Seven years of war in Iraq. Iraqi War: Causes, History, Losses and Consequences

Devon Largio Devon Largio of the University of Illinois analyzed the statements made by 10 key US leaders responsible for deciding to start the war in Iraq and identified 21 reasons why this war was started.

Largio took into account speeches from September 2001 to October 2002 from George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Dick Cheney, US Senate Democratic Leader Tom Dashle (now retired from politics), influential Senators Joseph Lieberman Joseph Lieberman ( Democrat) and John McCain John McCain (Republican), Richard PerleRichard Perle (then head of the Defense Policy Review Board, one of the most famous neoconservatives and "gray eminence" foreign policy United States), Secretary of State Colin Powell Colin Powell (now out of the civil service), Advisor to the President of the United States for national security Condoleezza Rice (now head of the State Department), Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz Paul Wolfowitz (now head of the World Bank World Bank).

Reason: To prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. She, according to Largio, was voiced by: Bush, Cheney, Dashl, Lieberman, McCain, Pearl, Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

The stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) stored in Iraq before the 1991 war would be enough to wipe out the entire population of the Earth several times. Before the 2003 war, it was assumed that Iraq's arsenals could contain up to 26,000 liters of anthrax pathogens, up to 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, several hundred tons chemical weapons, as well as the raw materials needed for their production. It was believed that Iraq could retain the means of delivery of weapons of mass destruction - hundreds of aerial bombs, thousands of artillery shells and rockets, several Scud ballistic missiles, and was also able to re-equip old combat aircraft into unmanned aircrafts capable of delivering biological or chemical weapons.

It has now been established that Iraq has stopped developing programs to create nuclear weapons after 1991 and then destroyed its stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. While Saddam Hussein hoped to rebuild Iraq's WMD arsenals, he had no concrete strategy in that direction. Iraq retained the infrastructure that could enable it to build chemical and biological weapons fairly quickly.

Reason: The need to change the ruling regime. The same people were talking about her.

Saddam Hussein was constantly included in the informal "charts" of the most brutal dictators of our time. He unleashed two wars. The Iran-Iraq war claimed the lives of 100,000 Iraqis. and 250 thousand Iranians. The Iraqi army's invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Operation Desert Storm resulted in the deaths of 50,000 Iraqis. Hussein also destroyed 20-30 thousand Kurdish and Shiite rebels, including by using chemical weapons against the civilian population. There were no civil liberties in Iraq. Hussein destroyed political opponents, torture was widely used in Iraqi prisons.

Reason: To fight international terrorism. The same, except for Dashle.

Iraq has provided training facilities and political support to numerous terrorist groups, including the Mujahiddin Khalq, the PKK, the Palestine Liberation Front and the Abu Nidal Organization. Iraq has also provided political asylum to terrorists.

Reason: Iraq violated numerous UN resolutions. The same, except for Dashle.

In two decades, Iraq has not complied with 16 UN Security Council resolutions. On November 8, 2002, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution N1441, which states that Iraq must disarm under the threat of "serious consequences." This resolution was a follow-up to Resolution N687, adopted in 1991, which committed Iraq to full and final disclosure of all aspects of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs with a range of more than 150 km. In 1998, the UN Security Council issued a special Resolution N1205, in which Iraq was condemned for violating Resolution N687 and other similar Security Council resolutions. However, Iraq is far from the only country in the world that does not comply or does not fully comply with the decisions of the Security Council.

Reason: Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator guilty of killing civilians. The reason was given by: Bush, Cheney, McCain, Pearl, Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

Reason: Because the UN inspectors responsible for searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction encountered opposition from Iraq and were unable to complete their tasks. The authors of the argument are Bush, Lieberman, McCain, Powell, Rice, and Rumsfeld.

UN inspectors operated in Iraq for seven years - from May 1991 to August 1998, when Iraq refused to conduct further inspections. On many occasions, the Iraqi authorities opposed the inspectors. Nevertheless, the "hunting trophies" of the inspectors were quite solid. Long-range missiles and launchers and stockpiles of chemical weapons were destroyed. It took UN inspectors four years to discover Iraq's biological weapons program. Until September 2002, all attempts to return the inspectors to the country ran into resistance from the Iraqi leadership, which insisted that the international community must first end the regime of economic sanctions against Iraq. Subsequently, in September 2002, UN inspectors returned to Iraq, but no Iraqi WMD was found.

Reason: Liberation of Iraq. This was stated by Bush, McCain, Pearl, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz.

Reason: Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaeda. The argument was made in speeches by Bush, Cheney, Lieberman, Pearl, Rice and Rumsfeld.

