Iraq War

This article is about the war beginning in 2003. For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation).

Iraq War
Clockwise from top left: US tanks under the Swords of Qādisiyyah; A wounded US soldier being evacuated near Fallujah; a 2005 car bombing in Baghdad; Iraqi troops deploy for a counterinsurgency mission near Baghdad.
Date March 20, 2003 to present Location Iraq Result Occupation Overthrow of Ba'athist government and execution of Saddam Hussein. Conquest of Iraq by coalition forces. Emergence of Iraqi insurgency and possible outbreak of civil war in Iraq. Substantial civilian casualties and widespread damage to infrastructure Privatisation of Iraqi services Election of a new government Al-Qaeda terror operations in Iraq. Iraqi diaspora
Belligerents
Ba’athist Iraq Post-Ba'athist government. Multi-sided conflict: Ba’ath Loyalists Mahdi Army Al-Qaeda in Iraq Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Ansar al-Sunna Other Insurgent groups	New Iraqi Army Kurdish Army Coalition: United States United Kingdom Australia Poland Poland Other Coalition forces
Commanders and leaders
Saddam Hussein Post-Ba'athist government. Multi-sided conflict: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Ayyub al-Masri Muqtada al-Sadr Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri	Nouri al-Maliki Massoud Barzani George W. Bush Tommy Franks George Casey David Petraeus Tony Blair Brian Burridge Peter Wall
Strength
Iraqi 375,000+ regular forces Post-Ba'athist government. Multi-sided conflict: Sunni Insurgents 60,000 Mahdi Army ~60,000 al Qaeda/others 1,300+	Coalition ~300,000 invasion ~160,000 current Contractors* ~120,000 Kurdish Army 50,000 invasion 175,000 current New Iraqi Army 129,760 Iraqi Police 79-140,000
Casualties and losses
Iraqi combatant dead (Saddam-era): 7,600 to 10,800 Insurgents dead (post-Ba'athist government): 9,845+ listed on a representative list of reports	Iraqi Security Forces casualties (post-Saddam era): 5,160+ killed (police) 2,900+ killed (military); Total killed: 7,800+ Total wounded: 41,300+ Coalition dead: (3,455 US, 149 UK, 127 other) 3,720 Coalition Missing or Captured (US 4): 4 Coalition Wounded, severely injured** United States: 25,549 wounded, 26,188 severely injured United Kingdom: ~310 wounded, 2,436 severely injured Other Coalition: 282 wounded & severely injured Total: 54,901 Contractors dead (US 224): 916 Contractors Missing or Captured (US 9): 9 Contractors wounded & severely injured: 12,000+
***Total deaths (all excess deaths) Johns Hopkins-As of June 2006: 654,965 (range of 392,979-942,636) War-related & criminal violence deaths (all Iraqis) Iraq Health Minister-From early 2004 to November 2006: 100,000-150,000 War-related & criminal violence deaths (civilians) Iraq Body Count-English language media only: 62,841-68,868
*Contractors (U.S. government) perform "highly dangerous duties almost identical to those performed by many U.S. troops." **"severely injured" refers to those casualties reported as injured, diseased, or requiring medical air transport. ***Total deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc. For explanations of the wide variation in casualty estimates, see: Casualties of the conflict in Iraq since 2003

The Iraq War (March 20, 2003 to present), sometimes known as The Second Gulf War, is an ongoing war that began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Part of the rationale for the war offered by the George W. Bush administration and many Republican and Democratic members of Congress at the time of invasion was that Iraq possessed an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction which posed a growing threat to the United States and the world community. In Bush's 2003 State of the Union he stated that the U.S. must not wait until the threat is imminent because Saddam would not announce his intentions before attacking. However, after the invasion, no evidence was found of such weapons programs. Other U.S. officials have cited claims of Saddam Hussein's alleged connection to Al-Qaeda and human rights abuse in Saddam Hussein's Iraq as reasons for the war. They have also claimed that the economic importance of Iraq's oil supply limited non-military options, while many critical commentators have alleged that this factor was a primary reason .

The war started in March 2003 when a largely United Kingdom and United States force, supported by relatively small contingents from Australia, Denmark, and Poland, overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and occupied Iraq in an attempt to establish a new governmental regime. However, the coalition was unsuccessful at restoring order to the entire country, leading to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil warfare between Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. Despite this failure to restore order, a growing number of coalition nations have decided to withdraw troops from Iraq. The causes and consequences of the war remain very controversial.

Timeline of the war

1991-2003: U.N. Inspectors and the no-fly zones

See also: Operation Northern Watch and Oil-for-Food Programme

Following the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations mandated that Iraqi chemical, biological, nuclear, and long range missile programs be halted and all such weapons destroyed under a U.N. verification program. U.N. weapons inspectors inside Iraq were able to verify the destruction of a large amount of WMD-material, but substantial issues remained unresolved after they left Iraq in 1998 due to the lack of cooperation by the Iraqi government.

In addition to the inspection regime, the United States and the United Kingdom (along with France until 1998) had been engaged in a low-level conflict with Iraq, by enforcing northern and southern Iraqi no-fly zones. These zones were created following the Persian Gulf War to protect the northern Kurd areas and the southern Shia areas. Iraqi air-defense installations and American and British air patrols constantly exchanged fire during this period.

Approximately nine months after the 9/11 attacks, the United States initiated Operation Southern Focus as a change to its response strategy, by increasing the overall number of missions and selecting targets throughout the no-fly zones in order to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. The weight of bombs dropped increased from none in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 8 and 14 tons per month in May-August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6 tons in September 2002.

2001-2003: Iraq disarmament crisis

Main articles: Iraq disarmament crisis timeline 2001-2003 and 2002 in Iraq

See also: Governments' pre-war positions on invasion of Iraq, Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq, and American government position on invasion of Iraq

The issue of Iraq's disarmament reached a crisis in 2002-2003, when U.S. President George W. Bush demanded a complete end to alleged Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq comply with UN Resolutions requiring UN inspectors unfettered access to areas those inspectors thought might have weapons production facilities. Iraq had been banned by the United Nations from developing or possessing such weapons since the 1991 Gulf War. It was also required to permit inspections to confirm Iraqi compliance. Bush repeatedly backed demands for unfettered inspection and disarmament with threats of invasion.

After further action by the U.N. Security Council, Iraq reluctantly agreed to new inspections in late 2002. The inspectors didn't find any WMD stockpiles, but they did not view Iraqi declarations as credible either.

In early 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, and Spain proposed another resolution on Iraq, which they called the "eighteenth resolution" to give Iraq a deadline to comply with previous resolutions before a possible military intervention. This proposed resolution was subsequently withdrawn for lack of support on the U.N. Security Council. In particular, NATO members France and Germany, together with Russia, were opposed to a military intervention in Iraq, on the ground that it would be very risky, in terms of security, for the international community, and defended a diplomatic process of disarmament. On January 20, 2003, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "...we believe that military intervention would be the worst solution".

In March 2003 the U.S. government announced that "diplomacy has failed" and that it would proceed with a coalition of allied countries, named the "coalition of the willing", to rid Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. In the same month the U.S. government also advised U.N. weapons inspectors to begin pulling out of Baghdad. Iraq's disarmament was supported by a majority of Congress, who passed the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq on the 11 October 2002. This authorization was used by the Bush Administration as the legal basis for the United States to invade Iraq.

On September 16, 2004 Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, speaking on the invasion, said, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."

2003: Invasion

Main articles: 2003 in Iraq, 2003 Iraq war timeline, and List of people associated with the 2003 invasion of Iraq

See also: Coalition military operations of the Iraq War, Iraq War order of battle

The 2003 invasion of Iraq began on March 20, under the U.S. codename "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The British military's codename for their participation in the invasion was called Operation Telic. The coalition forces cooperated with Kurdish peshmerga forces in the north. Approximately forty other nations, dubbed the "coalition of the willing", also participated by providing equipment, services and security as well as special forces. The initial coalition military forces were roughly 300,000, of which 98% were U.S. and British troops.[29] The invasion, on March 20, 2003, marked the beginning of the war.

April 2003: Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group

See also: Iraqi Governing Council, International Advisory and Monitoring Board, CPA Program Review Board, Development Fund for Iraq, Reconstruction of Iraq

Shortly after the invasion, the multinational coalition created the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) سلطة الائتلاف الموحدة, based in the Green Zone, as a transitional government of Iraq until the establishment of a democratic government. Citing UN Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003), and the laws of war, the CPA vested itself with executive, legislative, and judicial authority over the Iraqi government from the period of the CPA's inception on April 21, 2003, until its dissolution on June 28, 2004.

