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== Casualty Table ==

Per ], it sounds like it may be useful to migrate some of the infobox fields into the article body. The ] solely examines Iraqi casualties. Therefore, I propose the addition of a subsection entitled '''Casualty Overview''' and, in it, three tables of the form:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Forces !! Killed !! Missing/Captured !! Wounded
|-
| Force1 || X dead || Y missing || Z Wounded
|-
| ... || ... || ... || ...
|- |-
| Total || XX || YY || ZZ
! rowspan="2" valign="top" |
! align="left" |
<big> ] for ]:</big>
| align="right" |
|-
| colspan="2" valign="top" style="background:#FFEFDF; padding:5px; margin: 5px; border: 1px dotted black;" |
Use <nowiki> <s > and </s ></nowiki> (aka. strikeout) when each of these are done:
* Remove POV
* Clean up the multiple wiliking in the article a little bit.
* Add more references.
* Remove (or at least simplify) the multiple ''references'' to the same external article.
|} |}
There would be one table each for Coalition, Iraqi, and civilian casualties. This would allow us to make a single, high-level figure for the "Casulaties" section of the infobox, provide more detail in a piped link, and also direct the reader toward the article on casualties if desired. We'll also need to revamp the citations currently used in infobox; currently it's a lot of tabulation of values with bare URLs, which I think we can do better on.
{{pb}}Thoughts? ] (]) 15:30, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

:Looks to be a good place to start. ] (]) 08:52, 25 October 2023 (UTC)


Alright, since I got that encouragement and no objections, here's a first stab at the Coalition Casualties Table:
{| class="infobox" width="270px"

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Coalition Casualties
|-
! Force !! Killed !! Missing/Captured !! Wounded
|-
| ''']''' (post-Saddam)
|| 17,690<ref>260 killed in 2003, 15,196 killed from 2004 through 2009 (with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009), 67 killed in March 2009, 1,100 killed in 2010, and 1,067 killed in 2011, thus giving a total of 17,690 dead</ref>
||
|| 40,000+<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/77707.pdf |title=Iraq War |publisher=US Department of State |access-date=18 November 2012}}</ref>
|-
|''']'''
|| 4,821 (4,421 US,<ref>The US ] and the ] list 4,505 US fatalities during the Iraq War. In addition to these, two service members were also previously confirmed by the DoD to have died while supporting operations in Iraq, but have been excluded from the DoD and DMDC list. This brings the total of US fatalities in the Iraq War to 4,507.</ref> 179 UK,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInIraqBritishFatalities.htm |title=Fact Sheets &#124; Operations Factsheets &#124; Operations in Iraq: British Fatalities |publisher=Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom |access-date=17 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011220157/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInIraqBritishFatalities.htm |archive-date=11 October 2009}}</ref> 139 other)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx |title=Operation Iraqi Freedom |publisher=iCasualties |access-date=24 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321080348/http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx |archive-date=21 March 2011 }}</ref>
|| (US): 17 (9 died in captivity, 8 rescued)<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/world/pow-and-mia-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-fast-facts |publisher=CNN |access-date=5 June 2014 | title=POW and MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts}}; As of July 2012, seven American private contractors remain unaccounted for. Their names are: Jeffrey Ake, Aban Elias, Abbas Kareem Naama, Neenus Khoshaba, Bob Hamze, Dean Sadek and Hussain al-Zurufi. Healy, Jack, "", '']'', 22 May 2011, p. 6.</ref>
||32,776+ (32,292 US,<ref name="defensecasualty">{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf |title=Casualty|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> 315 UK, 210+ other<ref>33 Ukrainians, 31+ Italians, 30 Bulgarians, 20 Salvadorans, 19 Georgians, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513160916/http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=18470 |date=13 May 2011 }} 18 Estonians,{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} 14+ Poles, 15 Spaniards, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402233014/https://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/17607/soldier-dead-after-attack-on-spanish-convoy-in-afghanistan |date=2 April 2019 }} 10 Romanians, 6 Australians, 5 Albanians, 4 Kazakhs, 3 Filipinos, and 2 Thais, for a total of 210+ wounded</ref>)<ref name=mil>Many official US tables at {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303054755/http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm |date=3 March 2011}}. See {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602035127/http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oif-total.pdf |date=2 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=antiwarcasualties>.</ref><ref name=icasualties>iCasualties.org (was lunaville.org). Benicia, California. Patricia Kneisler, ''et al.'', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321080348/http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx |date=21 March 2011}}</ref><ref name=ukcasualties> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114214203/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInIraqBritishCasualties.htm |date=14 November 2006}}. UK Ministry of Defense. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004051608/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/DoctrineOperationsandDiplomacyPublications/OperationsInIraq/OpTelicCasualtyAndFatalityTables.htm |date=4 October 2012}}.</ref>
|- |-
| ''']'''
!align="center" colspan="2"|]<br/>]
|| 3,650 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/WarDeathToll | title=Human Costs of U.S. Post-9/11 Wars: Direct War Deaths in Major War Zones &#124; Figures &#124; Costs of War }}</ref><ref name="dol.gov">{{cite web |url=http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/dbaallnation.htm |title=Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) – Defense Base Act Case Summary by Nation |publisher=US Department of Labor |access-date=15 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="projects.propublica.org">{{cite web |author=T. Christian Miller |url=http://projects.propublica.org/tables/contractor_casualties |title=US Government Private Contract Worker Deaths and Injuries |publisher=Projects.propublica.org |date=23 September 2009 |access-date=23 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185847/http://projects.propublica.org/tables/contractor_casualties |archive-date=27 July 2011}}</ref>
----
||
|| 43,880<ref name="dol.gov"/><ref name="projects.propublica.org"/>
|- |-
|]''' | ''']'''
|| 1,002+<ref>185 in Diyala from June 2007 to December 2007, 4 in assassination of ], 25 on 12 November 2007, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514132150/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/15/iraq/main3504599.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3504599 |date=14 May 2013 }} 528 in 2008, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210152350/http://www.cfr.org/iraq/finding-place-sons-iraq/p16088 |date=10 December 2016 }} 27 on 2 January 2009, 13 on 16 November 2009,{{cite web |url=http://www.france24.com/en/node/4926131 |title=Thirteen anti-Qaeda tribe members killed in Iraq – France 24 |access-date=14 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429002216/http://www.france24.com/en/node/4926131 |archive-date=29 April 2011 }} 15 in December 2009, 100+ from April to June 2010, 52 on 18 July 2010, total of 1,002+ dead {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418161020/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/middleeast/24sunni.html?pagewanted=print |date=18 April 2009 }}</ref>
||
|| 500+ (2007),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/world/middleeast/24sunni.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print |work=The New York Times |first1=Solomon |last1=Moore |first2=Richard A. |last2=Oppel |title=Attacks Imperil U.S.-Backed Militias in Iraq |date=24 January 2008}}</ref> 828 (2008)<ref>{{cite web |author=Greg Bruno |url=http://www.cfr.org/iraq/finding-place-sons-iraq/p16088 |title=Finding a Place for the 'Sons of Iraq' |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=26 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210152350/http://www.cfr.org/iraq/finding-place-sons-iraq/p16088 |archive-date=10 December 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|- |-
| '''Total'''
|]'''
|| 27,163
|
||
|}<!--Template:Archivebox-->
|| 117,961
|}


Something I didn't know how to categorize was this category in the coalition forces part: {{bq|'''Injured/diseases/other medical*''': 51,139 (47,541 US,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oif-total.pdf |title=Global War on Terrorism – Operation Iraqi Freedom March 19, 2003 Through May 31, 2011 By Casualty Category Within Service |access-date=7 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602035127/http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/oif-total.pdf |archive-date=2 June 2011}}</ref> 3,598 UK)<ref name=mil/><ref name=icasualties/><ref name=ukcasualties/>}}
== Stop the edit war! ==
:There is a poll now, showing a clear majority against his position, however, instead of waiting for a consensus ] reverted again in spite of the warning he has on his talk page. It was his 25th revert on this ''part of the "war on terror"'' issue only. ] 16:39, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
::Majority isn't important. The strength of the arguments is. But who judges that? ] 10:36, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
It has been a long 12 days I say. ] 16:43, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
:You ignore others' points with perseverance indeed. Some of your reverts violated the 3 Revert Rule - which by the way does not mean "please revert 2.99 times per day" - and you sometimes even summarized "rv vandalism". ''Please'' rethink whether wikipedia is the right place for such acts. ] 16:52, 7 May 2006 (UTC)


Some problems with this table: As mentioned above, the sources are a mess. I suggest we put in the casualties section each of those year-by-year figures, summing to a total, and put each year's reference there. Then the table can make do without a reference, as it's only summarizing the article body.
=="Part of the ]" Poll==
Please explain your point shortly. ] 00:50, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
===Users who think the phrase "Part of the ]" ''Should'' be used in the Infobox Caption ===
#The US government has explicitly stated that it is such. The original intent was to find WMDs and prevent terrorism on the United States. The current intent is to root out the terrorists from Iraq. The fact that it is explicitly called such, and is a fight against terrorists, and always has been, leads me to believe that it should be "Part of the ]". It doesn't necessarily have to be only those words; a statement such as "US Government includes it in the ] would also be appropriate.] 01:37, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#It is a term for a military campaign launched by the United States, of which it claims Iraq is a part. It it not simply a propaganda name, but also an official campaign name, as indicated by the U.S. medal hierarchy: "http://en.wikipedia.org/Global_War_on_Terrorism_Service_Medal". Moreover, despite criticism, it is in common usage. For example, the top 10 google results for "war on terror" return 6 links that conflate Iraq and the WOT, 1 that does not, 2 that are indeterminate (1 is wiki and 1 is a 2002 CNN report), and 1 that says the WOT is an illegitimate term (Chomsky). In fact, Iraq's role in the WOT is used not just by supporters of the War, but opponents such as Amnesty International: . If you disagree with the naming, take it up at the "War on Terrorism" page; but Iraq is unarguably a subcampaign of what the U.S. calls the WOT.
#:Moreover, this absurd argument is being sparked by partisans that agree with one and not the other and want to separate the two. If it were indeed the U.S. fighting the WOT and the U.K. fighting in Iraq, you can argue away to your heart's delight to whether or not Iraq constitutes a fight against terrorism. But as the U.S. is the principal protagonist in both, and it is a subcampaign in U.S. military terms, the two are indelibly linked and your arguments over the merits of it won't change that link.--] 18:21, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#::"not simply a propaganda name, '''but''' an official campaign name"? I cannot follow you. '''But''' does not make sense in that sentence. ] 19:15, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#:::fine, "but also" --] 00:38, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#::::So you are saying campaign names are not invented by the department for propaganda but rather the department for truth as it needs to be seen so we must take what they say for granted? ] 07:22, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#For the popular usage argument, note that the term "Iraq War" is neither common nor official. ] 19:22, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#::It is not the naming that we are disputing, but whether or not the Iraq War falls under the umbrella of the "War on Terrorism". Call either whatever you like, but the two are inextricably tied by supporters and opponents. --] 00:38, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#:::I know. ] 17:29, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
#It's terribly obvious to me, that the Iraq war falls under the War on Terrorism. Are you people actually disputing that? Some people wrote below to say it doesn't belong in the infobox because it just doesn't belong there...cool. But how can you say that it's not part of the WOT. Your saying that only the government said it and we shouldn't have to take it at face-value. Are you kidding me. It's not like the White House said. Abortion is wrong, and so it is. They said, the war is part of the War on Terrorism, for which it is. Don't be ridiculous and go against this just because you politically oppose our current government. Please come up with some better defenses then "it's propaganda". ] 09:51, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#:It's not that I say your government did not name it as such. I say we should not use propaganda terms as wikipedia captions. It can be said elsewhere in the article what the government says and why people criticize it. If we just put "is part of the wot" it is misleading as readers may think ok, they went there to fight terror, which is very disputed. ] 10:05, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#::Then, may I ask, what you think the reason we went over there was? ]]]<sup>]</sup> 00:40, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
#:::I think that is the BIG question that many of the world have. But I still have to see ANY independent evidence or a reliable independent source (from outisde the government) that shows that Iraq was indeed a source for terrorists. ] <sup>]</sup> 23:17, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
#Stated it countless times. ] 00:42, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
#I support this as it is the official name of the campaign being waged. HJ Res 114 uses the term repeatedly, the UK parliament used the terminology as well in their official debate before voting to goto war, even India's president uses the term and has pledged his support in the war on terror. Considering India and the US I believe are the two most populous primary english speaking nations, I dont see how anyone can say its not a popular term without posting a poll to back themselves up. --] 14:35, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
# The War on terrorism is a policy of the bush administration. The only acceptable synonym to 'War on Terror' is 'The Bush administration's anti-terrorism policy'. However even this term is confusing to the average american. THe term 'war on terror' is used in a bipartisan fashion and by the popular (and free) media. The war on Iraq was announced as serving the ends of that policy-- it was declared as part of hte war on terror. ] 22:06, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
#'''Yes''' this conflict should be referred to as part of the ]. If it were phrased as '''Part of the wikipedia ] series''' or something like that, we could categorize it correctly, without apearing to take sides. Remember, it's importaant to stay NPOV. ] 07:43, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


I also note that some of the "sources" are, aside from being bare URLS, just links to Google Docs. We'll have to look more closely and purge the ones which aren't reliable.
===Users who think the phrase "Part of the ]" should ''Not'' be used in the Infobox Caption===
# It is a non-neutral propaganda term not in use everywhere, especially not without inverted commas. The category and the template should be deleted. ] 00:50, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
# I do think the term "war on terrorism" should be used somewhere in the article--however not in the title bar where Rangeley keeps putting it. Along with the WMD argument, there is certainly a group of people who think the Iraq war is part of that conflict. However, the Iraq war being a more common usage I think we should simply leave the title alone and save the argument for the article or other related articles-I think I've added a section somewhere that talks about the "war on terrorism" rationale for Iraq. As I've pointed out before, the "war on terrorism" label is not unique to Bush--Reagan used it in the 1980s, Israeli PMs have used it as well in their various conflicts--and it appears to be more of a rhetorical term similiar to the "war on poverty", the "war on drugs", the "war on crime", etc. Continuing to add this term merely confuses the issue and takes energy away from editing the actual substance of the article.] 12:56, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
#:Also, the "war on terrorism" label is appropriate in the Afghanistan war--since that was a direct reaction to terrorist attacks on the U.S.--NATO even invoked Article 51 of the Brussels treaty (attack on one member is attack on all) to advocate military action against Afghanistan. That war is far different from the Iraq war, where the "war on terrorism" rhetoric was secondary to the WMD rhetoric and the "clear and present danger" phrase used by the Bush administration.] 13:03, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
#::Oops wrong vote, thanks Mr. Tibbs.] 22:26, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
# The war has generated terrorism, is sometimes sold under the guise of that war, but is in reality NOT part of the war on terrorism. ] 22:35, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
# Should NOT be used. Even if you believe it IS a neutral term the fact that there is controversey surrounding its use here (and in the real world) is enough justify removal. ''As I suggested above, a subsection should address the debate over the proper use of the term in describing the Iraq war.'' The argument for including the tag is as strong as the argument for tagging it with "Part of America's Imperialist Expansion". This shouldn't be a hard decision.--] 05:19, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#:Well, the government came up with the title ], but I've heard it referred to as other things, so which is it? Is the government wrong? ] 09:43, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
# Misplaced Pages does not exist to take sides in political disagreements. As long as there is notable disagreement that Iraq is part of the WoT, any mention of the WoT needs to be accompanied by a mention of the proponents of the term (e.g. "President Bush calls the war part of the "War on Terrorism"). Using the term for purposes of categorization suggests that Misplaced Pages endorses it. That is unacceptably POV. --] 18:46, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#:What is disputed is whether or not Terrorism was a sufficient justification for Iraq, not whether or not it was launched under the auspices of Terrorism in the "War on Terrorism". The clearly states the ending of Iraq's support for international terrorism as one of its goals. Now you can feel free to use the Iraq war as an example of why the GWOT should be call "War of Hegemony" or "War of Imperialism" or whatever name you wnat to come up with, but the fact is indisputable that the Iraq War was launched under the auspices of the "War on Terrorism" --] 00:51, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
# Should not be used in the infobox. A section on the controversy about it is fine, but it does not belong in the category. As discussed on the ] page, it is unacceptably America-centric POV to put that partof= on this page. Why not have it say partof="Jihad against Jews and Crusaders"?-] 19:07, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
#:Its "America-centric POV" when India, UK and US all use the terminology? Doesn't that cover more then 50% of the english speaking population of those nations who claim english as their primary language? --] 14:42, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
#Should not be used in the infobox. I don't see ], ] or ] being tagged as "Part of the ]", so why parrot this particular ]? Possible compromise would be quotation marks around ] or renaming. (also voted on ] talk page) - ] 20:59, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
#This should most definetly not be in the infobox. The Iraq War was seperate from the War on Terror, until the Iraqi insurgency. Now it very much is part of the war on terror which is why the template should remain. ] 00:40, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
#:According to HJ Res 114 you are in fact wrong. The House and Senate voted to goto war with Iraq and used the terminology war on terror repeatedly in that resolution. Not only that but terrorism was a stated reason in the resolution as well. --] 14:42, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
# ]<sup>]</sup> 14:13, 9 May 2006 (UTC) popular opinion does not support this association. ]<sup>]</sup> 14:13, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
#::Any support for this? ] 23:02, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
#::Can you please link to the poll you are using. --] 15:14, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
# No, it shouldn't be used. Again, an identical discussion is happening in two places, which is not efficient. ] --] 03:26, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
#Absolutely not ] 15:36, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


