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Iraq War

The Iraq War was an armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein.

Iraq War
Part of the Iraqi conflict and the War on Terror
Iraq War montage.png
Clockwise from top: U.S. troops at Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square
Date20 March 2003 – 18 December 2011 (2011-12-18)
(8 years and 8 or 9 months)
Location
Iraq
Result

Inconclusive

Belligerents

Invasion phase (2003)
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 Poland
Peshmerga

Supported by:
 Canada[1]
 Netherlands[2]		 Invasion phase (2003)
 Iraq

Post-invasion
(2003–11)
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Iraq

Flag of Multi-National Force – Iraq.png MNF–I
(2003–09)

Supported by:

Iran Iran[3][4]
 Iraqi Kurdistan

Post-invasion (2003–11)
Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg Ba'ath loyalists

Sunni insurgents

Shia insurgents

supported by:
 Iran

For fighting between insurgent groups, see Sectarian violence in Iraq (2006–08).
Commanders and leaders
Ayad Allawi
Ibrahim al-Jaafari
Nouri al-Maliki
Flag of Multi-National Force – Iraq.png Ricardo Sanchez
Flag of Multi-National Force – Iraq.png George W. Casey, Jr.
Flag of Multi-National Force – Iraq.png David Petraeus
Flag of United States Forces – Iraq.png Raymond T. Odierno
Flag of United States Forces – Iraq.png Lloyd Austin
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Tommy Franks
Donald Rumsfeld
Robert Gates
Tony Blair
Gordon Brown
David Cameron
John Howard
Kevin Rudd
Silvio Berlusconi
Walter Natynczyk
José María Aznar
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Ba'ath Party
Saddam Hussein # Skull and Crossbones.svg
Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri
Iraq Qusay Hussein  †
Iraq Uday Hussein  †
Iraq Abid Hamid Mahmud #
Iraq Ali Hassan al-Majid #
Iraq Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti #
Iraq Taha Yasin Ramadan #
Iraq Tariq Aziz #
Iraq Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed

Sunni insurgency
Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg Abu Musab al-Zarqawi  †
Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg Abu Ayyub al-Masri  †
Flag of the Islamic State in Iraq.svg Abu Omar al-Baghdadi  †
Flag of the Islamic State in Iraq.svg Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Ishmael Jubouri
Flag of al-Qaeda in Iraq.svg Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i #

Shia insurgency
Flag of Promised Day Brigades.svg Muqtada al-Sadr
Shiism arabic blue.svg Abu Deraa
Qais al-Khazali
[[Image:|22x20px|border |]] Akram al-Kaabi

Strength

Invasion forces (2003)
309,000
 United States: 192,000[19]
 United Kingdom: 45,000
 Australia: 2,000
 Poland: 194
Iraqi Kurdistan Peshmerga: 70,000

Coalition forces (2004–09)
176,000 at peak
United States Forces – Iraq (2010–11)
112,000 at activation
Security contractors 6,000–7,000 (estimate)[20]
Iraqi security forces
805,269 (military and paramilitary: 578,269,[21] police: 227,000)

Awakening militias
≈103,000 (2008)[22]
Iraqi Kurdistan
≈400,000 (Kurdish Border Guard: 30,000,[23] Peshmerga 375,000)

Coat of arms of Iraq (1991–2004).svg Iraqi Armed Forces: 375,000 (disbanded in 2003)
Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg Special Iraqi Republican Guard: 12,000
Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg Iraqi Republican Guard: 70,000–75,000
Fedayeen Saddam SSI.svg Fedayeen Saddam: 30,000

Sunni Insurgents
≈70,000 (2007)[24]
al-Qaeda
≈1,300 (2006)[25]

Islamic State of Iraq
≈1,000 (2008)
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order
≈500–1,000 (2007)
Casualties and losses

Iraqi security forces (post-Saddam)
Killed: 17,690[26]
Wounded: 40,000+[27]
Coalition forces
Killed: 4,815[28][29] (4,496 U.S.,[30] 179 UK,[31] 139 other)[28]
Missing/captured (U.S.): 17 (8 rescued, 9 died in captivity)[32]
Wounded: 32,776+ (32,252 U.S.,[30] 315 UK, 212+ other[33])[34][35][36][37]
Injured/diseases/other medical*: 51,139 (47,541 U.S.,[38] 3,598 UK)[34][36][37]
Contractors
Killed: 1,554[39][40]
Wounded & injured: 43,880[39][40]
Awakening Councils
Killed: 1,002+[41]
Wounded: 500+ (2007),[42] 828 (2008)[43]

Total dead: 25,285 (+12,000 policemen killed 2003–2005)
Total wounded: 117,961

Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600–10,800[44][45]
Insurgents (post-Saddam)
Killed: 26,544 (2003–11)[46]
Detainees: 12,000 (Iraqi-held)[47]

