Iraq War 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; an IED detonates in South Baghdad. Date March 20, 2003 – present Location Iraq Status Conflict ongoing Occupation of Iraq Overthrow of Baath Party government and execution of Saddam Hussein. Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.[1] Iraqi insurgency and outbreak of civil war.[2] Legislative elections held in Iraq Status of Forces Agreement governing withdrawal Belligerents  Iraq (post-Saddam Hussein) Peshmerga United States United Kingdom Awakening Councils Other Coalition forces  Turkey  Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) Baath Party Loyalists Mahdi Army al-Qaeda in Iraq Islamic Army of Iraq Other Insurgent groups Kurdistan Workers Party Commanders Jalal Talabani Nouri al-Maliki Massoud Barzani Martin Dempsey Ray Odierno John Howard Kevin Rudd Andy Salmon Abdullah Gul Tayyip Erdogan İlker Başbuğ Saddam Hussein #☠ Qusay Hussein ☠ Uday Hussein☠ – Muqtada al-Sadr Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri Ishmael Jubouri Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ☠ Abu Ayyub al-Masri Murat Karayilan Strength Iraqi Security Forces 631,000 (Army: 254,000, Police: 227,000, FPS: 150,000) Coalition Forces ~300,000 invasion ~152,000 current Peshmerga 50,000 invasion 270,000 current Contractors* ~182,000 (118,000 Iraqi, 43,000 Other, 21,000 US)[3][4] Awakening militias 65,000-80,000[5] Turkish Armed Forces: ~3,000-10,000[6] Iraqi Army: 375,000 (under Saddam Hussein) Sunni Insurgents ~70,000[7] Mahdi Army ~60,000[8] al Qaeda/others 1,300+[9] PKK: ~4,000[10] Casualties and losses Iraqi Security Forces (post-Saddam): 11,057 police/military killed Coalition dead (4,222 US,[11] 178 UK, 139 other): 4,539[12][13] Coalition missing or captured (US): 1[13] Coalition wounded: 30,852 US, ~400 UK[13][14][15] Coalition injured, diseased, or other medical:**28,645 US, 1,155 UK.[13][16][15] Contractors dead (US 249): 1,193[17][18][19] Contractors missing or captured (US 4): 18 Contractors wounded & injured: 10,569[17] Awakening Councils: 650+ killed Turkish Armed Forces: 27 killed[20] Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 6,370-10,800[21][22] Insurgents dead (post-Saddam): 18,136-23,837 per these reports. 19,429 per U.S. military (September 22, 2007)[23] Detainees: 18,900 (U.S.-held)[24] 24,200 (Iraqi-held)[24][25] PKK: 537 killed (Turkish claim) 9 killed (PKK claim) All Iraqi violent deaths, Opinion Research Business – August 2007: 1,033,000 (946,000-1,120,000) (gunshots 48%, car bombs 20%, aerial bombing 9%, accidents 6%, other blast/ordnance 6%)[26] ***Total deaths (all excess deaths), (Lancet) – June 2006: 654,965 (392,979-942,636) 601,027 violent deaths (31% Coalition, 24% Others, 46% unknown)[27][28] All Iraqi violent deaths, Iraqi Health Ministry casualty survey for the World Health Organization – June 2006: 151,000 (104,000-223,000)[29][30][31][32] For more information see: Casualties of the Iraq War *Contractors (U.S. government) perform "highly dangerous duties almost identical to those performed by many U.S. troops."[4] ** "injured, diseased, or other medical" - required medical air transport. UK number includes wounded ("aeromed evacuations")[13][16][15] ***Total deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc.

