Iraq War

Guide Note

The Iraq War, sometimes called the Second Gulf War, began in 2003 with the United States-led invasion of Iraq and overthrow of the Ba'athist regime led by Saddam Hussein. The war touched off an ongoing insurgency, now frequently referred to as a civil war between Iraq's Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims.

Fast Facts

1. War began March 19, 2003¹
2. Saddam Hussein captured on December 13, 2003¹
3. Al-Queda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqaui, is killed on June 6, 2006¹
4. Suddam Hussein hanged on December 31, 2006¹
5. January 2007: President George W. Bush announced plans for a 20,000 soldier troop surge¹
6. Over 29,000 US soldiers wounded as of 2008²
7. Over 4,000 US soldiers dead as of 2008²

A few months after the Al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush gave a landmark State of the Union address introducing the so-called "Bush Doctrine" of pre-emptive war, and referring to an "Axis of Evil" of countries presenting an immediate threat to the United States. These countries were Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

The Bush Administration's justification for the actual invasion of Iraq concerned the threat of Hussein-controlled "Weapons of Mass Destruction" which could be given or sold to terrorist groups wishing to use them against the United States.

Other justifications included turning Iraq into a friendly ally from which other Middle Eastern invasions could be mounted to freeing the Iraqi people from the oppressive of the Ba'athist regime. Some have even suggested that the mission was personal for President George W. Bush, who wanted to finish the job his father, George H. W. Bush, had started during the First Gulf War in 1991.

Operation Iraqi Freedom kicked off early on the morning of March 19, 2003, led by U.S. General Tommy Franks and including other members of a multi-national force. Baghdad fell soon after, on April 9, and the entire invasion was over by April 30.

Immediately after the invasion, a Coalition Provisional Authority was established in Baghdad, housed within a safe area known as the "Green Zone" and with Paul Bremer placed in charge. Outside the Green Zone, chaos and civil disorder raged, including the looting of several historical buildings and museums throughout Baghdad.

Despite an appearance by President Bush on the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln on May 1, 2003, effectively announcing the end of combat operations in Iraq, violence throughout Iraq and attacks on U.S. troops continued unabated. On July 2, 2003, when asked about attacks on soldiers and the continuation of the insurgency, Bush controversially responded: "Bring it on."

It had been hoped that the capture and arrest of Saddam Hussein, found in a hole in the ground on a farm near Tikrit on December 13, 2003, would help to bring the violence to a close, but in fact the situation grew more dire, particularly in the city of Fallujah and an area of Baghdad known as "Sadr City" named after the father of popular, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.³

In April of 2004, photos taken at the Abu Ghraib Prison showing Iraqi detainees being tormented and abused by guards, were shown by 60 Minutes and in the New Yorker Magazine.

The current Iraqi government, led by President Nouri al-Maliki, was elected in December of 2005 and took office on May 20, 2006. Around this time, a controversial study estimated that the war had thus far taken the lives of 601,000 Iraqis. The insurgency, by many accounts, had morphed into a full-on civil war between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite communities, with U.S. forces trapped in the middle. Calls in the United States for the end of an American presence in Iraq increased.

This led the Bush administration to pursue a new strategy in Iraq known as "The Surge", increasing the number of soldiers on the ground in an attempt to finally secure the city of Baghdad and allow for some level of stability in Iraqi life and government. The Surge was led by the head of the multinational Iraq force, General David Petraeus. It succeeded in cutting down on the level of violence, particularly in Baghdad, but the long-term effects of the strategy are not entirely clear, and it did not help to bring about a significant political or diplomatic change in the Iraqi government.