Total dead: 34,144–37,344

Estimated deaths:
Lancet survey** (March 2003 – July 2006): 654,965 (95% CI: 392,979–942,636)[48][49]
Iraq Family Health Survey*** (March 2003 – July 2006): 151,000 (95% CI: 104,000–223,000)[50]
PLOS Medicine Study**: (March 2003 – June 2011): 405,000 (95% CI: 48,000–751,000), in addition to 55,000 deaths missed due to emigration.[51]

Documented deaths from violence:
Iraq Body Count (2003 – 14 December 2011): 103,160–113,728 civilian deaths recorded,[52] and 12,438 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs[53]
Associated Press (March 2003 – April 2009): 110,600[54]

For more information see: Casualties of the Iraq War
* "injured, diseased, or other medical": required medical air transport. UK number includes "aeromed evacuations".
** Total excess deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc.
*** Violent deaths only – does not include excess deaths due to increased lawlessness, poorer healthcare, etc.

The conflict continued for much of the next ten years as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.[55] An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict. The United States officially withdrew from the country in 2011 but left private security contractors in its place to continue the war.[56] In 2014 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant conquered much of northern Iraq. An American-led new coalition sent troops to help the government of Iraq.

Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Poland were also involved in the war with support from the Kurdish Peshmerga.

Background

After the Gulf War of 1990-1991 during which a US-led coalition retook Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion, Iraq was severely damaged both economically and socially. Numerous penalties were imposed on the crumbling state of Iraq, including a no-fly zone (essentially barring any civilian and military planes from flying over Iraq), along with UN weapon inspections to ensure that Saddam was not stockpiling WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction). In 1998, the Iraqi government stopped allowing these inspections to continue after allegations that the inspectors were spying for the US.