v • d • e Iraq War Invasion – Post-invasion (Insurgency – Civil war) – Battles and operations – Bombings and terrorist attacks v • d • e Battles and operations of the Iraq War Umm Qasr – Al Faw – 1st Basra – Nasiriyah – 1st Najaf – Viking Hammer – Samawah – 1st Karbala – Al Kut – Hillah – Green Line – Karbala Gap – Baghdad – Debecka Pass – Kani Domlan Ridge – Al Anbar – 1st Ramadan – Red Dawn – Spring 2004 – 1st Fallujah – Sadr City – 1st Ramadi – Husaybah – 2nd Najaf – Samarra – 2nd Fallujah – Mosul – Lake Tharthar – Al Qaim – Hit – Haditha – Steel Curtain – Tal Afar – 2nd Ramadi – Together Forward – Diwaniya – 2nd Ramadan – Sinbad – Amarah – Turki – Diyala – Haifa Street – Karbala Raid – 3rd Najaf – Imposing Law – U.K. bases siege – Black Eagle – Baghdad belts – Baqubah – Donkey Island – Phantom Strike – 2nd Karbala – Phantom Phoenix – 2008 Day of Ashura – Ninawa – Sun – Spring 2008 – 2nd Basra – 2008 Al-Qaeda Offensive – Augurs of Prosperity – Abu Kamal

v • d • e Years of the Iraq War 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008

v • d • e Recent wars and conflicts in the Persian Gulf Iran-Iraq War – Opera – Al-Anfal Campaign – Gulf War – 1991 uprisings – Provide Comfort – Southern Watch – 1993 bombings – Kurdish Civil War – Desert Strike – Northern Watch – Desert Fox – Southern Focus – Iraq War

v • d • e Campaigns of the War on Terrorism Afghanistan – Philippines – Horn of Africa – Mediterranean – Maghreb – Iraq – Saudi Arabia – Pakistan – Thailand – 1st Somalia – Israel and Lebanon – Palestinian Territories – 2nd Somalia – North Lebanon – Lebanon – Gaza Strip

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War or the Occupation of Iraq,^[33] is an ongoing military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force now led by and composed almost entirely of United States and United Kingdom troops.^[34]

Prior to the war, the U.S. and U.K. claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) posed a serious and imminent threat to their security and that of their coalition allies.^[35][36][37] United Nations weapons inspectors found no evidence of WMD, giving support to earlier criticism of poor intelligence on the subject.^{[38][39][40][41][42]} After the invasion, the U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group concluded that Iraq had ended its WMD 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.^[43] Although some degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned chemical weapons from before 1991 were found, they were not the weapons for which the coalition invaded.^[44] Some U.S. officials also accused Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting Al-Qaeda,^[45] but no evidence of any collaborative relationship was ever found.^[46][47] Bush reportedly told Palestinian officials either that God inspired him to end the tyranny in Iraq, or to hit Saddam.^[48] Other reasons for the invasion stated by U.S. officials included Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,^[49] Iraqi government human rights abuses,^[50] and spreading democracy.^[51] Some officials said that Iraq's oil reserves played a role in the decision to invade,^{[52][53][54][55]} but other officials denied that.^[56][57][58]

The invasion led to the quick defeat of the Iraqi military, and the eventual capture and execution of Saddam Hussein. The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and attempted to establish a new democratic government. However, violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups soon led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, strife between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.^[59][60] The number of Iraqis killed through 2007 ranges from "a conservative cautious minimum" of more than 85,000 civilians^[61][62] to a survey estimate of more than 1,000,000 citizens.^[26] UNHCR estimates the war uprooted 4.7 million Iraqis through April 2008 (about 16% of the population of Iraq), two million of whom had fled to neighbouring countries^[63] fleeing a humanitarian situation that the Red Cross described in March 2008 as "among the most critical in the world".^[64] In June 2008, U.S. defense officials claimed security and economic indicators began to show signs of improvement in what they hailed as significant and fragile gains.^[65][66] In August 2008, Iraq was fifth on the Failed States Index.^[67]Member nations of the Coalition withdrew their forces as public opinion favoring troop withdrawals increased and as Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for security.^[68][69]

