to a ballot and the proposal with the most supporters is put to the referendum. In the event of an affirmative referendum a Transitional Legislative Assembly is elected for one year, which has the task of writing a constitution for the Region, which is then put to a referendum requiring a simple majority to pass. The President, Prime Minister and Ministers of
2142-604: A threat to the U.S. and the world community. George W. Bush, speaking in October 2002, said that "The stated policy of the United States is regime change. ... However, if Saddam were to meet all the conditions of the United Nations, the conditions that I have described very clearly in terms that everybody can understand, that in itself will signal the regime has changed." Citing reports from certain intelligence sources, Bush stated on 6 March 2003 that he believed that Saddam
2261-561: A whole, but instead making them easily susceptible to corruption, nepotism, clientelism and patronage while focusing on their own (group's) interests and (elite's) survival and consolidation. This muhasasa elite cartel (and connected problems) led to massive protests in Iraq in 2011 , 2012–2013 , 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019–2021 . Analysts have seen this muhasasa system to exist until at least late 2020. The Abdul Mahdi Government of 2018 broke with elements of muhasasa . Although his anti- muhasasa Sadrist Movement retained plurality in
2380-482: Is Abdul Latif Rashid , who holds most of the executive authority and appointed the Council of Ministers, which acts as a cabinet and/or government. The northern autonomous provinces, Kurdistan Region emerged in 1992 as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Iraq an " authoritarian regime " in 2023. The federal government of Iraq
2499-485: Is believed to have been caused by a bomb planted by Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Although no injuries occurred in the blast, the mosque was severely damaged and the bombing resulted in violence over the following days. As of 20 October the U.S military announced that Operation Together Forward had failed to stem the tide of violence in Baghdad, and Shiite militants under al-Sadr seized several southern Iraq cities. On 23 November,
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#17327798802082618-463: Is defined under the current constitution as an Islamic , democratic , federal parliamentary republic . The federal government is composed of the executive , legislative , and judicial branches, as well as numerous independent commissions. The legislative branch is composed of the Council of Representatives and a Federation Council . The executive branch is composed of the president ,
2737-593: The 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk , where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi Army , to secure the northern part of the country. The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and were met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and the coalition occupied Baghdad on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of
2856-545: The 32nd Parallel (extended to the 33rd Parallel in 1996) as well as using economic sanctions. It was revealed that a biological weapons (BW) program in Iraq had begun in the early 1980s with help from the U.S. and Europe who were unaware of Iraq's intentions, in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972. Details of the BW program—along with a chemical weapons program—surfaced after
2975-598: The CPA , engaged in securing control of the oil infrastructure (a source of Iraq's foreign currency) and control of the major cities of Iraq. The insurgency, the developing the New Iraqi Army , disorganized police and security forces, as well as a lack of revenue have hampered efforts to assert control. In addition, former Baathist elements and militant Shia groups have engaged in sabotage, terrorism, open rebellion, and establishing their own security zones in all or part of
3094-740: The Independent High Electoral Commission , and the Commission on Integrity are independent commissions subject to monitoring by the Council of Representatives. The Central Bank of Iraq , the Board of Supreme Audit , the Communications and Media Commission , and the Endowment Commission are financially and administratively independent institutions. The Foundation of Martyrs is attached to
3213-690: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Saddam accepted the resolution on 13 November and inspectors returned to Iraq under the direction of UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei . As of February 2003, the IAEA "found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq"; the IAEA concluded that certain items which could have been used in nuclear enrichment centrifuges, such as aluminum tubes, were in fact intended for other uses. UNMOVIC "did not find evidence of
3332-413: The International Atomic Energy Agency . These documents were dismissed by the IAEA as forgeries, with the concurrence in that judgment of outside experts. At the time, a US official stated that the evidence was submitted to the IAEA without knowledge of its provenance and characterized any mistakes as "more likely due to incompetence not malice". Politics of Iraq [REDACTED] Member State of
3451-500: The January 2005 elections , including 59 seats for Baghdad Governorate . The seats within each governorate were allocated to lists through a system of Proportional Representation . An additional 45 "compensatory" seats were allocated to those parties whose percentage of the national vote total (including out of country votes) exceeds the percentage of the 275 total seats that they have been allocated. Women were required to occupy 25% of
