Background
{{Main, Lead-up to the Iraq War, Rationale for the Iraq War {{See also, Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, Iraq disarmament crisis, Iraq disarmament timeline 1990–2003 Strong international opposition to thePre-war events
{{Main, Rationale for the Iraq War, Preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq, Failed Iraqi peace initiatives Following 9/11, the Bush administration's national security team actively debated an invasion of Iraq. On the day of the attacks, Secretary of DefenseOpposition to invasion
{{Further, Criticism of the Iraq War, Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Legality of the Iraq War, Protests against the Iraq War In October 2002, former US President Bill Clinton warned about the possible dangers of pre-emptive military action against Iraq. Speaking in the UK at a Labour Party (UK), 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." Of 209 House Democratic Party (United States), Democrats in Congress, 126 voted against the Iraq Resolution, Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, although 29 of 50 Democrats in the Senate voted in favor of it. Only one Republican Party (United States), Republican Senator, Lincoln Chafee, voted against it. The Senate's lone Independent, Jim Jeffords, voted against it. Retired US Marine, former Navy Secretary and future US senator Jim Webb wrote shortly before the vote, "Those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade." In the same period, Pope John Paul II publicly condemned the military intervention. During a private meeting, he also said directly to George W. Bush: "Mr. President, you know my opinion about the war in Iraq. Let's talk about something else. Every violence, against one or a million, is a blasphemy addressed to the image and likeness of God."History
2003: Invasion
{{Main, 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2003 in Iraq, Timeline of the 2003 invasion of Iraq {{See also, Coalition military operations of the Iraq War, Iraq War order of battle, Al Anbar campaignPost-invasion phase
{{Main, History of Iraq (2003–2011) {{Further, Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)2003: Beginnings of insurgency
{{See, Ramadi under US military occupation= Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group
= {{See also, Iraqi Governing Council, International Advisory and Monitoring Board, Coalition Provisional Authority Program Review Board, l3=CPA Program Review Board, Development Fund for Iraq, Reconstruction of Iraq Shortly after the invasion, the multinational coalition created the= Capturing former government leaders
= {{See also, Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, Trial of Saddam Hussein2004: Insurgency expands
{{Main, 2004 in Iraq {{See also, List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War, 2004 in Iraq, Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), Fallujah during the Iraq War, Iraq spring fighting of 2004 The start of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Insurgent forces reorganised during this time, studying the multinational forces' tactics and planning a renewed offensive. However, violence did increase during the Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004 with foreign fighters from around the Middle East as well as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, an2005: Elections and transitional government
{{Further, 2005 in Iraq, Military transition team2006: Civil war and permanent Iraqi government
{{Further, Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008), Sectarian violence in Iraq, Operation Together Forward, Provincial Reconstruction Team= Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution
= {{Main, Iraq Study Group, Execution of Saddam Hussein The Iraq Study Group Report was released on 6 December 2006. The Iraq Study Group made up of people from both of the major US parties, was led by co-chairs James Baker, a former Secretary of State (Republican), and Lee H. Hamilton, a former US Representative (Democrat). It concluded that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating" and "US forces seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end." The report's 79 recommendations include increasing diplomatic measures with2007: US troops surge
{{Further, 2007 in Iraq, Iraq War troop surge of 2007, Timeline of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, Strategic reset= Planned troop reduction
= In a speech made to Congress on 10 September 2007, David Petraeus, Petraeus "envisioned the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 US troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contingent [in September]." On 13 September, Bush backed a limited withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush said 5,700 personnel would be home by Christmas 2007, and expected thousands more to return by July 2008. The plan would take troop numbers back to their level before the surge at the beginning of 2007.= Effects of the surge on security
