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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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.