In late 2008, the U.S. and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement. The pact establishes that U.S. combat forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and that all U.S. forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. The agreement may be renegotiated to delay withdrawal, and an Iraqi referendum scheduled for mid-2009 may require all U.S. forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010.^[70][71] The pact requires criminal charges for holding prisoners over 24 hours, and requires a warrant for searches of homes and buildings that are not related to combat.^[72] U.S. contractors working for U.S. forces will be subject to Iraqi criminal law, while contractors working for the State Department and other U.S. agencies may retain their immunity. If U.S. forces commit still undecided "major premeditated felonies" while off-duty and off-base, they will be subject to the still undecided procedures laid out by a joint U.S.-Iraq committee if the U.S. certifies the forces were off-duty.^{[73][74][75][72]} Several groups of Iraqis protested the passing of the SOFA accord,^[76][77][78] and Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani expressed concern the pact did not do enough to limit occupation forces.^[79] The Iraqi Parliament also ratified a Strategic Framework Agreement with the U.S.,^[80] aimed at ensuring international cooperation including minority ethnicity, gender, and belief interests and other constitutional rights; threat deterrence; exchange students; education;^[81] and cooperation in the areas of energy development, environmental hygiene, health care, information technology, communications, and law enforcement.^[82]

[edit] 1991–2000: U.N. inspectors, no-fly zones, and Iraqi opposition groups

See also: Oil-for-Food Programme and Operation Northern Watch

Following the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 mandated that Iraqi chemical, biological, nuclear, and long range missile programs be halted and all such weapons destroyed under United Nations Special Commission control. U.N. weapons inspectors inside Iraq were able to verify the destruction of a large amount of WMD-material, but substantial issues remained unresolved in 1998 when the inspectors left Iraq due to then current UNSCOM head Richard Butler's belief that U.S. and UK military action was imminent. Shortly after the inspectors withdrew, the U.S. and UK launched a four-day bombing campaign. Also, during this period the US congress and President Clinton issued a resolution calling for regime change in Iraq.

In addition to the inspection regimen, the U.S. and UK (along with France until 1998) engaged in a low-level conflict with Iraq by enforcing northern and southern Iraqi no-fly zones. These zones were created following the Persian Gulf War to protect Iraqi Kurdistan in the north and the southern Shia areas, and were seen by the Iraqi government as an infringement of Iraq's sovereignty. The no-fly zones prohibited unauthorized fixed-wing aircraft but allowed Iraqi helicopters or limited Turkish bombing runs^[83][84]. Iraqi air-defense installations and American and British air patrols regularly exchanged fire during this five year period.

Approximately one year before Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S. initiated Operation Southern Focus as a change to its response strategy, by increasing the overall number of missions and selecting targets throughout the no-fly zones in order to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. The weight of bombs dropped on Iraq increased from none in March 2002 and 0.3 short tons (0.27 t) in April to between 8 short tons (7.3 t) to 14 short tons (13 t) per month in May-August. The total reached a pre-war peak of 54.6 short tons (49.5 t) in September 2002.

[edit] Iraqi expatriate opposition groups

Following the Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush signed a presidential finding directing the Central Intelligence Agency to create conditions for Hussein's removal in May 1991. Coordinating anti-Saddam groups was an important element of this strategy and the Iraqi National Congress (INC), led by Ahmed Chalabi, was the main group tasked with this purpose. The name INC was reportedly coined by public relations expert John Rendon (of the Rendon Group agency) and the group received millions in covert funding in the 1990s, and then about $8 million a year in overt funding after the passage of the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. Another opposition group was the Iraqi National Accord which continues to have influence in the current Iraqi government through its leader Ayad Allawi.

[edit] Presidential involvement

In late April 1993, the United States learned that Saddam Hussein had attempted to have former President George H. W. Bush assassinated during a visit to Kuwait on April 16.^[85] On June 16, as per order of then-President Clinton, a cruise missile was shot at the Iraq Intelligence Service building in downtown Baghdad, by way of retaliation. Clinton briefed President-elect George W. Bush in December 2000, expressing his regret that the world's two most dangerous individuals, including Saddam, were still at large. He warned that Saddam will "cause you a world of problems."^[86]