3570-631: The National Military Command Center on that day, Rumsfeld asked for: "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit Saddam Hussein at same time. Not only Osama bin Laden ." A memo written by Rumsfeld in November 2001 considers an Iraq war. The rationale for invading Iraq as a response to 9/11 has been widely questioned, as there was no cooperation between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda . On 20 September 2001, Bush addressed
3689-544: The Occupation of Iraq . The newly elected transitional Assembly was given a mandate to write the new and permanent Constitution of Iraq and exercised legislative functions until the new Constitution came into effect, and resulted in the formation of the Iraqi Transitional Government . The United Iraqi Alliance , tacitly backed by Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani , led with some 48% of
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3808-572: The Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan . According to U.S. President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , the coalition aimed "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction [WMDs], to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism , and to free the Iraqi people", even though the UN inspection team led by Hans Blix had declared it had found no evidence of the existence of WMDs just before
3927-814: The Sadrist movement , resigned. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani , close ally of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, took the office to succeed Mustafa al-Kadhimi as new Prime Minister of Iraq . According to Transparency International , Iraq's is the most corrupt government in the Middle East , and is described as a " hybrid regime " (between a " flawed democracy " and an " authoritarian regime "). The 2011 report " Costs of War " from Brown University 's Watson Institute for International Studies concluded that U.S. military presence in Iraq has not been able to prevent this corruption, noting that as early as 2006, "there were clear signs that post-Saddam Iraq
4046-456: The elite to collude in order to avoid competition, improve their own profits, and dominate the market (of voters in a democracy), have been labeled "elite cartel ". The political parties themselves, once they win any ministry through the muhasasa system, benefit financially from state contracts awarded by them to companies run by their party members (see below, section Clientelism, patronage ) what makes it even harder for them to step out of
4165-416: The muhasasa arrangements. Or, as a researcher phrased it in 2020: "Such elite pacts are notoriously resistant to reform, particularly if any proposed change is perceived to undermine elite interests (…)". Although the system functions informally, a group of Norwegian researchers in late 2020 asserted—while citing other researchers but not a basic source—that 54% of the ministry posts would 'normally' go to
4284-828: The prime minister , and the Council of Ministers . The federal judiciary is composed of the Higher Judicial Council , the Supreme Court , the Court of Cassation , the Public Prosecution Department , the Judiciary Oversight Commission , and other federal courts that are regulated by law. One such court is the Central Criminal Court . The Independent High Commission for Human Rights ,
4403-464: The ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect the permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives . The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties and coalitions. 230 seats were apportioned among Iraq's 18 governorates based on the number of registered voters in each as of
4522-479: The "control" of "religious [or sectarian or ethnic] groups", "depending mostly on a group’s size", presuming such "groups" to be fully represented by one or several parties or lists taking part in the elections, or that national governments should "represent the different ethnic, religious and sectarian identities that make up the Iraqi society", presuming that such "identities" are expressed or represented by existing political parties. Such agreements between members of
4641-493: The 101st Airborne Division, started with a seminar on military operations in urban terrain, because that was viewed as the decisive event in the takedown of the regime in Iraq — that and finding and destroying the weapons of mass destruction." While there had been some earlier talk of action against Iraq, the Bush administration waited until September 2002 to call for action, with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card saying, "From
4760-401: The 2021 election, inability to form a government eventually led to the party's withdrawal from Parliament, allowing the rival parties to form another muhasasa -based government. Those two muhasasa agreements in and after 2003 (see above ) had the effect that, starting with the first post–2003 Iraqi government after elections in 2006, if a party "controlled" a ministry, it appointed also
4879-438: The 275 seats. The change in the voting system gave more weight to Arab Sunni voters, who make up most of the voters in several provinces. It was expected that these provinces would thus return mostly Sunni Arab representatives, after most Sunnis boycotted the last election. Turnout was high (79.6%). The White House was encouraged by the relatively low levels of violence during polling, with one insurgent group making good on
