Iraq War Part of the War on Terror Clockwise, starting at top left: a joint patrol in Samarra; the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square; an Iraqi Army soldier readies his rifle during an assault; a roadside bomb detonates in South Baghdad. Date 20 March 2003 (2003-03-20) – 15 December 2011 (2011-12-15)[1] Location Iraq Result  • Invasion and occupation of Iraq  • Overthrow of Ba'ath Party government and execution of Saddam Hussein  • Insurgency, foreign terrorist operations, and sectarian violence[2]  • Subsequent depletion of Iraqi insurgency,[3] improvements in public security[4]  • Re-establishment of democratic elections and formation of new government  • U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement  • Withdrawal of U.S. Forces from Iraq  • On-going insurgency Belligerents  Iraq (post invasion) Peshmerga Assyria Awakening Councils Multi-National Force – Iraq  United States (03–11)  United Kingdom (03–11)  Australia (03–09)  Poland (03–08)  Republic of Korea (03–08)  Italy (03–06)  Georgia (03–08)  Ukraine (03–08)  Netherlands (03–05)  Spain (03–04) 30 other countries Insurgent groups: Iraqi Ba'ath Party Loyalists 22x20px Islamic State of Iraq al-Qaeda in Iraq Mahdi Army Special Groups 25px Islamic Army of Iraq 25px Ansar al-Sunnah Iraq (2003) For fighting between insurgent groups, see Civil war in Iraq. Commanders and leaders George W. Bush Barack Obama Paul Bremer Tommy Franks David D. McKiernan Ricardo Sanchez George W. Casey, Jr. David Petraeus Raymond Odierno Lloyd Austin Queen Elizabeth II Tony Blair Gordon Brown David Cameron Jeremy Greenstock Richard Shirreff John Cooper Andy Salmon John Howard Kevin Rudd Iraqi Governing Council Ghazi al-Yawer Tariq Al-Hashimi Iyad Allawi Ibrahim al-Jaafari Nouri al-Maliki Jalal Talabani Massoud Barzani Masrour Barzani Abdul Sattar Abu Risha † Ahmad Abu Risha Saddam Hussein  (POW) Qusay Hussein † Uday Hussein † Tariq Aziz  Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri 22x20px Abu Omar al-Baghdadi † Abu Musab al-Zarqawi † Abu Ayyub al-Masri † Abu Suleiman † Abu Dua Muqtada al-Sadr Abu Deraa Ishmael Jubouri Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i (POW) Strength Invasion Forces (2003–2004) ~300,000 Coalition Forces (2004–2009) 176,000 at peak United States Forces – Iraq (2010–2011) 112,000 at activation Security contractors 6,000-7,000 (estimate)[5] Iraqi Security Forces 805,269 (military and paramilitary: 578,269,[6] police: 227,000) Awakening militias ~103,000 (2008)[7] Iraqi Kurdistan ~400,000 (Kurdish Border Guard: 30,000,[8] Peshmerga 375,000) Iraqi Army: 375,000 (disbanded in 2003) Sunni Insurgents ~70,000 (2007)[9] Mahdi Army ~60,000 (2007)[10] al-Qaeda ~1,300 (2006)[11] Islamic State of Iraq ~1,000 (2008) Casualties and losses Iraqi Security Forces (post-Saddam) Killed: 16,623[12] Wounded: 40,000+[13] Coalition Forces Killed: 4,805[14][15] (4,487 U.S.,[16] 179 UK,[17] 139 other) Missing/captured (U.S.): 10 (9 rescued)[18] Wounded: 32,753+ (32,226 U.S.,[19] 315 UK, 212+ other[20])[21][22][23][24] Injured/diseased/other medical:* 51,139 (47,541 U.S.,[25] 3,598 UK)[21][23][24] Contractors Killed: 1,554[26][27] Wounded & injured: 43,880[26][27] Missing/captured: 16 (U.S. 5) Awakening Councils Killed: 1,002+[28] Wounded: 500+ (2007),[29] 828 (2008)[30] Total dead: 24,219 Total wounded: 117,961 Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600–10,800[31][32] Insurgents (post-Saddam) Killed: 21,221–26,405 (2003-2011)[33] Detainees: 12,000 (Iraqi-held)[34] 1 (U.S.-held)[35] Total dead: 28,736-37,120 Documented civilian deaths from violence, Iraq Body Count – 2003 through December 14, 2011: 103,160–113,728 recorded[36] and 15,114 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs[37] Estimated violent deaths: Lancet survey - March 2003 – July 2006: 601,027 (95% CI: 426,369-793,663)[38][39] Iraq Family Health Survey - March 2003 – July 2006: 151,000 (95% CI: 104,000-223,000)[40] For more information see: Casualties of the Iraq War * "injured, diseased, or other medical" – required medical air transport. UK number includes "aeromed evacuations" ** Total deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc.