Thoughts? ] (]) 00:30, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
===Comments===
De mortuis, time and time again points against the term have been raised and have failed. You are essentially stating that regardless of this failure, you will continue to fight it without base. I will be the first to admit that it is likely that most people will vote along what they see as 'party lines' so to speak. They have not participated in discussion and have not seen how they have gone, but you prove that even when people participate they can still be ignorant to the truth. This topic is controversial, which makes it an unfortunate case in point of support of the policy Misplaced Pages has adopted. Arguments are weighed on their value, logicality, and and overall worth rather than the number of people who say it. I beleive that this is exactly why you have put up the War on Terror template for a "speedy deletion" and created this poll. You, and others, have lost in the attempt to put up a convincing argument, and now you have resorted to redefining the issue as one where we see how many people go to each side of a line. Its tiresome, and counterproductive. ] 01:20, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
:The fact that you post innuendo does not mean you win an argument. I agree it is tiresome and counterproductive. Accusing all others to put their preferences above neutrality and repeatedly attacking others shows how little understanding you have for wikipedia. ] 01:29, 5 May 2006 (UTC)
Of all the POV in the article, this is probably the most insignificant and least controversial to be arguing so much about. ] 01:19, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
:An attempt to compromise was made earlier on the ], but it was rejected. So there is little choice other than to enforce the consensus. - ] 05:40, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
:: You seem to havea misunderstanding on how polls here work. Please read ] if you need more information.
:::"If the majority of opinion is in one direction, but a significant minority of people oppose it, work to find a solution that can be accepted by as many people as possible."
::More then 30% oppose your view. Please refrain from spreading rumors that votes here are binding, its against Wiki policy. Thank you --] 15:06, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
::Quotes would be an a good solution, because it conveys that someone has said something(in this case, the Bush administration saying that it is part of the War on Terror). ] 20:26, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
Calling the 'war on terror' 'propaganda' is leftist propaganda. The fact is it is a policy initiative of the bush administration. Just because chomsky says something is propaganda doesnt mean that chomsky isnt a propagandist.] 22:20, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


:Thanks for this. Two thoughts: (1) I'd be hesitant about taking ''too much'' out of the infobox; we should probably end up with more than "a single, high-level figure for the "Casualties" section of the infobox" (depending on exactly what you mean by that). (2) This work ought to take account of ] and vice versa. ] (]) 11:36, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
==Image Bias==
The images used in this article are mostly anti-war/pro-pacifist or allude to current anti-war/pro-pacifist rhetoric. Some are indeed neutral, but I count 2 that show progress in Iraq and 4 that suggest otherwise. If this isn't already obvious to you, then you're part of he problem. ] 03:53, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
:This is absurd. You don't censor an article so it reflects "both sides" in a political debate at the expense of its accuracy.--] 05:32, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
::I think war pages should have images of the dead and the wounded. ] 07:31, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
:::Jsn4, then we agree; add more pictures of the progress in Iraq, otherwise this article is being overwhelmed by negative imagery 'at the expense of its accuracy.' ] 13:49, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
::::With progress you mean the tens of thousands of people killed or those who were converted to terrorism by the war? ] 15:53, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::By 'tens of thousands of people killed' you must mean that many times over before the war even started. And by 'progress' I mean positive steps in the face of many negative setbacks and instances. I can see the good, the bad, and the ugly; so why can you only see the bad and ugly? I love how this is being spun so that I become the one who wants to suppress information. ] 16:02, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
::::I can't even believe we're having this discussion. Even in the US the belief that the War is going well is becoming a fringe opinion. The vast majority of information coming out of Iraq is negative- to not reflect that in the article is propaganda.--] 20:45, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
Haizum, I agree more images are portraying negativity, however I do not think this is a problem necessarilly. I mean look at the Hiroshima bombing page. Not much positivity there. However, few will deny the positive outcome it eventually brought, such as a speedy end to the war, and millions of lives saved as there was no need for a costly mainland invasion. You cant show this in pictures that well, and I wouldnt expect them to. I dont think that the image selection is too terribly bad, perhaps it is a bit harsh selection, but how do you get images that show progress? The content of the article is more important, I for one have pushed for the inclusion of "Part of the War on Terror" on the top of the page. Its no surprise to me that they would claim you to be censoring things after seeing their faulty arguments in my debate, however I think that if you are looking to make an impact, you would be better off helping in the "part of" debate, which can be found ] ] 16:29, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::Tens of thousands were killed in this war, and there are new victims about every day. I find it kind of absurd to write in a discussion about a war article "we should have some ''nice'' pictures here." As a sidenote to the ignorant user above, there is a '''long''' list of arguments edited by '''many''' users about why the Hiroshima bombing was a ]. ] 16:34, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::...all of which are fallacious because the United States did not initiate the global conflict of WWII, nor did it set the standard for ] during. ] 21:32, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::You may disagree, but there are many and not only stupid people who say that it was an unnecessary attack on civilians and met the standards of a ]. ] 00:34, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::Using an atomic weapon on civilians to start a war or during a war is different than using an atomic weapon on civilians to end a war. That should be obvious...unless of course you have an agenda. ] 00:45, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::When people disagree with you it must be that they have an agenda, that is obvious. And if Saddam had nuked the US, UK, Australia, Poland and the other members of the coalition like Micronesia, it would not have been a ] because it would have been only to end a ]. Sure, I see. ] 07:20, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::Wrong, if we had purposefully attacked civilian targets for the purpose of demoralization and halting wartime production, then they could have justifiably used nukes on US civilian targets. Of course there is no point in explaining to you how it works logically because you've already managed to equate WWII and the war in Iraq. Good job. ] 21:41, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::I did not equate WWII and the war in Iraq, I used the comparison someone else had brought up. In fact, most law experts agree that both the Iraq war and WWII started with acts of aggression. Fact is also that many law experts see nuking civilians as a crime. A crime stays a crime no matter how evil the one is it is directed to. People who support a government that endorses torture, abductions and the death penalty on minors and mentally disabled may be unable to see this though. ] 23:52, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::A nuke is no different from a bullet. They are simply tools of destruction on a different scale. You can use nukes to attack civilian targets as you can napalm, cluster bombs, bullets, and rocks. In order to believe that a 'war crime' has been committed, one must also believe that crimes can be committed during war. I simply don't agree with that premise, and I don't believe that is a particularly radical position to take. That doen't mean I'd like to see nukes or poison gas used willy nilly, rather, the weapon should fit the conflict; and throughout history that has generally been the case. During civil war, the rifle is the weapon of choice and the civil opposition is the target of choice; likewise, during a tooth and nail total war the most destructive weapons and tactics are used. If any crime could be committed, it would be that of escalating the degree of conflict to a state of ]. ] 03:10, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::A nuke is different from a bullet in that it cannot be used on a military target exclusively, it has effects on such a wide area that unnecessary harm is done. There are laws of war, and even if the US government ignores them in practice, they are still binding, and they were used in trials supported by the US, e.g. Nuremberg, Milosevic... By your logic the holocaust or Srebrenica were no crimes as they happened during wars. War itself is a crime in cases like Iraq: ]. The ] decided about the use of nukes. The ICJ is the World Court the US decided to ignore when ]. ] 10:54, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::It's a simple concept and yet you still manage to botch it. 1. Wrong: A nuke can be used in a specific area so long as that area is the same size or larger than that of the effects of a nuclear detonation. If the conflict calls for localized (city) destruction with area denial (suburbs), then a nuke would be the weapon of choice. The analogous full metal jacket bullet can have similar collateral effects; it can overpenetrate its target and strike an unintended (or intended secondary) target, and the lead content can poison the soil (which may or may not be desirable). Regardless, your whole premise falls apart as soon as civilians become a viable military target, which has happened time and time again. 2. Fallacy: Simply because there are laws on the books about war doesn't mean they are appropriate. There are laws against gay marriage, but that doesn't mean they are justifiable simply because they are 'law'. 3. Botched Logic: The Holocaust etc were not strategic or tactical acts of war, and according to Misplaced Pages, "unconnected in any way to military activity". If anything, they weakened Nazi Germany's war effort. They were not "war crimes," rather, mass murder ("Crime Against Humanity"); and murder is widely accepted as a crime. Obvious. ] 19:52, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::And for the record, I did not agree with the invasion of Iraq in the time frame in which it occurred, and I did not agree with the invasion for some of the reasons given. There should have been an overhaul of the Iraqi government after the First Gulf War and Saddam's war of aggression against Kuwait and his own people. Unfortunately for you, you can't blame the United States for that blunder. ] 20:14, 8 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::It does not matter here who agreed with the invasion, and I have no time for all this. Civilians never are a legitimate target, and I already know that many people from countries that reelect war criminals do not care about legality of things. Your reasoning about the holocaust is entirely off topic, and for the umptienth time the only reason the analogy was brought up was to disprove that those who do something have the right to name it. Of course your ignore that again. Let's just agree to differ on who of us is stupid. ] 14:04, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::''Civilians never are a legitimate target'' If you put that into a historical context (which is the most relevant), you couldn't be more wrong. Let me say that again, you couldn't be more wrong. Also, if you try to apply a standard to warfare such as, "we ought not target civilians, even when they present themselves to be a target" you are attempting idealize something which, in its pure form, is already ideal. You would be adding a rule to a game of no rules. So you are wrong there as well. I'm afraid you're going to find it difficult to argue against empiricism with emotive rhetoric. Regardless, you've already discredited yourself by resorting to multiple personal attacks. ] 17:55, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::Sorry, but if someone says he is beyond the law, by saying civilians can be a legitimate target and even more explicitly, at the same time evading several points where he was clearly disproven, how do you call that if not stupid? ] 23:17, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::Using "it's the law" as the basis for your argument is pathetic. You should be able to explain why civilians ought/shouldn't/aren't military targets even when they have been since the first sieges in history. I refuse to honor fallacious premises by responding to them. But I do have a treat for you anyways: The majority of kamikaze pilots in WWII were comprised of hastily trained university students; that is, civilians. I suppose you believe shooting attacking kamikaze pilots out of the sky was a war crime (attacking civilians right?), but if you don't, then you are surrending to my argument: civilians are not a military target until they become a military target (no more than a tree is not a military target until it becomes a military target). When civilians are not a military target, it is NOT because some law says otherwise or because feelings will be hurt, rather, they are not targets when there is no strategic or tactical gain to be had (just like a tree). However, if an enemy military needs trees (say rubber trees) and therefore needs the civilian sector to harvest the trees for military purposes, the trees and the civilians become a target of opportunity. Feel free to disagree, I'll gladly leave it up to every military strategist and historian to call you an idiot for me. ] 07:04, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::::Oh how evil am I, I used the law as a basis for an argument, indeed pathetic. Really strange that there is no law prohibiting people without a brain to waste the time of others in wikipedia discussions. I am sorry but if you do not even know what a ] is, why do you think others should read what you write in a discussion about a war? ] 13:53, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::::If a civilian is a "noncombatant," then individuals who contribute to a war effort by any means are not civilians and not noncombatants; regardless of whatever milk toast law you want to cite. ] 17:40, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::::::Sorry I think answering someone who claims that kamikaze pilots were civilians because they were only "hastily trained university students" is like feeding trolls. ] 23:00, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::::::Until you prove otherwise, or provide a cogent rebuttal to the main argument, you lose. ] 03:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Debates with trolls can only have losers. ] 09:35, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::''Debates with trolls can only have losers.'' = Giant white flag. ] 21:27, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Even proud to have posted such incredibly idiotic stuff that others refuse to go on discussing with you? ] 00:44, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::I challenge you to point out a faulty premise and actually cogently explain why it is faulty, or point out a factual error and actually give the correct information. As it stands, you have failed to do that. If you can't show where I'm being chronically "foolish and stupid", according to Dictionary.com, then I really don't see how you can logically conclude that I'm an idiot. What's ironic is only an idiot would draw a conclusion without a premise; that's the opposite of cogent logic. ] 03:12, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Stop your kamikaze actions, "civilian". ] 15:49, 14 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::] ] 01:34, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::::Ultimately, this is a debate worthy of talking about at a political forum. I belong to one, and would love to debate you at it. However, Misplaced Pages is not this political forum, nor is it one at all. I brought up the atomic bombing as an example of an event for which only negative pictures arose from, and explained it as a case where something with an ultimately positive outcome cannot be represented in pictures. You may disagree that it ultimately saved lives, Añoranza, however I think atleast in principle we are in agreeance. It is not POV to show the outcome of the bombing and not the people it saved on mainland Japan, and it is not POV to show the destruction caused by war and not show all the people that would have died otherwise, or would not have had any shot at a future. ] 16:32, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
In my mind an ideal picture to be replaced is the Colin Powell one, not on the grounds that is biased, rather that much more relevant pictures could be found.]
::Relevant to that section (prelude to the war)? A member of the administration making the case for WMD to the U.N. I don't think you'd find a more relevant picture for that section. I'm open to suggestions, of course. --] 20:42, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
I feel that a warning should be placed on this article if images of torture are presented. They should not be in open view of children and those who are easily offended. Maybe they should be linked with a warning of innapropriate content instead of being in view.


::Thank you for the feedback! In order, (1) That's valid. I was thinking the casualties in the infobox would have something like, "Coalition-allied: X killed, Y Wounded", "Iraqui-allied: M killed, N wounded", and "See ]" in a similar grouping to the current infobox. Is that still stripping out too much detail? (2) I agree emphatically. When I get more time, I might see about gathering some legitimate sources from that article to replace some of this mess. ] (]) 14:59, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
==What some soldiers are saying==
:::It looks like (2) will probably be a two-way process, so I applaud you for the undertaking! On (1) I agree that killed and wounded is enough. I think it would be important to keep the Iraqi security forces and Awakening separate, but that coalition and contractors can probably be merged, and that we should probably retain "detainees" on the insurgents' side. "Documented deaths from violence" can probably be reduced to a single range. "Statistical estimates" is tricky; getting rid of them entirely seems wrong, but the range of different estimates is so huge (151,000-1,033,000) and that range represents some very different methodologies. ] (]) 18:43, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
Let me start off by saying I'm not an anti-war/pro-pacifist, meaning that I recognize war as being a necessary evil, but I will not blindly support any war that puts US soldiers at risk without just cause. I don't normally contribute to wiki, but I recently read a thread in a firearms forum that may be of interest. One of the posters, claims to be in military intelligence (many of the members actually are in the military so it's not too unlikely) and provided some information on what's going on over there. I don't know how reliable this is, since it's posted on the an Internet forum, but it sounds very rational and plausible. Look for posts from the user "Rayman1" http://ak47.net/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=64&t=85587&page=2
::::I took a look at the ] article, and oh boy. It also has some majorly messed up citations. I think you're right that it's going to be a two-way street. Given the subject matter of that article, I'm thinking I should start refining that one first, have the more detailed discussions there, and once we have some presentable sections, copy (with attribution) them over to this article. @], would you be willing to take a look from time to time? I'm still pretty new at this, so I'd appreciate an experienced editor's eyes on it to help me avoid mistakes.] (]) 14:10, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
:::::Yes, these kinds of specific current event articles are often this. I'm absolutely happy to act as a sounding board as you improve the article (it's actually quite important that articles like this be reliable), but note that I'm in no way a subject expert, so it might also be worth dropping a line to the relevant wikiproject from time to time. ] (]) 16:17, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
::::::(what you say about your planned approach is very sensible, imo) ] (]) 16:18, 28 October 2023 (UTC)


{{reflist}}
I personally trust these people more than the mainstream media, so I hope this shines some light on what's going on. If we can somehow verify this, I don't know what you do to prove it's reliable, it should provides some answers for us folks that aren't over there.