= By March 2008, violence in Iraq was reported curtailed by 40–80%, according to a Pentagon report. Independent reports raised questions about those assessments. An Iraqi military spokesman claimed that civilian deaths since the start of the troop surge plan were 265 in Baghdad, down from 1,440 in the four previous weeks. ''The New York Times'' counted more than 450 Iraqi civilians killed during the same 28‑day period, based on initial daily reports from Iraqi Interior Ministry and hospital officials.= Political developments
= More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country for the first time. 144 of the 275 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition that would require the Iraqi government to seek approval from Parliament before it requests an extension of the UN mandate for foreign forces to be in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2008. It also calls for a timetable for troop withdrawal and a freeze on the size of foreign forces. The UN Security Council mandate for US‑led forces in Iraq will terminate "if requested by the government of Iraq." 59% of those polled in the US support a timetable for withdrawal. In mid-2007, the Coalition began a controversial program to recruit Iraqi Sunnis (often former insurgents) for the formation of "Guardian" militias. These Guardian militias are intended to support and secure various Sunni neighborhoods against the Islamists.= Tensions with Iran
= {{Further, Iran–United States relations, Karbala provincial headquarters raid In 2007, tensions increased greatly between= Tensions with Turkey
= {{Further, 2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq Border incursions by Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK militants based in Northern Iraq have continued to harass Turkish forces, with casualties on both sides. In the fall of 2007, the Turkish military stated their right to cross the Iraqi Kurdistan border in "hot pursuit" of PKK militants and began shelling Kurdish areas in Iraq and attacking PKK bases in the Mount Cudi region with aircraft. The Turkish parliament approved a resolution permitting the military to pursue the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan. In November, Turkish gunships attacked parts of northern Iraq in the first such attack by Turkish aircraft since the border tensions escalated. Another series of attacks in mid-December hit PKK targets in the Qandil, Zap, Avashin and Hakurk regions. The latest series of attacks involved at least 50 aircraft and artillery and Kurdish officials reported one civilian killed and two wounded. Additionally, weapons that were given to Iraqi security forces by the US military were being recovered by authorities in Turkey after being used by PKK in that state.= Blackwater private security controversy
= {{Main, Blackwater Baghdad shootings On 17 September 2007, the Iraqi government announced that it was revoking the license of the US security firm Blackwater USA over the firm's involvement in the killing of eight civilians, including a woman and an infant, in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.2008: Civil war continues
{{Further, 2008 in Iraq, Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008) Throughout 2008, US officials and independent think tanks began to point to improvements in the security situation, as measured by key statistics. According to the US Defense Department, in December 2008 the "overall level of violence" in the country had dropped 80% since before Iraq War troop surge of 2007, the surge began in January 2007, and the country's murder rate had dropped to prewar levels. They also pointed out that the casualty figure for US forces in 2008 was 314 against a figure of 904 in 2007.{{cite web , url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52539 , title=U.S. Deaths in Iraq Decrease in 2008 , publisher=Defenselink.mil , access-date=23 October 2010 According to the Brookings Institution, Iraqi civilian fatalities numbered 490 in November 2008 as against 3,500 in January 2007, whereas attacks against the coalition numbered somewhere between 200 and 300 per week in the latter half of 2008, as opposed to a peak of nearly 1,600 in summer 2007. The number of Iraqi security forces killed was under 100 per month in the second half of 2008, from a high of 200 to 300 in the summer of 2007. Meanwhile, the proficiency of the Iraqi military increased as it launched a spring offensive against Shia militias, which Prime Minister= Spring offensives on Shiite militias
= {{Further, Iraq Spring Fighting of 2008, Siege of Sadr City, Battle of Basra (2008)= Congressional testimony
== Iraqi security forces rearm
== Status of forces agreement