v t e Iraq War Timelines 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Phases Invasion Post-invasion insurgency Civil war Insurgency 2008-2011 US withdrawal violence Post-withdrawal insurgency v t e Battles and operations of the Iraq War Invasion (2003) Umm Qasr Al Faw 1st Basra Nasiriyah Raid on Karbala 1st Najaf Northern Delay Viking Hammer Samawah 1st Karbala Al Kut Hillah Green Line Karbala Gap Baghdad Debecka Pass Kani Domlan Ridge Post-invasion insurgency Al Anbar 1st Ramadan Red Dawn Spring 2004 1st Fallujah Sadr City 1st Ramadi Husaybah 2nd Najaf CIMIC-House Samarra 2nd Fallujah Mosul Lake Tharthar Al Qaim Hit Haditha Steel Curtain Tal Afar 2nd Ramadi Together Forward Diwaniya Civil War 2nd Ramadan Sinbad Amarah Turki Diyala Haifa Street Karbala Raid 3rd Najaf Imposing Law U.K. bases Black Eagle Surge (2007) Baghdad belts Baqubah Donkey Island Shurta Nasir Phantom Strike 2nd Karbala Phantom Phoenix Insurgency (2008-2011) 2008 Day of Ashura Ninawa Spring 2008 2nd Basra 2008 Al-Qaeda Offensive Augurs of Prosperity Abu Kamal Drawdown Palm Grove v t e Major insurgent attacks of the Iraq War ‡ indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths § indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War 2003 1st Baghdad 2nd Baghdad Najaf 3rd Baghdad 1st Nasiriyah 1st Karbala 2004 ‡ Irbil ‡ Ashoura 1st Basra Mosul 4th Baghdad 5th Baghdad Karbala-Najaf 1st Baqubah Kufa FOB Marez 2005 ‡ 1st Al Hillah ‡ Musayyib 6th Baghdad ‡ 7th Baghdad 1st Balad Khanaqin 2006 ‡ Karbala-Ramadi 1st Samarra 8th Baghdad 9th Baghdad ‡ 10th Baghdad 2007 11th Baghdad 12th Baghdad ‡ 13th Baghdad 14th Baghdad 15th Baghdad 2nd Al Hillah ‡ 1st Tal Afar 16th Baghdad 17th Baghdad 2nd & 3rd Karbala ‡ 18th Baghdad Makhmour Abu Sayda 2nd Samarra 19th Baghdad ‡ Amirli 1st Kirkuk 20th Baghdad 21st Baghdad § Qahtaniya Amarah 2008 22nd Baghdad 2nd Balad 23rd Baghdad 4th Karbala 24th Baghdad Karmah 2nd Baqubah Dujail Balad Ruz 2009 25th Baghdad 26th Baghdad Baghdad-Muqdadiyah Taza 27th Baghdad 2nd Kirkuk 2nd Tal Afar ‡ 28th Baghdad ‡ 29th Baghdad ‡ 30th Baghdad 2010 31st Baghdad 32nd Baghdad 3rd Baqubah 33rd Baghdad 34th Baghdad 35th Baghdad ‡ 1st Pan-Iraq 36th Baghdad 37th Baghdad 2nd Pan-Iraq 38th Baghdad 39th Baghdad ‡ 40th Baghdad 2011 41st Baghdad ‡ 3rd Pan-Iraq Karbala-Baghdad 42nd Baghdad Tikrit 3rd Al Hillah 3rd Samarra Al Diwaniyah Taji 4th Pan-Iraq 43rd Baghdad 4th Karbala 44th Baghdad 2nd Basra 45th Baghdad 2012 46th Baghdad & 2nd Nasiriyah 3rd Basra 47th Baghdad 5th Pan-Iraq 6th Pan-Iraq