My question is this: If the United States wanted to show Saddam Hussein we were not playing games, isn't it sufficient that we went to war with him in the Gulf War "Operation Desert Shield August 1990-January 1991" and "Operation Desert Storm January 1991-April 1991"? There were also numerous airstrikes against Iraq from the time he threatened George Bush in January 1993 onward. The No-Fly Zone should have been enough to keep the Iraqi military in check, since Saddam was effectively unable to invade either Kuwait or Iran. The Coalition War against Iraq also never officially ended, since in the United States you are an Iraq War veteran if you served in the Gulf War, the No-Fly Zone conflict, or the Invasion of Iraq any time between August 1990 and the present. <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 16:59, 27 June 2024 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
::Um, did you read Cincinnatus's posts (a Marine O-4, FYI)? He basically debunked those posts. The situation in Iraq is far more complicated than "one guy is pulling all the strings, we should fear him"
::And no, it's not verifiable enough for wiki. I personally trust Cinci, but since I can't cite his posts as from a Major X, its no-go. We don't even know who the hell Rayman1 is. --] 04:38, 10 May 2006 (UTC)


== "Second Persian Gulf War" ==


Greetings, @]. To avoid confusion, we should stick to the more widely recognized name, "Iraq War". In case you were unaware, the ] was known as the First Gulf War, while the ] of 1990–1991 was in fact ]. If we were to follow this naming convention, the Iraq War should be called the "Third Gulf War", but that term isn't widely used. This inconsistency is the issue at hand. Omitting this ] name entirely might be the best solution to address this problem. ] (]) 10:55, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
Where did it say "one guy is pulling all the strings, we should fear him", from what I read it's basically civilwar going on, and we're not helping the situation.
:I disagree, I think it is more widely known as the Iraq war. ] (]) 11:00, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
:I strongly disagree with that. The ] claim here is in fact that the ] is widely known as the First Gulf War, which is really isn't. That claim is completely unsourced in the ] article, and sourced only to a single Iraqi journal article in the ] article. It's not widely used otherwise, and I've never seen it used outside of Iraqi or Iranian sources. In contrast, the phrase "Second Gulf War" *is* widely used worldwide to refer to the ]. So if the purpose is to avoid inconsistency, the actual change should be removing the fringe naming from the ] article, not this one. ]] <small><sup>Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!</sup></small> 14:04, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
:If there's not going to be any further discussion, I'll be re-introducing the "Second (Persian) Gulf War" alternative name here -- the ] article already attributes the various alternative names adequately enough so I'll see if there's any language that can be cribbed from there to improve the presentation of naming history here. ]] <small><sup>Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!</sup></small> 22:22, 13 July 2024 (UTC)
::Actually, the operations inside Iraq by Coalition Forces (CF) are known collectively as "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (OIF) which is a theater of operations within a wider war known as the "Global War on Terror" (GWOT). The operations by CF within Iraq and Afghanistan are not two separate wars and should not be labeled that way, just as we do not label the various theaters of operation during WWII as the European war, African war, and Pacific war. Incidentally, the operations inside Afghanistan by CF after September 11, 2001 were known collectively as "Operation Enduring Freedom." ] (]) 19:06, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
:::That's simply not correct as a matter of common usage nor historical usage. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are absolutely two different wars; they are not comparable to the WWII theaters of operation, as Iraq and Afghanistan were not allies of each other. Additionally, Operation Enduring Freedom is not the same thing as the war in Afghanistan -- it specifically covers the period from 2001-2014 but also includes actions in the Phillipines (OEF-P) and the horn of Africa (OEF-HOA). ]] <small><sup>Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!</sup></small> 19:29, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
==PP==
Will we need to ask for page protection if the ] gets too much? ] (]) 10:53, 29 July 2024 (UTC)


== suggest we need a section on "political impact" ==
:Sorry, got him confused with the other guy pulling unnamed sources (glockguy). Rayman's the one espousing the "Iranians pull all the strings" view. --] 07:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)


I feel the article realy needs a section on "political impact", meaning the notable political reactions recently to the Iraq War, specifically the highly important consensus in the USA, from both parties that this war was highly negative. this includes statements by George W Bush himself, indicating this. i tried to add some sources data to the article on this, and was asked to open a section on the talk page. i would welcome the chance to discuss this. thanks. ] (]) 16:02, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
::I'm sorry, but unless you know the source or someone you trust vouches for it, Internet heresay's worse than no news. It only reconfirms your existing beliefs because you'll "find it reasonable". Of course you'll find reasonable items that are in line with yours. I trust Cinci because his status has been verified through a chain of Marines, even though I don't even know his real name. Random guy on the internet? I don't think so. --] 07:44, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
:For a start, why is what Vance or Trump think is important, the war ended in 2011, and why were you referring to something We said in 2023? Also much of this is already covered, in the sections about legality and the criticisms section. ] (]) 16:16, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
::"why is what what trump or vance thinks important." amazing. this is an encylopeida. staements by national leaders are notable. this is a major gigantic historical event. the later reactions by major national leaders is a notable and important way to address this issue. ] (]) 16:28, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
:::i would gently suggest that if you are seriously asking me why the statements of a president of the US are important, then that takes us too close to being a reddit forum, rather than wikipedia. could we please discuss this as an encyclopedia. i'm sorry, but that reply seems a bit unreasonable to me. i never thought Id hear a response like that here. hoo boy. ok, i do thank you for engaging. ] (]) 16:30, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
::::obviously it seems that you ] this article, so I don't wish to disrupt things with my own reasonable ideas. if that's the consensus here, then there is not much chance of altering it. i do appreciate your replies. thanks. ] (]) 16:32, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
:::::But he was not president at the time, of the invasion, or the withdrawal, thus his views had no relevance to its outcome or prosecution. and read ]. ] (]) 16:33, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
::::::ok. i appreciate your reply. my point is very simple. i am referring to the political impact in ''all'' the years after, right up to the present day. so my whole point was the reaction of major notable national leaders,duuring the entire time period after the war ended. again, including any and ''all'' years, right up to the date today.
::::::so any and all presidents since then have some relevance, but especially the views of the president from the same party as george w bush himself. ] (]) 17:30, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
::::::::An impact means it has had an effect, not that people have an opinion on it, so any RS say this has an impact on Trumps election? ] (]) 17:32, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::"political impact " specifically and explictly means a change in the political discourse, landscape, or nature of beliefs or opinions on each side of the political spectrum. so thats why i labeled the section "political impact." by the way i want to thank you, for being a good sport and being willingg to fully discuss here., ] (]) 17:36, 8 August 2024 (UTC)


Time for others to chip is as we are badgering the process. ] (]) 17:37, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
Because the soldiers who were there, like me, on wikipedia, have been run out of this entry. ] ] ] ] ] 01:58, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


:ok, thats totally fair. ] (]) 17:52, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
== UFO Sightings ==


*The text that was added and reverted was wrong at many levels. The subject would be better described as ''political legacy''. As such, it is part of the aftermath. ''If'' we are going to include detail on this, we should be relying on how this is assessed in ''good quality'' sources. The shallowness of the text is unencyclopedic. The text added draws on quotes etc that come very close to being primary sources and therefore, sailing close to ]. A lot of the subject is also woven into other sections of the article. Without considering the article as a whole, tacking on a new section makes the article disjointed. ] (]) 02:26, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
] has recently been added in and hidden under a "minor" edit. I think it should be removed because it has very little relevance to the article and because most of the UFOs are probably US or British aircraft. Thoughts? ] 23:47, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
*:the sources you are referring to do not exist. it is obvious you are skewing away from reflecting the clear consensus amongst politicians, which is what the whole section was about. you obviously would like to lean towards peer-reviewed journals, in order to get the views of noted academics and historians on the entire topic. so you are choosing to somwhat sidestep the point of the proposed idea, and then disagreeing with it on that basis. ] (]) 13:50, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
*:every article on the website uses news articles. that is not what ] means. you are sailing close to not knowing what a core principle means, and using it to oppose some possible good ideas for editing here. ] (]) 13:51, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
*::if we can't get consensus on this, then i may open an rfc. ] (]) 13:52, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
*:::from, ]:
*:::<blockquote>
*:::A primary source may be used on Misplaced Pages only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge. For example, an article about a musician may cite discographies and track listings published by the record label, and an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source.
*:::...A primary source may be used on Misplaced Pages only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge. For example, an article about a musician may cite discographies and track listings published by the record label, and an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source. Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself; instead, refer to reliable secondary sources that do so.</blockquote>
*:::--] (]) 14:06, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
*::::The text that would be added makes no coherent case or argument. It has no clear theme, thesis or ''point''. It does not show an analysis. This would require secondary sources - preferably of good quality. That would then be encyclopedic content. Research is the analysis of primary material. Drawing together the data is the first step in research. The added text alludes to a thesis, which, if stated, would be OR (where the thesis does not exist in sources). But without this, the text lacks the cohesion and substance that would make it encyclopedic. If the thesis is not presented in sources, it probably isn't noteworthy - or perhaps it hasn't been found. Either way, the addition as made isn't supported. ] (]) 00:17, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
*:::::How do you know? Have you already read the text you are mentioning? {{small|{{strike|(My impression is rather that it hasn't even been written yet, but then your criticism would make no sense.)}}}} ] (]) 11:22, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
*::::::yes, i already wrote it, and then it was removed. ] (]) 11:58, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
*:::::::Thanks! It would probably be good to add sources to the lead sentence of that text, as well as of each subsection, to avoid the impression that it could be OR and based on a one-sided selection of sources. Otherwise the text reads fine to me, though some copyediting is needed and I would shorten the long quote in the UK section. ] (]) 12:11, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
*::::::::And yes, I had read the text before making my comments. ] (]) 01:56, 11 August 2024 (UTC)
*:::::::::ok, i changed the first paragraph to be less generalized and broad. ] (]) 23:13, 11 August 2024 (UTC)


===proposed text===
== Nothing on the good side? ==
here is the proposed text:

My good friends are soldiers themselves and they always say that Iraq is nothing like what the media depicts it. Apart from isolated incidents once or twice a week, most events are progressive. Children and families hail them and show their support. People can vote, have free speech, and live free from the grip of a dictator.

However, there are insurgents which kill and terrorize the people, especially those who wish to participate in this new concept of "freedom". Why? Because they want to keep control over the people while they still can. There is barely any outspoken protest among Iraqi civilians over the coalition, when's the last time you've seen this?

Those caught red-handed working with the terrorist and insurgent groups are sent to detainment camps and recently only half a dozen out of thousands have been reported to be abused. Besides, what's wrong about humiliating an insurgent caught red-handed?

People focus too much on the bad, and should lighten up. The soldier's opinion is never heard, nor is the average civilian. If you look at it, most of the media spends its time listening to journalists and major politicians and critics. And then it repeatedly shows a single incident where a child was accidentally killed or where a prisoner was tortured, stretching it out to cover multiple broadcasts over the week. What is this again? Indoctrination through propaganda my friends. The government obviously doesn't do that, only the media.{{unsigned}}

:Nice brainwashed friends you have. How about watching some real pictures like ]' My Country, My Country and get a picture from outside the military? Please do not humiliate yourself by claiming not to know what is wrong about humiliating someone. What is wrong with abducting people and torturing them, keeping prisoners indefinitely without trial in camps you claim not to have jurisdiction at? And, what was wrong with 9/11? ] 00:56, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

== Opening Paragraph ==
I think we need to come up with a new opening paragraph. If you read the following below:

::The 2003 invasion was undertaken by a multinational "Coalition of the willing" led by the United States and the United Kingdom, which invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and so was a threat to the world. After the invasion no weapons of mass destruction were found and the Bush administration has since admitted that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. There is disagreement over the extent to which this inaccuracy was a matter of deceit or of intelligence failure. This failure to find WMDs has given credence to the view of the majority of the world's nations, who took active roles in dissenting against the United States actions and agreed with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement that, "the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the U.N. Charter".

You would probably assume by reading this that WMD's were the only reason supplied by the Bush administration for going to war with Iraq. It states '''"United States and the United Kingdom, which invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and so was a threat to the world."''' however that is not stating the full points of HJ Res 114 and only stating the one reason that has been proven false. Does anyone have any opinions they would like to offer on how we can expand this paragraph to make it factually correct? I was considering adding all the reasons stated, however I believe there was 6 or more and that may make the paragraph much to bloated. I will attempt to write something to put up for comment later, until then I will place a POV warning back on this article. Sorry I asked for it to be removed, there is much to go over here. --] 13:35, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

Just pointing something out further, the 3rd paragraph also alludes that WMD's were the only reason given however, the links supplied to affirm that go against it, listing the following as reasons:

::"Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms"

So again I guess its probably more of the entire opening section that needs a look at, I will type something up later, feel free to post something here we can all look at if I have not posted anything myself. --] 13:48, 16 May 2006 (UTC)


Ok I am back, I have merged much of the non POV stuff into one paragraph, keeping the first paragraph intact. Opinions? Feedback? Please see above for why some of the information is being removed.

::The 2003 invasion was undertaken by a multinational "]" led by the United States and the United Kingdom, which invaded Iraq and deposed ]'s government. United States president ] declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003. On December 13, 2003 Saddam Hussein was arrested in Iraq and is currently standing trial for ]. The Iraq war continued however in its second phase of conflict which centers around the US efforts to establish a democracy state capable of defending itself. Since the fall of the former regime a growing armed resistance has emerged of Iraqi ], and knows ] such as Al-Qaeda's ]. Former interim president, ], has warned that Iraq may be facing a civil war if more is not done to stop it.

So questions comments feedback welcome. Other views etc. I just hope we can remove the assertations that WMD's were in fact the sole reason for the US invasion, considering that HJ Res 114 covers many many reasons. --] 20:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

:So basically what you want to do is remove all mention of the ] of the ] and try to create the false impression that this military action was as inevitable as the sunrise. No. Just because things didn't turn out the way the Bush administration wanted doesn't give you license to rewrite history.
<blockquote>''THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.'' - March 19, 2003 D-Day of the ] </blockquote>
:What these articles have had to endure is ludicrous. Back in 2003-2005 we had people trying to edit in that WMDs actually '''were''' found in Iraq. And now that thats been proven false we have people trying to say WMD '''weren't''' the reason for the invasion. No, just No. -- ] 21:12, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::Start using the proper format or it's over for your comments. If you're going to troll, do us all a favor and stick to the guidelines. ] 22:28, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
:::Is this comment directed at me? --] 22:53, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::::You seem to be signing your comments, so no; Mr. Tibbs ] 02:26, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
::I think you are misunderstaning me, I am not saying WMD's were '''a''' reason, the point of changing the top is because they weren't '''the''' reason. See just because the president told you XYZ doesnt mean its the actual justification, a resolution was passed in the House and Senate that laid out the reasons for going to war with Iraq , you can read it and see that there is over 10 reasons for why the US did in fact invade Iraq. If you would prefer I can edit the article to reflect all the reasons, however stating one reason, then stating its wrong, is pretty POV. I welcome your feedback on which you would prefer, adding all the reasons or removing all of them and covering them later in the article. I am sure we can all come to a compromise that suits everyone. For those contending that WMD's were the only reason, or the main reason, well please see its the actual resolution authorizing war. Your feedback and others is appreciated. --] 22:47, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::WMDs were found in Iraq. Note that I'm not specifying how old they were or how much there was...but neither did you. ] 22:30, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::Regardless, the article is an antiwar propaganda tool. That is why there is a NPOV tag on it. Had france and Germany stuck to their signinings on UN resolutions up to the "invasion" there wouldn't be this "international outcry"...sure Saddam was going to step down, him being such a nice guy and the current indictment of him regarding crimes against humanity must be unwarranted...surely.--]21:16, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

:::"''But Saddam's Bad!!!''" So what? That wasn't the ] and trying to give that impression After the Fact is Untrue. Hell, the reason it wasn't the ] is because there are dictators in Africa that make Saddam look like a pussycat. And that's why the US never invaded say ] to depose ]. And he's actually nicer than the guy he ousted: ]. -- ] 21:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::::Please see for stated reasons for going to war. This is the actual resoltuion authorizing force in Iraq and states all the reasons for the US invasion. This document was made before the start of the invasion and can also be found on the Senate's official webpage, just in case any doubt is placed in its authenticity. I hope to hear back from you soon so we can possibly work to make this article NPOV. --] 22:49, 16 May 2006 (UTC)


I am not sure why the hostility is taking over but I would ask people remain civil and try not to place personal attacks on me, and I will try to do the same in return. The problem is that HJ Res 114 states numerous reasons why the US is attacking Iraq, the other option would be to include every reason. Does this satisfy everyone more? I can maybe make bullets stating all the reasons listed in HJ Res 114. See the problem with the term you love to use "casus belli", is that it doesnt signify all the reasons. The actual definition of casus belli = "A circumstance or situation that causes a war." However you want to ignore all the reasons and simply state one. I will type up a new opening paragraph stating all the reasons in HJ Res 114 and we can then look over that. PS if you have something you would like to add to my stated paragraphs perhaps that would be more efficient since its very POV to ignore all the reasons going to war. --] 22:42, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

In an attempt to come to a center point I have type up another paragraph to follow the one above. This paragraph lists the reasons given by the US for going to war with Iraq in the order in which they appear in HJ Res 114. This way the reasons are not ommited, yet none of they are emphasized in the beginning paragraphs any more then the others. This keeps the opening paragraph on the top very NPOV and allows for further discussion to take place in the article where it is more appropriate.