The CPA was originally headed by Jay Garner, a former U.S. military officer, but his appointment lasted for only a brief time. After Garner resigned, President Bush appointed L. Paul Bremer as the head the CPA and he served until the CPA's dissolution in July 2004. Another group created in the spring of 2003 was the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). This was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes developed by Iraq under the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Its final report is commonly called the Duelfer Report. It consisted of a 1,400-member international team organised by The Pentagon and CIA to hunt for suspected stockpiles of WMD, such as chemical and biological agents, and any supporting research programmes and infrastructure that could be used to develop WMD. The ISG has been unable to find these.

May 2003: "End of major combat"

Map of the Sunni Triangle

Main article: Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–2007

Further information: U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis

On May 1, 2003, President Bush staged a dramatic visit to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln while the ship was a few miles west of San Diego. The Lincoln was on its way home to Everett, Washington from a long deployment which had included service in the Persian Gulf. The visit climaxed at sunset with his now well-known "Mission Accomplished" speech. In this nationally-televised speech, delivered before the sailors and airmen on the flight deck, Bush effectively declared victory due to the defeat of Iraq's conventional forces. However, Saddam Hussein remained at large and significant pockets of resistance remained.

After Bush's speech, the coalition military noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on its troops in various regions, especially in the "Sunni Triangle". In the initial chaos after the fall of the Iraqi government, there was massive looting of infrastructure, including government buildings, official residences, museums, banks, and military depots. According to The Pentagon, 250,000 tons (of 650,000 tons total) of ordnance was looted, providing a significant source of ammunition for Iraqi insurgents. The insurgents were further helped by hundreds of weapons caches created by the conventional Iraqi army and Republican Guard beforehand.

Initially, the resistance largely stemmed from fedayeen and loyalists of Saddam Hussein or the Ba'ath Party, but soon religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the insurgency. The insurgents are generally known to the Coalition forces as "Anti-Iraqi Forces."

Most initial insurgency was concentrated in the Sunni Triangle, which includes Baghdad. The three provinces that had the highest number of attacks were Baghdad, Anbar, and Salah Ad Din. -Those 3 provinces account for 35% of the population, but are responsible for 73% of U.S. military deaths (as of December 5, 2006), and an even higher percentage of recent U.S. military deaths (about 80%). This resistance has been described as a type of guerrilla warfare. Insurgent tactics include mortars, missiles, suicide bombers, snipers (cf. Juba, the Baghdad Sniper), improvised explosive devices (IEDs), roadside bombs, car bombs, small arms fire (usually with assault rifles), and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), as well as sabotage against the oil, water, and electrical infrastructure.

American soldier and an Iraqi child

Post-invasion Iraq coalition efforts commenced after the fall of the Hussein regime. The coalition nations, together with the United Nations, began to work to establish a stable democratic state capable of defending itself, holding itself together as well as overcoming insurgent attacks and internal divisions.

Meanwhile, coalition military forces launched several operations around the Tigris River peninsula and in the Sunni Triangle. A series of similar operations were launched throughout the summer in the Sunni Triangle. Toward the end of 2003, the intensity and pace of insurgent attacks began to increase. A sharp surge in guerrilla attacks ushered in an insurgent effort that was termed the "Ramadan Offensive", as it coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Coalition forces brought to bear the use of air power for the first time since the end of the invasion. Suspected ambush sites and mortar launching positions were struck from the air and with artillery fire. Surveillance of major routes, patrols, and raids on suspected insurgents were stepped up. In addition, two villages, including Saddam’s birthplace of al-Auja and the small town of Abu Hishma were wrapped in barbed wire and carefully monitored.

However, the failure to restore basic services to above pre-war levels, where over a decade of sanctions, bombing, corruption, and decaying infrastructure had left major cities functioning at much-reduced levels, also contributed to local anger at the IPA government headed by an executive council. On July 2 2003, President Bush declared that American troops would remain in Iraq in spite of the attacks, challenging the insurgents with "My answer is, bring 'em on", a line the President later expressed misgivings about having used. In the summer of 2003, the multinational forces also focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime. On July 22, 2003, during a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and soldiers from Task Force 20, Saddam Hussein's sons (Uday and Qusay) and one of his grandsons were killed. In all, over 300 top leaders of the former regime were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser functionaries and military personnel.

December 2003: Saddam captured

See also: Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal and Trial of Saddam Hussein

In the wave of intelligence information fueling the raids on remaining Ba'ath Party members connected to insurgency, Saddam Hussein himself was captured on December 13 2003 on a farm near Tikrit in Operation Red Dawn. The operation was conducted by the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force 121.

With the capture of Saddam and a drop in the number of insurgent attacks, some concluded the multinational forces were prevailing in the fight against the insurgency. The provisional government began training the New Iraqi Security forces intended to defend the country, and the United States promised over $20 billion in reconstruction money in the form of credit against Iraq's future oil revenues. Oil revenues were also used for rebuilding schools and for work on the electrical and refining infrastructure.

Shortly after the capture of Saddam, elements left out of the Coalition Provisional Authority began to agitate for elections and the formation of an Iraqi Interim Government. Most prominent among these was the Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani. The Coalition Provisional Authority opposed allowing democratic elections at this time, preferring instead to eventually hand-over power to the Interim Iraqi Government. Due to the internal fight for power in the new Iraqi government more insurgents stepped up their activities. The two most turbulent centers were the area around Fallujah and the poor Shia sections of cities from Baghdad (Sadr City) to Basra in the south.

2004: The insurgency expands

Main article: 2004 in Iraq

See also: Military operations of the Iraq War for a list of all Coalition operations for this period, 2004 in Iraq, Iraqi coalition counter-insurgency operations, History of Iraqi insurgency, United States occupation of Fallujah, Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004

The start of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Insurgent forces reorganised during this time, studying the multinational forces' tactics and planning a renewed offensive. Guerrilla attacks were less intense. However, in late 2004 foreign fighters from around the Middle East as well as al-Qaeda in Iraq (an affiliated al-Qaeda group), led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would help to drive the insurgency.

As the insurgent activity increased, there was a distinct change in targeting from the coalition forces towards the new Iraqi Security Forces, as hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police were killed over the next few months in a series of massive bombings. One hypothesis for these increased bombings is that the relevance of Saddam Hussein and his followers was diminishing in direct proportion to the influence of radical Islamists, both foreign and Iraqi. An organised Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming more powerful throughout Iraq. The Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets in an attempt to seize control from Iraqi security forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq were beginning to erupt in urban guerrilla combat as multinational forces attempted to keep control and prepared for a counteroffensive.

The coalition and the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to face the growing insurgency with a pair of assaults: one on Fallujah, the center of the "Mohammed's Army of Al-Ansar", and another on Najaf, home of an important mosque that had become the focal point for the Mahdi Army and its activities.

File:Fallujah bridge.jpg

Citizens of Fallujah near a bridge on which two corpses are hanged.

On March 31, 2004 - Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a convoy containing four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA who were conducting delivery for food caterers ESS. The four armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were killed with grenades and small arms fire, their bodies dragged from their vehicles, beaten and set ablaze. Their burned corpses were then dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates.

Photos of the event were released to news agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the United States, and prompting the announcement of a upcoming "pacification" of the city.

April 2004: The First Battle of Fallujah

After this incident, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force began plans to re-establish a coalition presence in Fallujah. On April 4, the multinational forces began assaults to clear Fallujah of insurgents. On April 9, the multinational force allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave. Meanwhile, insurgents were taking advantage of the lull in combat to prepare defenses for a second assault. On April 10, the military declared a unilateral truce to allow for humanitarian supplies to enter Fallujah. Troops pulled back to the outskirts of the city; local leaders reciprocated the ceasefire, although lower-level intense fighting on both sides continued. During the assault, U.S. forces used white phosphorus as one of the weapons on the insurgents. This use of an incendiary weapon attracted controversy.

When the Iraqi Governing Council protested against the U.S. assault to retake Fallujah, the U.S. military halted its efforts. In the April battle for Fallujah, Coalition troops killed about 600 insurgents and a number of civilians, while 40 Americans died and hundreds were wounded in a fierce battle. The Marines were ordered to stand-down and cordon off the city, maintaining a perimeter around Fallujah. A compromise was reached in order to ensure security within Fallujah itself by creating the local "Fallujah Brigade". While the Marines attacking had a clear advantage in ground firepower and air support, LtGen Conway decided to accept a truce and a deal which put a former Ba'athist general in complete charge of the town's security. The Fallujah Brigade's responsibility was to secure Fallujah and put a stop to insurgent mortar attacks on the nearby U.S. Marine bases. This compromise soon fell apart and insurgent attacks returned, causing Marine commanders to begin preparations for a second attack in the coming fall. By the end of the spring uprising, the cities of Fallujah, Samarra, Baquba, and Ramadi had been left under guerrilla control with coalition patrols in the cities at a minimum.

