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- The Iraq War[nb 1] was an armed conflict in Iraq that consisted of two phases. The first was an invasion of Iraq starting on March 20, 2003 by an invasion force of the United States and allies that led to the end of Ba'athist Iraq.[43][44][45][46] It was followed by a longer phase of fighting, in which an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the newly formed Iraqi government.[47] Roughly 96.5 percent of the casualties suffered by the U.S.-led coalition were suffered during the second phase, rather than the initial invasion.[48] The U.S. completed its withdrawal of military personnel in December 2011, during the ninth year of the war.[49][50] However, the insurgency is ongoing and continues to cause thousands 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 allies.[51][52][53] 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. Prior to the attack, the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
(UNMOVIC) found no evidence of WMD, but could not yet verify the
accuracy of Iraq's declarations regarding what weapons it possessed, as
their work was still unfinished. The leader of the inspectors, Hans Blix, estimated the time remaining for disarmament being verified through inspections to be "months".[nb 2][54][55][56][57]
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.[58]
Although no active chemical weapons program was found, at least 17 U.S.
troops and 7 Iraqi police officers were burned or wounded when chemical
artillery rounds were used as improvised explosive devices by insurgents or otherwise exploded.[59] Paul R. Pillar,
the CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East
from 2000 to 2005, said "If prewar intelligence assessments had said the
same things as the Duelfer report,
the administration would have had to change a few lines in its rhetoric
and maybe would have lost a few member's votes in Congress, but
otherwise the sales campaign—which was much more about Saddam's
intentions and what he "could" do than about extant weapons
systems—would have been unchanged. The administration still would have
gotten its war. Even Dick Cheney later cited the actual Duelfer report as support for the administration's pro-war case."[60]
However, George J. Tenet, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, stated Vice President Cheney and other George W. Bush administration
officials pushed the country to war in Iraq without ever conducting a
"serious debate" about whether Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat
to the United States.[61]
Some U.S. officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda,[62] but no evidence of a meaningful connection was ever found.[63][64] Other stated reasons for the invasion included Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,[65] Iraqi government human rights abuses,[66] and an effort to spread democracy to the country.[67][68]
On 16 March 2003, the U.S. government advised the U.N. inspectors to leave their unfinished work and exit from Iraq.[69] On 20 March[70] the American-led coalition conducted a surprise[71] military invasion of Iraq without declaring war.[72] The invasion led to an occupation and the eventual capture of Saddam, 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.[73][74]
In June 2008, US Department of Defense
officials claimed security and economic indicators began to show signs
of improvement in what they hailed as significant and fragile gains.[75] Iraq was fifth on the 2008 Failed States Index,[76] and sixth on the 2009 list.[77]
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.[78][79] In late 2008, the American and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement effective through 1 January 2012.[80] The Iraqi Parliament also ratified a Strategic Framework Agreement with the United States,[81] aimed at ensuring cooperation in constitutional rights, threat deterrence, education,[82] energy development, and other areas.[83]
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".[84][85] UK forces ended combat operations on 30 April 2009.[86] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al‑Maliki said he supported the accelerated pullout of U.S. forces.[87] 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."[88][89][90]
Beginning 1 September 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.[91] 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".[92][93]
On 21 October 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.[94]
On 15 December 2011, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially
declared the Iraq War over, at a flag lowering ceremony in Baghdad.[95] The last U.S. troops left Iraqi territory on 18 December 2011 at 4:27 UTC.[96] A total of 4,491 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2014.[97]
Since the U.S. military's withdrawal, significant violence has continued in Iraq.[98]
The Shia-dominated administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
moved to arrest important Sunni political leaders prior to and following
the U.S. withdrawal, and Sunni militant groups stepped up attacks
targeting the country's majority Shia population, undermining confidence in the Shia-led government.[99][100]
As of mid-June 2014 the internationally recognized government of Iraq
is reported to have lost control of large areas of the country's north
including the provincial capitals of Mosul and Tikrit. Large scale
warfare between the supporters of the Shia led government and Sunni
militants composed of Ba'ath loyalists and ISIS is underway.[101][102] ISIS or ISIL
later took control of Iraq's second largest city. The group has posted
videos online of them massacring hundreds of innocent civilians and
soldiers. U.S. Forces would ultimately return to Iraq in the summer of 2014.
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