The war in Iraq became one of the largest armed conflicts of the beginning of the XXI century. At the same time, the prerequisites and vicissitudes of this war are still largely a mystery. Let's try to unwind a ball of those events. So, let's find out what was the reason for the US invasion of Iraq and how this military operation went.
Background
To begin with, let's delve a little into the background of this conflict.
Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq in 1979, although he actually concentrated in his hands the strings of government long before that. His powers were equal to dictatorship. No important issue in the country could be resolved without agreement with the president. Hussein used repression and torture against the opposition and periodically rebelled Kurds, which he even publicly admitted. In addition, a cult of Hussein's personality began to develop in Iraq.
Already in 1980, the Iraqi army launched an invasion of the Iranian province of Khuzestan, thus unleashing the Iran-Iraq war. It is noteworthy that in this war, both the United States and the USSR supported Hussein. But in the end, the war ended in 1988 with nothing, since, according to the terms of the peace treaty, both countries maintained the status quo.
Saddam Hussein started a new adventure in 1990, when he occupied Kuwait and annexed it to Iraq as a province. This time, both the United States and the USSR condemned the actions of the Iraqi president. Moreover, the United States, with UN support, formed an international military coalition that opposed Hussein. Thus began the first war in Iraq, or, as it is called in another way, the war in the Persian Gulf. The coalition from the first days of the confrontation had a significant advantage, due to the fact that it used modern aviation.
It was a brilliant Allied operation led by the United States. Losses in Iraq of coalition forces amounted to less than 500 people, while the death toll in Iraqi troops reached several tens of thousands. As a result, Hussein was defeated, was forced to free Kuwait, significantly reduce the army. In addition, a number of other sanctions were imposed on the country, which were to weaken the armed forces of Iraq.
Almost all the 90s of the XX century, the latent confrontation between Iraq and the United States grew. The Americans constantly accused Hussein of using repressions against the opposition, as well as the presence of prohibited weapons. The situation was especially aggravated after Hussein expelled UN observers in 1998, who were to ensure that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. The world was on the verge of a new war.
Background and causes of war
Now let’s take a closer look at what the reason for the US invasion of Iraq was.
The main reason for the American invasion of Iraq was the desire of the States to ensure their dominance in the region. However, it is likely that the ruling circles feared that Hussein was really developing weapons of mass destruction, which he could also send against the United States, although they did not have real evidence of this. However, some experts on the list of possible reasons for the start of the US operation against Iraq also refer to the personal hatred of US President George W. Bush towards Saddam Hussein.
The formal reason for the invasion was demonstrated in February 2003 by US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the UN Security Council evidence of Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction. As it turned out later, most of the evidence presented was falsified.
Attracting Allies
The United States failed to obtain permission from the Security Council to use force in Iraq. Nevertheless, the American ruling circles ignored this and began to prepare for the invasion.
They also asked for help from their NATO allies. But France and Germany refused to support the American invasion of Iraq without UN sanctions. But Great Britain, Poland and Australia expressed their readiness to support the US with military force.
After the overthrow of the Hussein regime, other countries joined the coalition: Italy, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Spain, and Georgia. With a separate force in 2007-2008, Turkey took part in the conflict.
The total number of troops in the contingent of the international coalition was about 309 thousand people, of which 250 thousand were US troops.
The beginning of the invasion
The US military operation in Iraq began on March 20, 2003. Unlike Desert Storm, this time the coalition conducted a large-scale ground operation. Even Turkey’s refusal to provide its territory for the offensive did not prevent this. The United States invaded Iraq from Kuwait. Coalition forces already in April, and without a fight, occupied Baghdad. At the same time, Iraqi aviation was not actually involved in repelling an enemy attack. The active phase of the offensive was completed after the capture of the city of Tikrit in the middle of that month.
Thus, at the end of the offensive operation, the main key settlements in Iraq were controlled by a coalition led by the United States. Losses in Iraq of the allied forces during this period amounted to 172 soldiers killed and 1621 - wounded. The Iraqi Armed Forces during the Allied offensive lost nearly 10 thousand people killed. A little smaller were the casualties among the civilian population.
At the first stage of the war, US troops in Iraq won a landslide victory. However, it was necessary not only to seize the territory, but also to be able to keep it until a government loyal to the Americans was formed in Iraq that could keep the situation in the country under control.
The further course of hostilities
After the defeat of government troops in the country, a guerrilla movement began to organize. It united not only the military, devoted to Hussein, but also representatives of various groups of Islamists, including those close to al-Qaeda. Partisan units concentrated most densely in the so-called “Sunni triangle”, which was located northwest of the Iraqi capital.
Partisan units destroyed infrastructure, carried out terrorist attacks, and attacked certain coalition units led by the United States. Losses in Iraq of the allied forces increased during this period. The bulk of the dead and wounded were soldiers who were blown up on improvised explosive devices.
Meanwhile, at the end of 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured in a village in Iraq. He was tried, by whose sentence the former dictator was publicly executed in 2006.
Civil War
Meanwhile, in 2005, elections finally took place in Iraq. After their holding, Shiites came to power. This caused an increase in protests among the Sunni population of the country, which soon grew into a phenomenon that can be called a civil war.