Meanwhile, the fighting continued in the Shiite south, and Italian and Polish forces were having increasing difficulties retaining control over Nasiriya and Najaf. United States Marines were then shifted there to put down the overt rebellion and proceeded to rout Muqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia. In all, April, May and early June saw more fighting. Over the next three months, the multinational forces took back the southern cities. Also, various insurgent leaders entered into negotiations with the provisional government to lay down arms and enter the political process.

June 2004: Iraqi Interim government and the Battle of Najaf

File:Iraqi Sniper.jpg

A sniper loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr fires a Dragunov sniper rifle at U.S. positions in the cemetery in Najaf.[28]

On June 28, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred the "sovereignty" of Iraq to a caretaker government, whose first act was to begin the trial of Saddam Hussein. However, fighting continued in the form of the Iraqi insurgency. The new government began the process of moving towards open elections, though the insurgency and the lack of cohesion within the government itself, had led to delays.

One of the results of this weakened government was an increase in power of the sectarian militias. This was most clearly seen when the religious and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr took control of the holy city of Najaf. After negotiations broke down between Sadr and the Interim Iraqi government, the government asked the Coalition for help in dislodging him. So in July and August, coalition forces and the Mahdi Army fought in the Battle of Najaf which culminated in the siege of the Imam Ali Mosque. Fighting ended only after a peace deal brokered by Grand Ayatollah Sistani in late August.

November 2004: The Second Battle of Fallujah

Further information: United States occupation of Fallujah

The First Battle of Fallujah in April 2004 created an area of extreme instability and a de facto insurgent safe zone. After several months of this situation, in November 2004 coalition forces attacked and successfully captured Fallujah in the Second Battle of Fallujah. This battle resulted in the reputed death of around 1,200 insurgent fighters. The U.S. Marines (the main coalition force in combat) also took substantial casualties with 95 dead and around 500 wounded in action. According to local sources, hundreds of civilians were also killed and much of the city was destroyed in the battle.

2005: Elections and sovereignty transferred to Iraqi Transitional Government

Main article: 2005 in Iraq

File:Iraqwarimage.jpg

An Iraqi Army unit prepares to board a Task Force Baghdad UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for a counterinsurgency mission in Baghdad.

On January 31, Iraqis elected the Iraqi Transitional Government in order to draft a permanent constitution. Although some violence and lack of widespread Sunni Arab participation marred the event, most of the eligible Kurd and Shia populace participated. On February 4, Paul Wolfowitz announced that 15,000 U.S. troops whose tours of duty had been extended in order to provide election security would be pulled out of Iraq by the next month. February, March and April proved to be relatively peaceful months compared to the carnage of November and January, with insurgent attacks averaging 30 a day from the prior average of 70.

Hopes for a quick end to an insurgency and a withdrawal of U.S. troops were dashed at the advent of May, Iraq's bloodiest month since the invasion by U.S. forces in March and April 2003. Suicide bombers, believed to be mainly disheartened Iraqi Sunni Arabs, Syrians and Saudis, tore through Iraq. Their targets were often Shia gatherings or civilian concentrations mainly of Shias. As a result, over 700 Iraqi civilians died in that month, as well as 79 U.S. soldiers.

During early and mid-May, the U.S. also launched Operation Matador, an assault by around 1,000 Marines in the ungoverned region of western Iraq. Its goal was the closing of suspected insurgent supply routes of volunteers and material from Syria, and with the fight they received their assumption proved correct. Fighters armed with flak jackets (unseen in the insurgency before this time) and using sophisticated tactics met the Marines, eventually inflicting 31 U.S. casualties by the operation's end, and suffering 125 casualties themselves. The Marines were unable to recapture the region due to their limited numbers and the continual insurgent IED attacks and ambushes. The operation continued all the way to the Syrian border, where they were forced to stop (Syrian residents living near the border heard the American bombs very clearly during the operation). The vast majority of these armed and trained insurgents quickly dispersed before the U.S. could bring the full force of its firepower on them, as it did in Fallujah.

August 2005: Increasing instability and renewed fighting

On August 14, 2005 The Washington Post quoted one anonymous U.S. senior official expressing that "the United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges... 'What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground'". On September 22, 2005, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said that he had warned the Bush administration in recent days that Iraq was hurtling toward disintegration, and that the election planned for December was unlikely to make any difference. U.S. officials immediately made statements rejecting this belief.

December 2005: Iraqi legislative election

Main article: Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly.

2006: Permanent Iraqi government and possible outbreak of civil war

Main article: 2006 in Iraq

The beginning of 2006 was marked by government creation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous anti-coalition attacks. The United Nations has recently described the environment in Iraq as a "civil war-like situation." A 2006 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has estimated that more than 601,000 Iraqis have died in violence since the U.S. invasion and that fewer than one third of these deaths came at the hands of Coalition forces. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Iraqi government estimate that more than 365,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, bringing the total number of Iraqi refugees to more than 1.6 million.

February 2006: Al-Askari shrine bombing and Sunni-Shia fighting

On February 22 2006, at 6:55 a.m. local time (0355 UTC) high detonation explosives planted around the golden dome of Samarra's Askari shrine were set off by a group of eight militants led by local al Qaeda leader Haitham al-Badri, according to the National Security Adviser. The men, apparently disguised in security uniform, tied the shrine's Sunni guards before entering the Al Askari Mosque just after dawn. The explosions at the mosque completely destroyed its golden dome and severely damaged the mosque.

Shi'ite militiamen across Baghdad expressed their outrage by burning some Sunni mosques and killing dozens, the first time Iraqi Shi'ites had retaliated after two and a half years of bombings, murders and intimidation from terrorism. Religious leaders of both sides called for calm amid fears this could erupt into a long-feared Sunni-Shia civil war in Iraq.

On March 2 the director of the Baghdad morgue fled Iraq explaining, "7,000 people have been killed by death squads in recent months." The Boston Globe reported that around eight times the number of Iraqis killed by terrorist bombings during March 2006 were killed by sectarian death squads during the same period. A total of 1,313 were killed by sectarian militias while 173 were killed by suicide bombings. The LA Times later reported that about 3,800 Iraqis were killed by sectarian violence in Baghdad alone during the first three months of 2006. During April 2006, morgue numbers showed that 1,091 Baghdad residents were killed by sectarian executions. Insurgencies, frequent terrorist attacks and sectarian violence led to harsh criticism of U.S. Iraq policy and fears of a failing state and civil war. The concerns were expressed by several U.S. think tanks as well as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.

In early 2006, a handful of high-ranking retired generals began to demand United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation due in part to the aforementioned chaos that resulted from his management of the war.

An Iraqi mother comforts her children as Soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cav Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team search their home near Tikrit, Iraq.

May 2006: Permanent Iraqi Government takes power

Main article: Government of Iraq from 2006

The current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005. The government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government which had continued in office in a caretaker capacity until the new government was agreed.

June 2006: al-Maliki proposes U.S. withdrawal plan

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proposed a plan for US withdrawal. The plan includes US troop withdrawal "under conditions that take into account the formation of Iraqi armed forces so as to guarantee Iraq's security", amnesty for all insurgents who attacked U.S. and Iraqi military targets, the release of all security detainees from U.S. and Iraqi prisons, and compensation for victims of coalition military operations. Several US politicians objected to portions of the proposal.

Fall 2006: Increased sectarian violence

British Land Rover Wolfs on patrol around Basra

In September 2006, The Washington Post reported that the commander of the Marine forces in Iraq filed "an unusual secret report" concluding that the prospects for securing the Anbar province are dim, and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there.

Iraq was listed fourth on the 2006 Failed States Index compiled by the American Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace think-tank. The list was topped by Sudan.

As of October 20 the U.S military announced that Operation Together Forward had failed to stem the tide of violence in Baghdad, and Shiite militants under al-Sadr seized several southern Iraq cities.

November 2006: Change at the Pentagon, Sadr City bombing

Main article: Sadr City bombings

On November 7, 2006, United States elections removed George W. Bush's Republican Party from control of both the United States House and the Senate. The failings in the Iraq war was cited as one of the main causes for these election results.

On November 23, 2006, the deadliest attack since the beginning of the Iraq war occurred. According to The Associated Press, suspected Sunni-Arab militants used five suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum to kill at least 215 people and wound 257. Shiite mortar teams quickly retaliated, firing 10 shells at Sunni Islam's most important shrine in Baghdad, badly damaging the Abu Hanifa mosque and killing one person. Eight more rounds slammed down near the offices of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the top Sunni Muslim organisation in Iraq, setting nearby houses on fire. Two other mortar barrages on Sunni neighborhoods in west Baghdad killed nine and wounded 21, police said.

On November 28, 2006, another Marine Corps intelligence report was released confirming the previous report on Anbar stating that, "U.S. and Iraqi troops 'are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar,' and 'nearly all government institutions from the village to provincial levels have disintegrated or have been thoroughly corrupted and infiltrated by Al Qaeda in Iraq.'"