Iraq War Media

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Greg Weston (16 May 2011). Canada offered to aid Iraq invasion: WikiLeaks. CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/weston-canada-offered-to-aid-iraq-invasion-wikileaks-1.1062501. 
  2. ↑ Regering (12 January 2010). "Rapport Commissie-Davids". rijksoverheid.nl. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  3. ↑ Elaheh Rostami-Povey, Iran's Influence: A Religious-Political State and Society in Its Region, pp. 130–154, Zed Books Ltd, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ President Barack Obama Speaks With VICE News. YouTube. 16 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Operations By Iran's Military Mastermind – Business Insider". Business Insider. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  7. ↑ Michael Petrou (9 September 2011). The decline of al-Qaeda. Maclean's. http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/the-decline-of-al-qaeda/. "George W. Bush gambled on surging thousands more troops to the embattled country. It paid off. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is now a diminished force without territory.". 
  8. ↑ Tucker, Spencer C. (2015-12-14). U.S. Conflicts in the 21st Century: Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-3879-8. Al Qaeda in Iraq was decimated by the end of the Iraq War in 2011
  9. ↑ Krepinevich, Andrew F.; Jr (2005-09-01). "How to Win in Iraq" (in en-US). Foreign Affairs (September/October 2005). ISSN 0015-7120 . https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iraq/2005-09-01/how-win-iraq. Retrieved 2023-10-20. 
  10. ↑ Georgy, Michael (2023-03-16). "Iraqi ambush of Americans made a mockery of 'Mission Accomplished'" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraqi-ambush-americans-made-mockery-mission-accomplished-2023-03-16/. Retrieved 2023-10-20. 
  11. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark (2004-07-06). "U.S. Response to Insurgency Called a Failure" (in en-US). Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-06-fg-counterinsurgency6-story.html. Retrieved 2023-10-20. 
  12. ↑ Cordesman, Anthony H. (2020-01-02). "America's Failed Strategy in the Middle East: Losing Iraq and the Gulf".
  13. ↑ Galbraith, Peter W. (2007). The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-9424-9.[page needed]
  14. ↑ "Iran expands regional 'empire' ahead of nuclear deal". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  15. ↑ "How to Stop Iran's Growing Hegemony – National Review Online". National Review Online. 10 April 2015.
  16. ↑ The JRTN Movement and Iraq's Next Insurgency | Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Ctc.usma.edu. https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-jrtn-movement-and-iraq%E2%80%99s-next-insurgency. Retrieved 2014-08-02. 
  17. ↑ Al-Qaeda's Resurgence in Iraq: A Threat to U.S. Interests. U.S. Department of State. 5 February 2014. https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/221274.htm. Retrieved 26 November 2010. 
  18. ↑ "Operations By Iran's Military Mastermind – Business Insider". Business Insider. 9 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "A Timeline of Iraq War, Troop Levels". The Huffington Post.
  20. ↑ "Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs Charlene Lamb's Remarks on Private Contractors in Iraq". U.S. Department of State. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  21. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies (3 February 2010). Hackett, James (ed.). The Military Balance 2010. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85743-557-3.[page needed]
  22. ↑ Rubin, Alissa J.; Nordland, Rod (29 March 2009). "Troops Arrest an Awakening Council Leader in Iraq, Setting Off Fighting". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/world/middleeast/29iraq.html?hpw. Retrieved 30 March 2010. 
  23. ↑ "The Kurdish peshmerga forces will not be integrated into the Iraqi army: Mahmoud Sangawi — Interview". Ekurd.net. 22 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  24. ↑ The Brookings Institution Iraq Index: Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-Saddam Iraq Archived 2 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine 1 October 2007
  25. ↑ Pincus, Walter. "Violence in Iraq Called Increasingly Complex". The Washington Post, 17 November 2006.
  26. ↑ 260 killed in 2003,260 Iraqi police killed in attacks: official - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 15,196 killed from 2004 through 2009 (with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009),Iraq war logs reveal 15,000 previously unlisted civilian deaths | World news | The Guardian 67 killed in March 2009,News352 - La actualidad de Luxemburgo en hispano Archived 26 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine 1,100 killed in 2010,[1] Archived 16 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine and 1,067 killed in 2011,[2] thus giving a total of 17,690 dead
  27. ↑ "Iraq War" (PDF). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Operation Iraqi Freedom". iCasualties. Archived from the original on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  29. ↑ Home and Away: Iraq and Afghanistan War Casualties. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/index.html. Retrieved 30 March 2010. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Casualty" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  31. ↑ "Fact Sheets | Operations Factsheets | Operations in Iraq: British Fatalities". Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  32. ↑ POW and MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/world/pow-and-mia-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-fast-facts. Retrieved 5 June 2014. ; As of July 2012, seven American private contractors remain unaccounted for. Their names are: Jeffrey Ake, Aban Elias, Abbas Kareem Naama, Neenus Khoshaba, Bob Hamze, Dean Sadek and Hussain al-Zurufi. Healy, Jack, "With Withdrawal Looming, Trails Grow Cold For Americans Missing In Iraq", The New York Times, 22 May 2011, p. 6.
  33. ↑ 33 Ukrainians [3], 31+ Italians Attack on Italian police kills 26 in Iraq / Gasoline truck crashes into compound - SFGate [4] Archived 28 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 30 Bulgarians BBC NEWS | Europe | Bulgaria mourns its dead soldiers 3 Bulgarian Soldiers Wounded in Iraq - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency, 20 Salvadorans El Salvador withdraws last soldiers from Iraq - USATODAY.com, 19 Georgians Civil.Ge | Georgian Soldier Killed in Iraq Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, 18 Estonians Estonian troops may go to Afghanistan, not Iraq, 16+ Poles 3 Bulgarian Soldiers Wounded, Driver Shot Dead in Iraq - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency "The Iraq Page: Tomasz Jura". Archived from the original on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2011. "Two Polish Soldiers Dead, Five Injured in Iraq -PAP". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011. [5] "Three Polish soldiers injured in patrol skirmish in Iraq". Archived from the original on 2011-05-01., 15 Spaniards [6] Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine [7] Archived 2019-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Five Spanish soldiers, four US troops injured in Iraq bomb attacks | Al Bawaba Three Spanish soldiers wounded in Iraq, 10 Romanians Romania's last contingent in Iraq returns home - People's Daily Online, 6 Australians "Combat troops pull out of Iraq - Local News - News - General - the Canberra Times". Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011., 5 Albanians, 4 Kazakhs "The Iraq Page: Bomb blast kills 7 Ukrainians, 1 Kazakh serving with coalition in Iraq". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011., 3 Filipinos "ASIAN JOURNAL a San Diego original. The 1st Asian Journal in Ca,USA. A Filipino American weekly. Online | Digital | Print Editions". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011. and 2 Thais First Thai soldier injured in Iraq - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) [8] for a total of 212+
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Many official U.S. tables at "Military Casualty Information" Archived 3 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. See latest totals for injury, disease/other medical Archived 2 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑ "Casualties in Iraq".
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 iCasualties.org (was lunaville.org). Benicia, California. Patricia Kneisler, et al., "Iraq Coalition Casualties" Archived 21 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 "Defence Internet Fact Sheets Operations in Iraq: British Casualties" Archived 14 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine. UK Ministry of Defense. Latest combined casualty and fatality tables Archived 4 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) – Defense Base Act Case Summary by Nation". U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 T. Christian Miller (23 September 2009). "U.S. Government Private Contract Worker Deaths and Injuries". Projects.propublica.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  41. ↑ 185 in Diyala from June 2007 to December 2007,Attacks Imperil U.S.-Backed Militias in Iraq - The New York Times 4 in assassination of Abu Risha, 25 on 12 November 2007,Iraq Allies Claim Friendly Fire Killed 25 - CBS News Archived 2013-05-14 at the Wayback Machine 528 in 2008,[9] Archived 2016-12-10 at the Wayback Machine 27 on 2 January 2009,Suicide Attack Kills 24 at Iraqi Tribal Gathering - The New York Times 53 From 6 to 12 April 2009,[10] Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine 13 on 16 November 2009,"Thirteen anti-Qaeda tribe members killed in Iraq - FRANCE 24". Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011. 15 in December 2009,4 Sunni Guards at Checkpoint in Baghdad Are Found Dead - The New York Times 100+ from April to June 2010,Iraq disarms Sunni tribal militias | News | Al Jazeera Bitterness Grows Amid U.S.-Backed Sons Of Iraq : NPR 52 on 18 July 2010,Suicide bomber kills dozens of US-backed militia in Baghdad | World news | The Guardian Bloomberg - Are you a robot?total of 1,002+ dead Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ↑ Moore, Solomon; Oppel, Richard A. (24 January 2008). "Attacks Imperil U.S.-Backed Militias in Iraq". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/middleeast/24sunni.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print. 
  43. ↑ Greg Bruno. "Finding a Place for the 'Sons of Iraq'". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  44. ↑ Press release (28 October 2003). "New Study Finds: 11,000 to 15,000 Killed in Iraq War; 30 Percent are Non-Combatants; Death Toll Hurts Postwar Stability Efforts, Damages US Image Abroad". Project on Defense Alternatives (via Common Dreams NewsCenter). Retrieved 2 September 2010. Archived 17 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  45. ↑ Conetta, Carl (23 October 2003). "The Wages of War: Iraqi Combatant and Noncombatant Fatalities in the 2003 Conflict — Project on Defense Alternative Research Monograph #8" Archived 2009-09-02 at the Wayback Machine. Project on Defense Alternatives (via Commonwealth Institute). Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  46. ↑ 597 killed in 2003,19,000 insurgents killed in Iraq since '03 - USATODAY.com, 23,984 killed from 2004 through 2009 (with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009),Iraq war logs reveal 15,000 previously unlisted civilian deaths | World news | The Guardian 652 killed in May 2004,[11] 45 killed in March 2009,[12] Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine 676 killed in 2010,Bloomberg - Are you a robot? and 590 killed in 2011,[13] thus giving a total of 26,544 dead
  47. ↑ Amnesty: Iraq holds up to 30,000 detainees without trial. CNN. 13 September 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101023155150/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-13/world/iraq.detainees_1_detainees-iraqi-authorities-moussawi?_s=PM%3AWORLD. Retrieved 6 January 2011. 
  48. ↑ "Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2015. (242 KB). By Gilbert Burnham, Riyadh Lafta, Shannon Doocy, and Les Roberts. The Lancet, 11 October 2006
  49. ↑ "The Human Cost of the War in Iraq: A Mortality Study, 2002–2006" (PDF). (603 KB). By Gilbert Burnham, Shannon Doocy, Elizabeth Dzeng, Riyadh Lafta, and Les Roberts. A supplement to the October 2006 Lancet study. It is also found here: "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 2012-05-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) [14]
  50. ↑ "Iraq Family Health Survey" New England Journal of Medicine 31 January 2008
  51. ↑ Hagopian, Amy; Flaxman, Abraham D.; Takaro, Tim K.; Esa Al Shatari, Sahar A.; Rajaratnam, Julie; Becker, Stan; Levin-Rector, Alison; Galway, Lindsay; Hadi Al-Yasseri, Berq J.; Weiss, William M.; Murray, Christopher J.; Burnham, Gilbert; Mills, Edward J. (15 October 2013). "Mortality in Iraq Associated with the 2003–2011 War and Occupation: Findings from a National Cluster Sample Survey by the University Collaborative Iraq Mortality Study". PLOS Medicine. 10 (10): e1001533. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001533. PMC 3797136. PMID 24143140.
  52. ↑ "Iraq Body Count". Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  53. ↑ "Iraq War Logs: What the numbers reveal". Iraq Body Count. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  54. ↑ Kim Gamel (23 April 2009). AP Impact: Secret tally has 87,215 Iraqis dead. Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2009Apr23/0,4675,MLIraqDeathToll,00.html. Retrieved 26 April 2014. 
  55. ↑ "Iraq War". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  56. ↑ The war of rape. Washington Monthly. 2 November 2016. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/novdec-2013/the-war-of-rape/. Retrieved 24 November 2016. 

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