[edit] 2001–2003: Iraq disarmament crisis and pre-war intelligence

See also: Rationale for the Iraq War, Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq, Governments' pre-war positions on invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, 10 Days to War, and Iraq and weapons of mass destruction

Main articles: Iraq disarmament crisis timeline 2001-2003 and 2002 in Iraq

According to documents provided by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Bush instructed his aides to look for a way to overthrow the Iraqi regime ten days after taking office in January, 2001. A secret memo entitled, "Plan for post-Saddam Iraq," was discussed in January and February of 2001, and a Pentagon document, dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts," included a map of potential areas for exploration.^[52]

[edit] U.N. weapons inspections resume

The issue of Iraq's disarmament reached a crisis in 2002-2003, when President Bush demanded a complete end to alleged Iraqi production of weapons of mass destruction and full compliance with UN Resolutions requiring UN weapons inspectors unfettered access to suspected weapons production facilities. Previously, the UN had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance.

During 2002, Bush repeatedly backed demands for unfettered inspection and disarmament with threats of military force. In accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441 Iraq reluctantly agreed to new inspections in late 2002. The results of these inspections were mixed, with the inspectors discovering no WMD programs but concluding that Iraqi declarations failed to prove that all such weapons had been properly destroyed.

[edit] Alleged weapons of mass destruction

In the initial stages of the war on terror, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), under George Tenet, was rising to prominence as the lead agency in the Afghanistan war. But when Tenet insisted in his personal meetings with President Bush that there was no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld initiated a secret program to re-examine the evidence and marginalize the CIA and Tenet. A major part of this program was a Pentagon unit known as the Office of Special Plans (OSP), which was created by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and headed by Douglas Feith. It was created to supply senior Bush administration officials with raw intelligence pertaining to Iraq, unvetted by intelligence analysts, and circumventing traditional intelligence gathering operations by the CIA. The questionable intelligence acquired by the OSP was "stovepiped" to Cheney and presented to the public. In some cases, Cheney’s office would leak the intelligence to news correspondents, who would in turn cover it in such outlets such as The New York Times. Cheney would subsequently appear on the Sunday political television talk shows to discuss the intelligence, referencing The New York Times as the source to give it credence.^[87]

Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson

Prior to 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.^[88] In late February 2002, the CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to investigate reports 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 when President Bush said that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British intelligence sources.^[89] 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. Wilson's report did not clarify the matter for analysts, but they found it interesting that the former Nigerien Prime Minister said an Iraqi delegation had visited Niger for what he believed was to discuss uranium sales.^[90] Shortly after Wilson's op-ed, the identity of Wilson's wife, undercover CIA analyst Valerie Plame, was revealed in a column by Robert Novak. Since it is a felony to reveal the identity of a CIA agent Novak's column launched an investigation by the Justice Department into the source of the leak. In March, 2007, Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby was convicted of perjury in the Plame leak investigation. The source of the leak was found to be former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, who was never charged with the crime.^[91] In June 2008, Representative Henry Waxman called on the Justice Department to release unredacted transcripts of the FBI interviews in which Libby stated that it was "possible" that Vice President Cheney instructed him to release the information to the press.^[92]

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 UK Labour government, defense, and 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."^[93]

On September 18, 2002, George Tenet briefed Bush that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. Bush dismissed this top-secret intelligence from Saddam's inner circle which was approved by two senior CIA officers, but it turned out to be completely accurate. The information was never shared with Congress or even CIA agents examining whether Saddam had such weapons.^[94] The CIA had contacted Saddam Hussein's foreign minister, Naji Sabri, who was being paid by the French as an agent. Sabri informed them that Saddam 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.^[95]

In September 2002, the Bush administration, the CIA and the DIA said attempts by Iraq to acquire high-strength aluminum tubes, which were prohibited under the UN monitoring program, pointed to a clandestine effort to make enriched uranium for nuclear bombs.^[96] This analysis was opposed by the Department of Energy (DOE) and INR which was significant because of DOE's expertise in gas centrifuges and nuclear weapons programs. The DOE and INR argued that such tubes were poorly suited for centrifuges.