December 2006: Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution

A bipartisan report by the Iraq Study Group was released on December 6, 2006. The group was led by former secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, and concludes that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating" and "U.S. forces seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end." The report's 79 recommendations include increasing diplomatic measures with Iran and Syria and intensifying efforts to train Iraqi troops. On December 18, a Pentagon report finds that attacks on Americans and Iraqis average about 960 a week, the highest since the reports began in 2005.

Coalition forces formally transferred control of a province to the Iraqi government. The shift is the first of its kind since the war began. Military prosecutors charged 8 Marines with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha that allegedly occurred in November 2005. Ten of the casualties were reported to be women and children. Four officers were also charged with dereliction of duty in relation to the event.

After being captured in December 2003, Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Also, in December 2006 officials of various Shiite parties formed a coalition favoring reconciliation and met with Ayatollah Al-Sistani, spiritual head of Iraq's Shiite community, to seek his approval for this effort. Moqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army, did not initially join this coalition, but eventually decided to join the coalition. This Shiite coalition asserted that their goal was to assert reconciliation, stability and the rule of law, and that private armies would not be continued once the Shiite coalition produced some stability.

2007: U.S. troop surge

Main article: 2007 in Iraq

Further information: 2007 in Iraq, Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and 2007 State of the Union Address

Following the 2006 United States midterm elections in which the Republicans lost control of the United States Congress, the Bush administration attempted to distance itself from its earlier "stay the course" rhetoric.

Early 2007: Bush's "new way forward" confronts Iran and greater demands on troops

Further information: Kill or Capture strategy

On January 10, 2007, Bush made a televised address to the American public in which he proposed an increase in the number of troops in Iraq. In his speech, he made references to changes to be made, including a "surge" of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, a job programme for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and 1.2 billion dollars for these programmes. Asked why he thought his plan would work this time, Bush said: "Because it has to."

Maintaining higher troop levels in the face higher causalities required two changes in the army. Tours of duty were increased and the exclusions of volunteers with a history of criminal acts were relaxed Moral Waiver. Both of these changes are expected to increase the probability of violence against Iraqi non combatants. A defense department sponsored report described increased length of tours leading to higher stress which increase manifestations of anger and disrespect for civilians.

The so called Moral Waiver have implications for killing of non combatants: John D. Hutson, dean and president of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire and former judge advocate general of the Navy, said the military must tread carefully in deciding which criminals to accept. There is a reason, he said, why allowing people with criminal histories into the military has long been the exception rather than the rule. If you are recruiting somebody who has demonstrated some sort of antisocial behavior and then you are a putting a gun in their hands, you have to be awfully careful about what you are doing, Mr. Hutson said. You are not putting a hammer in their hands, or asking them to sell used cars. You are potentially asking them to kill people.

Before and during the Surge, Iran has been taken a more active role in Iraq. Talks between the two nations (Iran and Iraq) have been successful, with Iran even going so far as to build a major Iranian Bank branch inside Iraq. In reaction to Iran's increased role in Iraq, American troops raided an Iranian liaison office in northern Iraq on 11 January 2007 and detained five employees. "Around 5.00 a.m., after disarming the guards they (U.S. troops) broke into the office, without giving any explanation and arrested five employees", the official IRNA news agency reported, adding that documents and computers were seized. The fate of the kidnapped Iranian officials is not known.

In addition to confronting Iran, Coalition and Iraqi forces launched a new security plan for Baghdad. Under the new Surge plan, Baghdad is to be divided into ten zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side-by-side to "clear and hold" each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents to stabilise the city. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, has gone so far as to say Iraq will be 'doomed' if this current plan fails.

Chlorine bombings in Iraq began in late January 2007, when terrorists in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices. The inaugural chlorine attacks in Iraq were described as poorly executed, however subsequent attacks resulted in hundreds of injuries, causing widespread panic, with large numbers of civilians suffering non life-threatening, but nonetheless highly traumatic, injuries.

In February, Joint Security Stations began to get set up in Baghdad neighborhoods.

On February 21, 2007 British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that following the success of Operation Sinbad the United Kingdom will reduce its troops in Iraq as it handed off Basra Governorate to the Iraqis. He said that the 7,100 serving troops would be cut to 5,500 in the coming months, with hopes that 500 more will leave by late summer. He also stated that British forces would remain into 2008 and he did not predict how many troops are likely to be there next year. Cheney hailed this as proof of success in Iraq. Danish prime ministers Anders Fogh Rasmussen also announced the withdrawal of Danish troops from Iraq. The 450 Danish troops will leave the country in August and will be replaced by a unit of nine soldiers manning four observational helicopters.

March 2007

U.S. soldiers take cover during a firefight with insurgents in the Al Doura section of Baghdad March 7, 2007

A March 7, 2007 survey of more than 2,000 Iraqis commissioned by the BBC and three other news organisations found that 51% of the population consider attacks on coalition forces "acceptable", up from 17% in 2004 and 35% in 2006. Also:

• 64% described their family's economic situation as being somewhat or very bad, up from 30% in 2005.
• 88% described the availability of electricity as being either somewhat or very bad, up from 65% in 2004.
• 69% described the availability of clean water as somewhat or very bad, up from 48% in 2004.
• 88% described the availability of fuel for cooking and driving as being somewhat or very bad.
• 58% described reconstruction efforts in the area in which they live as either somewhat or very ineffective, and 9% described them as being totally nonexistent.

By mid-March 2007, violence in Baghdad was reported by US sources close to the military as having been curtailed by 80%. However, independent reports have raised questions about such assessments. An Iraqi military spokesman claims that civilian deaths since the start of the troop surge plan were 265 in Baghdad, down from 1,440 in the four previous weeks. The New York Times (NYT) has found more than 450 Iraqi civilians were killed during the same 28-day period, based on initial daily reports from Interior Ministry and hospital officials. Historically, the daily counts tallied by the NYT have underestimated the total death toll by 50 percent or more when compared to studies by the United Nations, which rely upon figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry and morgue figures.

Moqtada al-Sadr issued a statement which urged Iraqis not to cooperate with U.S. forces, and to remain united against occupation. This was followed by what appears to be a protest by thousands of residents of Sadr City, and by the imposition of a curfew in Hilla south of Baghdad, apparently designed to prevent a similar large protest there.

Late March, 2007, the US congress passed supplemental funding authorisation bills to pay $122 billion for emergency war operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, including requirements that the US withdraw its troops from Iraq by August, 2008. Bush threatened to veto any bill including such a withdraw provision.The United States Senate approved on March 30, 2007 the goal of getting all combat soldiers out by March 31, 2008. The Senate's shorter timetable is a goal, not a requirement on Bush and is designed to win the support of centrist Democrats.

Despite a massive security crackdown in Baghdad associated with the "surge" in coalition troop strength, the monthly death toll in Iraq rose 15 percent in March. 1,869 Iraqi civilians were killed and 2,719 were wounded in March, compared to 1,646 killed and 2,701 wounded in February. In March, 165 Iraqi policemen were killed against 131 the previous month, while 44 Iraqi soldiers died compared to 29 in February. US military deaths in March were nearly double those of the Iraqi army, despite US claims that Iraqi forces led the security crackdown in Baghdad. The death toll among insurgent militants fell to 481 in March, compared to 586 killed in February. However, the number of arrests jumped to 5,664 in March against 1,921 in February.

April 2007

In a report entitled "Civilians without Protection: The Ever-Worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq", produced well after the stepped-up American-led military operations in Baghdad began February 14, the Red Cross said that millions of Iraqis are in a disastrous situation that is getting worse, with medical professionals fleeing the country after their colleagues were killed or abducted. Mothers are appealing for someone to pick up the bodies on the street so their children will be spared the horror of looking at them on their way to school. Red Cross Director of Operations Pierre Kraehenbuehl said that hospitals and other key services are desperately short of staff, with more than half the doctors said to have already left the country.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that all active-duty Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will serve for sixteen months, instead of the twelve month tours they expected. "Without this action, we would have had to deploy five Army active-duty brigades sooner than the 12-month at-home goal", Gates said. Statistics released in April indicated that more and more soldiers have been deserting their duty, a sharp rise from the years before.

After recommendations by Newt Gingrich and others, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley planed to create a high-powered "czar" to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new "execution manager", as the position is termed, would talk directly with Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and others to help make progress on the ground. At least five retired four-star generals have declined to be considered for the post.

April 10: Baghdad Wall

On April 10, 2007, the United States military began constructing a 3.5 metre tall concrete wall around the predominantly Sunni Baghdad district of Adhamiyah. (The Guardian) (BBC)

April 12: Bombing strikes the Iraqi parliament

On April 12, 2007, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb inside the Iraq parliament building, killing at least eight, including three members of Parliament. At least 30 people were wounded in the attack. The bomber struck at lunchtime inside a cafeteria outside of the Parliament chamber. Later reports published from NBC News said that the suicide bomber was a guard for a member of Parliament. The Parliament building was located inside the Green Zone, a heavily fortified section of Baghdad. The bombing was videotaped by Alhurra television while a member of Parliament was being interviewed during the lunch hour. Bush and the State Department quickly condemned the bombings, with Bush reiterating that "we stand with [Iraq]."

