Iraq War

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Iraq War حرب العراق (Arabic)
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, 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 (8 years, 8 months and 28 days) Location Iraq Result see § Aftermath
Belligerents
Invasion (2003) Coalition of the willing  United States  United Kingdom  Australia  Poland Kurdistan Region KDP PUK Iraqi National Congress Free Iraqi Forces[3]	Invasion (2003) Republic of Iraq MEK[4]
After Invasion (2003–11)  Iraq  United States  United Kingdom MNF–I (2003–09)  Kurdistan Region Awakening Council	After Invasion (2003–11) Al-Qaeda in Iraq Islamic Army in Iraq Islamic State of Iraq Naqshbandi Army Hamas of Iraq Jaysh al-Mujahideen 1920 Revolution Brigades Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Mahdi Army
Commanders and leaders
Nouri al-Maliki George W. Bush Barack Obama Dick Cheney Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates Tommy Franks David Petraeus Raymond T. Odierno Tony Blair	Saddam Hussein  Abu Musab al-Zarqawi † Abu Omar al-Baghdadi † Abu Ayyub al-Masri † Muqtada al-Sadr
Strength
Coalition forces (2003) 309,000–584,799  United States: 192,000–466,985 personnel[5][6]  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)[7] Iraqi Security Forces 805,269 Iraqi Armed Forces and paramilitary: 578,269,[8][page needed] Iraqi Police: 227,000) Awakening militias ≈103,000 (2008)[9] Kurdistan Region ≈400,000 (Kurdish Border Guard: 30,000,[10] Peshmerga 75,000)	Iraqi Armed Forces: 375,000[a] Special Iraqi Republican Guard: 12,000 Iraqi Republican Guard: 75,000 Fedayeen Saddam: 30,000 Sunni Insurgents ≈70,000 (2007)[11] Mahdi Army ≈60,000 (2007)[12][13] 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[b] Wounded: 40,000+[19] Coalition forces Killed: 4,825 (4,507 US,[c] 179 UK,[24] 139 other)[25] Missing/captured (US): 17 (9 died in captivity, 8 rescued)[26] Wounded: 32,776+ (32,292 US,[27] 315 UK, 210+ other[d])[48][49][50][51] Injured/diseases/other medical*: 51,139 (47,541 US,[52] 3,598 UK)[48][50][51] Contractors Killed: 3,650 [53][54][55] Wounded & injured: 43,880[54][55] Awakening Councils Killed: 1,002+[e] Wounded: 500+ (2007),[56] 828 (2008)[66] Total dead: 27,163 Total wounded: 117,961	Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600–45,000[67][68] Insurgents (post-Saddam) Killed: 26,544+ killed by Coalition and ISF forces (2003–11), excludes inter-insurgent fighting and noncombat losses[f] (4,000 foreign fighters killed by Sep. 2006, all causes)[73] Detainees: 60,000 (US and Iraqi-held, peak in 2007)[11] 12,000 (Iraqi-held, in 2010 only)[74] 119,752 insurgents arrested (2003–2007),[75] of this about 1/3 were imprisoned for longer than four years[11] Total dead: 34,144+–71,544+ Total captured: 120,000+
Documented deaths from violence: Iraq Body Count (2003 – 14 December 2011): 103,160–113,728 civilian deaths recorded[76] and 12,438 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs[77] Associated Press (March 2003 – April 2009): 110,600 Iraqi deaths in total[78] Statistical estimates Lancet survey** (March 2003 – July 2006): 654,965 (95% CI: 392,979–942,636)[79][80] Iraq Family Health Survey*** (March 2003 – July 2006): 151,000 (95% CI: 104,000–223,000)[81] Opinion Research Business**: (March 2003 – August 2007): 1,033,000 (95% CI: 946,258–1,120,000)[82] PLOS Medicine Study**: (March 2003 – June 2011): 405,000 (60% violent) (95% CI: 48,000–751,000)[83] 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. **** Sukkariyeh, Syria was also affected (2008 Abu Kamal raid).