List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-487: The 328 members of the Council of Representatives who will in turn elect the Iraqi President and Prime Minister. On 30 November 2021, the political bloc led by Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr was confirmed the winner of the October parliamentary election . His Sadrist Movement , won a total of 73 out of the 329 seats in the parliament. The Taqadum, or Progress Party -led by Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi ,
5117-588: The Arab League Iraq is a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic . It is a multi-party system whereby the executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers as the head of government , the President of Iraq as the head of state , and legislative power is vested in the Council of Representatives . The current President of Iraq
5236-676: The Azores to discuss the invasion of Iraq and Spain's potential involvement in the war, as well as the beginning of the invasion. This encounter was extremely controversial in Spain, even now remaining a very sensitive point for the Aznar government. Almost a year later, Madrid suffered the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing , motivated by Spain's decision to participate in
5355-485: The Ba'ath Party. Before the start of the campaign on 12 February 2010, IHEC confirmed that most of the appeals by banned candidates had been rejected and 456 of the initially banned candidates would not be allowed to run for the election. There were numerous allegations of fraud, and a recount of the votes in Baghdad was ordered on 19 April 2010. On May 14, IHEC announced that after 11,298 ballot boxes had been recounted, there
5474-545: The Bush administration said attempts by Iraq to acquire thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes pointed to a clandestine program to make enriched uranium for nuclear bombs. Powell, in his address to the UN Security Council just before the war, referred to the aluminum tubes. A report released by the Institute for Science and International Security in 2002, however, reported that it was highly unlikely that
5593-459: The Council of Ministers. The Federal Public Service Council regulates the affairs of the federal public service, including appointment and promotion. The basic subdivisions of the country are the regions and the governorates. Both regions and governorates are given broad autonomy with regions given additional powers such as control of internal security forces for the region such as police, security forces, and guards. The last local elections for
5712-635: The Gulf War (1990–91) following investigations conducted by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) which had been charged with the post-war disarmament of Saddam's Iraq. The investigation concluded that the program had not continued after the war. The U.S. and its allies then maintained a policy of " containment " towards Iraq. This policy involved numerous economic sanctions by the UN Security Council ;
5831-495: The Iraq war, prompting some Spaniards to accuse the Prime Minister of being responsible. In March 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Australia, Spain, Denmark, and Italy began preparing for the invasion of Iraq , with a host of public relations and military moves. In his 17 March 2003 address to the nation, Bush demanded that Saddam and his two sons, Uday and Qusay , surrender and leave Iraq, giving them
5950-503: The Iraqi Army, including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack on and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations: this ended the invasion period and began the period of military occupation . Saddam Hussein
6069-463: The Iraqi people ... so I have got no doubt Saddam is very bad for Iraq, but on the other hand I have got no doubt either that the purpose of our challenge from the United Nations is the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, it is not regime change." At a press conference on 31 January 2003, Bush again reiterated that the single trigger for the invasion would be Iraq's failure to disarm, "Saddam Hussein must understand that if he does not disarm, for
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#17327798802086188-626: The Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March,
6307-493: The Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them—five brigades—will be deployed to Baghdad." As part of this new strategy, 2007 saw several major military operations aimed at eliminating insurgent activities, increase support services such as medical facilities and utilities and
6426-619: The Shia, 24% to the Sunni, 18% to the Kurds, and 4% to minorities including the Christians. They suggested that the muhasasa system leads to "a closed system of elite rule… recycling the political elites irrespective of their performance", not urging or inciting the Iraqi politicians to act transparently or accountably or to respond to citizen demands and deliver benefits to the Iraqi population as
6545-461: The U.S. also launched Operation Matador , an assault by around 1,000 Marines in the ungoverned region of western Iraq. Coalition and Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi fighters and civilians have been killed in these conflicts. As of late July 2007, nearly 3,700 U.S. soldiers have been killed, and around ten times this many have been wounded. The number of Iraqi citizens who have fallen victim to the fighting has risen. The Iraqi government, with some holdovers from