::The 2003 invasion was undertaken by a multinational "]" led by the United States and the United Kingdom, which invaded Iraq and deposed ]'s government. United States president ] declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003. On December 13, 2003 Saddam Hussein was arrested in Iraq and is currently standing trial for ]. The Iraq war continued however in its second phase of conflict which centers around the US efforts to establish a democracy state capable of defending itself. Since the fall of the former regime a growing armed resistance has emerged of Iraqi ], and known ] such as Al-Qaeda's ]. Former interim president, ], has warned that Iraq may be facing a civil war if more is not done to stop it.

::On October 10th, 2002, the 107th Congress passed the H.J Resolution 114 titled "Joint Resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces in Iraq." The resolution pass with a vote of 77-23 in the Senate and, 296-133 in the House. The following is a summary of the reasons stated in the order in which they appear in the resolution:
::*Iraq failed to "eliminate its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programs and the means to deliver and develop them, and to end its support for international terrorism."
::*The US was informed by international weapons inspectors, United States intelligence agencies, and Iraqi defectors of large stockpiles of chemical weapons and a large scale biological weapons program and Iraq had an advanced nuclear weapons development program that was much closer to producing a nuclear weapon then intelligence reports previously indicated.
::*Iraq's violation of the cease fire by thwarting efforts of weapons inspectors to identify and destroy Iraqs weapons of mass destruction stockpiles and development capabilities.
::*Congress concluded on October 14, 1998 that Iraq's continuing weapons of mass destruction programs threatened internation peace and security.
::*Iraq persists in violating United Nations Security Council resolutions by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population, refusing to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including American servicemen.
::*Iraqs willingness to and capabilities to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people.
::*The presence of al-Qaida members in Iraq.
::*Iraq continuing to aid and harbor other international terrorist organizations.
::*The threat of Iraq using weapons of mass destruction to launch a surprise attack against United States or its Armed Forces or provide them to international terrorists.

Feel free to give feedback or even offer alterations or entirely different paragraphs. Please also, I do not like being accused of attempting to hide anything, I simply want the article to have its POV tag removed by presenting things evenly and factually. I am more then flexible on the issue, we are here to improve Misplaced Pages with great articles. --] 23:36, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
:You two really screwed up the talkpage format. The intro was NPOVed earlier: '''The''' reason for the ] was WMD. No one was arguing back and forth over not wanting the "smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud" for the fun of it. You know it, I know it, just stop trying to rewrite history because there turned out to not be any WMD. Intro stays as is. -- ] 23:56, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
::Your link points to section in which the first sentence states "Agree with Publicus and Justforasecond that the article needs a lot of work but I think the major problem isn't POV." I am not sure how you consider this section as NPOV'ing the article when the person presenting the issue is stating its not a NPOV issue. --] 00:19, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
::I am not really sure what the proper procedure is with Misplaced Pages when someone is totally refusing to move from their opinion. May I ask why you say WMD was the only reason and negate the fact that the Resolution states otherwise? Do you not weigh the congressional resolution heavily, or is there some other reason? I noticed you linked to CNN, are you saying you favor talking points by the administration more heavily then the voting of and resolution passed by congress? Hope to hear a reply soon. --] 00:14, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
::Mr. Tibbs, you of all people should know that there was '''no one reason''' given before, or since. ] 00:10, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
:::Duh, there were '''secondary''' reasons other than WMD. And the current Intro notes that. But the fact is Bush didn't refuse to allow the inspectors to finish their job because "Saddam is just too bad". He went in without giving them the time they needed because ""We're at the point where we think time is not on our side,". Colin Powell didn't wave around some photos of toasted Kurds; he waved around a fake vial of anthrax. US soldiers didn't spend '''2 years''' scouring Iraq looking for secret prisons; They were looking for WMD. ] is WMD this is an indisputable fact so I don't see any reason for me to continue argueing about it. -- ] 00:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
::::Where in the current intro does it state there was other reasons? '''"...which invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and so was a threat to the world"''' this states the reason for invasion was WMD's, nothing else is mentioned and this is in fact wrong. I will present to you quotes that counter your arguement of WMD's soley being the reason, which you seem to leave out any link of those WMD's and terrorists but that is another story:
::::*"Was the attack then an imminent threat two, three, or six months before? When did the attack on September 11th become an imminent threat, when was it sufficiently dangerous? Now transport yourself forward ... if Saddam Hussein were to take his weapons of mass destruction and transfer them, or use them himself, or transfer them to the al Qaeda, and some of the al Qaeda were to engage in an attack on the United States or on U.S. forces overseas with weapons of mass destruction, when is it such an immediate threat that you must do something?" - Donald Rumsfeld
::::*"That our understanding of the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda is still developing, that there is no question but that there have been interactions between the Iraqi government, Iraqi officials and al Qaeda operatives, they have occurred over a span of some eight or 10 years to our knowledge, that there are currently al Qaeda in Iraq," - Donald Rumsfeld
::::*"Absent a dictator, absent the Saddam Hussein regime, our goal would be first to have a single country, not have a country broken up into pieces, it would be to see that it would be a country without weapons of mass destruction, a country that did not try to impose its will upon its neighbors and it was a country that was respectful of the rights of minorities and the ethnic groups that exist in the country,"-Donald Rumsfeld
::::*"With each missile launched at our air crews, Iraq expresses its contempt for the U.N. resolutions, a fact that must be kept in mind as their latest inspection offers are evaluated," - Donald Rumsfeld
::::*"We certainly have evidence of senior al Qaeda who have been in Baghdad in recent periods," - Donald Rumsfeld
::::I can go on but I am tired. Its not who can quote more, its a matter of what the facts are. The HJ Res 114 states the reasons for gonig to war and they are more factual then what CNN chooses to print in an article. --] 00:53, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::(Quoted from Mr.Tibbs)'' '''The''' reason for the ] was WMD.''' ''
:::::::Doesn't that imply that the '''only''' reason for the ] was WMD? But...
::::::(Quoted from Mr.Tibbs)''Duh, there were '''secondary''' reasons other than WMD.''
:::::::Doesn't that imply that there was ''more than one'' reason? Selfcontridictions are bad. Also, you're methods of debating are poor; "Duh" is generally not a positive word.] <sub>|</sub><sup>|</sup><sub>|</sub> ] 14:21, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
Just to follow up, you keep linking to ] somehow insisting that there is a distinction between primary and secondary reasons for gonig to war. That however defies the definition on the wikipage you insist on linking to, it states on ]:

::"Officially, the term refers to the grievances section of a formal Declaration of War. In this section, a government would lay out its reasons for going to war, as well as its intentions in prosecuting it and the steps that might be taken to avert it. In so doing, the government would attempt to demonstrate that it was going to war only as a last resort ("Ultima Ratio") and that it in fact possessed "Just Cause" for doing so."

There is no more official document for declaration of war then HJ Res 114. I do not see where you get primary and secondary as the document does not weigh the items nor specify an order of importance. I hope you are not attempting to use the term, then state that CNN is a better source then the "formal Declaration of War" is regarding reasons for going to war. --] 02:24, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Back to the discussion on the opening paragraph. I would like to change the following:

<blockquote>The 2003 invasion was undertaken by a multinational "]" led by the ] and the ], which invaded Iraq and deposed ]'s government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of ] and so was a threat to the world</blockquote>

to:

<blockquote> The 2003 invasion was undertaken by a multinational "]" led by the ] and the ]. The reason that was most publicized for the invasion was the that Iraq was in possession of ] and was willing to share those weapons with terrorist organizations, use them on his own civilian population or against the United States directly. </blockquote>

I am trying to find a compromise still as it seems Mr. Tibbs wants WMD's to receive a majority of the spot light because he feels it was given the most attention in the news. I am trying to find a middle ground by at least expanding the reason why. The HJ Res 114 does in fact state WMD's as '''a''' reason and I have never denied that. However it goes on to state what those weapons would be used for, and I believe that is important to be included. It clarify's why Iraq would be a threat to the world. Just to state, I am not stating anything in the HJ Res 114 happened, did not happen, was truth, or not truth. I am simply stating that we cannot include what (WMD's), without explaining why(his using them on XYZ). Comments, suggestions? I would like to greatly here from you Mr. Tibbs as I am trying to reach a concensus with you, however all are welcomed to change anything give feedback etc as is Wiki policy. Thank you --] 13:19, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

:No, its not because it got the most attention in the news. Its because WMD is the Main Reason the US invaded Iraq. Again Colin Powell didn't go to the UN and wave Osama's picture around he waved around a fake vial of Anthrax. Now I have to go back and fix the intro again. And about "Casus Belli" it's a latin phrase meaning "Occasion of War" IE the answer to the question: "Why did the US invade Iraq is '''WMD'''". -- ] 19:31, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

::I am sorry but you fail to understand what ] means. Please see definition above. Your CNN does not show what the reasons in the "formal declaration of war" state. Please see HJ Res 114 for the formal declaration of war. Thank you --] 19:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:::Please stop being purposely obtuse. We are not using "Casus Belli" as a technical term, it is a latin phrase that means "Occasion of War" other latin phrases used in english would be ] and the like. And HJ Res is '''Not''' a declaration of War. No declaration of War was ever made for the Iraq War. -- ] 20:02, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

::::Please don't post the same thing everywhere, I will adress further concerns below in WMD section only to stop this page that is already in desperate need of archiving not explode. --] 20:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::::: Hi, I wonder if, as an outsider to this debate I can put my word in here. I considered mediating this discussion however I'd prefer just to comment and leave it at that :). I agree mostly with what ] is saying. I do not think that WM's are the ONLY reason that the US and UK went to war with Iraq, however agree it was the most publicized (in my opinion deliberately so by the governments) but that is not the same as the MAIN reason. It is also of note that HJ Res 114 is also mentiuoned urther down and the other factors of going to war hinted at. I think that focusing on WMD as the primary reason for the war is wrong. I suggest that the initial paragraph be cut down alot (as much of the information is included in the article). Specifically replacing:
:::::''"They invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction that he may distribute to terrorists, use on his own population, or against US forces, and so was a threat to the world."''

:::::With:

:::::''"They invaded Iraq for several reasons (many of which are laid out in a ]) the most publicised reason beign Iraq's alleged possesion of Weapons of Mass Distruction. It was feared that such aramaments could be distributed to Terrrorist Organizations or to be used by the Iraqi Leadership to adversely dominate the middle east."''
:::::I think that would indicate that WMD's were not the only reason for going to war but that they were the most prominent.

:::::However I think the whole of the first paragraph needs a rewrite as parts of it are a little confusing (esp. the section about HJ Res 114) and in places POV. I will have a go at doing it tomorrow and post my ideas here for your perusal. --<font color="darkgreen>&nbsp;]<sup><font colour="DarkBlue">&nbsp;&nbsp;]</font></sup></font> 23:38, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::Here's the problem with that. ''It's not about publicity or press coverage''. It's about the fact that the ] set off the ]. It wasn't the "Iraq Terrorism Crisis" or the "Iraq Humanitarian Crisis" it was the "Iraq '''Disarmament''' Crisis". And theres a huge problem with rewriting the intro as if the ] never happened. -- ] 02:32, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

:::::::Hmmm I see where you stand but you canot deny that whilst the ] was a major reason for going to war OFICIALLY all of the reasons in HJ Res 114 are the reason. To suggest in the opening paragraph that the ONLY reason for the war was WMD's is wrong - because it simply isn't. However I agree that the emphasis needs to be on the armaments crisis because it was the reason sold to the public and the major one used to justify the invasion but it needs to acknowledge that there was at least 12 reasons for the war as well. To not do that would be biased to both parties (Iraq and the US/UK - mostly the coalition) simply because later on it is mentioned that Iraq dodint't have abnd probablty never did have substantial WMD's as per claimed making the reader feel that the Iraq war was unjustified. As a compromise pehaps the first paragraph should talk about the '''Development of WMD's''' rather than the '''Posession of WMD's'''.

:::::::''And theres a huge problem with rewriting the intro as if the ] never happened.''

:::::::As to thatI think if you read my idea for revision you would see that it doesn't pretend that never hapened just acknowledge's that there are other reasons (albeit less high profile ones). Oh and also you cannot say in te paragraph that Iraq DID possess WMD's only that it was alleged he possessed them (by the US and UN) because there is no conclusive proof for or against that fact --<font color="darkgreen>&nbsp;]<sup><font colour="DarkBlue">&nbsp;&nbsp;]</font></sup></font> 10:50, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

::: What if you use differentiate between reasons and public justification? I can see both points of view on this argument. One the one hand you are misrepresenting the reasons given by the adminsitration if you say WMD was the reason, but, it is true that the Bush administration very publicly made it clear that WMD was *the* issue and justification for the war, it wasn't just the media twisting what the were saying. Just a suggestio to perhaps get past the impasse. ] 09:35, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

== POV Reversions ==
If there are any concerns over POV please place them here so they can be discussed. Misplaced Pages is an amazing community and we are all here to better it. I am sure adding that "U.S. General Jay Garner" is retired is not POV pushing. I also do not see how adding your own sources back is considered POV pushing. Grammar fixing and adding other sources are also not POV pushing. I even went to the extent to keep WMD's listed, but simply adding the resolution link and that there were other causes hoping that would be a reasonable middle ground, information which is indeed factual. I ask you Mr. Tibbs that you do not continue to revery my additions, oddly enough some which were your own sources, by simply labeling a days work as POV and proceding on your way. Please come to the talk page so the issue can be discussed with the community and hopefully a middle ground or common view can be worked out. --] 01:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

:It's important to talk, not just revert. Who's doing the most reverting of new edits? ] 07:13, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

::You can view the history for yourself. I added over 8 edits of work, some as pointed out above just simply stating a person is retired and it gets reverted as blanket POV. All I ask is that someone comes to the talk page and explains there rationale if they are going to blanket revert and call it POV. --] 09:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::You can also see that I add back the work done after my version when I revert back to mine. Such as the case with Mr. Tibbs sources and casualty figure in the infobox. --] 10:00, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::: Hi, I wonder if, as an outsider to this debate I can put my word in here. I considered mediating this discussion however I'd prefer just to comment and leave it at that :). I agree mostly with what ] is saying. I do not think that WM's are the ONLY reason that the US and UK went to war with Iraq, however agree it was the most publicized (in my opinion deliberately so by the governments) but that is not the same as the MAIN reason. It is also of note that HJ Res 114 is also mentiuoned urther down and the other factors of going to war hinted at. I think that focusing on WMD as the primary reason for the war is wrong. I suggest that the initial paragraph be cut down alot (as much of the information is included in the article). Specifically replacing:
:::''"They invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's government on the basis that Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction that he may distribute to terrorists, use on his own population, or against US forces, and so was a threat to the world."''