The Iraqi parliament attack followed another bombing that destroyed the Al-Sarafiya bridge, a 75-year old bridge in Baghdad spanning the Tigris River, that was constructed by the British. The bridge connected the Sunni neighborhood of Waziriyah with the Shiite area of Utafiyah and was bombed by suicide truck bombs, according to the Associated Press.

Iraqi Forces took charge of security in the region of Maysan on 18 April 2007. It borders Iran and is the fourth province which came under full Iraqi security control since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

April 18: Disagreement in Washington

President Bush met with House and Senate leaders in the White House for nearly an hour, for the first time since the House and Senate passed emergency Iraq spending bills to end the war. Democrats said they would send the president legislation by the end of next week, even though he said he is going to veto it. Bush was taken aback and became angry when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared the war to the Vietnam War, and didn’t like to hear people in the room say that the war couldn’t be won militarily. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the meeting was productive.

April 23: Baghdad Wall

On April 23, 2007, the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri Maliki, called for construction to be halted on the three-mile wall being built by the United States military around the predominantly Sunni Baghdad district of Adhamiyah (The Guardian) (BBC). The Prime Minister emphasised that he "oppose[s] the building of the wall, and its construction will stop."

April 29: Anbar Province

An April 29 New York Times article entitled, "Anbar province revitalized as it tames insurgents", [30] describes the long troubled province of Anbar as, "undergoing a surprising transformation. Violence is ebbing in many areas, shops and schools are reopening, police forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat." "Yet for all the indications of a heartening turnaround in Anbar, the situation, as it appeared during more than a week spent with American troops in Ramadi and Fallujah in early April, is at best uneasy and fragile."

May 2007

May 8: Iraqi lawmakers reject occupation

More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country for the first time. 144 of the 275 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition that would require the Iraqi government to seek approval from parliament before it requests an extension of the U.N. mandate for foreign forces to be in Iraq expiring at the end of 2007. It also calls for a timetable for the troop withdrawal and a freeze on the size of the foreign forces. The U.N. Security Council mandate for U.S.-led forces in Iraq will terminate "if requested by the government of Iraq." Under Iraqi law, the speaker must present a resolution called for by a majority of lawmakers. 59% of those polled in the U.S. support a timetable for withdrawal.

May 9: VP Cheney's second visit to Baghdad

Keeping up the Bush administration’s drumbeat of pressure on Iraqi leaders, Mr. Cheney began his tour of the Middle East with a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad, his second since the invasion. In 12 hours of meetings with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other leaders, he urged the Iraqis to act decisively on issues that have divided Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, and he told them that political progress in Baghdad is essential if American military support is to be sustained in the face of strong Congressional and popular opposition in the United States. (NY Times)

May 10: G.O.P. moderates warn Bush Iraq must show gains

Moderate Republicans gave President Bush a blunt warning on his Iraq policy at a private White House meeting this week, telling the president that conditions needed to improve markedly by fall or more Republicans would desert him on the war. Participants in the Tuesday meeting between Mr. Bush, senior administration officials and 11 members of a moderate bloc of House Republicans said the lawmakers were unusually candid with the president, telling him that public support for the war was crumbling in their swing districts. (NY Times)

May 14: Changing political loyalties

In May, many insurgent groups repudiated their loyalties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) . The rifts came into the open in April when the Islamic Army of Iraq accused al-Qaida of killing 30 of its members. The 1920 Revolution Brigades accused al-Qaida in March of assassinating one of its leaders, Harith Dhaher al-Dhari. [31] A new group called Jihad and Reform Front formed in opposition to AQI, but also in opposition to the US occupation and the Maliki government. Almost simultaneously with this announcement, Harith al-Dhari (a man sometimes known as the "spiritual leader of the insurgency") did an interview with Time magazine that essentially took the same stand. [32] The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) also elimnminiated the word "revolution" from their name to reflect what they called the changing situation in Iraq.

Additionally, an article entitled "Gathering the Tribes" in the upcoming June 4, 2007 issue of Newsweek describes improvements in relations between US forces and tribal leaders in Anbar province, particularly Ramadi.

Increased Fighting just outside Baghdad

Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the second-largest capture of American soldiers serving in the Iraq War, which occured when Iraqi insurgents attacked a military outpost in Amiriyah, Baghdad, killing four US soldiers and an Iraqi aide before capturing Spc. Alex Jimenez, Pfc. Joseph Anzack and Pvt. Byron Fouty on May 12, 2007. The search for the soldiers in the Triangle of Death south of Baghdad currently occupies 4,000 troops, approximately 2.75% of all American soldiers stationed in Iraq. Pfc. Anzacks' body was recovered on May 23 from the Euphrates river bearing signs of torture. Fighting in Diyala province to the east of Baghdad also increased, leading to many in this province fleeing their homes. [33] [34]

May 25: Congress extends funding for the war

On May 24, 2007, the US congress passed H.R. 2206, a supplemental funding authorisation bill to pay almost $95 billion for emergency war operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The bill established benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but continued U.S. military spending is not tied to these benchmarks. Bush signed the bill on May 25.

Recent history

(Note: This section is used to track various developing events incrementally, by citing materials around the web. This section is not to meant supplant the capsulisations of major events, in the "Timeline" section above. Occasionally, the two sections may overlap, but this should not be considered an error.)

• The rate of American deaths in Baghdad over the first seven weeks of the "surge" security escalation has nearly doubled from the previous period. According to the Iraq Coaltion Casualty Monitor, U.S. troop deaths since the beginning of the escalation have been "running at 3.14/day, which is the highest of any period since the end of major combat."

Troop deployment 2003 to current

See also: Multinational Force in Iraq, Dancon/Irak, Deployment of Japanese troops to Iraq, Polish involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Operation Telic order of battle

United Nations

The United Nations has also deployed a small contingent to Iraq to protect UN staff and guard their compounds.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI)

• Georgia: 550 blue-helmets
• Fiji: 168 blue-helmets
• Romania: 130 blue-helmets
• Denmark: 35 blue-helmets
• Canada: 1 blue-helmet

Armed Iraqi groups: insurgents and militias

Further information: History of Iraqi insurgency, Sectarian violence in Iraq, and Iraqi coalition counter-insurgency operations

The Iraqi insurgency is the armed resistance by diverse groups, including private militias, within Iraq to the US occupation of Iraq and to the U.S.-supported Iraqi government. The fighting has clear sectarian overtones and significant international implications (see Iraqi Civil War). This asymmetric war is being waged by Iraqi rebels, almost certainly with assistance from both foreign governments (possibly Syria and/or Iran) and loosely termed NGOs. This campaign is called the Iraqi resistance by its supporters and the anti-Iraqi forces(AIF) by Coalition forces.

Insurgents

By the fall of 2003, these insurgent groups began using typical guerrilla tactics such as ambushes, bombings, kidnappings, and IEDs. Other tactics included mortars, suicide bombers, explosively formed penetrators, small arms fire, anti-aircraft missiles (SA-7, SA-14, SA-16) and RPGs, as well as sabotage against the oil, water, and electrical infrastructure. Multi-national Force-Iraq statistics (see detailed BBC graphic) show that the insurgents primarily targeted coalition forces, Iraqi security forces and infrastructure, and lastly civilians and government officials. These irregular forces favored attacking unarmored or lightly armored Humvee vehicles, the U.S. military's primary transport vehicle, primarily through the roadside IED. In November 2003, some of these forces successfully attacked U.S. rotary aircraft with SA-7 missiles bought on the global black market. Insurgent groups such as the al-Abud Network have even attempted to constitute their own chemical weapons programs, attempting to weaponise traditional mortar rounds with ricin and mustard toxin.

As Coalition Forces respond to a car bombing in South Baghdad, Iraq (IRQ), a second car bomb is detonated, targeting those responding to the initial incident. Date Shot: 14 Apr 2005

There is evidence that some guerrilla groups are organised, perhaps by the fedayeen and other Saddam Hussein or Ba'ath loyalists, religious radicals, Iraqis angered by the occupation, and foreign fighters. On February 23, 2005 Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq) aired transcripts of confessions by Syrian intelligence officer Anas Ahmad Al-Issa and Iraqi insurgent Shihab Al-Sab'awi concerning their booby-trap operations, explosions, kidnappings, assassinations, and details of beheading training in Syria.

In addition to internal strife, Iran may be playing a role in the insurgency. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero said, "Iran is definitely a destabilising force in Iraq." Barbero also states that, "I think it's irrefutable that Iran is responsible for training, funding and equipping some of these Shia extremist groups."