American intelligence reported that the "liaison" between bin Laden and Hussein is a certain Abu Musab Zarqawi, who allegedly underwent medical treatment in Baghdad in 2002. However, later it turned out that Zarqawi supported one of the extremist movements in the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan, which operated outside the control of Saddam Hussein. It was also reported that one of the terrorists who participated in the September 11, 2001 attacks met with an Iraqi intelligence official. The US Congressional Commission investigating the causes of these attacks found no evidence for this assertion.

Reason: Iraq is a threat to the US. Bush, Pearl, Powell, Rasmfeld, and Wolfowitz have said so.

In October 2002, the US Senate and Congress authorized President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq. The US administration argued that Iraq posed an immediate threat to the US, and therefore the United States had the right to launch a preemptive strike.

In early 2002, the US National Intelligence Council concluded that Iraq could not realistically threaten the US for at least a decade. During the international sanctions regime, Iraq will not be able to test long-range missiles until 2015. However, provided that this regime is relaxed, Iraq will have access to modern technologies, he will be able to quickly improve his missile arsenals and, possibly, create missiles capable of striking the United States. It is now established that most Iraqi long-range missiles were destroyed after 1991. However, Iraq tried to develop its missile program, which became especially active after the expulsion of the UN inspectors (1998). Saddam Hussein set out to build ballistic missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction warheads.

Reason: The need to disarm Iraq. Bush, Pearl, Powell, Rusmfeld and Rice.

Reason: To complete what was not done during the 1991 war (then the troops of the anti-Iraqi coalition led by the United States defeated the Iraqi troops that captured Kuwait, but did not enter the territory of Iraq). Authors: Lieberman, McCain, Pearl, Powell.

Reason: Saddam Hussein is a threat to the security of the region. The version proposed by Bush, Cheney, McCain, Powell and Rumsfeld.

Over the past decades, Iraq has taken part in five wars (three with Israel, one with Iran, one in Kuwait), participated in a huge number of border armed incidents (in particular, with Syria and Turkey). Saddam Hussein's regime carried out large-scale fighting to suppress uprisings of national and religious minorities - Kurds and Shiites. In addition, in the years leading up to the US invasion, Iraq repeatedly threatened to use military force against neighboring states. The Iraqi army was once considered the strongest army region, but before the start of the last war, it was in poor condition.

Reason: International security. Bush, Dashl, Powell and Rumsfeld talked about it.

Reason: Need to support UN efforts. Bush, Powell and Rice spoke for it.

Reason: The US can win an easy victory in Iraq. The authors of the argument are Pearl and Rumsfeld.

The Iraqi army of the 2003 model, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, was 50-70% less combat-ready than the army of 1991. During the war in Persian Gulf 1991, approximately 40% of the Iraqi armed forces were destroyed. Hussein could not restore the combat capability of his army. International sanctions prevented him from obtaining modern weapons, the economic crisis in the country led to the fact that the size of the Iraqi army - once one of the largest armies in the Middle East - was reduced by about 50%. The US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency estimates that a 1991 Iraqi soldier spent 70% more money than a 2003 Iraqi soldier. The results are known: if in 1991 the war lasted 43 days, then in 2003 the end of the active period of hostilities was announced after 26 days. During the fighting with the regular Iraqi army, 114 soldiers and officers of the anti-Iraq coalition were killed. The losses of the Iraqi armed forces were, according to various estimates, 4.9 - 11 thousand killed.

Reason: To protect world peace. George Bush.

Reason: Iraq is a unique threat. Donald Rumsfeld.

Reason: The need to transform the entire Middle East. Richard Pearl.

American neoconservatives, including Pearl, believe that the states and peoples of the Middle East feel like outsiders losing the competition with the West. These peoples look with hatred and envy at the rich West. However, according to neoconservatives, this situation was the result of the underdevelopment of democratic institutions in these states - the pressure of religious fundamentalists, the dominance of dictators, lack of freedom of the press, the virtual absence civil society etc., which hinder the normal development of the economy, culture, etc. Therefore, according to the neoconservatives, the US and the West should bring "the seeds of democracy" to the Middle East. The creation of a truly democratic Iraqi state is capable of causing a "chain reaction" and completely changing the entire region.

Reason: The need to influence states that support terrorists or seek to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Richard Pearl.

This argument has been confirmed in practice. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi agreed to destroy and partly transfer to the US his stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and completely stop work on WMD programs.

Reason: Saddam Hussein hates the US and will try to translate his hatred into something concrete. Joseph Lieberman.

Saddam Hussein repeatedly made anti-American statements, anti-Americanism in Iraq was the state ideology. among other things, he used the "oil weapon" - he suspended the export of Iraqi oil in order to "punish" the United States. In 1993, the Iraqi intelligence agencies organized a failed assassination attempt on former US President George W. Bush, who led the United States during the 1991 war. It is now thought that Saddam Hussein was most interested in bolstering his reputation in the Middle East and containing Iraq's old enemy, Iran.