:::With:

:::''"They invaded Iraq for several reasons (many of which are laid out in a ]) the most publicised reason beign Iraq's alleged possesion of Weapons of Mass Distruction. It was feared that such aramaments could be distributed to Terrrorist Organizations or to be used by the Iraqi Leadership to adversely dominate the middle east."''
:::I think that would indicate that WMD's were not the only reason for going to war but that they were the most prominent.

:::However I think the whole of the first paragraph needs a rewrite as parts of it are a little confusing (esp. the section about HJ Res 114) and in places POV. I will have a go at doing it tomorrow and post my ideas here for your perusal. --<font color="darkgreen>&nbsp;]<sup><font colour="DarkBlue">&nbsp;&nbsp;]</font></sup></font> 23:36, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

== WMD's ==

While it is true that very little in the manner of WMD material was captured from the Iraq 2003 invasion, we cannot argue that this "proves" no WMD existed in the run up to the invasion. There is considerable information on the web that seems to indicate that the WMDs were evacuated during the run up to the war. Now, whether or not the USA knew this, is open to debate. But we must take into account this perspective too. Here's what I found:


<blockquote> <blockquote>
*See key findings of Saddam's "Regime Strategic Intent", on the CIA's official web site, .


;Political impact
*:" lieutenants understood WMD revival was his goal from their long association with Saddam and his infrequent, but firm, verbal comments and directions to them."


<s>The overall consensus amongst most of the world community was that the Iraq War was a mistake and was detrimental to the world. </s> at the start of the war, there were signifcant objections from major leaders and governmental entities. For example, on January 29, 2003, the ] passed a nonbinding resolution opposing unilateral military action against Iraq by the United States. According to the resolution, "a pre-emptive strike would not be in accordance with international law and the UN Charter and would lead to a deeper crisis involving other countries in the region".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/omnsapir.so/pv2?PRG=CALDOC&FILE=030130&LANGUE=EN&TPV=PROV&LASTCHAP=10&SDOCTA=5&TXTLST=1&Type_Doc=FIRST&POS=1&textMode=on |title=Situation in Iraq |publisher=Europarl.europa.eu |access-date=2018-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213035323/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/omk/omnsapir.so/pv2?PRG=CALDOC&FILE=030130&LANGUE=EN&TPV=PROV&LASTCHAP=10&SDOCTA=5&TXTLST=1&Type_Doc=FIRST&POS=1&textMode=on |archive-date=2007-02-13 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*:"Saddam recognized that the reconstitution of Iraqi WMD enhanced both his security and image. Consequently, Saddam needed to end UN-imposed sanctions to fulfill his goals."


Some of the most noteworthy changes in later political consensus on the war was in major countries which participated, notably the United States.
*:"Senior Iraqis—several of them from the Regime’s inner circle—told ISG they assumed Saddam would restart a nuclear program once UN sanctions ended."


;United States
:The "key findings" are part of the '''Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq’s WMD, 30 September 2004''', all of which can be found .


By 2016, the public consensus in both major parties of the United States was that the Iraq War was based on invalid reasons, did not accomplish anything positive, and was highly detrimental. George W Bush admitted in his 2010 memoir Decision Points: “The reality was that I had sent American troops into combat based in large part on intelligence that proved false … No one was more shocked or angry than I was when we didn’t find the weapons. I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do.” <ref> ,, by Ben Jacobs May 15, 2015, UK Guardian. </ref>
*Also, read :


During the 2016 debates, Donald Trump frequently stated the invasion was totally wasteful and did not produce any useful results. <ref> , By Reena Flores, February 13, 2016, CBS News. </ref> <ref> By Michael grunwald, February 14, 2016, Politico. </ref> When Jeb Bush seemed to defend the Iraq War in 2016, he was widely criticized, and had to reverse his answer, saying, "“Knowing what we know now I would not have engaged—I would not have gone into Iraq,” <ref> , BY ZEKE J MILLER, MAY 14, 2015, Time Magazine. </ref> <ref> , By Josh Marshall, May 14, 2015 Talking Points Memo. </ref>
*:"David Kay, the former head of the coalition's hunt for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, yesterday claimed that part of Saddam Hussein's secret weapons programme was hidden in Syria."


The Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in 2024, ], labled the Iraq invasion as disastrous. <ref> , Demcracy Now. July 18, 2024. </ref>
*And :


;United Kingdom
*::"It has been confirmed that the Iraqi weapons which were smuggled into Syria through the intermediary of Colonel Zu Alhima Shalish are now located in three different places..."
In the United Kingdom, public opinion on the war was very negative.


One article in 2023 noted:
*And :


<blockquote> By then it was already obvious that the choice to go to war had turned into one of the most controversial decisions taken by a post-1945 British prime minister, but Campbell could not have foreseen how deeply British politics was to be shaped by Iraq over the next 20 years. It was to tear at successive Labour leaders, weaken the intelligence agencies and paralyse the process of authorising the use of force overseas.
*:"The CIA's chief weapons inspector said he cannot rule out the possibility that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were secretly shipped to Syria before the March 2003 invasion, citing "sufficiently credible" evidence that WMDs may have been moved there."
<p>

Rather than prompt a sober re-examination of the true influence UK prime ministers had on US administrations, it instead took Britain further from the centre of Europe. ...the Iraq war was a different order of scandal; politicians were not caught with their trousers down or fingers in the expenses till, but instead allegedly doctoring the truth in an attempt to justify war. <ref> . Tony Blair’s decision to invade tore at successive Labour leaders and weakened the intelligence services. by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor, 20 Mar 2023. </ref> </blockquote>
*And :

*:"A former Iraqi general alleges that in June 2002 Saddam Hussein transported weapons of mass destruction out of the country to Syria aboard several refitted commercial jets, under the pretense of conducting a humanitarian mission for flood victims."

*And :

*:"An Iraqi scientist also led Coalition forces to hidden stockpiles of precursor chemicals that could be used to make chemical and biological weapons. The scientist said some facilities and weapons were destroyed, and the rest were sent to Syria. Syrian defectors are also claiming that Syria is where the weapons are..."

*And :

*:"David Kay, who recently resigned as leader of a U.S. weapons search team in Iraq, said part of captive president Saddam Hussein's weapons program was hidden in Syria, a report in Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper said today. Kay was reported to have said he had uncovered evidence unspecified materials were moved to Syria shortly before last year's U.S. invasion of Iraq."

*And finally, :

*:"The great mystery of the 2003 war in Iraq - "What about the WMD?" has finally been resolved. The short answer is: Saddam Hussein's persistent record of lying meant no one believed him when he at the last moment actually removed the weapons of mass destruction."
</blockquote> </blockquote>
{{talkrefs}}


:] 08:11, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:: hahaha. You can't prove the absence of WMD. Its the same problem Saddam had. You only have to find one weapoin to prove they are there, but it doesnt matter how much lack of evidence you find, you can never prove they arent. The suggestion that Saddam would send his weapons to Syria is funny too and you can't prove that never happened either. But Iraq and Syria weren't exactly friends. Do you think the USA would send its nukes to Mexico or Haiti or Cuba if they wanted to hide them?!

The debate about WMD's existence is over:
''"When we made the decision to go into Iraq, many intelligence agencies around the world judged that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. This judgment was shared by the intelligence agencies of governments who did not support my decision to remove Saddam. And it is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong."-
No WMD's were ever "evacuated". The intelligence was simply wrong. -- ] 19:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

:And again Zero, there'd be no reason to even make that speech at all if the main reason for the invasion was Not WMD. Bush never made a speech taking responsibility for the unmanned aerial drones they claimed Saddam had before the war began, because it was just a '''secondary reason'''. -- ] 19:55, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::It was never a reason actually, if you would read HJ Res 114 you would see UAV are not listed at all. Please read over ] and read to see the formal declaration of war and reasons listed, or ].
:::Again HJ Res 114 is '''NOT''' a declaration of war. War was '''Never''' formally declared against Iraq just like it never was against Vietnam. -- ] 20:03, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::::Your arguement fails to prove you are correctly using the term ]. You are either stating there was no declaration of war, which Authorization to Use Force in Iraq is pretty close a declaration as nations do not sign documents anymore saying "I am at war with you." HJ Res 114 is also the document the masses vote on. In the United States the House and Senate members are elected to vote on laws rulings and resolutions by the people for them, the votes passed and the 107th Congress passed HJ Res 114, which is used by the president of the United States as his reasons for gonig to war. CNN does not determine the ] the government does. Please read ]. --] 20:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::I don't need to make an arguement to prove that "casus belli" is a latin phrase meaning "Occasion of War" it says it right on the ] article. And Of course there was no ] on Iraq! The US hasn't made a formal declaration of War since World War 2. Again, HJ RES 114 is Not the be all and end all. More than that the "Whereas" sections in HJ RES 114 are '''NOT''' reasons for invading Iraq, many of them simply describe the situation. Again you are being purposely obtuse so you can editwar your POV into the article. Stop it. -- ] 20:15, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::Please stop the personal attacks. I am taking the day off from the talk page to addres your concerns as you have resorted to personal attacks. I will see you tomorrow and maybe you will be more willing to come to a concensus. --] 20:19, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::I have made no personal attacks. However I have ceased to ] and realize full well what you are doing. Which is Purposely being obtuse about "casus belli" a term that I readded to the article in the first place. And Purposely distorting what HJ Res 114 is. And it's sad that I have to cease assuming good faith, but ] does not mean "bend over". -- ] 20:26, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::It is sad that you have come to feel that way considering the whole section above this one is an attempt to come to a middle ground with you, including leaving in WMD's but stating there was other reasons, which you show down without stating why. I am going to add this page to the mediation cabal as its clear there is "tension" brewing and perhaps a 3rd party can help not only settle things down but resume your "good faith" in my attentions. However I ask you stop reffering to me as obtuse, as its an insult. Definition below, if you were not aware of its meaning however a simple apology is all I ask.

<blockquote>#Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.
#Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark.
#Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain. </blockquote>

--] 20:48, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::The intro with "casus belli" in it does state that there are other reasons, it just makes it clear that they are not the main reason. And I never referred to you as obtuse, I stated you are "Purposely being obtuse". If you're fishing for compliments I think that such a ruse is pretty clever actually. -- ] 20:52, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

I wont get into the semantics of what I view as an insult and your framing of the terms. I will however state you are linking to a term that goes against its use as you are putting it. Also above in 1 of the three paragraphs I attempted to find a middle ground with you on, I stated ist the most popular reason, you never even commented on this version. You keep wanting to state casus belli, however you only want to state one reason instead of all the reasons. I find this to be POV as only one of the reasons listed in the resolution authorizing war is then wrong, but if the resolution is hidden and WMD's is highlited and stated as the reason. This makes it appear then that "all", even though its only one according to the paragraph (WMD's), of the reasons for gonig to war were false. I thought the above paragraph where I listed all the reasons as they appear in the resolution was a good paragraph, but you did not like that one either because it did not highlight WMD's. I see you search on CNN alot so please go there and search for no-fly zone then list by date and see how often Rumsfeld said the Iraqi's failed to respect the no-fly zone. Unfortunatly I can't say that was the "Occassion for War", even though the US did go in front of the UN and complain about Iraqi AA systems locking onto US planes. My point, what CNN chooses to pay most attention to does not become the sole occassion for war, as the articles on the no-fly point out. --] 21:09, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

:I am gonig to adress this as I see you view it. You believe that HJ Res 114 is not an adequate determination of ] because its not the "official declaration of war" even though its the closest official document available. You state you feel that since Powell went before the UN to state the claim and highlighted WMD's that it has then become the "occassion of war." I take this to mean you feel the arguement made in front of the United Nations is to be weighed more then the document used by the US to justify to its people the reason for going to war. If this is in fact the case as you see it, then i ask you consider the following They are both links from CNN as you yourself have cited sources from them I do not see it being a credibility issue. The first article is a summary of the official transcript which is the second link. This is United States President George W. Bush speaking in front of the United Nations Security Council stating his reasons for going to war. I am sure if you would weigh Powell's speach in front of the UN more heavily then the HJ Res 114, that you would then weigh President Bush's official speech declaring his reasons for war, even greater then Powell's singular arguement. Just to sumarize, this means that HJ Res 114, and President Bush himself have both cited more then WMD's as the ] for going to war, both to the people of the country which he represents and to the world by appearing in front of the UN. I hope you read the entire transcript if possible, and I await your reply. Thank you --] 16:43, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

::Have you ever even actually read HJ Res 114? First of all HJ Res 114 is '''Not''' the closest thing to an official declaration of war. That would be the ultimatum by Bush: Which was originally sourced as to what the ] was. Those offical statements make it '''very clear''' Why the US is invading Iraq: ''"to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger."'' Again, the "Whereas" sections are Not reasons for the invasion, they are a summary of the situation. These are the sections that are actual authorizations: - ] 22:29, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

<blockquote>"''SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS.

The Congress of the United States supports the efforts by the
President to--
(1) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security
Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq
and encourages him in those efforts; and
(2) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security
Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay,
evasion and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies
with all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) Authorization.--The President is authorized to use the Armed
Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and
appropriate in order to--
(1) defend the national security of the United States
against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council
resolutions regarding Iraq."''- - ] 22:29, 19 May 2006 (UTC)</blockquote>

::Again this makes it very clear that the issue is WMD and the UN resolutions Regarding those WMDs. - ] 22:29, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

:::Did you even read what I wrote? I am not sure what you are replying to anymore. I linked you what Bush said in front of the UN. Can you please help me understand why you are quoting HJ Res 114 for? --] 22:46, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


I think you stopped reading too early, please see the below:

<blockquote> (c) War Powers Resolution Requirements.--
(1) Specific statutory authorization.--Consistent with
section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress
declares that this section is intended to constitute specific
statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of
the War Powers Resolution.
(2) Applicability of other requirements.--Nothing in this
joint resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers
Resolution.</blockquote>

Now see 8(a)(1) of War Powers Act:

<blockquote> SEC. 8. (a)
Authority to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations wherein involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances shall not be inferred--

(1)
from any provision of law (whether or not in effect before the date of the enactment of this joint resolution), including any provision contained in any appropriation Act, '''unless such provision specifically authorizes the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities''' or into such situations and stating that it is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of this joint resolution</blockquote>

It also cites section 5(b):

<blockquote>SEC. 5. (b)
Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1), whichever is earlier, the President shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces with respect to which such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United States. Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more than an additional thirty days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.</blockquote>

Seeing as HJ Res 114, "specifically authorizes the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities" It is obvious this resolution fulfills the War Powers Act. Seems you stopped short of the important parts ... Also what you quoted states that Congress has stated in HJ Res 114 "The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary" the reasons which are stated above are those reasons. IT seems as though you made the argument for me that in fact HJ Res 114's stated reasons are in fact that casus belli, all of them, as HJ Res 114 fulfills the role of Section 8 (a)(1) of the War Powers Act of 1973.

You keep stating talking points in press releases and CNN interpretation and explaination of what things mean. I am giving you the transcript of the actual speech Bush had in front of the UN, something you totally ignored, and the actual HJ Res 114 and now --] 22:59, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Further:
Sec 3 Authorization for use of United States Armed Forces (a)Authorization (2) "enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq"

That includes the following 661 (1990) 678 (1990) 686 (1991) 687 (1991) 688 (1991) 707 (1991) 715 (1991) 986 (1995) 1284 (1999) 1382 (2001)

All those resolutions were broken by Saddam, all of those the US can enforce. Further more Resolution 1441 states the following in Paragraph 4:

<blockquote>
"Recalling that its resolution 678 authorized Member States to use all necessary means to uphold and implement its resolution 660"
</blockquote>

On top of that Resolution 1441 gave Iraq 30 days from the date of its passing, November 11, 2002 to comply fully by disclosing all of its documents, something it failed to do ... --] 23:18, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Also see ] as to what a Declaration of War is, and how a Congressional Resolution has been used to fulfill the War Powers Act before. It gives a history of it and Congress passed the War Powers Act to fill a formal declarations of wars role. --] 23:24, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

:'''Again,''' The "Whereas" sections are not a list of reasons to go to war with Iraq. Is this: ''"Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism"'': a reason to invade Iraq? '''No.''' "Whereas" means "inasmuch as", or "it being the fact that". It does '''not''' mean "We are invading Iraq because..."; You should know that because HJ Res 114 was made in October 2002 about '''6 months''' before the invasion. How could HJ Res 114 be saying '''Why''' the US is invading Iraq when the invasion is 6 months away? What happened between HJ Res 114 and the invasion according to Bush: ''"The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament."'' Again, it should be '''clear''' ''why'' the US is invading Iraq.

