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
Clockwise from top left: Iraqi National Guard troops, 2004; toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad by US forces, 2003; destroyed Iraqi Type 69 tank, 2003; U.S soldier during a leaflet drop from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, 2008; British armored vehicles on patrol in Basra, 2008; destroyed headquarters of the Ba'ath Party in Baghdad, 2003
Date 20 March 2003 – 18 December 2011 (2011-12-18) (8 years and 8 or 9 months) Location Iraq Result Inconclusive Invasion and occupation of Iraq Overthrow of Ba'ath Party government and execution of Saddam Hussein Emergence of significant insurgency, rise of al-Qaeda in Iraq, severe sectarian violence Subsequent reduction in violence and depletion of al-Qaeda in Iraq[1][2] Establishment of democratic elections and formation of new Shia led government Coalition failure to defeat Iraqi insurgency[3][4][5][6] Withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011 Stronger Iranian influence in Iraq[7][8][9] Escalation of sectarian insurgency after U.S. withdrawal leading to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the successor of al-Qaeda in Iraq[10][11]
Belligerents
Invasion phase (2003)  United States  United Kingdom  France  Australia  Poland Peshmerga Supported by:  Canada[12]  Netherlands[13]	Invasion phase (2003)  Iraq
Post-invasion (2003–11)  United States  United Kingdom  Iraq MNF–I (2003–09)  United States (2003–09)  United Kingdom (2003–09)  Australia (2003–-09)  Azerbaijan (2003–08)  Kuwait (2003–08)  Estonia (2003–09)  El Salvador (2003–09)  Bulgaria (2003–08)  Moldova (2003–08)  Albania (2003–08)  Ukraine (2003–08)  Denmark (2003–08)  Czech Republic (2003–08)  South Korea (2003–08)  Singapore (2003–08)  Brunei (2003–04)  Croatia (2003–08)  Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003–08)  Macedonia (2003–08)  Latvia (2003–08)  Poland (2003–08)  Kazakhstan (2003–08)  Mongolia (2003–08)  Georgia (2003–08)  Tonga (2004–08)  Japan (2004–08)  Armenia (2005–08)  Slovakia (2003–07)  Lithuania (2003–07)  Italy (2003–06)  Norway (2003–06)  Hungary (2003–05)  Netherlands (2003–05)  Portugal (2003–05)  New Zealand (2003–04)  Thailand (2003–04)  Philippines (2003–04)  Honduras (2003–04)  Dominican Republic (2003–04)  Spain (2003–04)  Nicaragua (2003–04)  Iceland (2003–unknown) Supported by: Iran[14][15]  Iraqi Kurdistan	Post-invasion (2003–11) Ba'ath loyalists Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order Sunni insurgents Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–06) Islamic State of Iraq[16] (from 2006) Islamic Army of Iraq Ansar al-Sunnah (2003–07) Shia insurgents Mahdi Army Special Groups Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Others supported by:  Iran Quds Force[17] For fighting between insurgent groups, see Sectarian violence in Iraq (2006–08).
Commanders and leaders
Ayad Allawi Ibrahim al-Jaafari Nouri al-Maliki Ricardo Sanchez George W. Casey, Jr. David Petraeus Raymond T. Odierno 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 (POW) Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri Qusay Hussein † Uday Hussein † Abid Hamid Mahmud (POW) Ali Hassan al-Majid (POW) Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti (POW) Taha Yasin Ramadan (POW) Tariq Aziz (POW) Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed Sunni insurgency Abu Musab al-Zarqawi † Abu Ayyub al-Masri † Abu Omar al-Baghdadi † Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ishmael Jubouri Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i (POW) Shia insurgency Muqtada al-Sadr Abu Deraa Qais al-Khazali Akram al-Kaabi Qasem Soleimani[18]
Strength
Invasion forces (2003) 309,000  United States: 192,000[19]  United Kingdom: 45,000  Australia: 2,000  Poland: 194 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)	Iraqi Armed Forces: 375,000 (disbanded in 2003) Special Iraqi Republican Guard: 12,000 Iraqi Republican Guard: 70,000–75,000 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.

Notes