6664-525: The U.S. moved towards a more aggressive policy toward Iraq. The Republican Party's campaign platform in the 2000 election called for "full implementation" of the Iraq Liberation Act as "a starting point" in a plan to "remove" Saddam. After leaving the George W. Bush administration , Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said that an attack on Iraq had been planned since Bush's inauguration and that
6783-637: The UK ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock , publicly confirmed this reading of the resolution, assuring that Resolution 1441 provided no "automaticity" or "hidden triggers" for an invasion without further consultation of the Security Council. Resolution 1441 gave Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" and set up inspections by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and
6902-471: The UN Security Council contained a computer-generated image of a "mobile biological weapons laboratory". However, this information was based on claims of Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball" , an Iraqi emigrant living in Germany who later admitted that his claims had been false. Powell also presented false assertions alleging Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda . As a follow-up to Powell's presentation,
7021-429: The UN Security Council adopted a compromise resolution, UN Security Council Resolution 1441 , which authorized the resumption of weapons inspections and promised "serious consequences" for non-compliance. Security Council members France and Russia made clear that they did not consider these consequences to include the use of force to overthrow the Iraqi government. Both the U.S. ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte , and
7140-427: The United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Japan, and Spain proposed a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but Canada, France, and Germany, together with Russia, strongly urged continued diplomacy. Facing a losing vote as well as a likely veto from France and Russia, the US, UK, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Australia eventually withdrew their resolution. Opposition to
7259-512: The administration prepared Operation Desert Badger to respond aggressively if any Air Force pilot was shot down while flying over Iraq, but this did not happen. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld dismissed National Security Agency (NSA) intercept data available by midday of the 11th that pointed to al-Qaeda 's culpability, and by mid-afternoon ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans for attacking Iraq. According to aides who were with him in
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#17327798802087378-586: The chief of Iraqi intelligence's foreign operations, Hassan al-Obeidi. Obeidi told Hage that Baghdad did not understand why they were targeted and that they had no WMDs. He then made the offer for Washington to send in 2000 FBI agents to confirm this. He additionally offered petroleum concessions but stopped short of having Saddam give up power, instead suggesting that elections could be held in two years. Later, Obeidi suggested that Hage travel to Baghdad for talks; he accepted. Later that month, Hage met with General Habbush and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz . He
7497-426: The coalition soon found themselves fighting insurgent forces. Upon completion of the initial conflict the coalition troops began counterinsurgency, humanitarian, security and various other types of operations in order to stabilize the country. During the early occupation, a number of widely cited humanitarian, tactical, and political errors by coalition planners, particularly the United States and United Kingdom led to
7616-399: The continuation or resumption of programs of weapons of mass destruction" or significant quantities of proscribed items. UNMOVIC did supervise the destruction of a small number of empty chemical rocket warheads, 50 liters of mustard gas that had been declared by Iraq and sealed by UNSCOM in 1998, and laboratory quantities of a mustard gas precursor, along with about 50 Al-Samoud missiles of
7735-543: The conversation to senior levels of the state department and I was told to stand aside and they would handle it." Cannistraro stated that the offers made were all "killed" by the George W. Bush administration because they allowed Saddam to remain in power, an outcome viewed as unacceptable. It has been suggested that Saddam Hussein was prepared to go into exile if allowed to keep US$ 1 billion. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak 's national security advisor, Osama El-Baz , sent
7854-493: The deadliest attack since the beginning of the Iraq war occurred. Suspected Sunni-Arab militants used five suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum to kill at least 215 people and wound 257. Shiite mortar teams quickly retaliated, firing 10 shells at Sunni Islam's most important shrine in Baghdad, badly damaging the Abu Hanifa mosque and killing one person. Eight more rounds slammed down near
7973-443: The development of private economic activity , therefore meaning the private sector could not absorb the half million of young people entering the job market every year. This muhasasa -style 'cartel' government, due to its lack of accountability – politicians being "recycled ... irrespective of their performance" – provided too little incentives for those politicians to build a diversified and competitive economy or "deliver benefits to