Reason: History itself urges the US to do this. Author of the statement: US President George W. Bush.03 November 2005 Washington ProFile

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On March 20, 2010 exactly seven years have passed since the start of the war in Iraq. On this day in 2003, US aircraft dropped the first bombs on Baghdad. The reason for the start of the military operation in Iraq was the assumption that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but later it turned out that Iraq did not have such weapons. Recall that the first bombs fell in the center of Baghdad, where the government buildings and palaces of Saddam Hussein were located. But the dictator managed to escape from the city. In three weeks american tanks entered Baghdad and an interim administration was appointed. And on May 1, 2003, President Bush announced the end of hostilities...

(Total 38 photos)

1. 20-year-old corporal of the 8th company of the 1st Marine Division James Blake Miller from Kentucky, smokes a cigarette. Miller became known as the "Marlboro Man" thanks to his widely circulated photograph from the Iraq War. (Luis Sinco/ Los Angeles times)

2. Smoke covers the presidential palace in Baghdad March 21, 2003 after a massive US air raid on the Iraqi capital. (AFP PHOTO/Ramzi HAIDAR)

3. An Iraqi girl cries as a British Challenger tank destroys the headquarters of the Baath party (Odd Anderson/AFP/Getty Images)

4. March 21, 2003, southern Iraq. US Marines from the 15th Expeditionary Unit solder an Iraqi soldier with water from a flask. About 200 Iraqi soldiers surrendered to this unit just an hour after it entered Iraqi territory from northern Kuwait. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

5. March 24, 2003. Somewhere in Iraq. Infantrymen from the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Corps, jump off the Bradley transporter and surround the unidentified man who was behaving suspiciously. An AK-47 assault rifle and cartridges for it were found in his car. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, David Leeson)

6. Iraqi prisoners of war. According to US Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, more than 3,500 Iraqis were taken prisoner by the US and British armies in the first 6 days of the war with Iraq. It is not clear where the prisoners of war were held - in temporary camps set up by the advancing allied forces, or, as the command says, in more centralized locations. Pictured, bound Iraqi prisoners sit in a barbed-wire pen awaiting interrogation after fighting Detachment 1-64, 3rd Infantry Division, March 23, 2003. (Brant Sanderlin/Cox News Service) #

7. Lance Corporal Steven Plumer from Arvada (pc. Colorado) reads a letter from his mother. This is the first letter he has received since his detachment moved out of Kuwait a week ago. With the letter, his mother sent him a box of sweets and a small American flag. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

8. April 4, 2003 Lieutenant Jeffrey Goodman and Lance Corporal Jorge Sanchez pull a wounded civilian from his burning car during the advance of the 2nd Tank Battalion on Baghdad. A civilian was wounded, accidentally falling into the thick of the battle. (AP Photo, Cheryl Diaz Meyer, Dallas Morning News)

9. April 4, 2003 When approaching a checkpoint, a resident of Karbala lifts his shirt to show that he is not hiding a weapon. (AP Photo, Dallas Morning News, David Leeson)

10. Soldiers 3-7 expeditionary groups of the 3rd division (USA) bow their heads in prayer during worship. US Army units have captured and are holding international Airport near Baghdad, while the Allied troops storm the capital.

11. British paratrooper communicates with an Iraqi girl, standing at his post on main street Basra. At that point, coalition forces had seized control of for the most part this second largest city in the country. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

13. US Army Sergeant Chad Tatchett, from the 7th Infantry Company of the 3rd Battalion, center, awaits the delivery of meals and relaxes in the company of comrades in arms after a search in one of the palaces of Saddam Hussein, partially destroyed by the bombing. (AP Photo/John Moore)

14. April 7, 2003. Marines from the 3rd battalion are calling for the infantry to hurry, which forces the destroyed bridge under fire from the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Kuni Takahashi)

15. Baghdad, April 8, 2003. A wounded Iraqi asks for mercy. He and his companions were fired on after they failed to stop the car on demand as they approached a coalition tank. He and his companion in the background took several bullets, but survived and received medical care; two other men in the car are killed. (Brant Sanderlin/The Atlanta Journal-Consitution via Cox News Service)

16. Corporal Edward Chin of New York, 4th Marine Corps, 3rd Battalion, clings the Stars and Stripes flag to the head of a statue of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, before overthrowing the monument, April 9, 2003. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)

17. April 10, 2003, Baghdad. Relatives mourn the death of three relatives. The three - a father, his teenage son, and another relative - were shot dead by US soldiers on the evening of April 9, allegedly after the car they were traveling in failed to stop on demand in front of a building occupied by the US military. The relatives of the victims continued to wait for their return and did not know what had happened until the next day, other family members towed the car with their bodies directly to their house. (AP Photo/Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times)

18. US Marines of the 24th Expeditionary Force are on combat duty during the operation. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

