IRAQ WAR- 2003Ocupation of IraqSecond Gulf WarOperation Iraqi FreedomOperation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L) *

FACTS AND GOALS

Invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003 in order to

- overthrow Baath party- execute Saddam Hussein- establish a new government

REASONS

US and UK gov – Iraqi WMDs is a treat to their security

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein blamed for harboring and supporting al-Qaeda ( no evidence)

Iraq finances Palestinian suicide bombers Iraqi gov human rights abuse Spreading DEMOCRACY to Iraq In 2002 (UN) – no WMDs were found in Iraq US confirmed (after invasion) – Iraq had

ended nuclear, chemical and biological programs in 1991

BUT..

In 2002 (UN) – no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found in Iraq

US confirmed (after invasion) – Iraq had ended nuclear, chemical and biological programs in 1991

IRAQI INSURGENCY / IRAQI RESISTANCE

Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups New faction of al-Qaeda in Iraq 4.7 million refugees (2008) 35% of children are orphans Civilians suffer most in armed conflicts

IRAQ AND US

Public opinion- troops out! Iraqi forces– more responsibility Status of Forces Agreement 2008- 2012 Strategic Framework Agreement – co-

operation in constitutional rights, education, energy etc.

THE TIMELINE

2003 – invasion 2004 – insurgency grows 2005 – 31th January, election of the Iraqi

Transitional Government Constitution ratified on 15th October 2005 2006 – civil-war like situations (Sunnis

attacking Shias) Current government took office on May 20th 2007 - +20 000 US soldiers

On March 6, 2006, five United States Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, raped the 14-year-old Iraqi girl Abeer Hamza al-Janabi, and then murdered her, her father, her mother Fakhriya Taha Muhasen and her six-year-old sister. The soldiers then set fire to the girls body to conceal evidence of the crime.Four of the soldiers were convicted of rape and murder and the fifth was convicted of lesser crimes for the involvement in the war crime, that became known as the Mahmudiyah killings.

THE TIMELINE

UN Security Council Mandate for Coalition operations in Iraq was renewed in 2007 without the approval of Iraqi parliament

August 2007 – deadliest single attack; circa 800 civilians killed by a series of suicide bomb attacks

2008 – overall violence down 80%, murder rate the same as before invasion

2009- US forces withdrew 29th June; on November 30 civilian death toll fell to its lowest since the invasion in 2003

2010, April 18th, US and Iraqi forces killed al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq

OBAMA, AUGUST 2010

The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people.

While all combat brigades left the country, an additional 50,000 personnel remained in the country to provide support for the Iraqi military.

"We are ending the war.... but we are not ending our work in Iraq, We have a long-term commitment to Iraq."

ECONOMY

From 2005 to 2008, the United States had completed approximately $20 billion in arms sales agreements with Iraq

UN has returned control of Iraq's oil and gas revenue to the government and ending the Oil-for-Food Programme (Bush 1995, before Gulf War)

STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT

US combat forces will withdraw by June 30, 2009

All US forces out by 31 December 2011 Government of Iraq has no authority to

control the transfer of occupier forces into and out of Iraq, no control of shipments, and that the pact grants the occupiers immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts

Referendum on this issue

OBAMA, AUGUST 2010

"the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country."

CRITICISM

Center for Public Integrity, a group partially funded by George Soros has enumerated a total of 935 allegedly FALSE statements made by George W. Bush and six other top members of his administration in what it termed a "carefully launched campaign of misinformation" during the two year period following 9/11 attacks, in order to rally support for the invasion of Iraq.

A former CIA officer described the Office of Special Plans as a group of ideologues who were dangerous to U.S. national security and a threat to world peace, and that the group lied and manipulated intelligence to further its agenda of removing Saddam.

Total cost to US economy is estimated 3 trillion USD

Human casualties during the war Humanitarian crisis – malnutrition, lack of

doctors, no drinking water Human rights abuses on both sides