8092-663: 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 transition to a representative self-government." Throughout 2002, the Bush administration insisted that removing Saddam from power to restore international peace and security was a major goal. The principal stated justifications for this policy of "regime change" were that Iraq's continuing production of weapons of mass destruction and known ties to terrorist organizations , as well as Iraq's continued violations of UN Security Council resolutions, amounted to
8211-622: The enforcement of Iraqi no-fly zones declared by the U.S. and the UK to protect the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and Shias in the south from aerial attacks by the Iraqi government; and ongoing inspections. Iraqi military helicopters and planes regularly contested the no-fly zones. In October 1998, removing the Iraqi government became official U.S. foreign policy with enactment of the Iraq Liberation Act . Enacted following
8330-574: The expulsion of UN weapons inspectors the preceding August (after some had been accused of spying for the U.S.), the act provided $ 97 million for Iraqi "democratic opposition organizations" to "establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq." This legislation contrasted with the terms set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 , which focused on weapons and weapons programs and made no mention of regime change. One month after
8449-461: The fighting started. NATO member Turkey refused to allow the U.S. forces across its territory into northern Iraq . Therefore, joint SAD and Army Special forces teams and the Peshmerga constituted the entire Northern force against the Iraqi army. They managed to keep the northern divisions in place rather than allowing them to aid their colleagues against the U.S.-led coalition force coming from
8568-476: The first United States National Security Council meeting involved discussion of an invasion. O'Neill later backtracked, saying that these discussions were part of a continuation of foreign policy first put into place by the Clinton administration . Despite the Bush administration's stated interest in invading Iraq, little formal movement towards an invasion occurred until the 11 September attacks . For example,
8687-516: The forerunner of the first post–Hussein sovereign Iraqi (interim) government , according to that ethno-sectarian quota system. Also in 2003, a "pact" ( muhasasa ta’ifa ) was struck by "the elite", holding that after a national election, the winning parties divide the ministerial positions in direct relationship to their success at the ballot box. After 2003, a second agreement ( muhasasa ) was made, holding that ministries and their budgets and other political positions must be proportionally placed under
8806-532: The general public but privileged companies were being served by the government. This culture of clientelism and "systemic political patronage " produced a new class of entrepreneurs, getting rich through close relations with government officials and their lush government contracts. Meanwhile, politicians themselves lived in wealth, self-enrichment and massive personal protection. The infrastructure not being maintained or modernized due to governmental incompetence and mismanagement (see above ) severely hampered
8925-603: The government's invasion rationale. In September 2004, Kofi Annan , United Nations Secretary-General at the time, called the invasion illegal under international law and said it was a breach of the UN Charter . On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War , including a rally of three million people in Rome, which the Guinness World Records listed as
9044-412: The governorates were held in the 2009 Iraqi governorate elections on 31 January 2009. The constitution requires that the Council of Representatives enact a law which provides the procedures for forming a new region 6 months from the start of its first session. A law was passed 11 October 2006 by a unanimous vote with only 138 of 275 representatives present, with the remaining representatives boycotting
9163-471: The initial air strikes against Saddam and his generals. Although the strike against Saddam was unsuccessful in killing him, it effectively ended his ability to command and control his forces. Strikes against Iraq's generals were more successful and significantly degraded the Iraqi command's ability to react to, and maneuver against, the U.S.-led invasion force. SAD operations officers successfully convinced key Iraqi Army officers to surrender their units once
9282-597: The invasion coalesced in the worldwide 15 February 2003 anti-war protest that attracted between six and ten million people in more than 800 cities, the largest such protest in human history according to the Guinness Book of World Records . On 16 March 2003, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar , UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , President of the United States George W. Bush , and Prime Minister of Portugal José Manuel Durão Barroso as host met in
9401-605: The invasion of Iraq was presented in detail by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003. In summary, he stated, We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression ... given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take
9520-561: The largest-ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié , between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. The invasion was preceded by an airstrike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 20 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Governorate from their massing point close to
9639-475: The matter further with people in Washington (both have acknowledged the meeting). A few days later, he informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told The Times , "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad.′" According to General Tommy Franks ,