:''Even if'' it was a list of reasons to invade Iraq 10 of the total 24 "Whereas"'s are about WMD and another 6 are just "Whereas"'s stating that the President has the authority to do so-and-so. This is just like when you tried to argue "casus belli" is a specific technical term instead of just a latin phrase. I seperate out what exactly HJ Res 114 authorizes and '''Why''': ''"to enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq"'' (IE this part ''"Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 678.....to compel Iraq to cease certain activities that threaten international peace and security, including the development of weapons of mass destruction and refusal or obstruction of United Nations weapons inspections in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (1991),")''. And you come back with "You just proved my point that HJ Res 114 really is a declaration of war! You should read ]!". When I just pointed out to you that the US hasn't declared war since WW2 and that the closest thing to a declaration of war is this '''Ultimatum''': and the subsequent follow-up: , ''the day of the invasion''. Simply put, the preamble of an authorization to use force 6 months before an invasion is not a list of reasons to invade Iraq. And an ultimatum and follow-up is as close to an official declaration of war that the ] got. -- ] 02:14, 20 May 2006 (UTC)



I am going to adress your points as I find them:

1)The "Whereas" sections are not a list of reasons to go to war with Iraq
::Where you see the statement "Whereas" these are what are called "finding of fact." The government is stating that following statements are considered facts by itself. It is saying basically that Congress has reviewed the evidence and finds these to be true. You understand this I see because you refer to them yourself as "it being the fact that." Legal documents do not simply say "I am attacking you because XYZ." Whereas statements, findings of facts is the way in which Congress states what it has found to be factual.

2)You should know that because HJ Res 114 was made in October 2002
::This is in fact correct. This is why I pasted the part pertaining to the War Powers Act of 1973. In HJ Res 114 Congress included below the part you pasted. I want you to take notice of the part pertaining to SECTION 5(b). First I will paste the part of HJ Res 114, then below the War Powers Act of 1973, so you can understand the timing issue. HJ Res 114 calls SECTION 5(b) of the War Powers Act of 1973 because that section in the War Powers Act states that Congress can extend the ruling every 60 days or the president can end the ruling if he chooses before 60 days. HJ Res 114 does not have a time limit in that it can be extended in definatly as long as Congress agrees.

<blockquote> '''HJ Res 114'''<br> (c) War Powers Resolution Requirements.--
(1) Specific statutory authorization.--Consistent with
section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress
declares that this section is intended to constitute specific
statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of
the War Powers Resolution.<br>
(2) Applicability of other requirements.--Nothing in this
joint resolution supersedes any requirement of the War Powers
Resolution.</blockquote>

<blockquote>'''War Powers Act of 1973''' <br> SEC. 5. (b)
Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted or is required to be submitted pursuant to section 4(a)(1), whichever is earlier, the President shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces with respect to which such report was submitted (or required to be submitted), unless the Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United States. Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more than an additional thirty days if the President determines and certifies to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces.</blockquote>

3)Even if it was a list of reasons to invade Iraq 10 of the total 24 "Whereas"'s are about WMD and another 6 are just "Whereas"'s stating that the President has the authority to do so-and-so
:I decided to do a talley since you simply contending that most of the entries reffer to WMD's. I took entries regarding the following categories: WMD, Kuwait (persian gulf neighbors), POW's, Terrorism, Human Rights, Threat to US. Of those 2 related to Human Rights violations, 9 related to WMD's, 12 related to terrorism, 5 to Persian Gulf safety, 1 to POW's, and 2 to direct threats to the US. So terrorism and WMD's actually get about equal mention, with terrorism actually coming slightly ahead. I fear in your counting if it said WMD's and another reason, you simply counted it as WMD's. So your official count actually quite a spectrum of reasons

4)"to enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq"
:This section is titled "SUPPORT FOR UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS" and you highlight it without going further where it states in the section titled "AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES" where it states
<blockquote>"The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and
appropriate in order to--(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." </blockquote>
If you read Resolution 1441 you would see one of the first thing it states is:
<blockquote>"Recalling that its resolution 678 authorized Member States to use all necessary means to uphold and implement its resolution 660"</blockquote>
Resolution 678 does not say the United Nations Security Council needs to be consulted. It says all "Member States" are authorized to use "all necessary means" to uphold that resolution. Furthermore unlike HJ Res 114 which directs to the War Powers Act of 1973 extending its valid time, Resolution 1441 states its only valid for 30 days and after those 30 days they will meet again, however 3 nations decided before they met again that they would not vote for more resolutions. In effect when the United States went to war they were in fact not under the guidance of Res 1441 as its time had expired. The resolution was made on Nov 8th and expired Dec 8th.

5)Simply put, the preamble of an authorization to use force 6 months before an invasion is not a list of reasons to invade Iraq. And an ultimatum and follow-up is as close to an official declaration of war that the ] got.
:Unfortunatly if you look at the article ] you would see that they are not given verbally. Furthermore you will see that on that same article that Congress has in fact replaced "Declaration of War" documents with "Joint Resolutions." No nation has actually used a "formal declaration of war" since the close of WW2, not just the US, nations do not declare war in that fashion anymore. The real issue however is your claim keeps changing, first it was Powell in front of the UN as that is telling the world the reasons. I then give you a link to Bush speaking in front of the UN stating his reasons for war, and you now change your standard for determining "declaration of war." However I have already covered that a press release is not a declaration of war. Just to finalize this point the section of Misplaced Pages for ] states the following in regard to "Authorization of Force":
<blockquote>Frequently used as an alternative to a declaration of war, authorized use of force is often used to avoid traditional barriers to the initiation of combat. Typically a full declaration must be ratified by various legislative bodies, but 'authorized use of force' may allow an elected head of state to directly initiate forceful action without further consultation. In addition, with declarations of war being increasingly regulated by international bodies, 'authorized use of force' can often be used to avoid some of the negative consequences of a declaration.

Authorized use of force is relatively common among democratic societies. The United States, for instance, has been directly involved in military activities in every decade of the latter half of the twentieth century yet has not declared war formally since World War II.</blockquote>

Please let me know if I missed any of your concerns or if you have further ones I can answer. --] 03:04, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::: You are now talking about the legal justification for war. Between the resolution authorising members sates to use force against iraq and the resolution 1441 that the 'Coalition of the Willing' use as legal justification of the war, there is the resolution detailing the 'ceasefire' placing obligations on iraq and arguably on member states. The nations that passed the resolutions themselves disagree on their meaning and interpretation... Goodness. Given the state of interenational law, the greatest legal minds in the world could argue this one either way for decades. Such a discussion is beyond the scope of a encyclopedia article. ] 10:15, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

==Archive?==

This talk page badly needs to be archived. 230 KB.] <sub>|</sub><sup>|</sup><sub>|</sub> ] 14:24, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

:I support archiving I guess certain discussions can just be brought up again such as working to NPOV this article. --] 15:58, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

==Regarding failed security council resolution==
I am having a bit of trouble understanding the change made to the second paragraph stating:
<blockquote>"After the failure to get a United Nations Security Council resolution supporting military action against Iraq"</blockquote>
Can anyone confirm a second resolution was ever voted on after Res 1141. I am seeing by a search that the next resolution voted on was "Security Council resolution 1443 (2002) " which had nothing to do with asking for war. You can see a listing of its resolutions relating to Iraq by going and specifying your search criteria. Perhaps I missed something, can the user who added the changes please specify if you have a link to a resolution I may be missing. Thank you --] 15:57, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
:As the US and UK already knew from the bugs they had placed in their fellow council members' offices - and as everyone could know from the press - the resolution had no chance to pass and was thus withdrawn. ] 00:47, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
::That means it is inaccurate to claim the resolution failed. --] 04:36, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
:::A resolution withdrawn due to obvious hopelessness to get it passed has failed. But even if you disagree, the text does not say the resolution failed. The text says the US failed to get a resolution, which is definitely correct. ] 01:26, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
::::Its false, you can't fail to get something you didnt ask for. If you look up the history at the UN website, no resolution was in fact ever asked for or voted on. --] 01:30, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
::::Withdrawn resolutions carry the #, so provide it and you will convince us that a resolution was asked for. Right now you are going against the concensus here that a resolution was ever asked for and are not citing a source regarding it. --] 01:39, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
::::You have 24 hours to provide a source, the prelude section says Powell went before the UN, not that a resolution was put forward. Resolutions are documents a member nation submits and gets voted on. Its not simply asking for something. So if such a resolution exists as you claim it will have a resolution # after 1441 and before 1445. Please state it and link to the UN website. Else I am afraid you are mistaken. PS even withdrawn resolutions would carry a #. --] 01:41, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::Just look at our own article if you do not know what everyone could get from the media: ] February 25. Why not just look it up instead of starting an edit war? ] 01:43, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
::::::Please cite your sources, you cannot use wikipedia articles to justify wikipedia articles without further sources ]. Please provide a security council resolution number. Thank you --] 01:46, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::Don't be bitchy, just google for it. Everyone knows they tried to get a resolution. ] 01:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::Ok, ten seconds, first one was on the previous resolution: ] 01:58, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::Wrong resolution. November 6th is the date there. That is resolution 1441 which was later passed on November 8th. --] 02:00, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::Please stop throwing out links and read them. That article is saying Russia will veto any resolution, does not say a resolution was voted on or withdrawn. Once again please cite your sources as per ]. --] 02:02, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

:::::::::Oh sure, Russia just said so for fun, there actually was no resolution they wanted to veto, they just wanted to point out that they had the right to veto if there was one. Why do you edit articles on topics you do not even know the most basic facts about? ] 02:05, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::::Once again your cite does not list a resolution that was voted on or withdrawn instead it cites that a resolution was once in its early form as a draft. Also France after the first resolution said they would not support further resolutions, before talk of a 2nd one existed. Russia was simply stating they would not support further action by the UN SC. Please cite the resolution number or an article stating what the UN SC vote was. --] 02:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

:::::::::::Zero, just stop the ludicrous endless argueing especially given that you know full well what Anon is talking about. If the US hadn't been attempting to get UN endorsement for the ] Powell never would have even bothered to attempt to persuade them. -- ] 02:20, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::::::Then you are in fact siding with me that what Anoranza is writing is factually incorrect and also are admitting no resolution was ever asked for or voted on or withdrawn. Hence the resolution could not have failed. If Anoranza wants to contend that one was withdrawn they can point out the Resolution # which is searchable via the UN website so it can be confirmed and cited. If they want to contend it was failed, then we need a Resolution # that states the votes in opposition. Please read ] We cannot simply use other wikipedia articles that also do not cite sources. --] 03:13, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
:::::::::::::See source: . And no not every single sentence in an article needs to be sourced. Many should be common-sense or self-evident or at least should be to most people. -- ] 03:17, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

::::::::::::::You are making a substantial claim that can be seen to be in contention, it should be sourced. Furthermore your link doesnt state that a resolution was put before the security council or was withdrawn. Please read sources before submitting them as citations. Please provide a Resolution # if you as well feel the resolution was withdrawn or voted against so we can cross reference it with all the resolutions on the UN website to confirm its legitimacy. --] 03:24, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

:::::::::::::::''"U.S. and British officials said they believe the resolution may get the necessary votes and avoid a veto. For the resolution to pass, nine votes are needed. Only four appear guaranteed: the United States, Britain, Spain and Bulgaria. Permanent Security Council members France, Russia and China could veto the proposal. With Germany and Syria siding with those opposed to the resolution, much attention is being focused on the remaining six council members: Guinea, Cameroon, Angola, Mexico, Chile and Pakistan. All non-permanent members, they're being called the "undecided 6" or "U-6" in U.N. circles."''. Pretty clear what happened, they failed to get enough votes to make a resolution. Please read sources before commenting on them. -- ] 03:29, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
I think you should read up on what a resolution is and the process in which it takes in the United Nations. Resolutions are not "made" depending on votes. They are documents put before the United Nations for votes, when that document is put before the UN for voting it is given a number a designation. If this document wa sput before the UN then it has a number, please provide the number and not a million CNN articles that also do not provide a number and instead elude that a document may exist, may be in a draft form, may be still in its working stages, still being negotiated etc. --] 03:37, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

:You got the link to the text above, if you still don't stop the only thing you can prove is that you are ignorant and not interested in improving the article. You were already told that the resolution was not voted on because it was clear it would not get a majority. The text does not say anywhere that the resolution was voted on or officially withdrawn. Now stop it and apologize. ] 08:31, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


--] (]) 12:02, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
::I will no longer hear arguements from you as your comments toward me above no longer are serving to find a middleground but instead assert your opinion forcefully. The only time I will respond is if you manage to provide a Resolution number for me to reference as all resolutions put before the UN receive a number, or if you decide to admit you cannot fail "at getting a resolution" when its something you submit not something you are given. --] 14:09, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


== Military situation ==
==Iraqi military deaths?==
I think an estimate of Iraqi military deaths would be appropriate on this page.


Since the political impact of the war is stated in the article, shouldn't we also include who won the war in the military situation (If it was Inconclusive or An Operational success for the coalition, etc.)? ] (]) 17:17, 26 September 2024 (UTC)
==Sourcing==
Some sourcing is very poor. For example, this statement:<p>
''Critics cite the press coverage of weapons of mass destruction, and the threat they posed both in Iraqi regime hands, as well as terrorist hands, as being the sole reason given to the public.]''<p>
The two sources are White House press releases. The last time I checked, the White House is not a critic of the policy and therefore can't be used as a source for "Critics."