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v t e

The Iraq War, or the War in Iraq (also referred to as the Occupation of Iraq, the Second Gulf War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States military), was a conflict that occurred in Iraq from March 20, 2003^[41][42] to December 15, 2011,^[43] though sectarian violence continues since and has caused hundreds of fatalities.

Prior to the war, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a threat to their security and that of their coalition/regional allies.^[44][45][46] In 2002, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1441 which called for Iraq to completely cooperate with UN weapon inspectors to verify that Iraq was not in possession of WMD and cruise missiles. The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) found no evidence of WMD, but could not verify the accuracy of Iraq's declarations regarding what weapons it possessed.^{[47][48][49][50]} Lead weapons inspector Hans Blix advised the UN Security Council that while Iraq was cooperating in terms of access, Iraq's declarations with regards to WMD still could not be verified.^[47][51]

After investigation following the invasion, the U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group concluded that Iraq had ended its nuclear, chemical, and biological programs in 1991 and had no active programs at the time of the invasion, but that they intended to resume production if the Iraq sanctions were lifted.^[52] Although some degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned chemical weapons from before 1991 were found, they were not the weapons which had been the one of the main arguments for the invasion.^[53]

Some US officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda,^[54] but no evidence of a meaningful connection was ever found.^[55][56] Other proclaimed reasons for the invasion included Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,^[57] Iraqi government human rights abuses,^[58] and an effort to spread democracy to the country.^[59][60]

The invasion of Iraq led to an occupation and the eventual capture of President Hussein, who was later tried in an Iraqi court of law and executed by the new Iraqi government. Violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups soon led to the Iraqi insurgency, strife between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups, and the emergence of a new faction of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.^[61][62]

In June 2008, U.S. Department of Defense officials claimed security and economic indicators began to show signs of improvement in what they hailed as significant and fragile gains.^[63] Iraq was fifth on the 2008 Failed States Index,^[64] and sixth on the 2009 list.^[65] As public opinion favoring troop withdrawals increased and as Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for security, member nations of the Coalition withdrew their forces.^[66][67] In late 2008, the U.S. and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement effective through January 1, 2012.^[68] The Iraqi Parliament also ratified a Strategic Framework Agreement with the U.S.,^[69] aimed at ensuring cooperation in constitutional rights, threat deterrence, education,^[70] energy development, and other areas.^[71]

In late February 2009, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama announced an 18-month withdrawal window for combat forces, with approximately 50,000 troops remaining in the country "to advise and train Iraqi security forces and to provide intelligence and surveillance".^[72][73] General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said he believes all U.S. troops will be out of the country by the end of 2011,^[74] while UK forces ended combat operations on April 30, 2009.^[75] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he supports the accelerated pullout of U.S. forces.^[76] In a speech at the Oval Office on 31 August 2010 Obama declared "the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country."^[77][78][79] Beginning September 1, 2010, the American operational name for its involvement in Iraq changed from "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to "Operation New Dawn." The remaining 50,000 U.S. troops were designated as "advise and assist brigades" assigned to non-combat operations while retaining the ability to revert to combat operations as necessary. Two combat aviation brigades also remain in Iraq.^[80] In September 2010, the Associated Press issued an internal memo reminding its reporters that "combat in Iraq is not over," and "U.S. troops remain involved in combat operations alongside Iraqi forces, although U.S. officials say the American combat mission has formally ended."^[81][82]

On October 21, 2011, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year, bringing the U.S. mission in Iraq to an end.^[83] On December 15, 2011, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially declared the Iraq War over, at a flag lowering ceremony in Baghdad.^[84] The last U.S. troops left Iraqi territory on December 18, 2011 at 4:27 UTC.^[85]

Background[link]

Iraq disarmament crisis and pre-war intelligence[link]

