THE (2
ND GULF
) WAR
in IRAQ
2003 - 2011
Iraq’s Diverse Population
Butcher of Baghdad
• Anfal (“spoils of war”) campaign
kills 180,000 Kurds with
chemical gas in 1988
• Drains ancient Mesopotamian
marshlands as retribution
for Shiite 1991 rebellion
• 200,000 displaced
• described by UN as a "tragic human
and environmental catastrophe"
• Executes 143 males after
failed 1982 assassination
attempt in Shiite town of
Dujail
Saddam’s Cult of Personality
Saddam Still Going Rogue
Throughout the 1990s
After Gulf War ended in 1991,
the UN sent inspectors to
ensure that Iraq disclosed and
destroyed its entire stockpile
of chemical weapons
Iraq repeatedly claimed to be
honoring the terms of the
surrender
US claimed Saddam was still
hiding pre-1991 weaponry
and not cooperating with
inspectors by stalling while
materials were removed from
sites in advance
Saddam Works Around UN Sanctions
• Economic sanctions against
Iraq had been in place since
1990 Kuwait invasion
• but ordinary Iraqi citizens
suffering the most
• Oil-for-Food Program was
established by UN in 1995 to
allow Iraq to sell oil on the
world market in exchange for
food, medicine, and other
humanitarian needs
Kuwait authorities seized a shipment
• Saddam diverts the resources coming out of Iraq carrying, among
for his own personal gain!! other items, baby bottles, and other
nursing materials for resale overseas
Iraq Oil Revenues
Used to Build Saddam Palaces
Compare to homes and lifestyles
of Iraqi commoners
9/11 as Watershed Event
Beginning of War on Terror
“Dubya”
“Axis of Evil”
State of the Union
Speech Jan. 2002
Rumblings of War
President Bush in his 3/6/03 prime
time press conference:
"I hope we don't have to go to
war. But if we go to war we will
disarm Iraq. And if we go to war
there will be regime change.
And replacing the cancer inside
Iraq will be a government that
represents the rights of all the
people, a government which
represents the voices of the Shia
and the Sunni and the Kurds."
2nd Gulf War with Iraq
Justifications
The justifications given for
invasion included:
• Claims that Iraq had weapons of
mass destruction (WMD)
• Purported Iraqi government links
to al Qaeda
• The opportunity to remove an
oppressive dictator from power
• Bring democracy to
long-suffering Iraqi people
Country Positions on Iraq War
US: Believed Iraq was not
cooperating with UN weapons
inspectors and has been given too
much time and too many chances
UK: Primary support of US plan to
invade
France: “We think military
intervention is the worst possible
solution.”
Russia: “Russia deems there is no
evidence that would justify war in
Iraq.”
China: Supported continued
weapons inspection. One official
said their position was “very close
to that of France.”
•America prepares to launch a
“preemptive strike” with a much
smaller “coalition of the willing”
Quick Victory!?
March 20, 2003
“Operation Iraqi
Freedom” began
• “Shock and awe”
April 9, 2003
Saddam’s
government toppled
May 1, 2003, GWB
declares major
combat operations
over
Timeline of Justice and Democracy
July 22, 2003 Saddam’s sons
killed
December 13, 2003 Saddam
Hussein captured
June 28, 2004 -US hands
power over to “Interim”
government
Dec. 2005 - Iraqis vote in first
full-term election
Dec. 30, 2006 Saddam
executed
Responsibility for Security
is Attempted to be
Transferred to Iraqis
The Insurgency
Dec. 2006 - Iraq Study Group calls situation grave and deteriorating
Armed resistance to US and coalition forces in Iraq
Minority Sunnis, once ruling Iraq with Saddam, now displaced from top jobs in
government and military
Fueled by failure of interim government to provide security and basic services
Waged by Iraqi rebels, often with the help of outside governments (Iran and Syria)
Sectarian Conflict
(Internal “civil war”)
3000 Americans dead by end of 2006
3000 Iraqis killed/month
Improvised Explosive Device
IEDs / Roadside Bombs
Responsible for ~40% of coalition deaths
prior to 2008
Physical and mental scars for survivors
Struggles of Reconstruction
and The Surge
Iraqi Prime Minister 2006-2014
Nouri al-Maliki
Repeatedly accused of corruption and
incompetence by Iraqis and Americans!
January, 2007 US Surge with 20,000
troops increase
July 2008 PM Maliki discusses
timetable for troop withdrawal
Iraqi reporter throws shoe at
President Bush, claiming US
“bungled” the reconstruction of a
new “democratic” Iraq after
Saddam
Commission report finds agencies
were ‘dead wrong’ on Iraqi WMD
The “architects” of the Iraq War
and subsequent reconstruction:
Sec of Defense Rumsfeld,
POTUS Bush II, VP Cheney
o
Faulty US, primarily CIA, intelligence
was used in February 2003, by then
Secretary of State Colin Powell, to seek
a United Nations endorsement
for military action against Iraq
It turns out that Saddam Hussein did
not have an “active” post 1991
weapons program, nor any connection
to 9/11 attacks
Obama Administration Withdrawal
August 31, 2010 – Major combat
operations over
• Pres. Obama: “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."
• 50,000 of 142,000 troops stayed to advise
Iraqi forces and protect US interests
On Sept. 1, 2010 – The name “Operation
Iraqi Freedom” rebranded with
“Operation New Dawn”
Dec. 18, 2011
– Iraq War officially over
ISIS Fills Part of Iraq Power Vacuum After
US Withdrawal
American troops back
into Iraq in 2014 to fight
the rise of the “Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria”
The American Cost of War
Operation Iraqi
Freedom Deaths
• 4500 Americans
• 179 Brits
• 139 others
Iraqi Civilian Deaths
Estimate: 90,000
• Includes civilians killed in combat and deaths
resulting from breakdown of civil security
Life in Iraq Today
It is now a country of
43 million people,
almost double the
figure at the start of
the war.
The majority of Iraqis
are under the age of
25.
• The horrors of war have
defined childhood for
millions of young Iraqis
who have never known
life in a stable state.