19. Three Iraqi soldiers are tied with bags on their heads, awaiting interrogation. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

20. Marines arrest an Iraqi prisoner after a brawl on main square Tikrit. This city lies 175 km north of Baghdad, the Americans occupied it almost without resistance. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

21. Welcome home, neighbor! Jerry Churchill runs with an American flag to greet his neighbor, Lieutenant Colonel Pete Byrne, who has just returned home to Parker from the Iraq War, where he was an F-16 pilot. Before the war, Burn was a pilot for American Airlines (American Airlines), but was mobilized in early February 2003. Now he, along with 15 other pilots, has returned to his homeland, to air base in Buckley. Jerry's children are friendly and often play with Burn's two sons. DENVER POST PHOTO BY CYRUS MCCRIMMON

22. A woman cries over her missing son as US soldiers search for his remains in a mass grave. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) #

3. Lieutenant Andrew Carrigan of Boston, Massachusetts, who sold sports nutrition before serving in the army, Corporal Dervik Siong of Wauso, Wisconsin, and Lance Sergeant Stephen Payne of Jolo, West Virginia, of the 101st Air Regiment Keep yourself bored on Halloween with a donkey race. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

24. Iraqi boy Ayad Alim Brissam Karim shows his photo before the incident. American helicopters fired missiles at the field where he was playing at the time, as a result he lost his sight and received burns. (Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images)

25. March 31, 2004. An Iraqi teenager displays a leaflet that reads in broken English: "Fallujah, the graveyard of the Americans", while standing near a burning car in the rebel city of Fallujah (Fallujah), 50 km west of Baghdad. Enraged locals, armed with shovels, mutilated two charred corpses - presumably, the invaders caught in the rebel raid. Residents of the city announced that it would become a cemetery for the American occupying forces. AFP PHOTO/Karim SAHIB

26. US Army Lance Sergeant Lynndy England, of the 372nd military police, mocks a prisoner of war in the prison Abu Ghraib (Abu Ghraib) in Baghdad. (AP Photo/The Washington Post)

27. November 2, 2004 Marines from the 1st division raid the house of the chairman of the city council in the Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib. During the raid, the soldiers arrested the chairman of Nasar Wa Sulaan, Taha Rashid, and other members of the council. US forces are preparing for a major offensive against Fellujah to regain lost control of a number of Sunni settlements northwest of Baghdad ahead of the January 31 general election. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

28. November 14, 2004. A marine from the 1st division carries his lucky mascot in a backpack on my back. His detachment is moving further and further into the western part of Fallujah. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

29. Five-year-old Samar Hassan cries for her parents killed by Americans from the 25th Infantry Division. Soldiers patrolling the street opened fire on the car carrying the Samar family when it unexpectedly and unintentionally jumped out at them at dusk. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) #

30. David Stibbs, stepfather of the fallen Lance Corporal Ivenor S. Herrera, cries over his stepson's helmet. Herrera died in Iraq last week during the bomb explosion. (Preston Utley/Vail Daily)

31 December 30, 2006. In this video broadcast by Iraqi state television, Saddam Hussein's bodyguards, wearing masks, place a noose around the deposed dictator's neck. In a few seconds, Hussein will be executed. Before his execution, he refused to put a sack over his head, and clutched the Koran until he ascended the scaffold in the wee hours. Thus, the compatriots took revenge on the tyrant for a quarter of a century of cruel rule that cost the lives of thousands of people and dragged Iraq into devastating wars with Iran and the United States. (AP Photo/IRAQI TV, HO)

34. During the patrol, the Marines are trying to catch a loose calf. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

35. Mary McHugh mourns her murdered fiancé, Sergeant James Regan. Paratrooper Regan was killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device in February of this year. Sector 60 - a new area of ​​a large cemetery in Washington - became the last refuge of hundreds american soldiers, killed and Afghanistan. (John Moore/Getty Images)

36. Andrea Castillo hugs his father, Sergeant Guillermo Castillo. Guillermo was crippled by an improvised explosive device. Twenty U.S. military personnel were awarded the Purple Heart medal for their injuries during the War on Terror. (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

And strategic missiles. The commission operated until December 1998, when it was forced to leave Iraq due to the refusal of Saddam Hussein's government to further cooperate. In addition, the UN Security Council introduced air zones in the north and south of Iraq, in places where Kurds and Shiites are densely populated, in which flights were prohibited. military aviation Iraq. Patrolling these zones was carried out by American and British aviation.