UN weapons inspections resume[link]

The issue of Iraq's disarmament reached a crisis in 2002–2003, when Bush demanded a complete end to alleged Iraqi production of weapons of mass destruction and full compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions requiring UN weapons inspectors unfettered access to suspected weapons production facilities. The UN had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. During inspections in 1999, Iraq alleged that UN inspectors included U.S. intelligence agents that supplied the U.S. with a direct feed of conversations between Iraqi security agencies as well as other information. This was confirmed by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.^[86]

During 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441 Iraq reluctantly agreed to new inspections in late 2002. A third weapons inspection team in 2003 led by David Kelly (weapons expert) viewed and photographed with the cooperation of Iraqis two alleged mobile weapons laboratories which were facilities for the production of hydrogen gas to fill balloons.

Shortly before the invasion Hans Blix, the lead weapons inspector, advised the UN Security Council that Iraq was cooperating with inspections and that the confirmation of disarmament through inspections could be achieved in a short period of time if Iraq remained cooperative.^[51]

Alleged weapons of mass destruction[link]

Yellowcake uranium[link]

A UN weapons inspector in Iraq

Before the Gulf War, in 1990, Iraq had stockpiled 550 short tons (500 t) of yellowcake uranium at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Baghdad.^[87] In late February 2002, the CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to investigate reports (later found to be forgeries) that Iraq was attempting to purchase additional yellowcake from Niger. Wilson returned and informed the CIA that reports of yellowcake sales to Iraq were "unequivocally wrong." The Bush administration, however, continued to allege Iraq's attempts to obtain additional yellowcake were a justification for military action, most prominently in the January 2003, State of the Union address, in which President Bush declared that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British intelligence sources.^[88]

2003 State of the Union Address given by President George W. Bush

In response, Wilson wrote a critical New York Times op-ed piece in June 2003 stating that he had personally investigated claims of yellowcake purchases and believed them to be fraudulent.^[89] After Wilson's op-ed, Wilson's wife Valerie Plame was publicly identified as an undercover CIA analyst by a columnist. This led to a Justice Department investigation into the source of the leak.

On May 1, 2005, the "Downing Street memo" was published in The Sunday Times. It contained an overview of a secret July 23, 2002, meeting among British government, Ministry of Defence, and British intelligence figures who discussed the build-up to the Iraq war—including direct references to classified U.S. policy of the time. The memo stated, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."^[90]

In September 2002, the Bush administration, the CIA and the DIA said attempts by Iraq to acquire high-strength aluminum tubes that were prohibited under the UN monitoring program and which they said pointed to a clandestine effort to make centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs.^[91] This analysis was opposed by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and INR, which was significant because of DOE's expertise in such gas centrifuges and nuclear weapons programs. The DOE and INR argued that the Iraqi tubes were poorly suited for centrifuges and that while it was technically possible with additional modification, conventional military uses were more plausible.^[92] A report released by the Institute for Science and International Security in 2002 reported that it was highly unlikely that the tubes could be used to enrich uranium.^[93]

An effort by the DOE to correct this detail in comments prepared for United States Secretary of State Colin Powell's UN appearance was rebuffed by the administration^[93][94] and Powell, in his address to the UN Security Council just before the war, referenced the aluminum tubes, stating that while experts disagreed on whether or not the tubes were destined for a centrifuge program, the specifications of the tubes were unusually tight.^[95] Powell later admitted he had presented what turned out to be an inaccurate case to the UN on Iraqi weapons, and the intelligence he was relying on was, in some cases, "deliberately misleading."^[96][97][98] After the United States presidential election, 2008, and the election of Democratic party nominee Barack Obama, president Bush stated that "[my] biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq".^[99]

Poison gas[link]

The CIA had contacted Iraq's foreign minister, Naji Sabri, who was being paid by the French as an agent. Sabri informed them that Saddam had hidden poison gas among Sunni tribesmen, had ambitions for a nuclear program but that it was not active, and that no biological weapons were being produced or stockpiled, although research was underway.^[100] According to Sidney Blumenthal, George Tenet briefed Bush on September 18, 2002, that Sabri had informed them that Iraq did not have WMD. Bush dismissed this top-secret intelligence from Hussein's inner circle which was approved by two senior CIA officers. The information was never shared with Congress or CIA agents examining whether Saddam had such weapons.^[101]

Tenet (left, in pink tie) in the Oval Office with President George W. Bush.