Militias

Two of the most powerful current militias are the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization, with both militias having substantial political support as well in the current Iraqi government. Initially, both organisations were involved in the Iraqi insurgency, most clearly seen with the Mahdi Army at the Battle of Najaf. However in recent months, there has been a split between the two groups.

This violent break between Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the rival Badr Organization of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, was seen in the fighting in the town of Amarah on October 20, 2006, would severely complicate the efforts of Iraqi and American officials to quell the soaring violence in Iraq.

More recently in late 2005 and 2006, due to increasing sectarian violence based on either tribal/ethnic distinctions or simply due to increased criminal violence, various militias have formed, with whole neighborhoods and cities sometimes being protected or attacked by ethnic or neighborhood militias. One such group, known as the Anbar Awakening, was formed in September 2006 to fight against Al Qaeda and other radical islamist groups in the particularly violent Anbar province. Led by Sheik and Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, who heads the Sunni Anbar Salvation Council, the Anbar Awakening has more than 6,000 troops and is seen by key U.S. officials such as Condoleeza Rice as a potential ally to U.S. occupation forces.

Iraq War and U.S. War on Terrorism

Further information: Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda timeline, Atta in Prague, and Criticism of the War on Terrorism

President Bush has consistently referred to the Iraq war as "the central front in the War on Terror", and has argued that if the U.S. pulls out of Iraq, "terrorists will follow us here." While other proponents of the war have regularly echoed this assertion, as the conflict has dragged on, members of the U.S. Congress, the American public, and even U.S. troops have begun to question the connection between Iraq and the fight against terrorism. In particular, many leading intelligence experts have begun to argue that the war in Iraq is actually increasing terrorism.

Views of U.S. Congress, public, and troops

At the outset of the war, the U.S. Congress and public opinion supported the notion that the Iraq War was part of the global war on terrorism. The 2002 Congressional resolution authorising military force against Iraq cited the U.S. determination to "prosecute the war on terrorism", and in April 2003, one month after the invasion, a poll found that 77% of Americans agreed that the Iraq War was part of the War on Terrorism. However, after the 2006 midterm Congressional elections, Congress has pushed to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, in part based on the argument that Iraq is a distraction, as opposed to a part of, the war on terror. Likewise, a January 2007 poll found that 57% of Americans feel that the Iraq War is not part of the War on Terror.

Increase in terrorism

As part of the justification for the war, the Bush Administration argued that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda, and that his overthrow would lead to democratisation in the Middle East, decreasing terrorism overall. However, reports from the CIA, the U.S. State Department, the FBI, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as the investigations of foreign intelligence agencies found no evidence of an operational connection between the ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda. On the contrary, a consensus has developed among intelligence experts that the Iraq war has increased terrorism. Counterterrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna frequently refers to the invasion of Iraq as a "fatal mistake." London's conservative International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in 2004 that the occupation of Iraq had become "a potent global recruitment pretext" for jihadists and that the invasion "galvanised" al-Qaeda and "perversely inspired insurgent violence" there. The U.S. National Intelligence Council concluded in a January 2005 report that the war in Iraq had become a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists; David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, indicated that the report concluded that the war in Iraq provided terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills... There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries." The Council's Chairman Robert L. Hutchings said, "At the moment, Iraq is a magnet for international terrorist activity." And the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, which outlined the considered judgment of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, held that "The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement."

Al-Qaeda leaders have seen the Iraq war as a boon to their recruiting and operational efforts, providing evidence to jihadists worldwide that America is at war with Islam, and the training ground for a new generation of jihadists to practice attacks on American forces. In October 2003, Osama bin Laden announced: "Be glad of the good news: America is mired in the swamps of the Tigris and Euphrates. Bush is, through Iraq and its oil, easy prey. Here is he now, thank God, in an embarrassing situation and here is America today being ruined before the eyes of the whole world." Al-Qaeda commander Seif al-Adl gloated about the war in Iraq, indicating, "The Americans took the bait and fell into our trap." A letter thought to be from al-Qaeda leader Atiyah Abd al-Rahman found in Iraq among the rubble where al-Zarqawi was killed and released by the U.S. military in October 2006, indicated that al-Qaeda perceived the war as beneficial to its goals: "The most important thing is that the jihad continues with steadfastness ... indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest."

International opinion of the War on Terrorism

In 2002, strong majorities supported the U.S.-led War on Terrorism in Britain, France, Germany, Japan, India, and Russia. By 2006, supporters of the effort were in the minority in Britain (49%), France (43%), Germany (47%), and Japan (26%). Although a majority of Russians still supported the War on Terrorism, that majority had decreased by 21%. Whereas 63% of the Spanish population supported the War on Terrorism in 2003, only 19% of the population indicated support in 2006. 19% of the Chinese population supports the War on Terrorism, and less than a fifth of the populations of Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan support the effort. Indian support for the War on Terrorism has been stable. Andrew Kohut, speaking to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that, according to the Pew Center polls conducted in 2004, "majorities or pluralities in seven of the nine countries surveyed said the U.S.-led war on terrorism was not really a sincere effort to reduce international terrorism. This was true not only in Muslim countries such as Morocco and Turkey, but in France and Germany as well. The true purpose of the war on terrorism, according to these skeptics, is American control of Middle East oil and U.S. domination of the world." Dr. Steven Kull testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 17, 2007, that "a new feeling about the US that has emerged in the wake of 9-11. This is not so much an intensification of negative feelings toward the US as much as a new perception of American intentions. There now seems to be a perception that the US has entered into a war against Islam itself. I think perhaps the most significant finding of our study is that across the four countries (Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan, and Indonesia), 8 in 10 believe that the US seeks to “weaken and divide the Islamic world.”

Casualties

File:IraqiKilledApr2003ByMarinesDefendingBridge.jpg

This Iraqi soldier was killed in April, 2003 by United States Marines.

Coffins of American soldiers in a C-17 Globemaster III at Dover Air Force Base.

Main article: Casualties of the conflict in Iraq since 2003

See also: Iraq Body Count project, Lancet surveys of mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Suicide bombings in Iraq since 2003, Foreign hostages in Iraq, List of Coalition forces killed in Iraq in 2006, and List of Insurgents killed in Iraq

For coalition death totals see the infobox at the top right. See also the above main article. It has casualty numbers for coalition nations, contractors, non-Iraqi civilians, journalists, media helpers, aid workers, wounded, etc.. The main article also gives explanations for the wide variation in estimates and counts, and shows many ways in which undercounting occurs. Casualty figures, especially Iraqi ones, are highly disputed. This section gives a brief overview. "There are now at least 8 independent estimates of the number or rate of deaths induced by the invasion of Iraq."

Iraqi

U.S. General Tommy Franks reportedly estimated soon after the invasion that there had been 30,000 Iraqi casualties as of April 9, 2003. After this initial estimate he made no further public estimates.

In December 2005 President Bush said there were 30,000 Iraqi dead. White House spokesman Scott McClellan later said it was "not an official government estimate", and was based on media reports.

There have been several attempts by the media, coalition governments and others to estimate the Iraqi casualties:

• A national survey of mortality in The Lancet estimates 654,965 Iraqi deaths (range of 392,979-942,636) from March 2003 to July 2006. That total number of deaths (all Iraqis) includes all excess deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc, and includes civilians, military deaths and insurgent deaths. Although the British Government initially tried to dispute the accuracy of this report, the UK Ministry of Defence's chief scientific adviser later said the survey's methods were "close to best practice" and the study design was "robust". This is the only figure presented here which is intended to show the total excess deaths (rather than lower limits, provided by surveys of only those deaths reported to authorities or media agencies). An article in British newspaper, "The Times", challenged this number in their March 5, 2007 issue. Professor Michael Spagat, an economist from Royal Holloway College, University of London, says the Lancet paper contains misrepresentations of mortality figures suggested by other organisations, an inaccurate graph, the use of the word “casualties” to mean deaths rather than deaths plus injuries, and the perplexing finding that child deaths have fallen.

• The UN found that 34,452 violent civilian deaths were reported by morgues, hospitals, and municipal authorities across Iraq in 2006.
• A January 2, 2007 AP article reports: "the Iraqi ministries of Health, Defence and Interior, showed that 14,298 civilians, 1,348 police and 627 soldiers had been killed...last year." Another Jan. 2, 2007 article reports that the Iraqi government does not count deaths classed as "criminal", nor those from kidnappings, nor wounded persons who die later as the result of attacks.
• On January 2, 2007 The Australian reported: "A figure of 3700 civilian deaths in October [2006], the latest tally given by the UN based on data from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, was branded exaggerated by the Iraqi Government."
• The Iraq Body Count project states for the week ending December 31, 2006: "It was a truly violent year, as around 24,000 civilians lost their lives in Iraq. This was a massive rise in violence: 14,000 had been killed in 2005, 10,500 in 2004 and just under 12,000 in 2003 (7,000 of them killed during the actual war, while only 5,000 killed during the ‘peace’ that followed in May 2003). In December 2006 alone around 2,800 civilians were reported killed. This week there were over 560 civilian deaths reported." Only deaths reported by respected media agencies are included in these figures.