= {{Main, US–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement The US–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement was approved by the Iraqi government on 4 December 2008.{{cite web, url=http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20081204T131005ZTKH99/Iraq%20presidential%20council%20endorses%20US%20security%20pact , title=Iraq presidential council endorses U.S. security pact , publisher=Zawya.com , access-date=23 October 2010 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511180133/http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20081204T131005ZTKH99/Iraq%20presidential%20council%20endorses%20US%20security%20pact , archive-date=11 May 2011 It established that US combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009, and that all US forces would be completely out of Iraq by 31 December 2011. The pact was subject to possible negotiations which could have delayed withdrawal and a referendum scheduled for mid-2009 in Iraq, which might have required all US forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010.BBC News (27 November 20082009: Coalition redeployment
{{Further, 2009 in Iraq= Transfer of the Green Zone
== Provincial elections
= {{Main, 2009 Iraqi governorate elections= Exit strategy announcement
= On 27 February, United States President= Sixth anniversary protests
= On 9 April, the 6th anniversary of Baghdad's fall to coalition forces, tens of thousands of Iraqis thronged Baghdad to mark the anniversary and demand the immediate departure of coalition forces. The crowds of Iraqis stretched from the Sadr City slum in northeast Baghdad to the square around {{convert, 5, km, mi, abbr=on away, where protesters burned an effigy featuring the face of US President George W. Bush. There were also Sunni Muslims in the crowd. Police said many Sunnis, including prominent leaders such as a founding sheikh from the Sons of Iraq, took part.''Miami Herald'': Tens of thousands of Iraqis rally against U.S.= Coalition forces withdraw
= On 30 April, the United Kingdom formally ended combat operations. Prime Minister= Iraq awards oil contracts
=2010: US drawdown and Operation New Dawn {{anchor, 2010:_US_Drawdown_and_Operation_New_Dawn
{{Further, 2010 in Iraq, Withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (2007–2011) On 17 February 2010, US Secretary of Defense= Iraqi arms purchases
== The UN lifts restrictions on Iraq
= In a move to legitimize the existing Iraqi government, the United Nations lifted the Saddam Hussein-era UN restrictions on Iraq. These included allowing Iraq to have a civilian nuclear program, permitting the participation of Iraq in international nuclear and chemical weapons treaties, as well as returning control of Iraq's oil and gas revenue to the government and ending the Oil-for-Food Programme.2011: US withdrawal
{{Main, Withdrawal of US troops from Iraq (2007–2011) {{Further, 2011 in Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq in the holy city of Najaf to lead the Sadrist movement after being in exile since 2007. On 15 January 2011, three US troops were killed in Iraq. One of the troops was killed on a military operation in central Iraq, while the other two troops were deliberately shot by one or two Iraqi soldiers during a training exercise. On 6 June, five US troops were killed in an apparent rocket attack on JSS Loyalty. A sixth soldier, who was wounded in the attack, died 10 days later of his wounds. On 13 June 2011, two US troops were killed in an IED attack located in Wasit Governorate. On 26 June 2011, a US soldier was killed. Sergeant Brent McBride was sentenced to four years, two months for his involvement in the death. On 29 June, three US troops were killed in a rocket attack on a US base located near the border with Iran. It was speculated that the militant group responsible for the attack was the same one which attacked JSS Loyalty just over three weeks before. With the three deaths, June 2011, became the bloodiest month in Iraq for the US military since June 2009, with 15 US soldiers killed, only one of them outside combat. On 7 July, two US troops were killed and one seriously injured in an IED attack at Victory Base Complex outside Baghdad. They were members of the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team, an Idaho Army National Guard unit base in Post Falls, Idaho. Spc. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, and Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20, were killed in the attack, Staff Sgt. Jazon Rzepa, 30, was seriously injured. In September, Iraq signed a contract to buy 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 warplanes, becoming the 26th nation to operate the F-16. Because of windfall profits from oil, the Iraqi government is planning to double this originally planned 18, to 36 F-16s. Iraq is relying on the US military for air support as it rebuilds its forces and battles a stubborn Islamist insurgency. With the collapse of the discussions about extending the stay of any US troops beyond 2011, where they would not be granted any immunity from the Iraqi government, on 21 October 2011, President Obama announced at a White House press conference that all remaining US troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year as previously scheduled, bringing the US mission in Iraq to an end.