== Rudeness ==
There are others like this that put Wikipeida readers in the role of "critic" by using primary sources. If you see this please try to find the secondary source that publised the primary sources views. If a suitable source can't be found, the claims should be withdrawn.--] 04:36, 19 May 2006 (UTC)


Stop the rudeness to iran ] (]) 11:32, 2 November 2024 (UTC)
:Those hyperlinks were used to source a previous form of the intro: But ] had a problem with that old version of the intro and started pushing a different intro claiming that WMD were not the main reason for the ]. And so all the sources are screwed up and I've been trying to restore the original intro ever since. Also dealing with a mediation request about this. -- ] 06:08, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
:What rudeness are you talking about? ] (]) 13:20, 2 November 2024 (UTC)


== New draft ==
==Reduced scope and scale is accurate==
Scope and scale is not related to casualites but related to sorties and combat patrols. The Fallujah operation was on the order of the scope and scale of the invasion. Normal day to day combat patrols, combat air sorties and combat recon is way down. Also, it is inaccurate to say the resolutions "failed". 1441 passed and was the basis for the invasion. If you can find the resolution that was withdrawn, that would be acceptable to characterize it as withdrawn. --] 02:50, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
:I too would accept it as withdrawn if a Resolution # can be provided so it can be cross references with the UN website and cited. --] 03:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
:I also agree its reduced size and scope, casualties have gone down on a day by day basis. I would think it would be obvious that comparing 3 days of war to 3 years of occupation that the '''total''' deaths would be higher during the occupation, but the number of casualties daily has gone down. I will try to find a source for this however Monday or perhaps before. --] 03:16, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
Scope and scale clearly refers focus and magnitude of military engagements, not culmulative, to-date casualties. These are well known terms and there need not be confusion on these points. ] 07:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


I have an draft ] beacuse section in this article is too long.
==Casus belli==
This maybe interesting:
:''If it seems that there have been quite a few rationales for going to war in Iraq, that’s because there have been quite a few – 27, in fact, all floated between Sept. 12, 2001, and Oct. 11, 2002, according to a new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.''
] ]<sup><font color="blue">]</font></sup> 10:57, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


The draft is not yet completed. ] (]) 05:17, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
:That seems like a wonderfully fair middleground, I would even support a sentence afterwards stating WMD's was most publicized if that satisfies Mr. Tibbs, nice job Nescio - --] 14:06, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


== Addition of ] to infobox ==
::I wouldn't have any problem with incorporating things from that thesis by saying in the intro ''"5 months after the Sept. 11 attacks the Bush administration began to shift its focus from Osama Bin Laden to Saddam Hussein. The stated reasoning to invade Iraq evolved over time. Between Sept. 12, 2001, and Oct. 11, 2002 many reasons were given such as a "committment to children" and "unfinished business" (See Table:A4 on page 171 of Largio's thesis), some of these reasons were abandoned as time went on, others were not. On March 19, 2003 the US commenced an invasion "to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.""'' Or something like that. If we're looking for weird sources heres one: .
::But this is like talking about what real reason Hitler had for invading Czechoslovakia. And we already have an entire section devoted to possible ulterior motives:. It doesn't solve the dispute about what was the main officially stated reason. The ] of that invasion was "]". The ] of this invasion was WMD/]. I'm going to go ahead and get a vote set up to settle that issue. -- ] 22:42, 20 May 2006 (UTC)


{{U|Ben Azura}}, with , you would readd ] to the infobox. Per ], the infobox is to summarise key facts ''from the article''. They were removed because they are not mentioned in the article - their inclusion is not supported by the article. A link is not a source. Also, ] applies. If an edit is challenged, there is a burden to establish a consensus for inclusion - not just reinstate the challenged material. The material was initially removed with the edit summary: {{tq|Per ] - not supported by body of article}}. Perhaps if you did not understand this (though it appears to be reasonably straight forward) you might have ask for an explanation at the TP. Also note, ]. It is appropriate to initiate a discussion when an edit is reverted - ie it is not WP:BRR. ] (]) 03:17, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
Or we can discuss this without turning it into another popularity contest. ] is defined as "reasons for going to war, as well as its intentions in prosecuting it and the steps that might be taken to avert it." Therefore, your efforts to limit it to one are off base. It is not the "main reason" or the "main publically stated reason" but instead the reasons given as justification. Not every war is going to have the same number of reasons. But we arent talking about every war or other wars, we are talking about the Iraq War, and the authorization of force states several reasons, all of which are inevitably casus belli. We arent talking about "possible ulterior motives" but instead the publically stated, official justifications for war provided by the United States government. ] 06:16, 21 May 2006 (UTC)


:I added Allawi to the article. I thought you could explain if Allawi and Maliki qualify for being commanders for infobox purposes because technically it is during the "Post-Invasion" that they have any responsibility. If Allawi is removed I think Maliki should also be removed. Can you shed some light on this? ] (]) 03:26, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
I have to agree, so far I have been willing to bend on numerous things and Mr. Tibbs has yet to accept any sort of middleground. Misplaced Pages is not a popularity contest and Straw Polls are not binding anyway, furthermore the Straw Poll put into place on previous articles did not have the community finding a concensus on the question being asked, also a violation of the guide to setting up a straw poll in the first place. Futhermore I think I have proven above that WMD's was not the '''only''' ] for going to war, as ] doesn't have to be limited to one reason, if you read the article you keep linking you would see that isreal had numerous cited ] its given in the example. The official definition, which you say you arent using is the "official declaration of war" which I have already shown above how HJ Res 114 is linked to the "War Powers Act of 1973" and is used by congress to declare war as stated in ]. It shows how after the Vietnam War Congress setup the system of War Powers Act to prevent the president from declaring war without the support of congress, in turn Congress authorizes the president to use force via "Authorizations of Force" resolutions. This is also the system "most democratic nations" use according to the article. Now if we are talking about the "occasion of war" then I have already provided a speech by George Bush in front of the UN stating his reasons for war which cover everything in HJ Res 114, and I have also provided numerous quotes by officials stating other reasons then WMD's as well. Even in your links of the ultimatum Bush gives to Iraq before the bombing contains the following quotes:
::Here's how I see it: the Iraq entry should include anyone who held the office of Prime Minister of Iraq (which is the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces and thus is the appropriate office to represent Iraq) during the 2003-2011 period, excluding the Iraqi Governing Council period as it was subordinate to the CPA during that time. As such, following Saddam there are three possible candidates: ], ], and ]. Maliki pretty indisputably qualifies, and there are some weak arguments as to why the other two may not but I personally would include all three. If there's information that needs to be brought into the article in order to get there, it shouldn't be too hard to pull the appropriate sources from their respective articles. ]] <small><sup>Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!</sup></small> 04:19, 19 November 2024 (UTC)


:::{{U|Ben Azura}}, this article is about the war, which extends past the invasion. {{U|Swatjester}}, the guidance is clear. To be included in the infobox, the article needs to evidence they were key or significant. Usually this means more than just a passing mention that they held a particular position. ] (]) 05:26, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
<blockquote>"The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda. "
<br>
"The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other. "
<br>
"We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near. "
<br>
" If Saddam Hussein attempts to cling to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end. In desperation, he and terrorists groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the American people and our friends. These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible. And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed. "
<br>
"With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are strongest. We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities. "
<br>
"Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice, in formal declarations -- and responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide. The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now."
<br>
"Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi people are deserving and capable of human liberty"</blockquote>


== Human Rights Abuses ==
So in using the "ultimatum" the night before invasion as your deduction for ] even though we do have what the US considers a formal declaration of war, you can see numerous ] are mentioned. If you use talks in front of the UN as your way of determining, which you did at first, then you can see from President Bush's speech the same reasons for going to war are again mentioned. Finally if we are using official documents then you have HJ Res 114 which authorizes the president to declare war as Congress states is necessary as part of the War Powers Act of 1973. The US government does not sign formal declarations of war, because Congress institutes a check and balance system preventing the president from declaring war alone. --] 13:21, 21 May 2006 (UTC)


Section update: $42 million in damages were awarded in November 2024 to former prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
:Presidents UN Speech --] 13:25, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
See https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/14/baher_azmy_caci_guantanamo_lawsuit_torture ] (]) 16:43, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 16:43, 15 December 2024

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To-do list for Iraq War: edit·history·watch·refresh· Updated 2014-07-31

Use <s> and </s> (aka. strikeout) when each of these are done:

  • Give full information for references that are currently only links to sources
  • More detail about humanitarian projects throughout the conflict by U.S. troops and private organizations.
  • Remove as much bias as possible and site sources. One example is in the 5th paragraph from the top which starts with "Some U.S. officials accused..." Which officials? Also, the report cited at the end of that sentence is intended to dispel the myth of Iraq's direct connection (the "smoking gun") to Al-Qaida, but the sentence does not address that the report confirms direct connections between Saddam's regime to other terrorist groups and its perception of the West (namely, America) as its enemy. The appearance of bias comes from the omission of the proven fact that the Hussein regime was directly connected to terrorist groups who viewed America as an enemy. (This can be read in the cited source.) This entire Wiki entry comes off as argumentative (arguing that this was a war of agression by Western powers against Iraq) and not as unbiased. This is just one glaring example. Please remove this bias or remove this entry. Thanks.

One thing that I think would be extremely relevant would be a timeline of important events; they have much of the information needed for it in the article itself, but it would be easier to read and comprehend if it was contained in a timeline.

I also think it should clarify whether there are still U.S. troops in Iraq and what their purpose is there if they are still occupying parts of Iraq. --Tarzane (talk) 04:03, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Update/correct civilian casualties. Estimates off by several hundred thousand. Ideally use a source other than a media article.

Section sizes
Section size for Iraq War (74 sections)
Section name Byte
count
Section
total
(Top) 40,976 40,976
Background 6,441 6,441
Pre-war events 18,669 26,463
Opposition to invasion 7,794 7,794
Course of the war 24 131,961
2003: Invasion 13,890 13,890
Post-invasion phase 114 118,047
2003: Beginnings of insurgency 3,438 11,953
Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group 6,638 6,638
Ramadan Offensive 2003 1,877 1,877
Capturing former government leaders 2,800 4,487
Looting of artifacts from Iraqi museums 1,687 1,687
2004: Insurgency expands 7,279 7,279
2005: Elections and transitional government 3,150 3,150
2006: Civil war and permanent Iraqi government 3,922 6,106
Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution 2,184 2,184
2007: US troops surge 4,382 24,893
Planned troop reduction 1,646 1,646
Effects of the surge on security 10,944 10,944
Political developments 2,005 2,005
Tensions with Iran 2,255 2,255
Tensions with Turkey 3,024 3,024
Blackwater private security controversy 637 637
2008: Civil war continues 7,307 24,705
Spring offensives on Shiite militias 2,467 2,467
Congressional testimony 2,113 2,113
Iraqi security forces rearm 3,277 3,277
Status of forces agreement 9,541 9,541
2009: Coalition redeployment 65 10,720
Transfer of the Green Zone 1,513 1,513
Provincial elections 3,692 3,692
Exit strategy announcement 1,531 1,531
Sixth anniversary protests 1,319 1,319
Coalition forces withdraw 1,207 1,207
Iraq awards oil contracts 1,393 1,393
2010: US drawdown and Operation New Dawn 12,725 16,757
Iraqi arms purchases 3,095 3,095
The UN lifts restrictions on Iraq 937 937
2011: US withdrawal 7,883 7,883
Aftermath 17 9,508
Emerging conflict and insurgency 9,491 9,491
Casualties 15 3,392
Casualty estimates 3,377 3,377
Impacts 12 26,135
Economic impact 22 6,435
Financial cost 5,021 5,021
Reparations 661 661
Economic recession in 2021 731 731
Humanitarian impact 26 4,361
Humanitarian crisis 4,335 4,335
Environmental impact 29 7,527
Oil pollution 1,786 1,786
Radioactive contamination 4,493 4,493
Ecosystem destruction 1,219 1,219
Impact on the Global War on Terrorism 6,008 6,008
Impact on geopolitics 1,792 1,792
Criticism 11,584 11,584
Human rights abuses 103 14,871
By Coalition forces and private contractors 6,544 6,544
By insurgent groups 6,710 6,710
By post-invasion Iraqi Government 1,514 1,514
Public opinion on the war 73 8,878
International opinion 5,148 8,805
Iraqi opinion 3,657 3,657
Foreign involvement 26 5,791
Suicide bombers 1,702 1,702
Role of Iran 3,214 3,214
Role of Israel 98 98
Role of Russia 751 751
See also 604 604
Footnotes 30 30
References 30 30
Further reading 4,169 4,169
External links 5,217 5,217
Total 296,050 296,050

Casualty Table

Per the above section, it sounds like it may be useful to migrate some of the infobox fields into the article body. The existing section solely examines Iraqi casualties. Therefore, I propose the addition of a subsection entitled Casualty Overview and, in it, three tables of the form:

Forces Killed Missing/Captured Wounded
Force1 X dead Y missing Z Wounded
... ... ... ...
Total XX YY ZZ

There would be one table each for Coalition, Iraqi, and civilian casualties. This would allow us to make a single, high-level figure for the "Casulaties" section of the infobox, provide more detail in a piped link, and also direct the reader toward the article on casualties if desired. We'll also need to revamp the citations currently used in infobox; currently it's a lot of tabulation of values with bare URLs, which I think we can do better on.

Thoughts? EducatedRedneck (talk) 15:30, 23 October 2023 (UTC)

Looks to be a good place to start. Cinderella157 (talk) 08:52, 25 October 2023 (UTC)

Alright, since I got that encouragement and no objections, here's a first stab at the Coalition Casualties Table:

Coalition Casualties
Force Killed Missing/Captured Wounded
Iraqi security forces (post-Saddam) 17,690 40,000+
Coalition forces 4,821 (4,421 US, 179 UK, 139 other) (US): 17 (9 died in captivity, 8 rescued) 32,776+ (32,292 US, 315 UK, 210+ other)
Contractors 3,650 43,880
Awakening Councils 1,002+ 500+ (2007), 828 (2008)
Total 27,163 117,961

Something I didn't know how to categorize was this category in the coalition forces part:

Injured/diseases/other medical*: 51,139 (47,541 US, 3,598 UK)

Some problems with this table: As mentioned above, the sources are a mess. I suggest we put in the casualties section each of those year-by-year figures, summing to a total, and put each year's reference there. Then the table can make do without a reference, as it's only summarizing the article body.

I also note that some of the "sources" are, aside from being bare URLS, just links to Google Docs. We'll have to look more closely and purge the ones which aren't reliable.

Thoughts? EducatedRedneck (talk) 00:30, 26 October 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for this. Two thoughts: (1) I'd be hesitant about taking too much out of the infobox; we should probably end up with more than "a single, high-level figure for the "Casualties" section of the infobox" (depending on exactly what you mean by that). (2) This work ought to take account of Casualties of the Iraq War and vice versa. Furius (talk) 11:36, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
Thank you for the feedback! In order, (1) That's valid. I was thinking the casualties in the infobox would have something like, "Coalition-allied: X killed, Y Wounded", "Iraqui-allied: M killed, N wounded", and "See #Casualties" in a similar grouping to the current infobox. Is that still stripping out too much detail? (2) I agree emphatically. When I get more time, I might see about gathering some legitimate sources from that article to replace some of this mess. EducatedRedneck (talk) 14:59, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
It looks like (2) will probably be a two-way process, so I applaud you for the undertaking! On (1) I agree that killed and wounded is enough. I think it would be important to keep the Iraqi security forces and Awakening separate, but that coalition and contractors can probably be merged, and that we should probably retain "detainees" on the insurgents' side. "Documented deaths from violence" can probably be reduced to a single range. "Statistical estimates" is tricky; getting rid of them entirely seems wrong, but the range of different estimates is so huge (151,000-1,033,000) and that range represents some very different methodologies. Furius (talk) 18:43, 26 October 2023 (UTC)
I took a look at the Casualties of the Iraq War article, and oh boy. It also has some majorly messed up citations. I think you're right that it's going to be a two-way street. Given the subject matter of that article, I'm thinking I should start refining that one first, have the more detailed discussions there, and once we have some presentable sections, copy (with attribution) them over to this article. @Furius, would you be willing to take a look from time to time? I'm still pretty new at this, so I'd appreciate an experienced editor's eyes on it to help me avoid mistakes.EducatedRedneck (talk) 14:10, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
Yes, these kinds of specific current event articles are often this. I'm absolutely happy to act as a sounding board as you improve the article (it's actually quite important that articles like this be reliable), but note that I'm in no way a subject expert, so it might also be worth dropping a line to the relevant wikiproject from time to time. Furius (talk) 16:17, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
(what you say about your planned approach is very sensible, imo) Furius (talk) 16:18, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
  1. 260 killed in 2003, 15,196 killed from 2004 through 2009 (with the exceptions of May 2004 and March 2009), 67 killed in March 2009, 1,100 killed in 2010, and 1,067 killed in 2011, thus giving a total of 17,690 dead
  2. "Iraq War" (PDF). US Department of State. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  3. The US DoD and the DMDC list 4,505 US fatalities during the Iraq War. In addition to these, two service members were also previously confirmed by the DoD to have died while supporting operations in Iraq, but have been excluded from the DoD and DMDC list. This brings the total of US fatalities in the Iraq War to 4,507.
  4. "Fact Sheets | Operations Factsheets | Operations in Iraq: British Fatalities". Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  5. "Operation Iraqi Freedom". iCasualties. Archived from the original on 21 March 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  6. "POW and MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts". CNN. Retrieved 5 June 2014.; As of July 2012, seven American private contractors remain unaccounted for. Their names are: Jeffrey Ake, Aban Elias, Abbas Kareem Naama, Neenus Khoshaba, Bob Hamze, Dean Sadek and Hussain al-Zurufi. Healy, Jack, "With Withdrawal Looming, Trails Grow Cold For Americans Missing In Iraq", The New York Times, 22 May 2011, p. 6.
  7. "Casualty" (PDF). Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  8. 33 Ukrainians, 31+ Italians, 30 Bulgarians, 20 Salvadorans, 19 Georgians, Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine 18 Estonians, 14+ Poles, 15 Spaniards, Archived 2 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine 10 Romanians, 6 Australians, 5 Albanians, 4 Kazakhs, 3 Filipinos, and 2 Thais, for a total of 210+ wounded
  9. ^ Many official US tables at "Military Casualty Information" Archived 3 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. See latest totals for injury, disease/other medical Archived 2 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Casualties in Iraq".
  11. ^ iCasualties.org (was lunaville.org). Benicia, California. Patricia Kneisler, et al., "Iraq Coalition Casualties" Archived 21 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "Defence Internet Fact Sheets Operations in Iraq: British Casualties" Archived 14 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine. UK Ministry of Defense. Latest combined casualty and fatality tables Archived 4 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. "Human Costs of U.S. Post-9/11 Wars: Direct War Deaths in Major War Zones | Figures | Costs of War".
  14. ^ "Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) – Defense Base Act Case Summary by Nation". US Department of Labor. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  15. ^ T. Christian Miller (23 September 2009). "US Government Private Contract Worker Deaths and Injuries". Projects.propublica.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  16. 185 in Diyala from June 2007 to December 2007, 4 in assassination of Abu Risha, 25 on 12 November 2007, Archived 14 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine 528 in 2008, Archived 10 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine 27 on 2 January 2009, 13 on 16 November 2009,"Thirteen anti-Qaeda tribe members killed in Iraq – France 24". Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011. 15 in December 2009, 100+ from April to June 2010, 52 on 18 July 2010, total of 1,002+ dead Archived 18 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Moore, Solomon; Oppel, Richard A. (24 January 2008). "Attacks Imperil U.S.-Backed Militias in Iraq". The New York Times.
  18. Greg Bruno. "Finding a Place for the 'Sons of Iraq'". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  19. "Global War on Terrorism – Operation Iraqi Freedom March 19, 2003 Through May 31, 2011 By Casualty Category Within Service" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

My question is this: If the United States wanted to show Saddam Hussein we were not playing games, isn't it sufficient that we went to war with him in the Gulf War "Operation Desert Shield August 1990-January 1991" and "Operation Desert Storm January 1991-April 1991"? There were also numerous airstrikes against Iraq from the time he threatened George Bush in January 1993 onward. The No-Fly Zone should have been enough to keep the Iraqi military in check, since Saddam was effectively unable to invade either Kuwait or Iran. The Coalition War against Iraq also never officially ended, since in the United States you are an Iraq War veteran if you served in the Gulf War, the No-Fly Zone conflict, or the Invasion of Iraq any time between August 1990 and the present. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.242.176.66 (talk) 16:59, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

"Second Persian Gulf War"

Greetings, @Swatjester. To avoid confusion, we should stick to the more widely recognized name, "Iraq War". In case you were unaware, the Iran–Iraq War was known as the First Gulf War, while the Gulf War of 1990–1991 was in fact also known as the Second Gulf War. If we were to follow this naming convention, the Iraq War should be called the "Third Gulf War", but that term isn't widely used. This inconsistency is the issue at hand. Omitting this WP:FRINGE name entirely might be the best solution to address this problem. Skitash (talk) 10:55, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

I disagree, I think it is more widely known as the Iraq war. Slatersteven (talk) 11:00, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
I strongly disagree with that. The WP:FRINGE claim here is in fact that the Iran-Iraq War is widely known as the First Gulf War, which is really isn't. That claim is completely unsourced in the Iran-Iraq War article, and sourced only to a single Iraqi journal article in the Gulf War article. It's not widely used otherwise, and I've never seen it used outside of Iraqi or Iranian sources. In contrast, the phrase "Second Gulf War" *is* widely used worldwide to refer to the Iraq War. So if the purpose is to avoid inconsistency, the actual change should be removing the fringe naming from the Iran-Iraq War article, not this one. SWATJester 14:04, 12 July 2024 (UTC)
If there's not going to be any further discussion, I'll be re-introducing the "Second (Persian) Gulf War" alternative name here -- the Gulf War article already attributes the various alternative names adequately enough so I'll see if there's any language that can be cribbed from there to improve the presentation of naming history here. SWATJester 22:22, 13 July 2024 (UTC)
Actually, the operations inside Iraq by Coalition Forces (CF) are known collectively as "Operation Iraqi Freedom" (OIF) which is a theater of operations within a wider war known as the "Global War on Terror" (GWOT). The operations by CF within Iraq and Afghanistan are not two separate wars and should not be labeled that way, just as we do not label the various theaters of operation during WWII as the European war, African war, and Pacific war. Incidentally, the operations inside Afghanistan by CF after September 11, 2001 were known collectively as "Operation Enduring Freedom." Dougjaso (talk) 19:06, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
That's simply not correct as a matter of common usage nor historical usage. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are absolutely two different wars; they are not comparable to the WWII theaters of operation, as Iraq and Afghanistan were not allies of each other. Additionally, Operation Enduring Freedom is not the same thing as the war in Afghanistan -- it specifically covers the period from 2001-2014 but also includes actions in the Phillipines (OEF-P) and the horn of Africa (OEF-HOA). SWATJester 19:29, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

PP

Will we need to ask for page protection if the wp:disruption gets too much? Slatersteven (talk) 10:53, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

suggest we need a section on "political impact"

I feel the article realy needs a section on "political impact", meaning the notable political reactions recently to the Iraq War, specifically the highly important consensus in the USA, from both parties that this war was highly negative. this includes statements by George W Bush himself, indicating this. i tried to add some sources data to the article on this, and was asked to open a section on the talk page. i would welcome the chance to discuss this. thanks. Sm8900 (talk) 16:02, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

For a start, why is what Vance or Trump think is important, the war ended in 2011, and why were you referring to something We said in 2023? Also much of this is already covered, in the sections about legality and the criticisms section. Slatersteven (talk) 16:16, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
"why is what what trump or vance thinks important." amazing. this is an encylopeida. staements by national leaders are notable. this is a major gigantic historical event. the later reactions by major national leaders is a notable and important way to address this issue. Sm8900 (talk) 16:28, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
i would gently suggest that if you are seriously asking me why the statements of a president of the US are important, then that takes us too close to being a reddit forum, rather than wikipedia. could we please discuss this as an encyclopedia. i'm sorry, but that reply seems a bit unreasonable to me. i never thought Id hear a response like that here. hoo boy. ok, i do thank you for engaging. Sm8900 (talk) 16:30, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
obviously it seems that you own this article, so I don't wish to disrupt things with my own reasonable ideas. if that's the consensus here, then there is not much chance of altering it. i do appreciate your replies. thanks. Sm8900 (talk) 16:32, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
But he was not president at the time, of the invasion, or the withdrawal, thus his views had no relevance to its outcome or prosecution. and read wp:AGF. Slatersteven (talk) 16:33, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
ok. i appreciate your reply. my point is very simple. i am referring to the political impact in all the years after, right up to the present day. so my whole point was the reaction of major notable national leaders,duuring the entire time period after the war ended. again, including any and all years, right up to the date today.
so any and all presidents since then have some relevance, but especially the views of the president from the same party as george w bush himself. Sm8900 (talk) 17:30, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
An impact means it has had an effect, not that people have an opinion on it, so any RS say this has an impact on Trumps election? Slatersteven (talk) 17:32, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
"political impact " specifically and explictly means a change in the political discourse, landscape, or nature of beliefs or opinions on each side of the political spectrum. so thats why i labeled the section "political impact." by the way i want to thank you, for being a good sport and being willingg to fully discuss here., Sm8900 (talk) 17:36, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

Time for others to chip is as we are badgering the process. Slatersteven (talk) 17:37, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

ok, thats totally fair. Sm8900 (talk) 17:52, 8 August 2024 (UTC)
  • The text that was added and reverted was wrong at many levels. The subject would be better described as political legacy. As such, it is part of the aftermath. If we are going to include detail on this, we should be relying on how this is assessed in good quality sources. The shallowness of the text is unencyclopedic. The text added draws on quotes etc that come very close to being primary sources and therefore, sailing close to WP:OR. A lot of the subject is also woven into other sections of the article. Without considering the article as a whole, tacking on a new section makes the article disjointed. Cinderella157 (talk) 02:26, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
    the sources you are referring to do not exist. it is obvious you are skewing away from reflecting the clear consensus amongst politicians, which is what the whole section was about. you obviously would like to lean towards peer-reviewed journals, in order to get the views of noted academics and historians on the entire topic. so you are choosing to somwhat sidestep the point of the proposed idea, and then disagreeing with it on that basis. Sm8900 (talk) 13:50, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
    every article on the website uses news articles. that is not what WP:OR means. you are sailing close to not knowing what a core principle means, and using it to oppose some possible good ideas for editing here. Sm8900 (talk) 13:51, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
    if we can't get consensus on this, then i may open an rfc. Sm8900 (talk) 13:52, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
    from, WP:OR:
    A primary source may be used on Misplaced Pages only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge. For example, an article about a musician may cite discographies and track listings published by the record label, and an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source.
    ...A primary source may be used on Misplaced Pages only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge. For example, an article about a musician may cite discographies and track listings published by the record label, and an article about a novel may cite passages to describe the plot, but any interpretation needs a secondary source. Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself; instead, refer to reliable secondary sources that do so.
    --Sm8900 (talk) 14:06, 9 August 2024 (UTC)
    The text that would be added makes no coherent case or argument. It has no clear theme, thesis or point. It does not show an analysis. This would require secondary sources - preferably of good quality. That would then be encyclopedic content. Research is the analysis of primary material. Drawing together the data is the first step in research. The added text alludes to a thesis, which, if stated, would be OR (where the thesis does not exist in sources). But without this, the text lacks the cohesion and substance that would make it encyclopedic. If the thesis is not presented in sources, it probably isn't noteworthy - or perhaps it hasn't been found. Either way, the addition as made isn't supported. Cinderella157 (talk) 00:17, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
    How do you know? Have you already read the text you are mentioning? (My impression is rather that it hasn't even been written yet, but then your criticism would make no sense.) Gawaon (talk) 11:22, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
    yes, i already wrote it, and then it was removed. Sm8900 (talk) 11:58, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
    Thanks! It would probably be good to add sources to the lead sentence of that text, as well as of each subsection, to avoid the impression that it could be OR and based on a one-sided selection of sources. Otherwise the text reads fine to me, though some copyediting is needed and I would shorten the long quote in the UK section. Gawaon (talk) 12:11, 10 August 2024 (UTC)
    And yes, I had read the text before making my comments. Cinderella157 (talk) 01:56, 11 August 2024 (UTC)
    ok, i changed the first paragraph to be less generalized and broad. Sm8900 (talk) 23:13, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

proposed text

here is the proposed text:

Political impact

The overall consensus amongst most of the world community was that the Iraq War was a mistake and was detrimental to the world. at the start of the war, there were signifcant objections from major leaders and governmental entities. For example, on January 29, 2003, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution opposing unilateral military action against Iraq by the United States. According to the resolution, "a pre-emptive strike would not be in accordance with international law and the UN Charter and would lead to a deeper crisis involving other countries in the region".

Some of the most noteworthy changes in later political consensus on the war was in major countries which participated, notably the United States.

United States

By 2016, the public consensus in both major parties of the United States was that the Iraq War was based on invalid reasons, did not accomplish anything positive, and was highly detrimental. George W Bush admitted in his 2010 memoir Decision Points: “The reality was that I had sent American troops into combat based in large part on intelligence that proved false … No one was more shocked or angry than I was when we didn’t find the weapons. I had a sickening feeling every time I thought about it. I still do.”

During the 2016 debates, Donald Trump frequently stated the invasion was totally wasteful and did not produce any useful results. When Jeb Bush seemed to defend the Iraq War in 2016, he was widely criticized, and had to reverse his answer, saying, "“Knowing what we know now I would not have engaged—I would not have gone into Iraq,”

The Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in 2024, JD Vance, labled the Iraq invasion as disastrous.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, public opinion on the war was very negative.

One article in 2023 noted:

By then it was already obvious that the choice to go to war had turned into one of the most controversial decisions taken by a post-1945 British prime minister, but Campbell could not have foreseen how deeply British politics was to be shaped by Iraq over the next 20 years. It was to tear at successive Labour leaders, weaken the intelligence agencies and paralyse the process of authorising the use of force overseas.

Rather than prompt a sober re-examination of the true influence UK prime ministers had on US administrations, it instead took Britain further from the centre of Europe. ...the Iraq war was a different order of scandal; politicians were not caught with their trousers down or fingers in the expenses till, but instead allegedly doctoring the truth in an attempt to justify war.

References

  1. "Situation in Iraq". Europarl.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  2. [On the Iraq war, Jeb Bush had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week,, by Ben Jacobs May 15, 2015, UK Guardian.
  3. Donald Trump, Jeb Bush spar over Bush family legacy, By Reena Flores, February 13, 2016, CBS News.
  4. Trump Goes Code Pink on George W. Bush: The Republican front-runner echoes Democratic talking points on 9/11, Iraq and Bin Laden By Michael grunwald, February 14, 2016, Politico.
  5. Jeb Bush Reverses Himself: ‘I Would Not Have Gone Into Iraq’, BY ZEKE J MILLER, MAY 14, 2015, Time Magazine.
  6. How Jeb Bush Triggered an Iraq War Watershed, By Josh Marshall, May 14, 2015 Talking Points Memo.
  7. JD Vance Criticizes Biden’s Support for Iraq War in 2003 But Pushes Hawkish Policy on China & Iran, Demcracy Now. July 18, 2024.
  8. How Iraq war destroyed UK’s trust in politicians and left Labour in turmoil. Tony Blair’s decision to invade tore at successive Labour leaders and weakened the intelligence services. by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor, 20 Mar 2023.


--Sm8900 (talk) 12:02, 10 August 2024 (UTC)

Military situation

Since the political impact of the war is stated in the article, shouldn't we also include who won the war in the military situation (If it was Inconclusive or An Operational success for the coalition, etc.)? Ali aj809 (talk) 17:17, 26 September 2024 (UTC)

Rudeness

Stop the rudeness to iran 78.150.125.128 (talk) 11:32, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

What rudeness are you talking about? Slatersteven (talk) 13:20, 2 November 2024 (UTC)

New draft

I have an draft Draft:Course of the Iraq War beacuse section in this article is too long.

The draft is not yet completed. BangladeshiStranger🇧🇩 (talk) 05:17, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Addition of Ayad Allawi to infobox

Ben Azura, with this edit, you would readd Ayad Allawi to the infobox. Per WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE, the infobox is to summarise key facts from the article. They were removed because they are not mentioned in the article - their inclusion is not supported by the article. A link is not a source. Also, WP:ONUS applies. If an edit is challenged, there is a burden to establish a consensus for inclusion - not just reinstate the challenged material. The material was initially removed with the edit summary: Per WP:INFOBOXPURPOSE - not supported by body of article. Perhaps if you did not understand this (though it appears to be reasonably straight forward) you might have ask for an explanation at the TP. Also note, WP:BRD. It is appropriate to initiate a discussion when an edit is reverted - ie it is not WP:BRR. Cinderella157 (talk) 03:17, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

I added Allawi to the article. I thought you could explain if Allawi and Maliki qualify for being commanders for infobox purposes because technically it is during the "Post-Invasion" that they have any responsibility. If Allawi is removed I think Maliki should also be removed. Can you shed some light on this? Ben Azura (talk) 03:26, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
Here's how I see it: the Iraq entry should include anyone who held the office of Prime Minister of Iraq (which is the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces and thus is the appropriate office to represent Iraq) during the 2003-2011 period, excluding the Iraqi Governing Council period as it was subordinate to the CPA during that time. As such, following Saddam there are three possible candidates: Ayad Allawi, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and Nouri al-Maliki. Maliki pretty indisputably qualifies, and there are some weak arguments as to why the other two may not but I personally would include all three. If there's information that needs to be brought into the article in order to get there, it shouldn't be too hard to pull the appropriate sources from their respective articles. SWATJester 04:19, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
Ben Azura, this article is about the war, which extends past the invasion. Swatjester, the guidance is clear. To be included in the infobox, the article needs to evidence they were key or significant. Usually this means more than just a passing mention that they held a particular position. Cinderella157 (talk) 05:26, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Human Rights Abuses

Section update: $42 million in damages were awarded in November 2024 to former prisoners at Abu Ghraib. See https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/14/baher_azmy_caci_guantanamo_lawsuit_torture 2600:1001:B128:A069:C805:F112:660F:A404 (talk) 16:43, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

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