Iraqi healthcare deterioration

A November 11, 2006 Los Angeles Times article reports:

The [Iraq] nation's health has deteriorated to a level not seen since the 1950s, said Joseph Chamie, former director of the U.N. Population Division and an Iraq specialist. "They were at the forefront", he said, referring to healthcare just before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. "Now they're looking more and more like a country in sub-Saharan Africa."

Iraqi refugees

Main article: Refugees of Iraq

As of November 4, 2006, the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees estimated that 1.8 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighboring countries, and 1.6 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month.

Criticisms

Further information: Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2003 invasion of Iraq, Protests against the Iraq War, American popular opinion on invasion of Iraq, Governments' positions pre-2003 invasion of Iraq, and 2003 invasion of Iraq media coverage

The decision of the U.S. and its allies to launch the Iraq War has faced heavy criticism from an array of popular and official sources both inside and outside the United States. Putting this controversy aside, both proponents and opponents of the invasion have also criticised the prosecution of the war effort along a number of lines. Most significantly, critics have assailed the U.S. and its allies for not devoting enough troops to the mission, not adequately planning for post-invasion Iraq, and for permitting and perpetrating widespread human rights abuses. As the war has progressed, critics have also railed against the high human and financial costs.

Inadequate troop levels

The troop level for the initial invasion of Iraq was controversial throughout the run-up to the war, particularly among U.S. military personnel. In 1999, then head of United States Central Command Marine General Anthony Zinni (ret.) organised a series of war games known as Desert Crossing in order to assess an invasion aimed at unseating Saddam Hussein. His plan, which predicted much of the violence and instability that followed the actual invasion, called for a force of 400,000 troops. Consistent with the Desert Crossing scenarios, the original U.S. army plan for the invasion of Iraq contemplated troop levels of up to 500,000, but Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared this plan "the product of old thinking and the embodiment of everything that was wrong with the military", and decided on an invasion force of approximately 130,000, bolstered by some 45,000 troops from the U.K. and a handful of troops from other nations. The plan to invade with a smaller force was publicly questioned by then Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki, who, during a February 25, 2003 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, suggested that an invasion force would be "on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers."[35] In a November 15, 2006 hearing of the same committee, General John Abizaid, then head of U.S. Central Command, confirmed that "General Shinseki was right that a greater international force contribution, U.S. force contribution and Iraqi force contribution should have been available immediately after major combat operations."

Insufficient post-invasion plans

In addition to raising questions about troop levels, critics of the Iraq War have argued that the U.S. planning for the post-invasion period was "woefully inadequate." In particular, critics have argued that the U.S. was unprepared for the widespread looting and the violent insurgency that immediately followed the invasion. Soon after the invasion, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, a leading architect of the war, acknowledged that the U.S. made assumptions related to the insurgency that "turned out to underestimate the problem."

The U.S. plans for reconstructing Iraq have also come under heavy fire. In a February 2006 report, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, wrote that: "There was insufficient systematic planning for human capital management in Iraq before and during the U.S.-directed stabilisation and reconstruction operations." Critics have particularly chastised the Pentagon, which was charged with preparing for the post-invasion period, for largely ignoring a $5 million study entitled the Future of Iraq Project, which the U.S. State Department compiled in the year preceding the invasion.

Human and financial costs

Main article: Financial cost of the 2003 Iraq Conflict

As the Iraq War has progressed from the relatively short invasion period to the considerably longer and more costly occupation, many critics have argued that the war is no longer worth the growing number of casualties among both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. For example, the U.S. organisation Gold Star Families for Peace, launched by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and other parents of soldiers killed in Iraq and other wars, advocates "bringing an end to the occupation of Iraq" by raising "awareness in the United States about the true human costs of the invasion/occupation of Iraq."[36]

Just as the human costs have mounted, the total financial costs have also risen from the initial Bush Administration estimates of $50 billion to more than $400 billion total, most of it coming from the United States, but at least £4 billion from the United Kingdom. As the war bill has grown, many U.S. politicians, including some who supported the invasion, have begun to argue that its cost outweighs its benefits, and that it is jeopardising the preparedness of the U.S. Military. For example, on March 29, 2007, Nebraska Senators and longtime rivals Chuck Hagel (R-NB) and Ben Nelson (D-NB) released a joint statement saying that "there is now a 'significant' risk that the United States military will not be able to respond to an emerging crisis."

Calls for withdrawal from Iraq

Main article: Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq

As the military and civilian death toll has mounted, the insurgency has shifted to what many observers have labeled a civil war, and the Iraqi political landscape has remained unstable, many politicians and citizens from the United States and across the world have begun pushing for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq. In addition to their concerns over the human and financial costs of the war, supporters of withdrawal argue that the U.S. presence fosters ongoing violence by providing a target for al-Qaeda and by allowing Iraqi political leaders to avoid reaching a power-sharing agreement. Supporters of withdrawal also argue that it will induce Iraq's neighbors to become more involved in quelling violence in the country and will relive the strain on the U.S. military. The withdrawal debate has caused some observers to compare Iraq to the Vietnam war. As of spring 2007, surveys showed majorities of Americans in support of a timetable for withdrawal. While up to 70 percent of Americans in one survey favored withdrawal, most prefer to leave gradually over 12 months, and 60 percent say the U.S. has a moral obligation to the Iraqi people.

Human rights abuses

Spc. Charles Graner poses over Manadel al-Jamadi's corpse.

Main articles: Human rights in post-Saddam Iraq, Iraq prison abuse scandals, Suicide bombings in Iraq since 2003, and Violence in occupied Iraq

Throughout the entire Iraq war there have been numerous human rights abuses on all sides of the conflict.

Allegations of serious human right abuses by Coalition forces include:

• the torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib
• the use of white phosphorus
• the murder of 24 civilians in Haditha, including women and children (under investigation)
• the murder of 11 civilians in Ishaqi, including five children (under investigation)
• the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi man named Hashim Ibrahim Awad (under investigation)
• the gang-rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl and the murder of her family, in Mahmudiyah (under investigation)
• the bombing and shooting of 42 civilians in Mukaradeeb (under investigation)
• controversy over whether disproportionate force was used, during the assaults by Coalition and (mostly Shia and Kurdish) Iraqi government forces on the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah in 2004. Fatalities (both combatant and civilian) were estimated in the hundreds, and much of the city destroyed.

There have also been reported human rights abuses by some of the thousands of private military contractors working in Iraq. The most notorious case involving contractors took place at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Insurgent and militia forces have also committed numerous human rights violations including:

• Killing over 12,000 Iraqis from January 2005 - June 2006, according to Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, giving the first official count for the victims of bombings, ambushes and other deadly attacks. The insurgents have also conducted numerous suicide attacks on the Iraqi civilian population, mostly targeting the majority Shia community. An October 2005 report from Human Rights Watch examines the range of civilian attacks and their purported justification.
• Attacks on diplomats and diplomatic facilities including; the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003 killing the top U.N. representative in Iraq and 21 other UN staff members;beheading several diplomats: two Algerian diplomatic envoys Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, Egyptian diplomatic envoy al-Sherif, and four Russian diplomats.
• The February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, destroying one of the holiest Shiite shrines, killing over 165 worshipers and igniting sectarian strife and reprisal killings.
• The publicised murders of several non-military personnel including; contractor Eugene Armstrong, contractor Jack Hensley, translator Kim Sun-il, contractor Kenneth Bigley, Bulgarian truck drivers Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov, Shosei Koda, Italian Fabrizio Quattrocchi, charity worker Margaret Hassan, reconstruction engineer Nick Berg, Italian photographer, 52 year old Salvatore Santoro and Iraqi supply worker Seif Adnan Kanaan. Most of these civilians were subjected to brutal torture and/or beheading.
• Torture or murder of members of the New Iraqi Army, and assassination of civilians associated with the Coalition Provisional Authority, such as Fern Holland, or the Iraqi Governing Council, such as Aqila al-Hashimi and Ezzedine Salim, or other foreign civilians, such as those from Kenya.

Other abuses have been blamed on the new Iraqi government, including:

• The use of torture by Iraqi security forces.
• Shiite-run death squads run out of the Interior Ministry that are accused of committing numerous massacres of Sunni Arabs and the police collusion with militias in Iraq have compounded the problems.