In January 1993, the air forces of the United States, Great Britain, and France launched missile and bomb attacks on the positions of Iraqi anti-aircraft missile systems in the south of the country, which posed a threat to allied aviation. Thereafter, incidents in Iraqi airspace occurred periodically from December 1998 to March 2003, and their number has increased since mid-2002. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the US government decided to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq by force, but took concrete action only in 2002 after the overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Since mid-2002, the US began demanding the return of international inspectors to Iraq. In this demand, the Americans were supported by their Western European allies, primarily Great Britain. The demand for the resumption of international control over Iraqi development of weapons of mass destruction was supported in November 2002 by a UN Security Council resolution. In the face of a direct threat of the outbreak of hostilities, Saddam Hussein agreed to the resumption of the work of a special UN commission. International inspectors arrived in Iraq, but found no signs of the resumption of production of weapons of mass destruction.

In 2002-2003, the administration of US President George W. Bush made great efforts to prove that Saddam Hussein's regime was a danger to international community. Iraq was accused of resuming the development of weapons of mass destruction and of cooperating with international terrorist organizations especially with al-Qaeda. However, the facts and evidence cited by the Americans were incorrect and falsified. The UN Security Council refused to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. Then the US and its allies launched an invasion in violation of the UN Charter.
The military operation against Iraq began on the morning of March 20, 2003. She was codenamed " Iraqi freedom» (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF). Unlike the 1991 Gulf War, Allied forces launched a ground offensive without a lengthy air campaign. The springboard for the invasion was Kuwait. The coalition command intended to organize an invasion of Iraq from the north from Turkish territory. However, the Turkish parliament refused to agree to the entry of invasion troops into its territory.

The Allied Expeditionary Force included five US and British divisions. They were opposed by 23 Iraqi divisions, but they offered no serious resistance. The Iraqi Air Force was completely inactive. Already on April 9, the capital of Iraq was taken without a fight. Continuing to move north, on April 15, American troops took Tikrit (the hometown of Saddam Hussein), completing the active phase of hostilities. Iraqi cities were swept by a wave of looting; in an atmosphere of anarchy, many private houses, shops, government agencies. For a month and a half of the war, the losses of the coalition amounted to 172 people who died (139 Americans and 33 British).

The interventionists divided Iraq into several occupation zones. The north, west and center of the country with Baghdad were controlled by American troops. The areas south of Baghdad inhabited by Shiites became the area of ​​responsibility of the multinational forces (Poland, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Georgia). In the extreme south of Iraq, a British contingent was stationed in Basra. At the end of April 2003, the Provisional Coalition Administration (Coalition Provisional Authority) was created to govern the occupied country. Its task was to create conditions for the transfer of power to the new Iraqi government. One of the first steps taken by the Interim Administration was to disband the Iraqi army and police. The Iraqi Survey Group was engaged in the search for weapons of mass destruction. In 2004, the group ended the work by stating that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.

Immediately after the formal end of hostilities in Iraq, a guerrilla war unfolded. In the summer of 2003, there was a process of organizing guerrilla groups, which at first consisted mainly of Baath Party activists and supporters of Saddam Hussein. These groups had a significant stockpile of weapons and ammunition obtained from the warehouses of the Iraqi army. In the fall of 2003, the partisans carried out the so-called "Ramadan Offensive", which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. The partisans managed to shoot down several American helicopters. In November 2003, 110 coalition troops were killed in Iraq, compared to 30-50 deaths in previous months. The stronghold of the guerrillas became the "Sunni triangle" to the west and north of Baghdad, especially the province of Al-Anbar, where the center of resistance was the city of Fallujah. The rebels fired mortars at the places of deployment of the occupiers, staged explosions on the roads during the march of military columns. The danger was represented by the actions of snipers, as well as suicide attacks on car bombs or with belts with explosives.

In August 2003, rebels succeeded in blowing up the building of the Jordanian embassy. Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the mission, was among the victims of the terrorist attack at the headquarters of the UN mission in Baghdad. The Italian military suffered heavy casualties as a result of the bombing of their barracks in Nasiriyah. The response operations of the coalition troops were aimed at finding and detaining the leaders of the overthrown regime. On July 22, 2003, Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a shootout with soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul. On December 13, in the Tikrit region, Saddam Hussein himself was arrested by soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division. However, the decline of the partisan movement did not happen, the leadership in the resistance movement passed from the Baathists to the Islamists.

In late 2003, Iraqi Shia leaders put forward demands for a general election and the transfer of power to a democratically elected government. The Shiites hoped to get full power in the country, traditionally in the hands of the Sunni minority. The Provisional Coalition Administration hoped in the future to transfer power in Iraq to a transitional government formed on the principle of equal representation of all sections of Iraqi society. This position of the United States caused dissatisfaction among the Shiites. Mullah Muqtada al-Sadr, the most radical representative of the Shiites, advocated the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the creation of an Islamist state. Under his leadership, armed groups were created, known as the Mahdi Army. In April 2004, the Shiites launched an uprising in the south of the country against the occupying forces.