{{cite news , title=Barack Obama: All U.S. troops to leave Iraq in 2011, url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15410154, work=BBC News, access-date=21 October 2011, date=21 October 2011 The last American soldier to die in Iraq before the withdrawal, SPC. David Hickman, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on 14 November.{{cite news , last=Johnson, first=Craig, title=N.C. soldier reportedly last to die in Iraq war, url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/n-c-soldier-reportedly-last-to-die-in-iraq-war/, access-date=16 December 2011, publisher=CNN, date=16 December 2011 In November 2011, the US Senate voted down a resolution to formally end the war by bringing its authorization by Congress to an end.{{cite news, last=Antle, first=W. James, title=Senate Tackles Iraq War Powers, Indefinite Detention, url=http://spectator.org/blog/2011/11/30/senate-tackles-iraq-war-powers, work=The Spectacle Blog, publisher=The American Spectator, access-date=23 February 2015, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523095150/http://spectator.org/blog/2011/11/30/senate-tackles-iraq-war-powers, archive-date=23 May 2013Aftermath – emerging conflict and insurgency
{{Main, Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013), War in Iraq (2013–2017) {{See also, Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014), Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014), , American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)Casualty estimates
{{Main, Casualties of the Iraq War {{See also, Foreign hostages in Iraq, List of bombings during the Iraq WarCriticism and cost
{{Further, Criticism of the Iraq War, Opposition to the Iraq War, Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Legality of the Iraq War, Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Protests against the Iraq War, Governmental positions on the Iraq War prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Media coverage of the Iraq War, Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq {{See also, Iraq War misappropriations, Habbush letter, The Way of the World (book)Financial cost
{{Main, Financial cost of the Iraq War In March 2013, the total cost of the Iraq War to date was estimated at $1.7 trillion by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Some argue that the total cost of the war to the US economy will range from $3 trillion to {{Nowrap, $6 trillion, including interest rates, by 2053, as described in the Watson Institute's report. The upper ranges of these estimates include long-term veterans costs and economic impacts. For example, Harvard's public finance expert Linda J. Bilmes has estimated that the long-term cost of providing disability compensation and medical care to US troops injured in the Iraq conflict will reach nearly $1 trillion over the next 40 years, and that the war in Iraq diverted resources from the war in Afghanistan, led to rising oil prices, increased the federal debt, and contributed to a global financial crisis. A CNN report noted that the United States–led interim government, theReparations
By 2013, some human rights groups in both Iraq and the U.S. had begun campaigning for War reparations, reparations from the US for the devastation and health effects suffered by Iraqis during the war.Humanitarian crisis
{{Main, Humanitarian crises of the Iraq War, Refugees of IraqEnvironmental impact
Oil pollution
The war has led to Oil spill, oil spills, which increased carbon emissions and contaminated the surrounding water resources. During the invasion period, the retreating Iraqi Ground Forces, Iraqi army damaged the oil infrastructure and destroyed more than 736 oil wells in southern Iraq, resulting in massive oil spills and the ignition of fires.{{Cite web , title=The Environmental Consequences of the War on Iraq , url=https://www.greenparty.org.uk/files/reports/2003/The%20Environmental%20Consequences%20of%20the%20War%20on%20Iraq%202.htm#:~:text=Oil,%20soot,%20sulphur%20and%20acid,billion%20tons%20of%20carbon%20dioxide. , access-date=2022-07-24 , website=www.greenparty.org.uk In 2003, more than 50 billion tonnes of carbon emissions were produced from burning oil fields and released into the atmosphere. Also, over 130 million gallons of oil leaked into surrounding water resources, such as Sawa Lake.{{Cite journal , last=Al-Shammari , first=Ahmed Majeed , date=2016-06-01 , title=Environmental pollutions associated to conflicts in Iraq and related health problems , url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/reveh-2015-0024/html , journal=Reviews on Environmental Health , language=en , volume=31 , issue=2 , pages=245–250 , doi=10.1515/reveh-2015-0024 , pmid=26512425 , s2cid=41359706 , issn=2191-0308 Between 2003 and 2010, more than 5,000 birds from three species died around Sawa Lake.Radioactive contamination
Ecosystem destruction
War crimes
{{Main, Human rights in post-invasion Iraq {{Prose, date=July 2013 Throughout the Iraq War, many human rights abuses and war crimes were committed.By Coalition forces and private contractors
{{See also, United States war crimesBy Insurgent groups
{{Main, Iraq War insurgent attacks {{Further, Suicide bombings in Iraq since 2003, Tactics of the Iraqi insurgencyBy Post-invasion Iraqi Government
The post-invasion Iraqi government used torture against detainees, including children. Some techniques of torture used included beatings, electric shocks, prolonged hanging by the wrists, food and water deprivation, and blindfolding for multiple days. Iraqi police from the Interior Ministry were accused of forming Death Squads and committing numerous massacres of Sunni Arabs. Many of these human rights abuses were carried out by Iraqi government-sponsored Shi'ite militias.Public opinion on the war
{{Main, Public opinion on the Iraq WarInternational opinion
Iraqi opinion
Relation to the Global War on Terrorism
{{Main, Iraq War and the War on Terror {{Further, Criticism of the War on Terrorism, Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda timeline Though explicitly stating that Iraq had "nothing" to do with 9/11, erstwhile President George W. Bush consistently referred to the Iraq War as "the central front in the War on Terrorism, War on Terror", and argued that if the United States pulled out of Iraq, "terrorists will follow us here". While other proponents of the war regularly echoed this assertion, as the conflict dragged on, members of the US Congress, the US public, and even US troops questioned the connection between Iraq and the fight against anti-US terrorism. In particular, a consensus developed among intelligence experts that the Iraq War actually increased terrorism. Counterterrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna frequently referred to the invasion of Iraq as a "fatal mistake". London's International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in 2004 that the occupation of Iraq had become "a potent global recruitment pretext" for Mujahideen and that the invasion "galvanised" al-Qaeda and "perversely inspired insurgent violence" there. The US National Intelligence Council concluded in a January 2005 report that the war in Iraq had become a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists; David Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, indicated that the report concluded that the war in Iraq provided terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills ... There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will, therefore, disperse to various other countries." The council's chairman Robert Hutchings said, "At the moment, Iraq is a magnet for international terrorist activity." And the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, which outlined the considered judgment of all 16 US intelligence agencies, held that "The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause célèbre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement."Foreign involvement
Suicide bombers
{{bar box , title= Origins of suicide bombers in Iraq 2003–2007 , titlebar=#DDD , float= right , left1= Nationality , right2= , width= 300px , bars= {{bar pixel, Saudi Arabia, red, 53 {{bar pixel,Role of Iran
According to two unnamed US officials, the Pentagon is examining the possibility that the Karbala provincial headquarters raid, in which insurgents managed to infiltrate an American base, kill five US soldiers, wound three, and destroy three humvees before fleeing, was supported by Iranians. In a speech on {{Nowrap, 31 January 2007, Iraqi Prime MinisterSee also
{{Portal, Iraq, War, Middle East * Foreign interventions by the United States * United States involvement in regime change * Criticism of United States foreign policy * Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict * Iraq–United States relations * ''The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs'' * List of wars by death toll * National Network to End the War Against Iraq * Protests against the Iraq War * United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War * United States military casualties of war * War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) * Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq WarFootnotes
{{NotelistReferences
{{ReflistFurther reading
* {{cite book , last=Bellavia, first=David, title=House to House: An Epic Memoir of War, year=2007, publisher=Simon & Schuster, isbn=978-1416574712, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74DRCVfzqkgC&q=House+to+House:+an+Epic+of+Urban+WarfareExternal links
{{sisterlinks, c=Iraq War, d=yes, q=yes, n=yes, b=no, v=no, voy=no, m=no, mw=no, wikt=no, s=no, species=no