International opinion of the war

According to a January 2007 BBC World Service poll of more than 26,000 people in 25 countries, 73% of the global population disapproves of the U.S. handling of the Iraq War. According to an April 2004 USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, only a third of the Iraqi people now believe that "the American-led occupation of their country is doing more good than harm, and a solid majority support an immediate military pullout even though they fear that could put them in greater danger." Majorities in the U.K. and Canada believe the war in Iraq is "unjustified" and are critical of their government's support of U.S. policies in Iraq. According to polls conducted by The Arab American Institute, four years after the invasion of Iraq, 83% of Egyptians had a negative view of the U.S.'s role in Iraq; 68% of Saudi Arabians at a negative view; 96% of the Jordanian population had a negative view; 70% of the UAE and 76% of the Lebanese population also described their view as negative. The Pew Global Attitudes Project reports that in 2006 majorities in the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, France, Lebanon, China, Spain, Indonesia, China, Turkey, Pakistan, and Morocco believed the world was safer before the Iraq War and the toppling of Saddam Hussein. Majorities in the U.S., Canada, and Britain believe the world is safer without Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi opinion of U.S. presence

A WPO poll conducted on September 27, 2006, found that seven out of ten Iraqis want U.S.-led forces to withdraw from Iraq within one year. The perception that the U.S. presence in Iraq has a negative impact on security is widespread. Overall, 78% of those polled said they believed that the presence of U.S. forces is "provoking more conflict than it's preventing." 53% of those polled believed the Iraqi government would be strengthened if U.S. forces left Iraq. All of these positions are more prevalent amongst Sunni and Shia respondents than among Kurds. 61% of respondents said that they "approve" of attacks on U.S.-led forces.

See also

• Refugees of Iraq
• Comparison of Iraq war to the Algerian War of Independence
• Comparison of Iraq and Vietnam wars
• Ayad Rahim, Iraqi-American journalist who reports on Middle East affairs

External articles

Overview

• Journalists in Iraq: Video of Panel Discussion
• The Brookings Institution Iraq Index
• ProCon's Extensive Iraq War Examination
• The Iraq war and the reconstruction effort
• "Bleak Pentagon study admits 'civil war' in Iraq". By Rupert Cornwell. The Independent. 16 March 2007.

Maps of Iraq

• High resolution maps of iraq.

Road to War

• "Plans For Iraq Attack Began on 9/11"; Information Act request to the Department of Defense seeking DoD staffer Stephen Cambone's notes from meetings with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the afternoon of September 11, 2001.
• White House Meeting Memo; Details of 31 January 2003 private meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair where they discussed using U.S. spyplanes in UN colours to lure Saddam Hussein into war.
• UK Attorney-General leak; Legal advice given to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair weeks before the 2003 invasion.
• Presidential address given by George W. Bush on the evening of March 19 2003, announcing war.

Iraqi sources

• Iraq Diaries -- Iraqis writing about their experiences of war.
• The Ground Truth Project -- A series of exclusive, in-depth interviews with Iraqis, aid workers, military personnel and others who have spent significant time on-the-ground in Iraq.
• What Iraqis Think -- A compilation of the latest polls and blogs coming out of Iraq.
• Iraq documents on Weapons of Mass Destruction This is a U.S. military site containing approximately 1 million files captured from the Iraqi military in the aftermath of the invasion.

Opinions and polls

• Sean Rayment, "Secret MoD poll: Iraqis support attacks on British troops"; a poll conducted among Iraqis reveals strong opposition toward Allied presence in Iraq. The Daily Telegraph, 23 October 2005.
• Extraordinary renditions: the playwright and the president; Jeff Sommers, Khaled Diab and Charles Woolfson explore the dynamics between playwright and president as America's 'war on terror' stands in the dock. January 2006, published in Al Ahram Weekly
• Caspar Henderson, "Three polls: attitudes across frontiers". 12 December 2002.
• Karl Zinsmeister, "What Iraqis Really Think". Wall Street Journal, September 10 2003.
• "1st Major Survey of Iraq". Zogby International, September 10 2003.
• Carl Conetta, "What do Iraqis want? Iraqi attitudes on occupation, U.S. withdrawal, governments, and quality of life". Project on Defense Alternatives, 01 February 2005.
• "Iraq". Polling Report.com. (ed. Chronological polls of Americans 18 & older)
• Public Agenda ""Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index" -- Tracking survey of Americans' attitudes on international relations, conducted for Foreign Affairs)

Casualties

(additional links not found in reference links section)

• "[37]; Iraqi Civilian Deaths Increase Dramatically After Invasion" Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, October 28 2004.
• Military Casualties and non-military deaths.
• "One-Day Toll in Iraq Combat Is Highest for U.S. in Months", Washington Post, October 19 2006.
• U.S. Military Personnel Wounded in Iraq & Afghanistan: A Running Log.
• Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops by Ilona Meagher, Introduction by Penny Coleman, Foreword by Robert Roerich, M.D.

Combat operations related

• "Aerial Propaganda Leaflet Database". Psywar.org, 06 November 2005. (ed. Iraq War PSYOP leaflets and posters)

News

• Electronic Iraq: Daily news and analysis from Iraq with a special focus on the Iraqi experience of war.
• News from Iraq: Aggregated news on the war, including politics and economics.
• The Struggle for Iraq: BBC Best Link: All the latest news, analysis and images from Iraq.
• War in Iraq: CNN Special Report: This page was archived in May 2003 when President Bush declared an end to major combat. However, the coalition casualties' list continues to be updated.
• Iraq: Transition of Power: CNN Special Report: Three years later, debate rages.

Anti-war activists and war critics

• David Shuster, "Road to war; How the Bush administration sold the Iraq War to American people". MSNBC, 8 November 2005
• Antiwar news and viewpoints [38]
• Charlie and Katrina, "Mourning the Vote". (ed. Students (Boston University and Oglethorpe University) site presenting their opinion about the Iraq War)
• OnlyOneWorld.NET Contains information, news, and opinion on the Iraq War.
• What Barry Says Written by Barry McNamara in 2003, Winner of the Best Animation award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival and Portobello Film Festival in 2004.

• [39] Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches. Independent journalist in Iraq. Many despatches, reports and photos.
• [40] Tales of Iraq War. Anti-war webcomics by cartoonist Latuff.
• The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq Socialist Worker Online’s ongoing coverage and analysis
• FixIraq.com 15 minute updated news, Discussion, Auto-Updating U.S. Deaths counter that can be shown on any website.
• "Unlike Vietnam, There is No End in Sight" iShotTheDeputy.com article criticising comparisons with Vietnam.
• Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, The Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy or Division?, 2004, Palgrave Macmillian ISBN 1-4039-6354-1
• Juan Cole, [Iraq] Three-State Solution? The Nation review, March 29 2004
• Iraq Exit Strategy Watch

Independent analysis

• "The Road Ahead: Lessons in Nation Building from Japan, Germany, and Afghanistan for Postwar Iraq" by Ray Salvatore Jennings May 2003 Peceworks No. 49 United States Institute of Peace
• "A New American Century? - Iraq and the Hidden Euro-Dollar wars" by William Engdahl
• Oil and Empire - the backstory to the invasion of Iraq
• The Neocons, Peak Oil and the Invasion of Iraq
• "An ethical blank cheque" British and U.S. mythology about the second world war ignores our own crimes and legitimises Anglo-American war making, Richard Drayton, Tuesday May 10 2005 The Guardian

War supporters and operation proponents

• Victor Davis Hanson, "An American 'Debacle'? More unjustified negativity on the war in Iraq." National Review Online, October 14 2005.
• An interesting analogy presented by Jessica Well where she shows a Life magazine article from 1946 discussing the failures of Denazification entitled Americans are Losing the Victory in Europe
• "The Civilian Casualty Fable; Analysis of Civilian Casualties in the first two years of the Iraq War". Logic Times, 26 October 2005.

Economics

• Scott Wallsten and Katrina Kosec, "The Economic Costs of the War in Iraq". AEI-Brookings Joint Center Working Paper 05-19. September 2005.
• Online cost estimator allows users to change assumptions for predicting expected future cost of the Iraq war.

• "Dollar cost of war". (ed. Reportedly actual total of the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War.)
• "Iraq war costs could top $2 trillion". Christian Science Monitor, 10 January 2006 based on "The Economic Costs of the Iraq War" by Linda Bilmes, Harvard University, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, laureate of the Nobel Prize of Economics in 2001.
• "The Dollar System and U.S. Economic Reality post-Iraq War" by William Engdahl

Judiciary

• "Legal System in Iraq Staggers Beneath the Weight of War", New York Times December 17, 2006

Media Echo

• Eliot Weinberger: What I Heard About Iraq in 2005, and What I Heard about Iraq (a collage of various statements concerning the war) dead link; these links active as of October 01 2006 link1 and link2
• Tatham, Steve (2006), 'Losing Arab Hearts & Minds: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera & Muslim Public Opinion' Hurst & Co (London) Published 1 January2006