Part of a series on
Ba'athism
Organizations Arab Ba'ath 1940–1947 Arab Ba'ath Movement 1940–1947 Ba'ath Party 1947–1966 Baath Party (pro-Iraqi) 1968–2003 Baath Party (pro-Syrian) 1966–present
Variants Neo-Ba'athism 1966–2024 Saddamism 1979–2003
People Zaki al-Arsuzi Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar Abdullah Rimawi Wahib al-Ghanim Fuad al-Rikabi Salah Jadid Hafez al-Assad Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Bashar al-Assad Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Literature On the Way of Resurrection The Battle for One Destiny The Genius of Arabic in Its Tongue
History Ba'athist Iraq Ramadan Revolution November 1963 coup d'état 17 July Revolution 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Iran–Iraq War Gulf War UN sanctions Iraq War De-Ba'athification Ba'athist Syria Syrian Committee to Help Iraq 1963 / 1966 coup d'états Corrective Revolution Intervention in Lebanon Syrian occupation of Lebanon Syrian civil war Fall of the Assad regime
Regional organizations Algeria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Bahrain pro-Iraq pro-Syria Egypt pro-Iraq pro-Syria Iraq pro-Iraq pro-Syria Jordan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Kuwait pro-Iraq Lebanon pro-Iraq pro-Syria Libya pro-Iraq Mauritania pro-Iraq pro-Syria Palestine pro-Iraq pro-Syria Sudan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Syria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Tunisia pro-Iraq pro-Syria Yemen pro-Iraq pro-Syria
Splinter groups Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party 1960–1962/63 Socialist Lebanon 1965–1970 Arab Revolutionary Workers Party 1966–present Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party 1970–present Sudanese Ba'ath Party 2002–present
Armed groups Arab Liberation Front Al-Awda Al-Abud Network Jeish Muhammad Rejectionists Snake Party Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation Naqshbandi Army General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries Free Iraqi Army
Related topics Arab nationalism Arab socialism Assadist-Saddamist conflict Nasserism Pan-Arabism Unity, Freedom, Socialism
Politics portal Socialism portal
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The Iraq War (Arabic: حرب العراق, romanized: ḥarb al-ʿirāq), also referred to as the Second Gulf War,^[84][85] was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted as an insurgency arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing insurgency.

The Iraq invasion was part of the Bush administration's broader war on terror, launched in response to the September 11 attacks. In October 2002, the US Congress passed a resolution granting Bush the authority to use military force against Iraq. The war began on March 20, 2003, when the US, joined by the UK, Australia, and Poland, initiated a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Following the bombings, coalition forces launched a ground invasion, defeating Iraqi forces and toppling the Ba'athist regime. Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003 and executed in 2006.

The fall of Saddam's regime created a power vacuum, which, along with the Coalition Provisional Authority's mismanagement, fueled a sectarian civil war between Iraq's Shia majority and Sunni minority, and contributed to a lengthy insurgency. In response, the US deployed an additional 170,000 troops during the 2007 troop surge, which helped stabilize parts of the country. In 2008, President Bush agreed to withdraw all US combat troops, a process completed in 2011 under President Barack Obama.

The primary justifications for the invasion centered around claims Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and that Saddam Hussein was supporting al-Qaeda. However, the 9/11 Commission concluded in 2004 that there was no credible evidence linking Saddam to al-Qaeda, and no WMD stockpiles were ever found in Iraq. These false claims faced widespread criticism, in the US and abroad. Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared the invasion illegal under international law, as it violated the UN Charter. The 2016 Chilcot Report, a British inquiry, concluded the war was unnecessary, as peaceful alternatives had not been fully explored. In 2005, Iraq held multi-party elections, and Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006, a position he held until 2014. His government's policies alienated Iraq's Sunni minority, exacerbating sectarian tensions.

The war led to an estimated 150,000 to over a million deaths, including more than 100,000 civilians. Many deaths occurred during the insurgency and subsequent civil war. The conflict had lasting geopolitical effects, contributing to the emergence of the 2013–2017 War in Iraq, which caused over 155,000 deaths and displaced millions of Iraqis. The war severely damaged the US' international reputation, and Bush's popularity declined sharply. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the war diminished his standing, contributing to his resignation in 2007.

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