9758-482: The militant and guerrilla activity. Targets here where often Shia gatherings or civilian concentrations mainly of Shias. As a result, over 700 Iraqi civilians died in the month. In anticipation of the, 15 December nationwide elections, U.S. soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, as well as Iraqi forces from the 4th Public Order Brigade and 1st Commando Brigade, raided about 350 homes and detained 49 suspected terrorists. Military officials said ten of
9877-555: The neglect of electricity networks, the transportation sector, economic legislation, and other infrastructure, as well as citizen demands not being responded to. Such incompetence – next to other forms of political turmoil like corruption (see next subsection ) and instability – is considered by many analysts to have also fostered the rise of ISIL, in 2014 . (During the formation of the Abdul Mahdi Government in 2018 , this new prime minister attempted to break through
9996-507: The objectives of the invasion were, "First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture, and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to
10115-573: The offices of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the top Sunni Muslim organisation in Iraq, setting nearby houses on fire. Two other mortar barrages on Sunni neighborhoods in west Baghdad killed nine and wounded 21, police said. After capture in December 2003, Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006, after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court. 2007 saw a rise in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations as well as
10234-415: The option of invading without it. General David Petraeus recalled in an interview his experience during the time before the invasion, stating that "When we were getting ready for what became the invasion of Iraq, the prevailing wisdom was that we were going to have a long, hard fight to Baghdad, and it was really going to be hard to take Baghdad. The road to deployment, which was a very compressed road for
10353-608: The paramilitary operations officers and 10th Special Forces Group soldiers, were the first U.S. forces to enter Iraq, in July 2002, before the main invasion. Once on the ground, they prepared for the subsequent arrival of U.S. Army Special Forces to organize the Kurdish Peshmerga . This joint team (called the Northern Iraq Liaison Element (NILE)) combined to defeat Ansar al-Islam , a group with ties to al-Qaeda, in Iraqi Kurdistan. This battle
10472-416: The passage of the Iraq Liberation Act, the U.S. and UK launched a bombardment campaign of Iraq called Operation Desert Fox . The campaign's express rationale was to hamper Saddam Hussein's government's ability to produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, but U.S. intelligence personnel also hoped it would help weaken Saddam's grip on power. With the election of George W. Bush as president in 2000 ,
10591-490: The radical Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda from 1992 to 2003, specifically through a series of meetings reportedly involving the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS). Some Bush advisers favored an immediate invasion of Iraq, while others advocated building an international coalition and obtaining United Nations authorization. Bush eventually decided to seek UN authorization, while still reserving
10710-651: The region are elected by simple majority, in contrast to the Iraqi Council of Representatives which requires two thirds support. Iraq is divided into 18 governorates , which are further divided into districts : Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30, 2005, in Iraq . The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during
10829-441: The remainder of 2004 and continuing into the present day, the insurgency has employed bombings as their primary means of combating the coalition forces. This has led to hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police killed in addition to the coalition forces they were fighting. Many were killed in a series of massive bombings at mosques and shrines throughout Iraq. The bombings indicated that as the relevance of Saddam Hussein and his followers
10948-517: The risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond? The United States will not and cannot run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a post–September 11 world. In September 2002, Tony Blair stated, in an answer to
11067-498: The sake of peace, we, along with others, will go disarm Saddam Hussein." As late as 25 February 2003, it was still the official line that the only cause of invasion would be a failure to disarm. As Blair made clear in a statement to the House of Commons, "I detest his regime. But even now he can save it by complying with the UN's demand. Even now, we are prepared to go the extra step to achieve disarmament peacefully." In September 2002,
11186-551: The six-day-long Battle of Baghdad . This early stage of the war formally ended on 1 May when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the "end of major combat operations" in his Mission Accomplished speech , after which the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as the first of several successive transitional governments leading up to the first Iraqi parliamentary election in January 2005. U.S. military forces later remained in Iraq until
11305-559: The south. Four of these CIA officers were awarded the Intelligence Star for their actions. 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, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations General Assembly , continuing U.S. efforts to gain UN authorization for an invasion. His presentation to