At the same time, the situation in Falluja, the center of Sunni resistance, escalated. The US Marine Corps, which had replaced the 82nd Airborne Division previously stationed there, had virtually lost control of the city. In early April, fierce battles were going on in almost all cities of Central and Southern Iraq. During the same period, there was a series of kidnappings of foreign specialists working in Iraq. The kidnappings were carried out by the Sunni group Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musaba al-Zarqawi. By the end of April 2004, the occupying forces had succeeded in crushing the main pockets of resistance. However, the rebels managed to maintain their control in a number of regions of the country. A special Iraqi brigade was created in Fallujah to keep order in the city. Against this background, on June 28, 2004, the Interim Coalition Authority transferred its powers to the transitional government of Iraq, headed by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Thus, the period of foreign occupation of Iraq officially ended. The troops of the international coalition remained in the country at the request of the new government and in accordance with the UN mandate (UN Security Council resolution of June 8, 2004).

According to the plans of the Provisional Coalition Administration, it was planned to hold elections to the National Assembly, a referendum on a new constitution, and the creation of new bodies state power and management. At the end of 2003, the formation of a new Iraqi army and police began. The transitional government did not have the strength to independently maintain order in Iraq, to ​​ensure democratic elections to new government bodies. The multinational force was faced with the task of regaining control over all regions of the country. In August 2004, coalition troops managed to crush Shia resistance in the south. Muqtada al-Sadr was forced to abandon the armed struggle and switch to peaceful political activity. Then the coalition troops crushed the resistance of the Sunnis in the settlements controlled by them. By the end of November 2004, the Americans finally took possession of Fallujah, depriving the Sunni guerrilla movement of support.

The American authorities have been sharply criticized for the conduct of the war in Iraq, both in the United States and around the world. At the end of April, a scandal erupted around the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison. The Iraqi issue figured prominently during the US presidential election campaign. Despite criticism, George W. Bush was re-elected as President of the United States, which meant the continuation of the occupation of Iraq by American troops.

On January 30, 2005, multi-party parliamentary elections were held in Iraq. In a number of Sunni districts, voters boycotted the elections, but in the whole country they were recognized as valid. The Shia United Iraqi Alliance won the election with 48% of the vote. In April, a new transitional government was formed whose task was to prepare a new constitution for the country. On October 15, a referendum was held in Iraq on a new constitution, which was adopted despite the rejection of the Sunnis. On December 15, new parliamentary elections were held, in which the United Iraqi Alliance again won with 128 seats in the National Assembly. All Sunni parties received 58 seats, Kurds 53 seats. In 2005, the efforts of the multi-ethnic occupying forces were aimed at cutting off outside support for the Iraqi insurgents. To this end, the American Marines conducted a number of operations in the border areas with Syria. To suppress the increasing terrorist attacks in Baghdad, Operation Lightning was carried out, in which more than 40,000 American and Iraqi military personnel participated.

The coming to power of the Shiites in Iraq aggravated the political situation in the country. Opposition to foreign invaders faded into the background. On February 22, 2006, the Shiite shrine of the Al-Askaria Mosque in Samarra was blown up. In the following weeks, a wave of sectarian violence swept the country, claiming up to a thousand victims every month. By October 2006, about 365,000 Iraqis had left their places of permanent residence. On May 20, 2006, a permanent government was formed, headed by Nouri Maliki. On June 7, as a result of an air strike, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who claimed responsibility for many terrorist attacks, was killed. In general, the American troops failed to turn the tide in their favor, the introduction of additional military contingents led only to additional casualties. The Iraq war was not popular in America. A number of Sunni areas were not controlled by either the Iraqi government or coalition forces. In October 2006, the Sunni underground organization Shura Mujahideen Council proclaimed the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Growing criticism of the actions of the George W. Bush administration in Iraq led to the fact that after the regular elections to the US Congress in November 2006, the Republican Party lost its majority in both houses of the US Parliament. After that, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, considered one of the main instigators of the invasion of Iraq, was replaced by Robert Gates. At the end of 2006, Iraq completed trial in the case of Saddam Hussein, who was accused of massacres during the suppression of the Shiite uprising in 1982. In November 2006, he was sentenced to death and hanged on 30 December.

In January 2007, George W. Bush put forward a new strategy for US military policy in Iraq, known as " A big wave". He acknowledged that he had made mistakes on the Iraq issue, and noted that the reasons for the failures were the lack of troops and the lack of freedom of action of the American command. The new strategy provided for sending additional contingents of troops to Iraq. Whereas previously American troops would leave areas cleared of militants, the Great Wave envisaged that they would remain in them to maintain security.