In addition, various crimes committed by individual members of the US military or even entire units of the US Army added fuel to the fire. Losses in Iraq, both among the military and among the civilian population, grew more and more, and the civil war flared up with renewed vigor.
This caused displeasure not only in Iraq, but also within American society. Many U.S. citizens have begun to compare the protracted Iraqi operation with the Vietnam War. The increasing losses of the US Army in Iraq led the Republicans to fail in the congressional elections, losing a majority in both houses.
Strengthening Islamic organizations
Meanwhile, while initially the resistance in Iraq to the occupying forces of the coalition was more or less neutral in religious nature, then by 2008 various Islamist organizations, often of a terrorist nature, became the head of the partisan movement.
Immediately after the invasion of American troops in Iraq, the activity of the monotheism and jihad terrorist organization led by al-Zarqawi was transferred to the territory of this country. After a certain time, most of the other Islamist militarized organizations in Iraq united around this cell. In 2004, the leader of Monotheism and Jihad swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden, and the organization was renamed Al Qaeda in Iraq.
In 2006, al-Zarqawi was killed in the bombing of American aircraft. But before his death, he rallied the Islamic groups of Iraq even more. On the initiative of al-Zarqawi, an advisory meeting of the Mujahideen in Iraq was created, in addition to Monotheism and Jihad, which included a number of other organizations. Already after the death of al-Zarqawi, in the same 2006, it was reorganized into the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). Moreover, this was done without coordination with the central leadership of al-Qaeda. It was this organization in the future, after spreading its influence to part of Syria, that was reborn into ISIS, and then into the Islamic State.
As mentioned above, during the presence of the American occupation contingent in Iraq, the Islamists gained the greatest strength in 2008. They controlled the second largest city in Iraq - Mosul, and their capital was Baakuba.
End of US operation in Iraq
The considerable US losses in Iraq over the 10 years during which the war continued, as well as the relative stabilization of the situation in the country, made us think about the possibility of withdrawing the international contingent from the territory of the state.
In 2010, the new US President Barack Obama signed a decree on the withdrawal of the main American forces from Iraq. Thus, 200 thousand people were withdrawn that year. The remaining 50 thousand soldiers were supposed to help the troops of the new Iraqi government to control the situation in the country. But they also remained in Iraq for a relatively short time. In December 2011, the remaining 50 thousand soldiers were withdrawn from the territory of the country. Only 200 military consultants representing the United States remained in Iraq.
Thus, on December 15, 2011, the war in Iraq for the Americans officially ended.
American Army casualties
Now let's find out how much American troops and military equipment lost during the operation in Iraq, which lasted almost a decade.
The forces of the international coalition lost a total of 4,804 people killed, of which 4,423 fighters represented the US Army. In addition, 31,942 Americans received injuries of varying severity. These statistics take into account both combat and non-combat losses.
For comparison: during the war, the regular army of Saddam Hussein lost tens of thousands of soldiers killed. Counting the losses of various partisan, terrorist and other organizations that fought against the coalition is impossible at all.
Now let's calculate the loss of US equipment in Iraq. During the war, the Americans lost 80 tanks of the Abrams model. The loss of US aircraft in Iraq was also significant. 20 American aircraft were shot down. Most affected cars brand F-16 and F / A-18. In addition, 86 American helicopters were shot down.
The situation after the withdrawal of American troops
After the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq, the situation sharply worsened. Many extremist and terrorist organizations raised their heads. The most influential of them was ISIS, which then changed its name to “Islamic State”, claiming supremacy throughout the Muslim world. She took control of large territories in Iraq, and after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, she extended her influence to this state.
The activity of ISIS has caused concern in many countries of the world. A new coalition led by the United States was created against this organization. Russia joined the fight against terrorists, which, however, acts independently. The peculiarity of this operation is that the Allies conduct only air strikes in Syria and Iraq, but do not resort to ground intervention. Thanks to the actions of the allies, the territory controlled by the militants of the Islamic state has significantly decreased, however, this organization continues to pose a serious danger to the world.
At the same time, there are many other opposing forces, the contradictions between which prevent peace in Iraq: the Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, etc. Thus, the American forces have not managed to ensure stable peace in the region. They left without fulfilling one of the main tasks.
The Importance and Consequence of the American Invasion of Iraq
There are many conflicting opinions about the justification of the invasion of coalition forces in Iraq. But most experts agree that after the outbreak of the war in Iraq, the region has become much more unstable, and there are no prerequisites for stabilizing the situation. Moreover, many prominent political figures who participated in the decision to invade Iraq have already stated that the war with Hussein was a mistake. In particular, this was said by the head of the independent commission of inquiry, the former Deputy Home Secretary of Great Britain John Chilcot.
Of course, Saddam Hussein was a typical dictator who suppressed the opposition and applied repression. He also repeatedly conducted aggressive military operations against other countries. Nevertheless, most experts concluded that Hussein’s weapons at the beginning of the 21st century no longer allowed him to carry out large-scale military operations, as evidenced by the relatively rapid defeat of the Iraqi regular army by coalition forces.
Yes, and many experts recognize the Hussein regime as the lesser evil, in comparison with the chaos that began to reign in the region after its overthrow, and with the ever-increasing danger from the Islamic state.