11424-517: The start of the invasion. Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the September 11 attacks , on the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In
11543-451: The suspects were forwarded to detention facilities. The beginning of 2006 was marked by government creation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous anti-coalition attacks. Sectarian violence expanded to a new level of intensity following the al-Askari Mosque bombing in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on 22 February 2006. The explosion at the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam,
11662-536: The then Leader of the House of Commons Robin Cook . In a passionate speech to the House of Commons after his resignation, he said, "What has come to trouble me is the suspicion that if the 'hanging chads' of Florida had gone the other way and Al Gore had been elected, we would not now be about to commit British troops to action in Iraq." During the debate, it was stated that the Attorney General had advised that
11781-517: The top positions in their civil services to their party followers and faction members; also the positions for senior public service were distributed on the basis of "ethnic, religious and/or party affiliation" rather than merit, professional competence or experience. This incompetence caused mismanagement in the successive Iraqi governments of Al-Maliki (2006–2014) , Al-Abadi (2014–2018) , and also Abdul-Mahdi (2018–2020) , leading to hundreds of billions of dollars being wasted on failed projects and
11900-683: The traditional muhasasa procedures, but there's no clear information as to how far he succeeded in that, or whether the Iraqi governments since 2018 worked more competently or less corruptly.) Civil services being staffed – under these muhasasa agreements (see above ) – according to party loyalty had the effect that state contracts would only be awarded by them to "party-affiliated companies and businesspeople", who would be paid handsomely for their contracted services; even if they hardly, or not at all, actually delivered those services. Such manner of spending state finances has been labeled governmental contracting fraud and structural political corruption: not
12019-667: The training of Iraqi citizens as police or military personnel. The largest of these new operations were Operations Law and Order, Phantom Thunder and Phantom Strike. deter the sectarian violence against the Iraqi population from insurgents and establish a footprint of Coalition Forces (additional links not found in Casualties links section) 2003 invasion of Iraq [REDACTED] Republic of Iraq Invasion (2003) Post-invasion insurgency (2003–2006) Civil war (2006–2008) Insurgency (2008–2011) Main phase Later phase The 2003 invasion of Iraq
12138-521: The trip. Maloof reports having brought the proposal to Jaymie Duran. The Pentagon denies that either Wolfowitz or Rumsfeld, Duran's bosses, were aware of the plan. On 21 February, Maloof informed Duran in an email that Richard Perle wished to meet with Hage and the Iraqis if the Pentagon would clear it. Duran responded "Mike, working this. Keep this close hold." On 7 March, Perle met with Hage in Knightsbridge, and stated that he wanted to pursue
12257-467: The tubes could be used to enrich uranium. Powell later admitted he had presented an inaccurate case to the United Nations on Iraqi weapons, based on sourcing that was wrong and in some cases "deliberately misleading." The Bush administration asserted that the Saddam government had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger . On 7 March 2003, the U.S. submitted intelligence documents as evidence to
12376-629: The vote. Legislators from the Iraqi Accord Front , Sadrist Movement and Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill. Under the law, a region can be created out of one or more existing governorates or two or more existing regions, and a governorate can also join an existing region to create a new region. A new region can be proposed by one third or more of the council members in each affected governorate plus 500 voters or by one tenth or more voters in each affected governorate. A referendum must then be held within three months, which requires
12495-717: The vote. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan was in second place with some 26% of the vote. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, the Iraqi List , came third with some 14%. In total, twelve parties received enough votes to win a seat in the assembly. Low Arab Sunni turnout threatened the legitimacy of the election, which was as low as 2% in Anbar province. More than 100 armed attacks on polling places took place, killing at least 44 people (including nine suicide bombers) across Iraq, including at least 20 in Baghdad . Following
12614-499: The war to its citizens. Americans overwhelmingly believed Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction: 85% said so, even though the inspectors had not uncovered those weapons. Of those who thought Iraq had weapons sequestered somewhere, about half responded that said weapons would not be found in combat. By February 2003, 64% of Americans supported taking military action to remove Saddam from power. The Central Intelligence Agency 's Special Activities Division (SAD) teams, consisting of
12733-573: The war was legal under previous UN Resolutions. In December 2002, a representative of the head of Iraqi Intelligence, the General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti , contacted former Central Intelligence Agency Counterterrorism Department head Vincent Cannistraro stating that Saddam "knew there was a campaign to link him to 11 September and prove he had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)." Cannistraro further added that "the Iraqis were prepared to satisfy these concerns. I reported
12852-560: The withdrawal in 2011. The coalition sent 160,000 troops into Iraq during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 1 May. About 73% or 130,000 soldiers were American, with about 45,000 British soldiers (25%), 2,000 Australian soldiers (1%), and ~200 Polish JW GROM commandos (0.1%). Thirty-six other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from
12971-475: Was captured by U.S. forces on 13 December. Hostilities of the Gulf War were suspended on 28 February 1991, with a cease-fire negotiated between the UN coalition and Iraq. The U.S. and its allies tried to keep Saddam in check with military actions such as Operation Southern Watch , which was conducted by Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of
13090-471: Was diminishing, radical Islamists, both foreign and Iraqi was increasing to take their place. An organized Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming clear. The Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets and to seize control from the Iraqi security forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq began to erupt in urban guerilla combat as coalition forces attempted to keep control and prepared for
13209-511: Was for control of the territory that was occupied by Ansar al-Islam. It was carried out by Paramilitary Operations Officers from SAD and the Army's 10th Special Forces Group. This battle resulted in the defeat of Ansar and the capture of a chemical weapons facility at Sargat. Sargat was the only facility of its type discovered in the Iraq war. SAD teams also conducted missions behind enemy lines to identify leadership targets. These missions led to
13328-612: Was held in Iraq on 7 March 2010. The election decided the 325 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq who will elect the Iraqi Prime Minister and President . The election resulted in a partial victory for the Iraqi National Movement , led by former Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi , which won a total of 91 seats, making it the largest alliance in the council. The State of Law Coalition , led by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki ,
13447-493: Was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading that country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC 's 12 February 2003 report. About 5,000 largely unusable chemical warheads , shells or aviation bombs were discovered during the Iraq War, but these had been built and abandoned earlier in Saddam Hussein 's rule before the 1991 Gulf War . The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support
13566-409: Was no sign of fraud or violations. The new parliament opened on 14 June 2010. After months of fraught negotiations, an agreement was reached on the formation of a new government on November 11. Talabani would continue as president, Al-Maliki would stay on as prime minister and Allawi would head a new security council. Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014. The elections decided
13685-562: Was not complying with UN Resolution 1441 . The main allegations were: that Saddam possessed or was attempting to produce weapons of mass destruction , which Saddam Hussein had used in places such as Halabja , possessed, and made efforts to acquire, particularly considering two previous attacks on Baghdad nuclear weapons production facilities by both Iran and Israel which were alleged to have postponed weapons development progress; and, further, that he had ties to terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda. The Bush administration's overall rationale for
13804-483: Was not going to be the linchpin for a new democratic Middle East." During the regime of Saddam Hussein (1979–2003), several Iraqi opposition groups created a quota system by which Sunni Islamic , Shia Islamic , Kurdish and other religious or ethnic groups would be proportionally represented in a future new government. The U.S. in July 2003 selected the members of the Iraqi Governing Council ,
13923-505: Was offered top priority to U.S. firms in oil and mining rights, UN-supervised elections, U.S. inspections (with up to 5,000 inspectors), to have al-Qaeda agent Abdul Rahman Yasin (in Iraqi custody since 1994) handed over as a sign of good faith, and to give "full support for any U.S. plan" in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process . They also wished to meet with high-ranking U.S. officials. On 19 February, Hage faxed Maloof his report of
14042-558: Was the first stage of the Iraq War . The invasion began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 26 days of major combat operations, in which a United States-led combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded the Republic of Iraq . Twenty-two days after the first day of the invasion, the capital city of Baghdad was captured by coalition forces on 9 April after
14161-467: Was the second largest grouping with 89 seats. The election was rife with controversy. Prior to the election, the Supreme Court in Iraq ruled that the existing electoral law/rule was unconstitutional, and a new elections law made changes in the electoral system. On 15 January 2010, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) banned 499 candidates from the election due to alleged links with
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