In response, the Iraqi insurgents announced their offensive to force George W. Bush to admit defeat and evacuate American troops from Iraq. In late January and early February, the militants managed to shoot down several American helicopters. In March 2007, during a visit to Iraq by UN Secretary-General Ban Kimun, the building where he was speaking came under mortar fire. In the spring of 2007, the Green Zone, a protected government and diplomatic area in Baghdad, was regularly shelled. The interethnic forces controlled no more than 20% of the area of ​​the Iraqi capital. By June 2007, the bulk of American reinforcements had arrived in Baghdad, which made it possible to intensify the fight against the insurgents. The operation to clear Baghdad of militants continued until November 2007.

Simultaneously with the fighting in Baghdad, a campaign was underway in the province of Diyala, northeast of the Iraqi capital. Iraqi rebels have practically established control over the provincial center of Baakuba. The American command in March 2007 was forced to transfer additional forces to the province. As a result of a military operation in June-August 2007 involving 10,000 troops, the Americans regained control over Baakuba. In the province of Al-Anbar, the American command managed to reach an agreement with the leadership of the Sunni armed groups on cooperation, in particular in the fight against Al-Qaeda. In response to the ceasefire, local militants began to receive cash reward, and their leaders - the real power on the ground. The success of the experiment prompted the American command to try to extend it to other provinces, which caused discontent of the Shiite government of Nuri Maliki.

In the spring of 2008, the Iraqi army and security forces conducted operations to full control over the Shiite regions of Iraq and then to Mosul, which was considered an al-Qaeda stronghold in Iraq. In the second half of 2008, active hostilities were not conducted, although the situation remained tense in a number of regions of the country, attacks by militants and inter-confessional conflicts continued. After a peak in 2006-2007, the number of major terrorist attacks and militant attacks has dropped significantly. The international coalition forces suffered in 2008 the smallest losses since the beginning of the war (320 troops).

In 2008, the process of strengthening the Iraqi security forces and transferring more and more areas under their control continued. By October 2008, only 5 of the country's 18 provinces remained under the control of international forces in Iraq. On November 17, 2008, an agreement was signed on the status of US troops in Iraq, which determined the conditions for their stay in Iraq after the expiration of the mandate of the UN Security Council (December 31, 2008). The agreement provided for the withdrawal of American troops from settlements by July 2009 and their complete withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011. In connection with the expiration of the UN mandate at the end of 2008, the military contingents of most countries that participated in the multinational force left Iraq. In addition to American and British troops, military units from Australia, Romania, El Salvador, and Estonia remained in Iraq.

On December 14, 2008, during George W. Bush's visit to Iraq, an Iraqi journalist threw two of his shoes at the US President, calling it "a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people." Bush dodged both boots and described the incident as "a sign of a free society". During 2009-2011 there was a process of gradual withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. In the summer of 2009, the last contingents of the US allies left Iraq; by August 1, only American and British troops remained in the country. By the beginning of August 2010, the main contingent of American troops was withdrawn from Iraq, and about 50,000 US troops remained in the country, who were engaged in training and supporting local law enforcement forces. In July 2011, the last contingents of British troops were withdrawn from Iraq, and on December 15, 2011, American troops left the country.

The total number of the American military contingent in Iraq reached 250 thousand people, the British - 45 thousand. Other countries were represented by significantly fewer soldiers, sometimes purely symbolically. The loss of American troops amounted to 4, 48 thousand people killed and 32, 2 thousand wounded. The international forces (21 countries) lost 317 fighters killed, of which 179 were British.

IRAQI WARS Saddam Hussein's regime led in the 1980s. - early 21st century In addition to economic and political reasons, are associated with the confrontation between Shiites and Sunnis, as well as with the separatism of the Kurds.
War with Iran (1980-1988). Under the 1975 Algiers Agreement, Iraq ceded to Iran the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab River, the most important oil export route for both countries. Taking advantage of the weakening of Iran's military potential and its break with the United States after the Islamic Revolution (1979), Hussein launched a war on September 22, 1980 to regain control of the Shatt al-Arab River and annex the Iranian oil-rich province of Khuzestan.

Iraqi war. Downed American Apache helicopter.

Iraqi troops captured part of Khuzestan, took Khorramshahr and laid siege to Abadan. Rallying around spiritual leader Ayatollah R. Khomeini, the Iranians stopped this offensive by the end of 1980, and in September 1981 launched a counterattack. In December they released the blockade of Abadan, in May 1982 they liberated Khorramshahr and drove the Iraqis out of their territory in the summer. Iran rejected Iraq's proposal to end the war, deciding to continue it until the overthrow of Hussein; his troops invaded enemy territory.
Financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the supply of weapons from the USSR, France and China allowed the Iraqis to create a line of defense and repel in 1983-1987. Iranian attacks on the port of Basra. Since 1984, Iran and Iraq launched a hunt for tankers from third countries carrying enemy oil. In 1985, both sides used city bombing. In 1986-1987 Iranian troops captured part of the enemy's territory; by taking the island of Faw (1986), they made it difficult to export Iraqi oil. Iraq was brought to the brink of an economic disaster. In 1987, the United States began to escort ships in the Persian Gulf, which allowed Iraq to restore transportation.