Biological weapons[link]

Based on reports obtained by the German intelligence service from an Iraqi defector codenamed "Curveball", Colin Powell presented evidence to the United Nations security council that Iraq had an active biological weapons programme. On February 15, 2011, the defector—a scientist identified as Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janafi—admitted to journalists working for The Guardian newspaper that he lied to the Bundesnachrichtendienst in order to strengthen the case against Saddam Hussein, whom he wished to see removed from power.^[102]

Result[link]

In December 2009, former Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that he "would still have thought it right to remove [Saddam Hussein]" regardless of whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction or not.^[103]

Preparations for Iraq war[link]

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, October 2, 2002.

During 2002 the amount of ordnance used by British and American aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones of Iraq increased compared to the previous years^[104] and by August had "become a full air offensive". Tommy Franks, the allied commander, later stated that the bombing was designed to "degrade" the Iraqi air defense system before an invasion.^[105]

In October 2002, a few days before the U.S. 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.)^[45] On February 5, 2003, Colin Powell presented further evidence in his Iraqi WMD program presentation to the UN Security Council that UAVs were ready to be launched against the U.S. At the time, there was a vigorous dispute within the U.S. military and intelligence communities as to whether CIA conclusions about Iraqi UAVs were accurate^[106] and other intelligence agencies suggested that Iraq did not possess any offensive UAV capability, saying the few they had were designed for surveillance and intended for reconnaissance.^[107] The Senate voted to approve the Joint Resolution with the support of large bipartisan majorities on October 11, 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 it should be the policy of the United States to remove the Hussein regime and promote a democratic replacement. The authorization was signed by President George W. Bush on October 16, 2002.

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix remarked in January 2003 that "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine 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."^[108] Among other things he noted that 1,000 short tons (910 t) of chemical agent were unaccounted for, information 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.^[108]

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council

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 February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the UN to present American evidence that Iraq was hiding unconventional weapons.^[109] The French government also believed that Saddam had stockpiles of anthrax and botulism toxin, and the ability to produce VX.^[110] In March, Blix said progress had been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMD had been found.^[47] Iraqi scientist Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi codenamed "Curveball", admitted in February 2011, that he lied to the CIA about biological weapons in order to get the US to attack and remove Hussein from power.^[111]

In early 2003, the U.S., British, and Spanish governments proposed the so-called "eighteenth resolution" to give Iraq a deadline for compliance with previous resolutions enforced by the threat of military action. This proposed resolution was subsequently withdrawn due to lack of support on the UN Security Council. In particular, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members France, Germany and Canada and non-NATO member Russia were opposed to military intervention in Iraq, due to the high level of risk to the international community's security, and defended disarmament through diplomacy.^[112][113]

A meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair took place on January 31, 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 U.S. 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 contradiction 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 paraphrased as saying, "The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin." ^[114] Bush said to Blair that he "thought it unlikely that there would be internecine warfare between the different religious and ethnic groups" in Iraq after the war.

Opposition to invasion[link]

In October 2002 former U.S. President Bill Clinton warned about possible dangers of pre-emptive military action against Iraq. Speaking in the UK on a Labour Party conference he said: "As a preemptive action today, however well-justified, may come back with unwelcome consequences in the future....I don't care how precise your bombs and your weapons are, when you set them off, innocent people will die."^[115][116]

Anti-War protest in London, 2002

On January 20, 2003, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "we believe that military intervention would be the worst solution."^[117] Meanwhile anti-war groups across the world organised public protests. According to French academic Dominique Reynié, between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against war in Iraq, with demonstrations on February 15, 2003, being the largest and most prolific.^[118]

In February 2003, the U.S. Army's top general, Eric Shinseki, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it would take "several hundred thousand soldiers" to secure Iraq.^[119] 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 thousand U.S. forces is far from the mark." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Shineski's estimate was "way off the mark," because other countries would take part in an occupying force.^[120]

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 would continue. He estimated the time remaining for disarmament being verified through inspections to be "months".^[47] 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.

There were serious legal questions surrounding the launching of the war against Iraq and the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war in general. On September 16, 2004, Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, said of the invasion, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter. From our point of view, from the Charter point of view, it was illegal."

In November 2008 Lord Bingham, the former British Law Lord, described the war a serious violation of international law, and accused Britain and the U.S. of acting like a "world vigilante". He also criticized the post-invasion record of Britain as "an occupying power in Iraq". Regarding the treatment of Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib, Bingham said: "Particularly disturbing to proponents of the rule of law is the cynical lack of concern for international legality among some top officials in the Bush administration."^[121] In July 2010, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK Nick Clegg, in an official PMQs session in Parliament, condemned the invasion of Iraq as illegal.^[122] Theorist Francis Fukuyama has argued that "the Iraq war and the close association it created between military invasion and democracy promotion tarnished the latter".^[123]

Invasion[link]

Map of the invasion routes and major operations/battles of the Iraq War as of 2007.

M1 Abrams tank fires its 120mm cannon at Iraqi forces during fighting in Al-Faw peninsula near Umm Qasr, 23 March 2003.

Destroyed remains of Iraqi Tanks near Al Qadisiyah, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The first Central Intelligence Agency invasion team entered Iraq on July 10, 2002.^[124] This team was composed of members of the CIA's Special Activities Division and was later joined by members of the U.S. military's elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).^[125] Together, they prepared for the invasion of conventional forces. These efforts consisted of persuading the commanders of several Iraqi military divisions to surrender rather than oppose the invasion, and to identify all of the initial leadership targets during very high risk reconnaissance missions.^[125]

Most importantly, their efforts organized the Kurdish Peshmerga to become the northern front of the invasion. Together this force defeated Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan before the invasion and then defeated the Iraqi army in the north.^[125][126] The battle against Ansar al-Islam led to the death of a substantial number of militants and the uncovering of a chemical weapons facility at Sargat.^[124][127]

At 5:34 a.m. Baghdad time on March 20, 2003 (9:34 p.m., March 19 EST) the military invasion of Iraq began.^[128] The 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by U.S. army General Tommy Franks, began under the codename "Operation Iraqi Liberation",^[129] later renamed "Operation Iraqi Freedom", the UK codename Operation Telic, and the Australian codename Operation Falconer. Coalition forces also cooperated with Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the north. Approximately forty other governments, the "U.S.-led coalition against Iraq," 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.^[130] The invasion force was also supported by Iraqi Kurdish militia troops, estimated to number upwards of 70,000.^[131]

The stated objectives of the invasion were; end the Hussein regime; eliminate whatever weapons of mass destruction could be found; eliminate whatever Islamist militants could be found; obtain intelligence on militant networks; distribute humanitarian aid; secure Iraq's petroleum infrastructure; and assist in creating a representative but compliant government as a model for other Middle East nations.

The invasion was a quick and decisive operation encountering major resistance, though not what the U.S., British and other forces expected. The Iraqi regime had prepared to fight both a conventional and irregular war at the same time, conceding territory when faced with superior conventional forces, largely armored, but launching smaller scale attacks in the rear using fighters dressed in civilian and paramilitary clothes. This achieved some temporary successes and created unexpected challenges for the invading forces, especially the U.S. military.

Coalition troops launched air and amphibious assault on 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 oilfields in southern Iraq. Polish commandos captured offshore oil platforms near the port, preventing their destruction.

U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion 7th Marines enter a palace during the Fall of Baghdad.

A Marine Corps M1 Abrams tank patrols a Baghdad street after its fall in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The heavy armor of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division moved westward and then northward through the western desert toward Baghdad, while the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force moved more easterly along Highway 1 through the center of the country, and 1 (UK) Armoured Division moved northward through the eastern marshland. The U.S. 1st Marine Division fought through Nasiriyah in a battle to seize the major road junction and nearby Talil Airfield. The United States Army 3rd Infantry Division defeated Iraqi forces entrenched in and around the airfield and bypassed the city to the west in its drive up north through western Iraq.