Having modernized the army, Hussein launched a new offensive against Iran in the spring and summer of 1988, accompanied by massive air strikes. On August 20, 1988, a truce was concluded at the suggestion of Iran. In August 1990 (at the height of the war with Kuwait), Iraq recognized Iran's sovereignty over the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab River and withdrew troops from its territory. The Iran-Iraq war claimed the lives of approx. 1.5 million people.
War with Kuwait and the international coalition (1990-1991; Gulf War). After the war with Iran, which undermined the economy of Iraq, Hussein decided on aggression against oil-rich Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, to whom he owed $40 billion. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops occupied Kuwait almost without resistance. On the same day, the UN Security Council demanded their immediate withdrawal, and on August 6 imposed economic sanctions on Iraq. Hussein's public threats against Saudi Arabia prompted the US to start moving its troops to its territory on August 7 ("Desert Shield"). On August 8, Iraq announced the annexation of Kuwait.

On November 29, the Security Council authorized the use of force against Iraq if, by January 15, 1991, its army did not leave Kuwait. Under the auspices of the United States, an international coalition of 34 countries was formed. On January 16, 1991, its troops began air strikes against Iraq ("Desert Storm"); Hussein replied on January 17 missile strikes across Israel. On February 24, coalition forces launched Operation Desert Saber on the ground, which ended on February 27 with the expulsion of Iraqis from Kuwait.
War with the international coalition (2003). After the war of 1990-1991. Hussein sabotaged the implementation of UN resolution No. 687 to stop the development of chemical and nuclear weapons by Iraq, and interfered with the work of UN inspections. In the autumn of 2002, the crisis in relations between the UN and Iraq reached a climax.

Accusing the Hussein regime of creating weapons of mass destruction and having links with Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the United States organized a coalition of 49 states against him and on March 17, 2003 presented an ultimatum to the Iraqi leader, demanding that he day to leave the country. Having been refused, the Allies launched a series of rocket and bomb attacks on Iraq on March 20 and invaded its territory on March 21. In early April, they broke the resistance of the Iraqi army, on April 8-11 they occupied Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk and Mosul. Hostilities ended by May 1. Hussein's regime was overthrown, Iraq was occupied by coalition troops. No weapons of mass destruction were found.

March 20, 2003, the combined forces of the United States and the anti-Iraq coalition. Official Washington originally called the military operation in Iraq "Shock and Awe." Then the operation was called "Iraqi Freedom" (Iraqi Freedom, OIF). Official Baghdad called the war "Kharb al-Hawasim" - "decisive war".

US President George W. Bush made an address on television and announced the start of a military operation against Iraq.
The US stated that the decision to use military force against Iraq is supported by 45 states of the world. 15 of them do not officially announce this, but are ready to provide their airspace for strikes against Iraq.

With April 8 organized resistance from the Iraqi forces virtually ceased.

April 14, 2003 with the capture of Tikrit - the hometown of Saddam Hussein - the military phase of the operation was completed.

The active phase of the operation lasted only 26 days.

May 1, 2003 President George W. Bush announced the end of hostilities and the beginning of military occupation.
The end of the OIF did not end the war in Iraq. The destruction of the Iraqi armed forces and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein were only the beginning of a long conflict.
After 2003, Iraq claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

AT November 2008 the government and parliament of Iraq from Iraq and the regulation of their temporary stay on its territory.
Since the beginning of Barack Obama's presidential term in the winter of 2009, 90,000 troops have been withdrawn from the country; after August 31, 2010, the number of American contingents was less than 50,000 troops.

August 31, 2010 US President Obama delivered an address to the nation, in which the military operation in Iraq.

December 15, 2011 A solemn ceremony was held near Baghdad to mark the withdrawal of the US military from Iraq and the formal end of the war in that country. During the ceremony, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta lowered the flag of the American contingent in Iraq, which is symbolic.

In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the largest contingents were in Great Britain (up to 45 thousand people), Italy (up to 3.2 thousand people), Poland (up to 2.5 thousand people), Georgia (up to 2 thousand) and Australia (up to 2 thousand).
The maximum number of the US military contingent in Iraq reached 170,000 people.

In total, during the war in Iraq (data at the end of 2012), the military losses of the coalition forces amounted to more than 4.8 thousand people. Killed 4.486 thousands of US troops, 179 British troops, 139 troops from 21 countries.

Reports of casualties among Iraqis vary. American media give different numbers total losses Iraq in the war: from 100 to 300 thousand people, including the civilian population. At the same time, according to the World Health Organization, from 150,000 to 223,000 Iraqis fell victim to the war between 2003 and 2006 alone.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources