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Iraq War حرب العراق (Arabic) شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish)
Part of the Iraq conflict and the war on terror
Clockwise from top: US troops at Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square
Date 20 March 2003 – 15 December 2011 (2003-03-20 – 2011-12-15) (8 years, 8 months and 26 days) Location Iraq Result Invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 Ba'ath Party-led Iraqi government toppled in May 2003 Iraqi weapons of mass destruction not found Emergence of significant insurgency, rise and fall of al-Qaeda in Iraq January 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election Recognition of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in 2005 Sectarian civil war between 2006 and 2008 Execution of Saddam Hussein in December 2006 United States and coalition forces fail to decisively defeat Iraqi insurgents Withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in 2011 Iraqi government regains control over majority of territory previously occupied by allied United States and coalition forces in Iraq Anti-government insurgency continues following the departure of coalition forces in 2011, escalating into a full-scale war in 2013
Belligerents
First phase (2003)  United States  Iraqi Kurdistan  United Kingdom  Australia Iraqi National Congress  Poland	First phase (2003) Iraq MEK
Second Phase (2003–11)  Iraq  United States  United Kingdom MNF–I (2003–09)  Iraqi Kurdistan Peshmerga Awakening Council	Second Phase (2003–11) Ba'ath loyalists Sunni insurgents Shia insurgents
Commanders and leaders
Nouri al-Maliki George W. Bush Barack Obama Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates Tommy Franks David Petraeus Raymond T. Odierno Tony Blair	Saddam Hussein  Abu Ayyub al-Masri † Muqtada al-Sadr
Strength
Coalition forces (2003) 309,000–584,799  United States: 192,000–466,985 personnel  United Kingdom: 45,000  Australia: 2,000  Poland: 194 Peshmerga: 70,000 Coalition forces (2004–09) 176,000 at peak United States Forces – Iraq (2010–11) 112,000 at activation Security contractors 6,000–7,000 (estimate) Iraqi security forces 805,269 (military and paramilitary: 578,269, police: 227,000) Awakening militias ≈103,000 (2008) Iraqi Kurdistan ≈400,000 (Kurdish Border Guard: 30,000, Peshmerga 75,000)	Iraqi Armed Forces: 375,000 Special Iraqi Republican Guard: 12,000 Iraqi Republican Guard: 70,000–75,000 Fedayeen Saddam: 30,000 Sunni Insurgents ≈70,000 (2007) Al-Qaeda ≈1,300 (2006) Islamic State of Iraq ≈1,000 (2008) Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order ≈500–1,000 (2007)
Casualties and losses
Iraqi security forces (post-Saddam) Killed:17,690 Wounded: 40,000+ Coalition forces Killed: 4,821 (4,421 US, 179 UK, 139 other) Missing/captured (US): 17 (9 died in captivity, 8 rescued) Wounded: 32,776+ (32,292 US, 315 UK, 210+ other) Injured/diseases/other medical*: 51,139 (47,541 US, 3,598 UK) Contractors Killed: 3,650 Wounded & injured: 43,880 Awakening Councils Killed: 1,002+ Wounded: 500+ (2007), 828 (2008) Total dead: 27,163 Total wounded: 117,961	Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600–45,000 Insurgents (post-Saddam) Killed: 26,544+ (2003–11) (4,000 foreign fighters killed by Sep. 2006) Detainees: 12,000 (Iraqi-held, in 2010 only) 119,752 insurgents arrested (2003–2007) Total dead: 34,144–71,544
Documented deaths from violence: Iraq Body Count (2003 – 14 December 2011): 103,160–113,728 civilian deaths recorded and 12,438 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs Associated Press (March 2003 – April 2009): 110,600 Iraqi deaths in total Statistical estimates Lancet survey** (March 2003 – July 2006): 654,965 (95% CI: 392,979–942,636) Iraq Family Health Survey*** (March 2003 – July 2006): 151,000 (95% CI: 104,000–223,000) Opinion Research Business**: (March 2003 – August 2007): 1,033,000 (95% CI: 946,258–1,120,000) PLOS Medicine Study**: (March 2003 – June 2011): 405,000 (60% violent) (95% CI: 48,000–751,000) For more information see Casualties of the Iraq War.
* "injured, diseased, or other medical": required medical air transport. UK number includes "aeromed evacuations". ** Total excess deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc. *** Violent deaths only – does not include excess deaths due to increased lawlessness, poorer healthcare, etc. **** Sukkariyeh, Syria were also affected (2008 Abu Kamal raid).

Part of a series on
Ba'athism
Organizations Arab Ba'ath 1940–1947 Arab Ba'ath Movement 1940–1947 Ba'ath Party 1947–1966 Baath Party (pro-Iraqi) 1968–2003 Baath Party (pro-Syrian) 1966–present
Variants Neo-Ba'athism 1966–2024 Saddamism 1979–2003
People Zaki al-Arsuzi Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar Abdullah Rimawi Wahib al-Ghanim Fuad al-Rikabi Salah Jadid Hafez al-Assad Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Bashar al-Assad Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Literature On the Way of Resurrection The Battle for One Destiny The Genius of Arabic in Its Tongue
History Ba'athist Iraq Ramadan Revolution November 1963 coup d'état 17 July Revolution 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Iran–Iraq War Gulf War UN sanctions Iraq War De-Ba'athification Ba'athist Syria Syrian Committee to Help Iraq 1963 / 1966 coup d'états Corrective Revolution Intervention in Lebanon Syrian occupation of Lebanon Syrian civil war Fall of the Assad regime
Regional organizations Algeria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Bahrain pro-Iraq pro-Syria Egypt pro-Iraq pro-Syria Iraq pro-Iraq pro-Syria Jordan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Kuwait pro-Iraq Lebanon pro-Iraq pro-Syria Libya pro-Iraq Mauritania pro-Iraq pro-Syria Palestine pro-Iraq pro-Syria Sudan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Syria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Tunisia pro-Iraq pro-Syria Yemen pro-Iraq pro-Syria
Splinter groups Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party 1960–1962/63 Socialist Lebanon 1965–1970 Arab Revolutionary Workers Party 1966–present Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party 1970–present Sudanese Ba'ath Party 2002–present
Armed groups Arab Liberation Front Al-Awda Al-Abud Network Jeish Muhammad Rejectionists Snake Party Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation Naqshbandi Army General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries Free Iraqi Army
Related topics Arab nationalism Arab socialism Assadist-Saddamist conflict Nasserism Pan-Arabism Unity, Freedom, Socialism
Politics portal Socialism portal
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The Iraq War (Template:Lang-ar; Template:Lang-ku) was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion of Iraq by the United States-led coalition that overthrew the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the coalition forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. US troops were officially withdrawn in 2011. The United States became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, and the insurgency and many dimensions of the armed conflict are ongoing. The invasion occurred as part of the George W. Bush administration's war on terror following the September 11 attacks.

In October 2002, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution which granted Bush the power to use military force against the Iraqi government. The Iraq War officially began on 20 March 2003, when the US, joined by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, launched a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Shortly following the bombing campaign, US-led forces launched a ground invasion of Iraq. Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as coalition forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba'athist government; Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed three years later. The power vacuum following Saddam's demise, and mismanagement by the Coalition Provisional Authority, led to widespread civil war between Shias and Sunnis, as well as a lengthy insurgency against coalition forces. The United States responded with a build-up of 170,000 troops in 2007. This build-up gave greater control to Iraq's government and military while also giving the United States a greater say in the postwar reconstruction of Iraq. In 2008, President Bush agreed to a withdrawal of all US combat troops from Iraq. The withdrawal was completed under Barack Obama in December 2011.

The United States based most of its rationale for the invasion on claims that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and posed a threat to the United States and its allies. Additionally, some US officials accused Saddam of harbouring and supporting al-Qaeda. However, in 2004 the 9/11 Commission concluded there was no evidence of any relationship between Saddam's regime and al-Qaeda. No stockpiles of WMDs or active WMD program were ever found in Iraq. Bush administration officials made numerous claims about a purported Saddam–al-Qaeda relationship and WMDs that were based on insufficient evidence rejected by intelligence officials. The rationale for the Iraq War faced heavy criticism both domestically and internationally. Kofi Annan, then the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called the invasion illegal under international law, as it violated the UN Charter. The 2016 Chilcot Report, a British inquiry into the United Kingdom's decision to go to war, concluded that not every peaceful alternative had been examined, that the UK and US had undermined the United Nations Security Council in the process of declaring war, that the process of identification for a legal basis of war was "far from satisfactory", and that, these conclusions taken together, the war was unnecessary. When interrogated by the FBI, Saddam Hussein confirmed that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion, although the Iraq Survey Group did find that Saddam had the aim of WMD proliferation and maintained the laboratories and scientists necessary for WMD development.

In the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014. The al-Maliki government enacted policies that alienated the country's previously dominant Sunni minority and worsened sectarian tensions.

The war resulted in 150,000–1,033,000 fatalities. In total, the war caused 100,000 or more civilian deaths – about 61% of the total death count – as well as tens of thousands of military deaths (see estimates below). The majority of deaths occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. Subsequently, the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017, which is considered a domino effect of the invasion and occupation, caused at least 155,000 deaths, in addition to the displacement of more than 3.3 million people within the country. Additionally, the war hampered the domestic popularity and public image of Bush. Furthermore, the international reputation of the United States suffered as a result of the Iraq War. The war also affected the politics of the United Kingdom, curbing the popularity of Blair, leading to his resignation in 2007.

Background

Strong international opposition to the Saddam Hussein regime began following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The international community condemned the invasion, and in 1991 a military coalition led by the United States launched the Gulf War to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Following the Gulf War, the US and its allies tried to keep Saddam Hussein in check with a policy of containment. This policy involved numerous economic sanctions by the UN Security Council; the enforcement of Iraqi no-fly zones declared by the US and the UK to protect the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and Shias in the south from aerial attacks by the Iraqi government, and ongoing inspections to ensure Iraq's compliance with United Nations resolutions concerning Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

The inspections were carried out by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). UNSCOM, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, worked to ensure that Iraq destroyed its chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and facilities.

In the decade following the Gulf War, the United Nations passed 16 Security Council resolutions calling for the complete elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Member states communicated their frustration over the years that Iraq was impeding the work of the special commission and failing to take seriously its disarmament obligations. Iraqi officials harassed the inspectors and obstructed their work, and in August 1998, the Iraqi government suspended cooperation with the inspectors completely, alleging that the inspectors were spying for the US. The spying allegations were later substantiated.

In October 1998, removing the Iraqi government became official US foreign policy with the enactment of the Iraq Liberation Act. The act provided $97 million for Iraqi "democratic opposition organizations" to "establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq." This legislation contrasted with the terms set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, which focused on weapons and weapons programs and made no mention of regime change.

One month after the passage of the Iraq Liberation Act, the US and UK launched a bombardment campaign of Iraq called Operation Desert Fox. The campaign's express rationale was to hamper Saddam Hussein's government's ability to produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, but US intelligence personnel also hoped it would help weaken Saddam's grip on power.

Following the election of George W. Bush as president in 2000, the US moved towards a more aggressive Iraq policy. The Republican Party's campaign platform in the 2000 election called for "full implementation" of the Iraq Liberation Act as "a starting point" in a plan to "remove" Saddam.

Little formal movement towards an invasion occurred until the September 11 attacks although plans were drafted and meetings were held from the first days of his administration.

Pre-war events

Following 9/11, the Bush administration's national security team actively debated an invasion of Iraq. On the day of the attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asked his aides for: "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit Saddam Hussein at the same time. Not only Osama bin Laden." President Bush spoke with Rumsfeld on 21 November and instructed him to conduct a confidential review of OPLAN 1003, the war plan for invading Iraq. Rumsfeld met with General Tommy Franks, the commander of US Central Command, on 27 November to go over the plans. A record of the meeting includes the question "How start?", listing multiple possible justifications for a US–Iraq War. The rationale for invading Iraq as a response to 9/11 has been refuted, as there was no cooperation between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

President Bush began laying the public groundwork for an invasion of Iraq in January 2002 State of the Union address, calling Iraq a member of the Axis of Evil, and saying "The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." Bush said this and made many other dire allegations about the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction despite the fact that the Bush administration knew that Iraq had no nuclear weapons and had no information about whether Iraq had biological weapons. He began formally making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in his 12 September 2002 address to the UN Security Council. However, a 5 September 2002 report from Major General Glen Shaffer revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff's J2 Intelligence Directorate had concluded that the United States' knowledge on different aspects of the Iraqi WMD program ranged from essentially zero to about 75%, and that knowledge was particularly weak on aspects of a possible nuclear weapons program: "Our knowledge of the Iraqi nuclear weapons program is based largely – perhaps 90% – on analysis of imprecise intelligence," they concluded. "Our assessments rely heavily on analytic assumptions and judgment rather than hard evidence. The evidentiary base is particularly sparse for Iraqi nuclear programs." Similarly, the British government found no evidence that Iraq possessed nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq posed no threat to the West, a conclusion British diplomats shared with the US government.

Key US allies in NATO, such as the United Kingdom, agreed with the US actions, while France and Germany were critical of plans to invade Iraq, arguing instead for continued diplomacy and weapons inspections. After considerable debate, the UN Security Council adopted a compromise resolution, UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which authorized the resumption of weapons inspections and promised "serious consequences" for non-compliance. Security Council members France and Russia made clear that they did not consider these consequences to include the use of force to overthrow the Iraqi government. The US and UK ambassadors to the UN publicly confirmed this reading of the resolution.

Resolution 1441 set up inspections by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Saddam accepted the resolution on 13 November and inspectors returned to Iraq under the direction of UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. As of February 2003, the IAEA "found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq"; the IAEA concluded that certain items which could have been used in nuclear enrichment centrifuges, such as aluminum tubes, were in fact intended for other uses. In March 2003, Blix said progress had been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMD had been found.

In October 2002, the US Congress passed the "Iraq Resolution", which authorized the President to "use any means necessary" against Iraq. Americans polled in January 2003 widely favored further diplomacy over an invasion. Later that year, however, Americans began to agree with Bush's plan (see popular opinion in the United States on the invasion of Iraq). The US government engaged in an elaborate domestic public relations campaign to promote the war to its citizens. Americans overwhelmingly believed Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction: 85% said so, even though the inspectors had not uncovered those weapons. By February 2003, 64% of Americans supported taking military action to remove Saddam from power.

On 5 February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the UN to present evidence that Iraq was hiding unconventional weapons. However, despite warnings from the German Federal Intelligence Service and the British Secret Intelligence Service that the source was untrustworthy, Powell's presentation included information based on the claims of Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball", an Iraqi emigrant living in Germany who also later admitted that his claims had been false. Powell also presented evidence alleging Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda. As a follow-up to Powell's presentation, the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Japan, and Spain proposed a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but NATO members like Canada, France, and Germany, together with Russia, strongly urged continued diplomacy. Facing a losing vote as well as a likely veto from France and Russia, the US, the UK, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Australia eventually withdrew their resolution.

In March 2003, the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, Australia, Spain, Denmark, and Italy began preparing for the invasion of Iraq with a host of public relations and military moves. In an address to the nation on 17 March 2003, Bush demanded that Saddam and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, surrender and leave Iraq, giving them a 48-hour deadline.

The UK House of Commons held a debate on going to war on 18 March 2003 where the government motion was approved 412 to 149. The vote was a key moment in the history of the Blair government, as the number of government MPs who rebelled against the vote was the greatest since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. Three government ministers resigned in protest at the war, John Denham, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and the then Leader of the House of Commons Robin Cook.

Opposition to invasion

In October 2002, former US President Bill Clinton warned about the possible dangers of pre-emptive military action against Iraq. Speaking in the UK at a Labour Party conference he said: "As a preemptive action today, however well-justified, may come back with unwelcome consequences in the future... I don't care how precise your bombs and your weapons are when you set them off, innocent people will die." Of 209 House Democrats in Congress, 126 voted against the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, although 29 of 50 Democrats in the Senate voted in favor of it. Only one Republican Senator, Lincoln Chafee, voted against it. The Senate's lone Independent, Jim Jeffords, voted against it. Retired US Marine, former Navy Secretary and future US senator Jim Webb wrote shortly before the vote, "Those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade."

In the same period, Pope John Paul II publicly condemned the military intervention. During a private meeting, he also said directly to George W. Bush: "Mr. President, you know my opinion about the war in Iraq. Let's talk about something else. Every violence, against one or a million, is a blasphemy addressed to the image and likeness of God."

On 20 January 2003, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "we believe that military intervention would be the worst solution". Meanwhile, anti-war groups across the world organized public protests. According to French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the war in Iraq, with demonstrations on 15 February 2003 being the largest. Nelson Mandela voiced his opposition in late January, stating "All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil," and questioning if Bush deliberately undermined the U.N. "because the secretary-general of the United Nations a black man".

In February 2003, the US Army's top general, Eric Shinseki, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it would take "several hundred thousand soldiers" to secure Iraq. Two days later, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the post-war troop commitment would be less than the number of troops required to win the war, and that "the idea that it would take several hundred thousand US forces is far from the mark." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said Shinseki's estimate was "way off the mark," because other countries would take part in an occupying force.

Germany's Foreign Secretary Joschka Fischer, although having been in favor of stationing German troops in Afghanistan, advised Federal Chancellor Schröder not to join the war in Iraq. Fischer famously confronted United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the 39th Munich Security Conference in 2003 on the secretary's purported evidence for Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction: "Excuse me, I am not convinced!" Fischer also cautioned the United States about biting off more than it could chew by assuming that democracy would easily take root post-invasion; "You're going to have to occupy Iraq for years and years, the idea that democracy will suddenly blossom is something that I can't share. … Are Americans ready for this?"

There were serious legal questions surrounding the launching of the war against Iraq and the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war in general. On 16 September 2004, Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said of the invasion "...was not in conformity with the UN Charter. From our point of view, from the Charter point of view, it was illegal."

In November 2008 Lord Bingham, the former British Law Lord, described the war as a serious violation of international law, and accused Britain and the United States of acting like a "world vigilante". He also criticized the post-invasion record of Britain as "an occupying power in Iraq". Regarding the treatment of Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib, Bingham said: "Particularly disturbing to proponents of the rule of law is the cynical lack of concern for international legality among some top officials in the Bush administration." In July 2010, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK Nick Clegg, during PMQs session in Parliament, condemned the invasion of Iraq as "illegal" – though he later clarified that this was a personal opinion, not an official one.

Course of the war

2003: Invasion

The first Central Intelligence Agency team entered Iraq on 10 July 2002. This team was composed of members of the CIA's Special Activities Division and was later joined by members of the US military's elite Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Together, they prepared for an invasion by conventional forces. These efforts consisted of persuading the commanders of several Iraqi military divisions to surrender rather than oppose the invasion, and identifying all the initial leadership targets during very high risk reconnaissance missions.

Most importantly, their efforts organized the Kurdish Peshmerga to become the northern front of the invasion. Together this force defeated Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan before the invasion and then defeated the Iraqi army in the north. The battle against Ansar al-Islam, known as Operation Viking Hammer, led to the death of a substantial number of militants and the uncovering of a chemical weapons facility at Sargat.

At 5:34 am Baghdad time on 20 March 2003 (9:34 pm, 19 March EST) the surprise military invasion of Iraq began. There was no declaration of war. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was led by US Army General Tommy Franks, under the code-name Operation Iraqi Freedom, the UK code-name Operation Telic, and the Australian code-name Operation Falconer. Coalition forces also cooperated with Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the north. Approximately forty other governments, the "Coalition of the Willing", participated by providing troops, equipment, services, security, and special forces, with 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers from Special Forces unit GROM sent to Kuwait for the invasion. The invasion force was also supported by Iraqi Kurdish militia troops, estimated to number upwards of 70,000.

According to General Franks, there were eight objectives of the invasion:

"First, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate, and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture, and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can relate to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can relate to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to representative self-government."

The invasion was a quick and decisive operation encountering major resistance, though not what the US, British and other forces expected. The Iraqi regime had prepared to fight both a conventional and irregular, asymmetric warfare at the same time, conceding territory when faced with superior conventional forces, largely armored, but launching smaller-scale attacks in the rear using fighters dressed in civilian and paramilitary clothes.

Coalition troops launched air and amphibious assaults on the al-Faw Peninsula to secure the oil fields there and the important ports, supported by warships of the Royal Navy, Polish Navy, and Royal Australian Navy. The United States Marine Corps' 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, attached to 3 Commando Brigade and the Polish Special Forces unit GROM, attacked the port of Umm Qasr, while the British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade secured the oil fields in southern Iraq.

The heavy armor of the US 3rd Infantry Division moved westward and then northward through the western desert toward Baghdad, while the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force moved more easterly along Highway 1 through the center of the country, and 1 (UK) Armoured Division moved northward through the eastern marshland. The American 1st Marine Division fought through Nasiriyah in a battle to seize the major road junction. The United States Army 3rd Infantry Division defeated Iraqi forces entrenched in and around Talil Airfield.

With the Nasiriyah and Talil Airfields secured in its rear, the 3rd Infantry Division supported by the 101st Airborne Division continued its attack north toward Najaf and Karbala, but a severe sand storm slowed the coalition advance and there was a halt to consolidate and make sure the supply lines were secure. When they started again they secured the Karbala Gap, a key approach to Baghdad, then secured the bridges over the Euphrates River, and US Army forces poured through the gap on to Baghdad. In the middle of Iraq, the 1st Marine Division fought its way to the eastern side of Baghdad and prepared for the attack to seize the city.

On 9 April, Baghdad fell, ending Saddam's 24‑year rule. US forces seized the deserted Ba'ath Party ministries and, according to some reports later disputed by the Marines on the ground, stage-managed the tearing down of a huge iron statue of Saddam, photos and video of which became symbolic of the event, although later controversial. Allegedly, though not seen in the photos or heard on the videos, shot with a zoom lens, was the chant of the inflamed crowd for Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric. The abrupt fall of Baghdad was accompanied by a widespread outpouring of gratitude toward the invaders, but also massive civil disorder, including the looting of public and government buildings and drastically increased crime.

According to the Pentagon, 250,000 short tons (230,000 t) (of 650,000 short tons (590,000 t) total) of ordnance was looted, providing a significant source of ammunition for the Iraqi insurgency. The invasion phase concluded when Tikrit, Saddam's home town, fell with little resistance to the US Marines of Task Force Tripoli on 15 April.

In the invasion phase of the war (19 March – 30 April), an estimated 9,200 Iraqi combatants were killed by coalition forces along with an estimated 3,750 non-combatants, i.e. civilians who did not take up arms. Coalition forces reported the death in combat of 139 US military personnel and 33 UK military personnel.

Post-invasion phase

2003: Beginnings of insurgency

On 1 May 2003, President Bush visited the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln operating a few miles west of San Diego, California. At sunset, he held his nationally televised "Mission Accomplished" speech, delivered before the sailors and airmen on the flight deck. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, due to the defeat of Iraq's conventional forces, while maintaining that much still needed to be done.

Nevertheless, Saddam Hussein remained at large, and significant pockets of resistance remained. After Bush's speech, coalition forces noticed a flurry of attacks on its troops began to gradually increase in various regions, such as the "Sunni Triangle". The initial Iraqi insurgents were supplied by hundreds of weapons caches created before the invasion by the Iraqi army and Republican Guard.

Initially, Iraqi resistance (described by the coalition as "Anti-Iraqi Forces") largely stemmed from fedayeen and Saddam/Ba'ath Party loyalists, but soon religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the insurgency. The three governorates with the highest number of attacks were Baghdad, Al Anbar, and Saladin. Those three governorates account for 35% of the population, but by December 2006 they were responsible for 73% of US military deaths and an even higher percentage of recent US military deaths (about 80%).

Insurgents used various guerrilla tactics, including mortars, missiles, suicide attacks, snipers, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), car bombs, small arms fire (usually with assault rifles), and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), as well as sabotage against the petroleum, water, and electrical infrastructures.

Coalition efforts to establish post-invasion Iraq commenced after the fall of Saddam's regime. The coalition nations, together with the United Nations, began to work to establish a stable, compliant democratic state capable of defending itself from non-coalition forces, as well as overcoming internal divisions.

Meanwhile, coalition military forces launched several operations around the Tigris River peninsula and in the Sunni Triangle. A series of similar operations were launched throughout the summer in the Sunni Triangle. In late 2003, the intensity and pace of insurgent attacks began to increase. A sharp surge in guerrilla attacks ushered in an insurgent effort that was termed the "Ramadan Offensive", as it coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

To counter this offensive, coalition forces began to use air power and artillery again for the first time since the end of the invasion, by striking suspected ambush sites and mortar launching positions. Surveillance of major routes, patrols, and raids on suspected insurgents was stepped up. In addition, two villages, including Saddam's birthplace of al-Auja and the small town of Abu Hishma, were surrounded by barbed wire and carefully monitored.

Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group

Shortly after the invasion, the multinational coalition created the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA; Template:Lang-ar), based in the Green Zone, as a transitional government of Iraq until the establishment of a democratic government. Citing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 (22 May 2003) and the laws of war, the CPA vested itself with executive, legislative, and judicial authority over the Iraqi government from the period of the CPA's inception on 21 April 2003 until its dissolution on 28 June 2004.

The CPA was originally headed by Jay Garner, a former US military officer, but his appointment lasted only until 11 May 2003, when President Bush appointed L. Paul Bremer. On 16 May 2003, his first day on the job, Paul Bremer issued Coalition Provisional Authority Order 1 to exclude from the new Iraqi government and administration members of the Baathist party. This policy, known as De-Ba'athification, eventually led to the removal of 85,000 to 100,000 Iraqi people from their jobs, including 40,000 school teachers who had joined the Baath Party simply to stay employed. US army general Ricardo Sanchez called the decision a "catastrophic failure". Bremer served until the CPA's dissolution in June 2004.

In May 2003, the US Advisor to Iraq Ministry of Defense within the CPA, Walter B. Slocombe, advocated changing the pre-war Bush policy to employ the former Iraq Army after hostilities on the ground ceased. At the time, hundreds of thousands of former Iraq soldiers who had not been paid for months were waiting for the CPA to hire them back to work to help secure and rebuild Iraq. Despite advice from US Military Staff working within the CPA, Bremer met with President Bush, via video conference, and asked for authority to change the US policy. Bush gave Bremer and Slocombe authority to change the pre-war policy. Slocombe announced the policy change in the Spring of 2003. The decision led to the alienation of hundreds of thousands of former armed Iraq soldiers, who subsequently aligned themselves with various occupation resistance movements all over Iraq. In the week before the order to dissolve the Iraq Army, no coalition forces were killed by hostile action in Iraq; the week after, five US soldiers were killed. Then, on 18 June 2003, coalition forces opened fire on former Iraq soldiers protesting in Baghdad who were throwing rocks at coalition forces. The policy to disband the Iraq Army was reversed by the CPA only days after it was implemented. But it was too late; the former Iraq Army shifted their alliance from one that was ready and willing to work with the CPA to one of armed resistance against the CPA and the coalition forces.

Another group created by the multinational force in Iraq post-invasion was the 1,400-member international Iraq Survey Group, who conducted a fact-finding mission to find Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. In 2004, the ISG's Duelfer Report stated that Iraq did not have a viable WMD program.

Capturing former government leaders

In the summer of 2003, the multinational forces focused on capturing the remaining leaders of the former government. On 22 July, a raid by the US 101st Airborne Division and soldiers from Task Force 20 killed Saddam's sons (Uday and Qusay) along with one of his grandsons. In all, over 300 top leaders of the former government were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser functionaries and military personnel.

Most significantly, Saddam Hussein himself was captured on 13 December 2003, on a farm near Tikrit in Operation Red Dawn. The operation was conducted by the United States Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force 121. Intelligence on Saddam's whereabouts came from his family members and former bodyguards.

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

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

Looting of artifacts from Iraqi museums

Following the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003, large numbers of antiquities including the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet were stolen, both from museums, such as the Iraq National Museum, but also because of illegal excavations at archeological sites throughout the country. Many of them were smuggled into the United States through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, contrary to federal law. Donald Rumsfeld rejected the claim that they were removed by US military personnel. In the 2020s, about 17,000 artifacts were returned to Iraq from the U.S. and Middle Eastern countries. But according to an Iraqi archeology professor at the University of Baghdad, the repatriation of these items was only a partial success; the Baghdad office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) continues to search for the loot worldwide. Many Iraqis blame the United States for the loss of so many pieces of their country's history.

2004: Insurgency expands

The start of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Insurgent forces reorganised during this time, studying the multinational forces' tactics and planning a renewed offensive. However, violence did increase during the Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004 with foreign fighters from around the Middle East as well as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, an al-Qaeda-linked group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, helping to drive the insurgency.

As the insurgency grew there was a distinct change in targeting from the coalition forces towards the new Iraqi Security Forces, as hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police were killed over the next few months in a series of massive bombings. An organized Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming more powerful throughout Iraq. The Shia Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets in an attempt to seize control from Iraqi security forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq were beginning to erupt in urban guerrilla combat as multinational forces attempted to keep control and prepared for a counteroffensive.

The most serious fighting of the war so far began on 31 March 2004, when Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a Blackwater USA convoy led by four US private military contractors who were providing security for food caterers Eurest Support Services. The four armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona, and Michael Teague, were killed with grenades and small arms fire. Subsequently, their bodies were dragged from their vehicles by local people, beaten, set ablaze, and their burned corpses hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates. Photos of the event were released to news agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the United States, and prompting an unsuccessful "pacification" of the city: the First Battle of Fallujah in April 2004.

The offensive was resumed in November 2004 in the bloodiest battle of the war: the Second Battle of Fallujah, described by the US military as "the heaviest urban combat (that they had been involved in) since the Battle of Hue City in Vietnam." During the assault, US forces used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against insurgent personnel, attracting controversy. The 46‑day battle resulted in a victory for the coalition, with 95 US soldiers killed along with approximately 1,350 insurgents. Fallujah was totally devastated during the fighting, though civilian casualties were low, as they had mostly fled before the battle.

Another major event of that year was the revelation of widespread prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, which received international media attention in April 2004. First reports of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, as well as graphic pictures showing US military personnel taunting and abusing Iraqi prisoners, came to public attention from a 60 Minutes II news report (28 April) and a Seymour M. Hersh article in The New Yorker (posted online on 30 April). Military correspondent Thomas Ricks claimed that these revelations dealt a blow to the moral justifications for the occupation in the eyes of many people, especially Iraqis, and was a turning point in the war.

2004 also marked the beginning of Military Transition Teams in Iraq, which were teams of US military advisors assigned directly to New Iraqi Army units.

2005: Elections and transitional government

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

The Battle of Abu Ghraib on 2 April 2005 was an attack on United States forces at Abu Ghraib prison, which consisted of heavy mortar and rocket fire, under which an estimated 80–120 armed insurgents attacked with grenades, small arms, and two vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED). The US force's munitions ran so low that orders to fix bayonets were given in preparation for hand-to-hand fighting. It was considered to be the largest coordinated assault on a US base since the Vietnam War.

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

The summer of 2005 saw fighting around Baghdad and at Tall Afar in northwestern Iraq as US forces tried to seal off the Syrian border. This led to fighting in the autumn in the small towns of the Euphrates valley between the capital and that border.

A referendum was held on 15 October in which the new Iraqi constitution was ratified. An Iraqi National Assembly was elected in December, with participation from the Sunnis as well as the Kurds and Shia.

Insurgent attacks increased in 2005 with 34,131 recorded incidents, compared to a total 26,496 for the previous year.

2006: Civil war and permanent Iraqi government

The beginning of 2006 was marked by government creation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous anti-coalition attacks. Sectarian violence expanded to a new level of intensity following the al-Askari Mosque bombing in the Iraqi city of Samarra, on 22 February 2006. The explosion at the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shi'a Islam, is believed to have been caused by a bomb planted by al-Qaeda.

Although no injuries occurred in the blast, the mosque was severely damaged and the bombing resulted in violence over the following days. Over 100 dead bodies with bullet holes were found on 23 February, and at least 165 people are thought to have been killed. In the aftermath of this attack, the US military calculated that the average homicide rate in Baghdad tripled from 11 to 33 deaths per day. In 2006 the UN described the environment in Iraq as a "civil war-like situation".

On 12 March, five United States Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment raped the 14-year-old Iraqi girl Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, and then murdered her, her father, her mother Fakhriya Taha Muhasen, and her six-year-old sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza al-Janabi. The soldiers then set fire to the girl's body to conceal evidence of the crime. Four of the soldiers were convicted of rape and murder and the fifth was convicted of lesser crimes for their involvement in the events, which became known as the Mahmudiyah rape and killings.

On 6 June 2006, the United States was successful in tracking Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in a targeted killing, while attending a meeting in an isolated safehouse approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Baqubah. Having been tracked by a British UAV, radio contact was made between the controller and two United States Air Force F-16C jets, which identified the house and at 14:15 GMT, the lead jet dropped two 500‑pound (230 kg) guided bombs, a laser-guided GBU‑12 and GPS-guided GBU‑38 on the building where he was located. Six others – three male and three female individuals – were also reported killed. Among those killed were one of his wives and their child.

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

Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution

The Iraq Study Group Report was released on 6 December 2006. The Iraq Study Group made up of people from both of the major US parties, was led by co-chairs James Baker, a former Secretary of State (Republican), and Lee H. Hamilton, a former US Representative (Democrat). It concluded that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating" and "US forces seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end." The report's 79 recommendations include increasing diplomatic measures with Iran and Syria and intensifying efforts to train Iraqi troops. On 18 December, a Pentagon report found that insurgent attacks were averaging about 960 attacks per week, the highest since the reports had begun in 2005.

Coalition forces formally transferred control of a governorate to the Iraqi government, the first since the war. Military prosecutors charged eight US Marines with the murders of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November 2005, 10 of them women and children. Four officers were also charged with dereliction of duty in relation to the event.

Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006, after being found guilty of crimes against humanity by an Iraqi court after a year-long trial.

2007: US troops surge

On 10 January 2007, in a televised address to the US public, Bush proposed 21,500 more troops for Iraq, a job program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and $1.2 billion for these programs. On 23 January 2007, in the 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush announced he was "deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 additional soldiers and Marines to Iraq".

On 10 February 2007, David Petraeus was made commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF-I), the four-star post that oversees all coalition forces in the country, replacing General George Casey. In his new position, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq and employed them in the new "Surge" strategy outlined by the Bush administration.

On 10 May 2007, 144 Iraqi Parliamentary lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition calling on the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal. On 3 June 2007, the Iraqi Parliament voted 85 to 59 to require the Iraqi government to consult with Parliament before requesting additional extensions of the UN Security Council Mandate for Coalition operations in Iraq.

Pressures on US troops were compounded by the continuing withdrawal of coalition forces. In early 2007, British Prime Minister Blair announced that following Operation Sinbad, British troops would begin to withdraw from Basra Governorate, handing security over to the Iraqis. In July Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen also announced the withdrawal of 441 Danish troops from Iraq, leaving only a unit of nine soldiers manning four observational helicopters. In October 2019, the new Danish government said it would not re-open an official probe into the country's participation in the US-led military coalition in 2003 Iraqi war.

Planned troop reduction

In a speech made to Congress on 10 September 2007, Petraeus "envisioned the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 US troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contingent ." On 13 September, Bush backed a limited withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Bush said 5,700 personnel would be home by Christmas 2007, and expected thousands more to return by July 2008. The plan would take troop numbers back to their level before the surge at the beginning of 2007.

Effects of the surge on security

By March 2008, violence in Iraq was reportedly curtailed by 40–80%, according to a Pentagon report. Independent reports raised questions about those assessments. An Iraqi military spokesman claimed that civilian deaths since the start of the troop surge plan were 265 in Baghdad, down from 1,440 in the four previous weeks. The New York Times counted more than 450 Iraqi civilians killed during the same 28‑day period, based on initial daily reports from Iraqi Interior Ministry and hospital officials.

Historically, the daily counts tallied by The New York Times underestimated the total death toll by 50% or more when compared to studies by the United Nations, which rely upon figures from the Iraqi Health Ministry and morgue figures.

The rate of US combat deaths in Baghdad nearly doubled to 3.14 per day in the first seven weeks of the "surge" in security activity, compared to the previous period. Across the rest of Iraq, it decreased slightly.

On 14 August 2007, the deadliest single attack of the whole war occurred. Nearly 800 civilians were killed by a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks on the northern Iraqi settlement of Kahtaniya. More than 100  homes and shops were destroyed in the blasts. US officials blamed al‑Qaeda. The targeted villagers belonged to the non-Muslim Yazidi ethnic minority. The attack may have represented the latest in a feud that erupted earlier that year when members of the Yazidi community stoned to death a teenage girl called Du'a Khalil Aswad accused of dating a Sunni Arab man and converting to Islam. The killing of the girl was recorded on camera-mobiles and the video was uploaded onto the internet.

On 13 September 2007, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha was killed in a bomb attack in the city of Ramadi. He was an important US ally because he led the "Anbar Awakening", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that opposed al-Qaeda. The latter organization claimed responsibility for the attack. A statement posted on the Internet by the shadowy Islamic State of Iraq called Abu Risha "one of the dogs of Bush" and described Thursday's killing as a "heroic operation that took over a month to prepare".

There was a reported trend of decreasing US troop deaths after May 2007, and violence against coalition troops had fallen to the "lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion". These, and several other positive developments, were attributed to the surge by many analysts.

Data from the Pentagon and other US agencies such as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that daily attacks against civilians in Iraq remained "about the same" since February. The GAO also stated that there was no discernible trend in sectarian violence. However, this report ran counter to reports to Congress, which showed a general downward trend in civilian deaths and ethno-sectarian violence since December 2006. By late 2007, as the US troop surge began to wind down, violence in Iraq had begun to decrease from its 2006 highs.

Entire neighborhoods in Baghdad were ethnically cleansed by Shia and Sunni militias and sectarian violence broke out in every Iraqi city where there was a mixed population. Investigative reporter Bob Woodward cited US government sources according to which the US "surge" was not the primary reason for the drop in violence in 2007–08. Instead, according to that view, the reduction of violence was due to newer covert techniques by US military and intelligence officials to find, target, and kill insurgents, including working closely with former insurgents.

In the Shia region near Basra, British forces turned over security for the region to Iraqi Security Forces. Basra was the ninth governorate of Iraq's 18 governorates to be returned to local security forces' control since the beginning of the occupation.

Political developments

More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected the continuing occupation of their country for the first time. 144 of the 275 lawmakers signed onto a legislative petition that would require the Iraqi government to seek approval from Parliament before it requests an extension of the UN mandate for foreign forces to be in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2008. It also calls for a timetable for troop withdrawal and a freeze on the size of foreign forces. The UN Security Council mandate for US‑led forces in Iraq will terminate "if requested by the government of Iraq." 59% of those polled in the US support a timetable for withdrawal.

In mid-2007, the Coalition began a controversial program to recruit Iraqi Sunnis (often former insurgents) for the formation of "Guardian" militias. These Guardian militias are intended to support and secure various Sunni neighborhoods against the Islamists.

Tensions with Iran

In 2007, tensions increased greatly between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan due to the latter's giving sanctuary to the militant Kurdish secessionist group Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK). According to reports, Iran had been shelling PEJAK positions in Iraqi Kurdistan since 16 August. These tensions further increased with an alleged border incursion on 23 August by Iranian troops who attacked several Kurdish villages killing an unknown number of civilians and militants.

Coalition forces also began to target alleged Iranian Quds force operatives in Iraq, either arresting or killing suspected members. The Bush administration and coalition leaders began to publicly state that Iran was supplying weapons, particularly EFP devices, to Iraqi insurgents and militias although to date have failed to provide any proof for these allegations. Further sanctions on Iranian organizations were also announced by the Bush administration in the autumn of 2007. On 21 November 2007, Lieutenant General James Dubik, who is in charge of training Iraqi security forces, praised Iran for its "contribution to the reduction of violence" in Iraq by upholding its pledge to stop the flow of weapons, explosives, and training of extremists in Iraq.

Tensions with Turkey

Border incursions by PKK militants based in Northern Iraq have continued to harass Turkish forces, with casualties on both sides. In the fall of 2007, the Turkish military stated their right to cross the Iraqi Kurdistan border in "hot pursuit" of PKK militants and began shelling Kurdish areas in Iraq and attacking PKK bases in the Mount Cudi region with aircraft. The Turkish parliament approved a resolution permitting the military to pursue the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan. In November, Turkish gunships attacked parts of northern Iraq in the first such attack by Turkish aircraft since the border tensions escalated. Another series of attacks in mid-December hit PKK targets in the Qandil, Zap, Avashin and Hakurk regions. The latest series of attacks involved at least 50 aircraft and artillery and Kurdish officials reported one civilian killed and two wounded.

Additionally, weapons that were given to Iraqi security forces by the US military were being recovered by authorities in Turkey after being used by PKK in that state.

Blackwater private security controversy

On 17 September 2007, the Iraqi government announced that it was revoking the license of the US security firm Blackwater USA over the firm's involvement in the killing of eight civilians, including a woman and an infant, in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.

2008: Civil war continues

Throughout 2008, US officials and independent think tanks began to point to improvements in the security situation, as measured by key statistics. According to the US Defense Department, in December 2008 the "overall level of violence" in the country had dropped 80% since before the surge began in January 2007, and the country's murder rate had dropped to prewar levels. They also pointed out that the casualty figure for US forces in 2008 was 314 against a figure of 904 in 2007.

According to the Brookings Institution, Iraqi civilian fatalities numbered 490 in November 2008 as against 3,500 in January 2007, whereas attacks against the coalition numbered somewhere between 200 and 300 per week in the latter half of 2008, as opposed to a peak of nearly 1,600 in summer 2007. The number of Iraqi security forces killed was under 100 per month in the second half of 2008, from a high of 200 to 300 in the summer of 2007.

Meanwhile, the proficiency of the Iraqi military increased as it launched a spring offensive against Shia militias, which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had previously been criticized for allowing to operate. This began with a March operation against the Mahdi Army in Basra, which led to fighting in Shia areas up and down the country, especially in the Sadr City district of Baghdad. By October, the British officer in charge of Basra said that since the operation, the town had become "secure" and had a murder rate comparable to Manchester in England. The US military also said there had been a decrease of about a quarter in the quantity of Iranian-made explosives found in Iraq in 2008, possibly indicating a change in Iranian policy.

Progress in Sunni areas continued after members of the Awakening movement were transferred from US military to Iraqi control. In May, the Iraqi army – backed by coalition support – launched an offensive in Mosul, the last major Iraqi stronghold of al-Qaeda. Despite detaining thousands of individuals, the offensive failed to lead to major long-term security improvements in Mosul. At the end of the year, the city remained a major flashpoint.

In the regional dimension, the ongoing conflict between Turkey and PKK intensified on 21 February, when Turkey launched a ground attack into the Quandeel Mountains of Northern Iraq. In the nine-day-long operation, around 10,000 Turkish troops advanced up to 25  km into Northern Iraq. This was the first substantial ground incursion by Turkish forces since 1995.

Shortly after the incursion began, both the Iraqi cabinet and the Kurdistan regional government condemned Turkey's actions and called for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from the region. Turkish troops withdrew on 29 February. The fate of the Kurds and the future of the ethnically diverse city of Kirkuk remained a contentious issue in Iraqi politics.

US military officials met these trends with cautious optimism as they approached what they described as the "transition" embodied in the US–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, which was negotiated throughout 2008. The commander of the coalition, US General Raymond T. Odierno, noted that "in military terms, transitions are the most dangerous time" in December 2008.

Spring offensives on Shiite militias

At the end of March, the Iraqi Army, with Coalition air support, launched an offensive, dubbed "Charge of the Knights", in Basra to secure the area from militias. This was the first major operation where the Iraqi Army did not have direct combat support from conventional coalition ground troops. The offensive was opposed by the Mahdi Army, one of the militias, which controlled much of the region. Fighting quickly spread to other parts of Iraq: including Sadr City, Al Kut, Al Hillah and others. During the fighting Iraqi forces met stiff resistance from militiamen in Basra to the point that the Iraqi military offensive slowed to a crawl, with the high attrition rates finally forcing the Sadrists to the negotiating table.

Following intercession by the Iranian government, al‑Sadr ordered a ceasefire on 30 March 2008. The militiamen kept their weapons.

By 12 May 2008, Basra "residents overwhelmingly reported a substantial improvement in their everyday lives" according to The New York Times. "Government forces have now taken over Islamic militants' headquarters and halted the death squads and 'vice enforcers' who attacked women, Christians, musicians, alcohol sellers and anyone suspected of collaborating with Westerners", according to the report; however, when asked how long it would take for lawlessness to resume if the Iraqi army left, one resident replied, "one day".

In late April roadside bombings continued to rise from a low in January – from 114 bombings to more than 250, surpassing the May 2007 high.

Congressional testimony

Speaking before Congress on 8 April 2008, General David Petraeus urged delaying troop withdrawals, saying, "I've repeatedly noted that we haven't turned any corners, we haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel," referencing the comments of then-President Bush and former Vietnam-era General William Westmoreland. When asked by the Senate if reasonable people could disagree on the way forward, Petraeus said, "We fight for the right of people to have other opinions."

Upon questioning by then Senate committee chair Joe Biden, Ambassador Crocker admitted that Al‑Qaeda in Iraq was less important than the Al Qaeda organization led by Osama bin Laden along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Lawmakers from both parties complained that US taxpayers are carrying Iraq's burden as it earns billions of dollars in oil revenues.

Iraqi security forces rearm

Iraq became one of the top purchasers of US military equipment with their army trading its AK‑47 assault rifles for the US M‑16 and M‑4 rifles, among other equipment. In 2008 alone, Iraq accounted for more than $12.5 billion of the $34 billion US weapon sales to foreign countries (not including the potential F-16 fighter planes.).

Iraq sought 36 F‑16s, the most sophisticated weapons system Iraq has attempted to purchase. The Pentagon notified Congress that it had approved the sale of 24 American attack helicopters to Iraq, valued at as much as $2.4 billion. Including the helicopters, Iraq announced plans to purchase at least $10 billion in US tanks and armored vehicles, transport planes, and other battlefield equipment and services. Over the summer, the Defense Department announced that the Iraqi government wanted to order more than 400 armored vehicles and other equipment worth up to $3 billion, and six C-130J transport planes, worth up to $1.5 billion. From 2005 to 2008, the United States had completed approximately $20 billion in arms sales agreements with Iraq.

Status of forces agreement

The US–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement was approved by the Iraqi government on 4 December 2008. It established that US combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009, and that all US forces would be completely out of Iraq by 31 December 2011. The pact was subject to possible negotiations which could have delayed withdrawal and a referendum scheduled for mid-2009 in Iraq, which might have required all US forces to completely leave by the middle of 2010. The pact required criminal charges for holding prisoners over 24 hours, and required a warrant for searches of homes and buildings that are not related to combat.

US contractors working for US forces were to be subject to Iraqi criminal law, while contractors working for the State Department and other US agencies may retain their immunity. If US forces commit still undecided "major premeditated felonies" while off-duty and off-base, they will be subject to the still undecided procedures laid out by a joint US‑Iraq committee if the United States certifies the forces were off-duty.

Some Americans have discussed "loopholes" and some Iraqis have said they believe parts of the pact remain a "mystery". US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates predicted that after 2011 he expected to see "perhaps several tens of thousands of American troops" as part of a residual force in Iraq.

Several groups of Iraqis protested the passing of the SOFA accord as prolonging and legitimizing the occupation. Tens of thousands of Iraqis burned an effigy of George W. Bush in a central Baghdad square where US troops five years previously organized a tearing down of a statue of Saddam Hussein. Some Iraqis expressed skeptical optimism that the US would completely end its presence by 2011. On 4 December 2008, Iraq's presidential council approved the security pact.

A representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al‑Sistani expressed concern with the ratified version of the pact and noted that the government of Iraq has no authority to control the transfer of occupier forces into and out of Iraq, no control of shipments and that the pact grants the occupiers immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts. He said that Iraqi rule in the country is not complete while the occupiers are present, but that ultimately the Iraqi people would judge the pact in a referendum. Thousands of Iraqis have gathered weekly after Friday prayers and shouted anti‑US and anti-Israeli slogans protesting the security pact between Baghdad and Washington. A protester said that despite the approval of the Interim Security pact, the Iraqi people would break it in a referendum next year.

2009: Coalition redeployment

Transfer of the Green Zone

On 1 January 2009, the United States handed control of the Green Zone and Saddam Hussein's presidential palace to the Iraqi government in a ceremonial move described by the country's prime minister as a restoration of Iraq's sovereignty. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he would propose 1 January be declared national "Sovereignty Day". "This palace is the symbol of Iraqi sovereignty and by restoring it, a real message is directed to all Iraqi people that Iraqi sovereignty has returned to its natural status", al‑Maliki said.

The US military attributed a decline in reported civilian deaths to several factors including the US‑led "troop surge", the growth of US-funded Awakening Councils, and Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's call for his militia to abide by a cease fire.

Provincial elections

On 31 January, Iraq held provincial elections. Provincial candidates and those close to them faced some political assassinations and attempted assassinations, and there was also some other violence related to the election.

Iraqi voter turnout failed to meet the original expectations which were set and was the lowest on record in Iraq, but US Ambassador Ryan Crocker characterized the turnout as "large". Of those who turned out to vote, some groups complained of disenfranchisement and fraud. After the post-election curfew was lifted, some groups made threats about what would happen if they were unhappy with the results.

Exit strategy announcement

On 27 February, United States President Barack Obama gave a speech at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in the US state of North Carolina announcing that the US combat mission in Iraq would end by 31 August 2010. A "transitional force" of up to 50,000 troops tasked with training the Iraqi Security Forces, conducting counterterrorism operations, and providing general support may remain until the end of 2011, the president added. However, the insurgency in 2011 and the rise of ISIL in 2014 caused the war to continue.

The day before Obama's speech, Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri al‑Maliki said at a press conference that the government of Iraq had "no worries" over the impending departure of US forces and expressed confidence in the ability of the Iraqi Security Forces and police to maintain order without US military support.

Sixth anniversary protests

On 9 April, the 6th anniversary of Baghdad's fall to coalition forces, tens of thousands of Iraqis thronged Baghdad to mark the anniversary and demand the immediate departure of coalition forces. The crowds of Iraqis stretched from the Sadr City slum in northeast Baghdad to the square around 5 km (3.1 mi) away, where protesters burned an effigy featuring the face of US President George W. Bush. There were also Sunni Muslims in the crowd. Police said many Sunnis, including prominent leaders such as a founding sheikh from the Sons of Iraq, took part.

Coalition forces withdraw

On 30 April, the United Kingdom formally ended combat operations. Prime Minister Gordon Brown characterized the operation in Iraq as a "success story" because of UK troops' efforts. Britain handed control of Basra to the United States Armed Forces.

The withdrawal of US forces began at the end of June, with 38 bases to be handed over to Iraqi forces. On 29 June 2009, US forces withdrew from Baghdad. On 30 November 2009, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials reported that the civilian death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest level in November since the 2003 invasion.

On 28 July, Australia withdrew its combat forces as the Australian military presence in Iraq ended, per an agreement with the Iraqi government.

Iraq awards oil contracts

On 30 June and 11 December 2009, the Iraqi ministry of oil awarded contracts to international oil companies for some of Iraq's many oil fields. The winning oil companies entered joint ventures with the Iraqi ministry of oil, and the terms of the awarded contracts included extraction of oil for a fixed fee of approximately $1.40 per barrel. The fees will only be paid once a production threshold set by the Iraqi ministry of oil is reached.

2010: US drawdown and Operation New Dawn

On 17 February 2010, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that as of 1 September, the name "Operation Iraqi Freedom" would be replaced by "Operation New Dawn".

On 18 April, US and Iraqi forces killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq in a joint American and Iraqi operation near Tikrit, Iraq. The coalition forces believed al-Masri to be wearing a suicide vest and proceeded cautiously. After the lengthy exchange of fire and bombing of the house, the Iraqi troops stormed inside and found two women still alive, one of whom was al-Masri's wife, and four dead men, identified as al-Masri, Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi, an assistant to al-Masri, and al-Baghdadi's son. A suicide vest was indeed found on al-Masri's corpse, as the Iraqi Army subsequently stated. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference in Baghdad and showed reporters photographs of their bloody corpses. "The attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles," Mr Maliki said. "During the operation computers were seized with e-mails and messages to the two biggest terrorists, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri", Maliki added. US forces commander Gen. Raymond Odierno praised the operation. "The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al‑Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency", he said. "There is still work to do but this is a significant step forward in ridding Iraq of terrorists."

US Vice President Joe Biden stated that the deaths of the top two al‑Qaeda figures in Iraq are "potentially devastating" blows to the terror network there and proof that Iraqi security forces are gaining ground.

On 20 June, Iraq's Central Bank was bombed in an attack that left 15 people dead and brought much of downtown Baghdad to a standstill. The attack was claimed to have been carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq. This attack was followed by another attack on Iraq's Bank of Trade building that killed 26 and wounded 52 people.

In late August 2010, insurgents conducted a major attack with at least 12 car bombs simultaneously detonating from Mosul to Basra and killing at least 51. These attacks coincided with the US plans for a withdrawal of combat troops.

From the end of August 2010, the United States attempted to dramatically cut its combat role in Iraq, with the withdrawal of all US ground forces designated for active combat operations. The last US combat brigades departed Iraq in the early morning of 19 August. Convoys of US troops had been moving out of Iraq to Kuwait for several days, and NBC News broadcast live from Iraq as the last convoy crossed the border. While all combat brigades left the country, an additional 50,000 personnel (including Advise and Assist Brigades) remained in the country to provide support for the Iraqi military. These troops were required to leave Iraq by 31 December 2011 under an agreement between the US and Iraqi governments.

The desire to step back from an active counter-insurgency role did not however mean that the Advise and Assist Brigades and other remaining US forces would not be caught up in combat. A standards memo from the Associated Press reiterated "combat in Iraq is not over, and we should not uncritically repeat suggestions that it is, even if they come from senior officials".

State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley stated "... we are not ending our work in Iraq, We have a long-term commitment to Iraq." On 31 August, from the Oval Office, Barack Obama announced his intent to end the combat mission in Iraq. In his address, he covered the role of the United States' soft power, the effect the war had on the United States economy, and the legacy of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

On the same day in Iraq, at a ceremony at one of Saddam Hussein's former residences at Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, a number of US dignitaries spoke in a ceremony for television cameras, avoiding overtones of the triumphalism present in US announcements made earlier in the war. Vice President Joe Biden expressed concerns regarding the ongoing lack of progress in forming a new Iraqi government, saying of the Iraqi people that "they expect a government that reflects the results of the votes they cast". Gen. Ray Odierno stated that the new era "in no way signals the end of our commitment to the people of Iraq". Speaking in Ramadi earlier in the day, Gates said that US forces "have accomplished something really quite extraordinary here, how it all weighs in the balance over time I think remains to be seen". When asked by reporters if the seven-year war was worth doing, Gates commented that "It really requires a historian's perspective in terms of what happens here in the long run". He noted the Iraq War "will always be clouded by how it began" regarding Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction, which were never confirmed to have existed. Gates continued, "This is one of the reasons that this war remains so controversial at home". On the same day Gen. Ray Odierno was replaced by Lloyd Austin as Commander of US forces in Iraq.

On 7 September, two US troops were killed and nine wounded in an incident at an Iraqi military base. The incident is under investigation by Iraqi and US forces, but it is believed that an Iraqi soldier opened fire on US forces.

On 8 September, the US Army announced the arrival in Iraq of the first specifically designated Advise and Assist Brigade, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. It was announced that the unit would assume responsibilities in five southern governorates. From 10 to 13 September, Second Advise and Assist Brigade, 25th Infantry Division fought Iraqi insurgents near Diyala.

According to reports from Iraq, hundreds of members of the Sunni Awakening Councils may have switched allegiance back to the Iraqi insurgency or al-Qaeda.

In October, WikiLeaks disclosed 391,832 classified US military documents on the Iraq War. Approximately, 58 people were killed with another 40 wounded in an attack on the Sayidat al‑Nejat church, a Chaldean Catholic church in Baghdad. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq organization.

Coordinated attacks in primarily Shia areas struck throughout Baghdad on 2 November, killing approximately 113 and wounding 250 with around 17 bombs.

Iraqi arms purchases

As US forces departed the country, the Iraq Defense Ministry solidified plans to purchase advanced military equipment from the United States. Plans in 2010 called for $13 billion of purchases, to include 140 M1 Abrams main battle tanks. In addition to the $13 billion purchase, the Iraqis also requested 18 F-16 Fighting Falcons as part of a $4.2 billion program that also included aircraft training and maintenance, AIM‑9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment. All Abrams tanks were delivered by the end of 2011, but the first F-16s did not arrive in Iraq until 2015, due to concerns that the Islamic State might overrun Balad Air Base.

The Iraqi Navy also purchased 12 US‑built Swift-class patrol boats, at a cost of $20 million each. Delivery was completed in 2013. The vessels are used to protect the oil terminals at Basra and Khor al-Amiya. Two US‑built offshore support vessels, each costing $70 million, were delivered in 2011.

The UN lifts restrictions on Iraq

In a move to legitimize the existing Iraqi government, the United Nations lifted the Saddam Hussein-era UN restrictions on Iraq. These included allowing Iraq to have a civilian nuclear program, permitting the participation of Iraq in international nuclear and chemical weapons treaties, as well as returning control of Iraq's oil and gas revenue to the government and ending the Oil-for-Food Programme.

2011: US withdrawal

Muqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq in the holy city of Najaf to lead the Sadrist movement after being in exile since 2007.

On 15 January 2011, three US troops were killed in Iraq. One of the troops was killed on a military operation in central Iraq, while the other two troops were deliberately shot by one or two Iraqi soldiers during a training exercise.

On 6 June, five US troops were killed in an apparent rocket attack on JSS Loyalty. A sixth soldier, who was wounded in the attack, died 10 days later of his wounds.

On 13 June 2011, two US troops were killed in an IED attack located in Wasit Governorate.

On 26 June 2011, a US soldier was killed. Sergeant Brent McBride was sentenced to four years, two months for his involvement in the death.

On 29 June, three US troops were killed in a rocket attack on a US base located near the border with Iran. It was speculated that the militant group responsible for the attack was the same one which attacked JSS Loyalty just over three weeks before. With the three deaths, June 2011, became the bloodiest month in Iraq for the US military since June 2009, with 15 US soldiers killed, only one of them outside combat.

On 7 July, two US troops were killed and one seriously injured in an IED attack at Victory Base Complex outside Baghdad. They were members of the 145th Brigade Support Battalion, 116th Cavalry Heavy Brigade Combat Team, an Idaho Army National Guard unit base in Post Falls, Idaho. Spc. Nathan R. Beyers, 24, and Spc. Nicholas W. Newby, 20, were killed in the attack, Staff Sgt. Jazon Rzepa, 30, was seriously injured.

In September, Iraq signed a contract to buy 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 warplanes, becoming the 26th nation to operate the F-16. Because of windfall profits from oil, the Iraqi government is planning to double this originally planned 18, to 36 F-16s. Iraq is relying on the US military for air support as it rebuilds its forces and battles a stubborn Islamist insurgency.

With the collapse of the discussions about extending the stay of any US troops beyond 2011, where they would not be granted any immunity from the Iraqi government, on 21 October 2011, President Obama announced at a White House press conference that all remaining US troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year as previously scheduled, bringing the US mission in Iraq to an end. The last American soldier to die in Iraq before the withdrawal, SPC. David Hickman, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on 14 November.

In November 2011, the US Senate voted down a resolution to formally end the war by bringing its authorization by Congress to an end.

On 15 December, an American military ceremony was held in Baghdad putting a formal end to the US mission in Iraq.

The last US combat troops withdrew from Iraq on 18 December 2011, although the US embassy and consulates continue to maintain a staff of more than 20,000 including 100+ military personnel within the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq (OSC-I), US Marine Embassy Guards and between 4,000 and 5,000 private military contractors. The next day, Iraqi officials issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi. He has been accused of involvement in assassinations and fled to the Kurdish part of Iraq.

Aftermath

Emerging conflict and insurgency

The invasion and occupation led to sectarian violence, which caused widespread displacement among Iraqi civilians. Since the beginning of the war, the first parliamentary elections were held in 2005 which brought greater representation and autonomy to Iraqi Kurds. By 2007 the Iraqi Red Crescent estimated 2.3 million Iraqis were internally displaced, with an estimated 2 million Iraqis fleeing to neighboring countries, mostly to Syria and Jordan.

Sectarian violence continued in the first half of 2013. At least 56 people died in April when a Sunni protest in Hawija was interrupted by a government-supported helicopter raid and a series of violent incidents occurred in May. On 20 May 2013, at least 95 people died in a wave of car bomb attacks that was preceded by a car bombing on 15 May that led to 33 deaths; also, on 18 May 76 people were killed in the Sunni areas of Baghdad. Some experts have stated that Iraq could return to the brutal sectarian conflict of 2006.

On 22 July 2013, at least five hundred convicts, most of whom were senior members of al-Qaida who had received death sentences, were freed from Abu Ghraib jail in an insurgent attack, which began with a suicide bomb attack on the prison gates. James F. Jeffrey, the United States ambassador in Baghdad when the last American troops exited, said the assault and resulting escape "will provide seasoned leadership and a morale boost to Al Qaeda and its allies in both Iraq and Syria ... it is likely to have an electrifying impact on the Sunni population in Iraq, which has been sitting on the fence."

By mid-2014 Iraq was in chaos with a new government yet to be formed following national elections, and the insurgency reaching new heights. In early June 2014 the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took over the cities of Mosul and Tikrit and said it was ready to march on Baghdad, while Iraqi Kurdish forces took control of key military installations in the major oil city of Kirkuk. The al-Qaida breakaway group formally declared the creation of an Islamic state on 29 June 2014, in the territory under its control.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unsuccessfully asked his parliament to declare a state of emergency that would give him increased powers. On 14 August 2014, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki succumbed to pressure at home and abroad to step down. This paved the way for Haidar al-Abadi to take over on 19 August 2014.

In September 2014, President Obama acknowledged that the US underestimated the rise of the Islamic State and overestimated the Iraqi military's ability to fight ISIL. Obama announced the return of US forces, in the form of aerial support, in an effort to halt the advance of ISIL forces, render humanitarian aid to stranded refugees and stabilize the political situation.

A civil war between ISIL and the central government continued for the next three years. Following the election of Donald Trump, the United States intensified its campaign against the Islamic State by January 2017. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a tactical shift to surrounding Islamic State strongholds in Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria, was devised not only to "annihilate" ISIL fighters hunkered down there, but also to prevent them from returning to their home nations in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2017, US-backed Kurdish forces captured Raqqa, which had served as the ISIL capital. The Iraqi government declared victory against ISIL in December 2017. By 2018, violence in Iraq was at its lowest level in ten years. This was greatly a result of the defeat of ISIL forces and the subsequent calming-down of the insurgency.

In January 2020, after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the Iraqi parliament voted for all foreign troops to leave the country. This would end its standing agreement with the United States to station 5,200 soldiers in Iraq. Then-President Trump objected to withdrawing troops and threatened Iraq with sanctions over this decision. In 2023, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani indicated his support for an indefinite U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Casualties

Casualty estimates

For coalition death totals see the infobox at the top right. See also Casualties of the Iraq War, which has casualty numbers for coalition nations, contractors, non-Iraqi civilians, journalists, media helpers, aid workers, and the wounded. Casualty figures, especially Iraqi ones, are highly disputed.

There have been several attempts by the media, coalition governments and others to estimate the Iraqi casualties. The table below summarizes some of these estimates and methods.

Impacts

Financial cost

In March 2013, the total cost of the Iraq War to date was estimated at $1.7 trillion by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Some argue that the total cost of the war to the US economy will range from $3 trillion to $6 trillion, including interest rates, by 2053, as described in the Watson Institute's report. The upper ranges of these estimates include long-term veterans costs and economic impacts. For example, Harvard's public finance expert Linda J. Bilmes has estimated that the long-term cost of providing disability compensation and medical care to US troops injured in the Iraq conflict will reach nearly $1 trillion over the next 40 years, and that the war in Iraq diverted resources from the war in Afghanistan, led to rising oil prices, increased the federal debt, and contributed to a global financial crisis.

A CNN report noted that the United States–led interim government, the Coalition Provisional Authority lasting until 2004 in Iraq had lost $8.8 billion in the Development Fund for Iraq. In June 2011, it was reported by CBS News that $6 billion in neatly packaged blocks of $100 bills was air-lifted into Iraq by the George W. Bush administration, which flew it into Baghdad aboard C‑130 military cargo planes. In total, the Times says $12 billion in cash was flown into Iraq in 21 separate flights by May 2004, all of which has disappeared. An inspector general's report mentioned that "'Severe inefficiencies and poor management' by the Coalition Provisional Authority would leave no guarantee that the money was properly used", said Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., director of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. "The CPA did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial, and contractual controls to ensure that funds were used in a transparent manner." Bowen told the Times the missing money may represent "the largest theft of funds in national history."

Reparations

By 2013, some human rights groups in both Iraq and the U.S. had begun campaigning for reparations from the US for the devastation and health effects suffered by Iraqis during the war.

Economic recession in 2021

As of 2021, Iraq had fallen into an economic depression, caused by the ongoing COVID pandemic and falling oil and gas prices, which economists described as the country's biggest financial threat since the rule of Saddam Hussein. Iraq suffered from currency devaluation in 2021 for the first time in decades and was unable to import crucial products, including medicines and food, and had a lack of foreign currency to pay off the national debt.

Humanitarian crisis

According to a 2007 Oxfam report, the child malnutrition rate had risen to 28%, and the rate of people without access to clean drinking water had risen to 70%. In 2007, Nasser Muhssin, a researcher on family and children's affairs affiliated to the University of Baghdad claimed that 60–70% of Iraqi children suffered from psychological problems. A 2007 cholera outbreak in northern Iraq was thought to be the result of poor water quality. As many as half of Iraqi doctors left the country between 2003 and 2006.

By the end of 2015, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 4.4 million Iraqis had been internally displaced. The population of Iraqi Christians dropped dramatically during the war, from 1.5 million in 2003 to 500,000 in 2015, and perhaps only 275,000 in 2016.

The Foreign Policy Association reported that: "Perhaps the most perplexing component of the Iraq refugee crisis ... has been the inability for the United States to absorb more Iraqis following the 2003 invasion of the country. To date, the United States has granted around 84,000 Iraqis refugee status, of the more than two million global Iraqi refugees. By contrast, the United States granted asylum to more than 100,000 South Vietnamese refugees during the Vietnam War."

Environmental impact

Oil pollution

The war has led to oil spills, which increased carbon emissions and contaminated the surrounding water resources. During the invasion period, the retreating Iraqi army damaged the oil infrastructure and destroyed more than 736 oil wells in southern Iraq, resulting in massive oil spills and the ignition of fires. In 2003, more than 50 billion tonnes of carbon emissions were produced from burning oil fields and released into the atmosphere. Also, over 130 million gallons of oil leaked into surrounding water resources, such as Sawa Lake. Between 2003 and 2010, more than 5,000 birds from three species died around Sawa Lake.

Radioactive contamination

The U.S.-led coalition used depleted uranium (DU) munitions during the war to pierce tank armour. 1,000 to 2,000 tonnes (2,200,000 to 4,400,000 lb) of DU munitions were fired, which caused ammunition fragments containing radioactive material to spread across the country. According to a United Nations Environment Programme report, radioactive material contaminated air and soil; with the radioactive concentration found in Iraqi soil at 709.52 Bq in 2003 compared to 143.22 Bq in 2002. The report states that high levels of radiation prevented plants, especially crop seeds, from sprouting; with about 22% (9.5 million ha) of the farmland in Iraq unable to grow barley.

In addition, radiation contamination may have had harmful public health outcomes through poisoning and increased incidence of various cancers and birth defects. Several studies have identified increased occurrence of deformities, cancers, and other serious health problems in areas where DU shells were used. Some Iraqi doctors attributed these malformations to possible long-term effects of depleted uranium. Studies disagree on whether DU ammunition has any measurable detrimental health effects. According to research from the UK Atomic Energy Authority in 2005, the cancer rate had increased by 35% since 2003. As of 2013, 140,000 Iraqis were suffering from cancer, with between 7,000 and 8,000 new cases yearly. According to a 2012 journal article by Al-Hadithi et al., existing studies and research evidence does not show a "clear increase in birth defects" or a "clear indication of a possible environmental exposure including depleted uranium". The article further states that "there is actually no substantial evidence that genetic defects can arise from parental exposure to DU in any circumstances."

Ecosystem destruction

The war has also led to damage to ecosystems though pollution and physical destruction. Approximately 25,000 tons of bombs were dropped by the U.S. military during the war. More than 250 chemical and armament factories were destroyed, which caused over 50,000 cubic meters of hazardous chemicals, such as fertilizer, and raw sewage to leak into water, leading to surrounding freshwater ecosystem becoming polluted and species' habitat being impacted. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, 33 Iraqi wetlands, especially the Mesopotamian Marshland, have been contaminated by chemicals, which has caused 60 types of mammal species to lose their habitats, and more than 45 types of plants to become extinct.

Impact on the Global War on Terrorism

Though explicitly stating that Iraq had "nothing" to do with 9/11, erstwhile President George W. Bush consistently referred to the Iraq War as "the central front in the War on Terror", and argued that if the United States pulled out of Iraq, "terrorists will follow us here". While other proponents of the war regularly echoed this assertion, as the conflict dragged on, members of the US Congress, the US public, and even US troops questioned the connection between Iraq and the fight against anti-US terrorism. In particular, a consensus developed among intelligence experts that the Iraq War actually increased terrorism. Counterterrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna frequently referred to the invasion of Iraq as a "fatal mistake".

London's International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in 2004 that the occupation of Iraq had become "a potent global recruitment pretext" for Mujahideen and that the invasion "galvanised" al-Qaeda and "perversely inspired insurgent violence" there. The US National Intelligence Council concluded in a January 2005 report that the war in Iraq had become a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists; David Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, indicated that the report concluded that the war in Iraq provided terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills ... There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will, therefore, disperse to various other countries." The council's chairman Robert Hutchings said, "At the moment, Iraq is a magnet for international terrorist activity." And the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, which outlined the considered judgment of all 16 US intelligence agencies, held that "The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause célèbre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement."

A report by the Council on Foreign Relations, released on the 20th anniversary of the invasion analyzed the rationale to go to war and the subsequent decisions during the occupation. The report states that the "justification for going to war was based on scanty and deeply flawed intelligence" and that the invasion was an "error compounded by the absence of an agreed exit strategy and the decision to embark on a massive, open-ended nation-building project". The same report also ascertained that "the occupation authority's first acts were to disband the Iraqi army and the Ba'athist governing party, igniting what would become a lethal, long-running insurgency and eventually a multinational terrorist organization that took over most of the country".

Geopolitical tensions

From a geopolitical perspective, the war in Iraq has been interpreted as weakening the West's moral high ground and hampering its ability to effectively counter Russia and China. With regard to the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in March 2022 that the U.S. exerted similar pressures on Iraq in 2003, which the US invaded later for no reason other than "a vial of unidentified chemicals". In March 2023, Tony Blair, former British prime minister rejected comparisons between Russia's war in Ukraine and the US-led invasion of Iraq, claiming that the Iraq War cannot be used as a justification by Russia to annex Russian-speaking zones in eastern Ukraine.

Criticism

The Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq War has faced heavy criticism from an array of popular and official sources both inside and outside the United States, with many US citizens finding many parallels with the Vietnam War. For example, a former CIA officer described the Office of Special Plans as a group of ideologues who were dangerous to US national security and a threat to world peace, and stated that the group lied and manipulated intelligence to further its agenda of removing Saddam. The Center for Public Integrity stated that the Bush administration made a total of 935 false statements between 2001 and 2003 about Iraq's alleged threat to the United States.

Both proponents and opponents of the invasion have also criticized the prosecution of the war effort along with a number of other lines. Most significantly, critics have assailed the United States and its allies for not devoting enough troops to the mission, not adequately planning for post-invasion Iraq, and for permitting and perpetrating human rights abuses. As the war has progressed, critics have also railed against the high human and financial costs. In 2016, the United Kingdom published the Iraq Inquiry, a public inquiry which was broadly critical of the actions of the British government and military in making the case for the war, in tactics and in planning for the aftermath of the war.

Criticisms include:

• Legality of the invasion
• Human casualties
• Human rights violations such as the Iraq prison abuse scandals
• Insufficient post-invasion plans, in particular inadequate troop levels (A RAND Corporation study stated that 500,000 troops would be required for success.)
• Financial costs with approximately $612 billion spent as of 4/09 the CBO has estimated the total cost of the war in Iraq to the United States will be around $1.9 trillion.
• Adverse effect on US-led global "war on terror"
• Damage to US' traditional alliances and influence in the region.
• Endangerment and ethnic cleansing of religious and ethnic minorities by insurgents
• Disruption of Iraqi oil production and related energy security concerns (the price of oil quadrupled between 2002 and 2008).

War crimes

This article is in list format but may read better as prose. You can help by converting this article, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2013)

Throughout the Iraq War, many human rights abuses and war crimes were committed.

By Coalition forces and private contractors

• Deaths of civilians as a result of bombing and missile strikes that fail to take all feasible precautions with regards to civilians casualties.
• Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse by US Army personnel, involving the detention of thousands of Iraqi men and women. Torture at Abu Ghraib included rape, sodomy and extensive sexual abuse, waterboarding, pouring phosphoric acid on detainees, sleep deprivation and physical beatings.
• Haditha massacre of 24 civilians by US soldiers.
• Widespread use of the incendiary munition white phosphorus such as during the battle of Fallujah. The documentary Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre, claimed that Iraqi civilians, including women and children, had died of burns caused by white phosphorus during the battle, however, US Department of Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable denied that this was true but confirmed to the BBC that US forces had used white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon there against enemy combatants. The use of white phosphorus against civilian populations is banned by international legislation.
• Mahmudiyah rape and killings, where US soldiers raped and killed 14-year old Abeer Qasim Humza. They also killed 3 of her relatives.
• The torture and killing of prisoner of war, Iraqi Air Force commander, Abed Hamed Mowhoush.
• The death of Baha Mousa while in British Army custody.
• Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre, where 42 civilians were allegedly killed by coalition airstrikes.
• Planting weapons on noncombatant, unarmed Iraqis by three US Marines after killing them. According to a report by The Nation, other similar acts have been witnessed by US soldiers.
• Nisour Square massacre by Blackwater Security Consulting personnel.
• Allegations of beatings, electrocution, mock executions, and sexual assault by British troops were presented to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL) and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) on 12 January 2014.

By Insurgent groups

• Killing over 12,000 Iraqis from January 2005 to June 2006, according to Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, giving the first official count for the victims of bombings, ambushes and other deadly attacks. The insurgents have also conducted numerous suicide attacks on the Iraqi civilian population, mostly targeting the majority Shia community. An October 2005 report from Human Rights Watch examines the range of civilian attacks and their purported justification.
• Attacks against civilians by sectarian death squads primarily during the Iraqi Civil War. Iraq Body Count project data shows that 33% of civilian deaths during the Iraq War resulted from execution after abduction or capture. These were overwhelmingly carried out by unknown actors including insurgents, sectarian militias and criminals.
• Attacks on diplomats and diplomatic facilities including; the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in August 2003 killing the top UN representative in Iraq and 21 other UN staff members; beheading several diplomats: two Algerian diplomatic envoys Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi, Egyptian diplomatic envoy al-Sherif, and four Russian diplomats
• The February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, destroying one of the holiest Shiite shrines, killing over 165 worshipers and igniting sectarian strife and reprisal killings
• The publicised killing of several contractors; Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, Kenneth Bigley, Ivaylo Kepov and Georgi Lazov (Bulgarian truck drivers.) Other non-military personnel murdered include: translator Kim Sun-il, Shosei Koda, Fabrizio Quattrocchi (Italian), charity worker Margaret Hassan, reconstruction engineer Nick Berg, photographer Salvatore Santoro (Italian) and supply worker Seif Adnan Kanaan (Iraqi.) Four private armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were killed with grenades and small arms fire, their bodies dragged from their vehicles, beaten and set ablaze. Their burned corpses were then dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates.
• Torture or killing of members of the New Iraqi Army, and assassination of civilians associated with the Coalition Provisional Authority, such as Fern Holland, or the Iraqi Governing Council, such as Aqila al-Hashimi and Ezzedine Salim, or other foreign civilians, such as those from Kenya

By Post-invasion Iraqi Government

The post-invasion Iraqi government used torture against detainees, including children. Some techniques of torture used included beatings, electric shocks, prolonged hanging by the wrists, food and water deprivation, and blindfolding for multiple days. Iraqi police from the Interior Ministry were accused of forming Death Squads and committing numerous massacres of Sunni Arabs. Many of these human rights abuses were carried out by Iraqi government-sponsored Shi'ite militias.

Public opinion on the war

International opinion

In a March 2003 Gallup poll, the day after the invasion, 76% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq. In a March 2003 YouGov poll, 54% of Britons supported the military action against Iraq. A remarkable aspect was the support for invasion expressed by many left-wing intellectuals such as Christopher Hitchens, Paul Berman, Michael Walzer and Jean Bethke Elshtain. In a February 2003 poll by the national public research institute CIS, 91% of Spaniards opposed any military intervention in Iraq.

According to a January 2007 BBC World Service poll of more than 26,000 people in 25 countries, 73% of the global population disapproved of US handling of the Iraq War. A September 2007 poll conducted by the BBC found that two-thirds of the world's population believed the US should withdraw its forces from Iraq.

In 2006 it was found that majorities in the UK and Canada believed that the war in Iraq was "unjustified" and – in the UK – were critical of their government's support of US policies in Iraq.

According to polls conducted by the Arab American Institute, four years after the invasion of Iraq, 83% of Egyptians had a negative view of the US role in Iraq; 68% of Saudi Arabians had a negative view; 96% of the Jordanian population had a negative view; 70% of the population of the United Arab Emirates and 76% of the Lebanese population also described their view as negative. The Pew Global Attitudes Project reports that in 2006 majorities in the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, France, Lebanon, Russia, China, Canada, Poland, Pakistan, Spain, Indonesia, Turkey, and Morocco believed the world was safer before the Iraq War and the toppling of Saddam, while pluralities in the United States and India believe the world is safer without Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi opinion

Directly after the invasion, polling suggested that a slight majority supported the US invasion. Polls conducted between 2005 and 2007 showed 31–37% of Iraqis wanted US and other Coalition forces to withdraw once security was restored and that 26–35% wanted immediate withdrawal instead. In 2006, a poll conducted on the Iraqi public revealed that 52% of the ones polled said Iraq was going in the right direction and 61% claimed it was worth ousting Saddam Hussein. In a March 2007 BBC poll, 82% of Iraqis expressed a lack of confidence in coalition forces based in Iraq. According to a 2009 poll conducted by the University of Maryland, 7 out of 10 Iraqis wanted US troops to withdraw within one year and also 78% felt that US military presence was "provoking more conflict than it is preventing". Despite a majority having previously been opposed to the US presence, according to a poll conducted by the Asharq Research Centre, a private Iraqi company, 60% of Iraqis had believed it was "the wrong time" for a major withdrawal of American troops prior to the withdrawal in 2011, with 51% saying withdrawal would have a negative effect.

Foreign involvement

Suicide bombers

According to studies, most of the suicide bombers in Iraq were foreigners, especially Saudis.

Role of Iran

According to two unnamed US officials, the Pentagon is examining the possibility that the Karbala provincial headquarters raid, in which insurgents managed to infiltrate an American base, kill five US soldiers, wound three, and destroy three humvees before fleeing, was supported by Iranians. In a speech on 31 January 2007, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated that Iran was supporting attacks against Coalition forces in Iraq and some Iraqis suspect that the raid may have been perpetrated by the Quds Force in retaliation for the detention of five Iranian officials by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on 11 January. In 2014, the legacy of Iran's presence in Iraq after the invasion had been mixed with regard to the fight against regional terrorist groups. The U.S. occupation and subsequent regional instability had spawned the creation of the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces), an Iranian militia that effectively fought the influence of emerging caliphates in the region.

Later, a 1,300-page US Army Iraq War study, released in January 2019, concluded that "At the time of this project's completion in 2018, an emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor" and that the outcome of the war triggered a "deep skepticism about foreign interventions" among America's public opinion.

Role of Israel

Israel did not officially support or take part in the Iraq War. According to former State Department official Lawrence Wilkerson and former CIA agent and Iran expert Robert Baer, Israeli officials warned the Bush administration against invading Iraq, saying that it would destabilize the region and empower the much more dangerous regime in Iran. However it was reported in the Washington Post that "Israel is urging United States' officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein". It was also reported in 2002 that Israeli intelligence provided Washington with alarming reports about Iraq's alleged program to develop weapons of mass destruction.

According to former US undersecretary of defense Douglas Feith, Israeli officials did not push their American counterparts to initiate the war in Iraq. In an interview with Ynet, Feith stated that "what you heard from the Israelis was not any kind of advocacy of war with Iraq" and that "hat you heard from Israeli officials in private discussions was that they were not really focused on Iraq... hey were much more focused on Iran."

At Washington's behest, Israel did not provide vocal support for the war, as the US government was concerned that Israeli support for or participation in the war would potentially alienate the Arab world. In January 2007, the Forward reported that sometime before March 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Bush that Israel "would not push one way or the other" for or against an Iraq war. Sharon said that he believed that Iraq was a genuine threat to the Middle East and that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but explicitly warned Bush that if the US did go to war with Iraq that he should make sure to formulate a viable exit strategy, prepare a counterinsurgency strategy, and should not attempt to implant democracy in the Arab world. One of the sources who provided this information was Israeli Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon.

Israel has also assisted the US military by sharing its expertise on counterinsurgency methods, such as utilizing drones and operating checkpoints.

Role of Russia

The invasion of Iraq prompted a widespread wave of criticism from several world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Before and during the invasion of Iraq, the Russian government provided intelligence to Saddam Hussein about the location of US forces and their plans.

See also

• Foreign interventions by the United States
• United States involvement in regime change
• Criticism of United States foreign policy
• Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
• Iraq–United States relations
• The Iraq War: A Historiography of Misplaced Pages Changelogs
• List of wars by death toll
• National Network to End the War Against Iraq
• United States military casualties of war
• Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War

Footnotes

1. disbanded in 2003

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Sources

• Bishku, Michael B. (2018), Israel and the Kurds: A Pragmatic Relationship in Middle Eastern Politics, vol. 41, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Further reading

• Bellavia, David (2007). House to House: An Epic Memoir of War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1416574712.
• A Bitter Legacy: Lessons of Debaathification in Iraq (Report). International Center for Transitional Justice.
• Butt, Ahsan. 2019. "Why did the United States Invade Iraq in 2003?" Security Studies
• Dexter Filkins (17 December 2012). "General Principles: How good was David Petraeus?". The New Yorker. pp. 76–81.
• Gates, Robert M. (2014). Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0307959478. 318 pages
• Gordon, Michael R. (2006). Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. Pantheon. ISBN 978-1557782328. michael gordon cobra II.
• Larson, Luke S. (2008). Senator's Son: An Iraq War Novel. Phoenix, Arizona: Key Edition Incorporated. ISBN 978-1449969868.
• MacDonald, Michael. 2014. Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq. Harvard University Press.
• Mikulaschek, Christoph and Jacob Shapiro. (2018). Lessons on Political Violence from America's Post-9/11 Wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution 62(1): 174–202.
• North, Richard (2009). Ministry of Defeat: The British War in Iraq 2003–2009. Continuum Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-1441169976.
• Payne, Andrew. 2019/2020. "Presidents, Politics, and Military Strategy:  Electoral Constraints during the Iraq War." International Security 44(3):163–203
• Bruce R. Pirnie; Edward O'Connell (2008). Counterinsurgency in Iraq (2003–2006). Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-4297-2.
• Thomas E. Ricks (2006). Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Penguin. ISBN 978-1594201035.
• Robben, Antonius C.G.M., ed. (2010). Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropologists Can Teach Us About the War. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4203-4.
• Siracusa, Joseph M., and Laurens J. Visser, "George W. Bush, Diplomacy, and Going to War with Iraq, 2001–2003." The Journal of Diplomatic Research/Diplomasi Araştırmaları Dergisi (2019) 1#1: 1–29 online
• Wertheim, Stephen, "Iraq and the Pathologies of Primacy: The Flawed Logic That Produced the War Is Alive and Well", Foreign Affairs, vol. 102, no. 3 (May/June 2023), pp. 136–140, 142–152. "Washington is still in thrall to primacy and caught in a doom loop, lurching from self-inflicted problems to even bigger self-inflicted problems, holding up the latter while covering up the former. In this sense, the Iraq war remains unfinished business for the United States." (p. 152.)

External links

• International Center for Transitional Justice, Iraq
• Dollar cost of war: total US cost of the Iraq War
• "Bleak Pentagon study admits 'civil war' in Iraq", by Rupert Cornwell, The Independent, March 2007
• High resolution maps of Iraq, GulfWarrior.org
• Presidential address by George W. Bush on the evening of 19 March 2003, announcing war against Iraq.
• Bibliography: The Second US–Iraq War (2003– )
• 1st Major Survey of Iraq. Zogby International, 10 September 2003.
• Iraq at Polling Report.com. Chronological polls of Americans 18 and older
• Just War in Iraq 2003 (PDF) – Legal dissertation by Thomas Dyhr from University of Copenhagen.
• Iraq war stories, a Guardian and Observer archive in words and pictures documenting the human and political cost, The Guardian, April 2009.
• Iraq: The War Card Archived 3 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Center for Public Integrity.
• Jargin SV. "Health care in Iraq: 2013 vs. 2003". CMAJ. 17 September 2013.
• Mather-Cosgrove, Bootie (17 March 2005). "The War with Iraq: Changing Views". CBS News.

v t e Iraq War (2003–2011)
Beginning of the Iraqi conflict
Prelude Background Pre-1990 17 July Revolution Iranian Revolution 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Iran–Iraq War British / U.S. support for Iraq Chemical attacks against Iran Anfal campaign Iran–Contra affair 1990–2003 Gulf War Invasion of Kuwait Nayirah testimony Sanctions against Iraq No-fly zones 1991 uprisings UNSCOM Arms-to-Iraq affair Oil-for-Food Programme Investigations September 11 attacks Aftermath War on terror 2001 anthrax attacks U.S. War in Afghanistan Invasion Rationale WMD claims Yellowcake uranium Aluminum tubes Biological weapons Chemical weapons "Curveball" Mobile weapon labs Saddam–al-Qaeda conspiracy theory Anthrax claims Prague Ricin claims Oil as a possible rationale Issues American imperialism Bush Doctrine Wolfowitz Doctrine Colin Powell's UN presentation Disarmament crisis UNMOVIC Failed peace initiatives Iraq resolution / UK parliament's support for invasion Iraqi–Kurdish conflict Legality Legitimacy of the invasion Media coverage Military analyst program Rapid response operation Saddam's alleged shredder Preemptive war Saddam Hussein and human rights Dossiers and memos Habbush letter Downing Street memo September Dossier Vilnius letter Letter of the eight Bush–Blair 2003 memo February Dossier Bush–Aznar memo
Overview Key events Invasion (2003) Occupation (2003–2011) Insurgency 2003–06 period Anbar campaign Fallujah Capture of Saddam Hussein Interrogation Trial Execution / Reactions 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing Civil war (2006–08) 2007 U.S. troop surge timeline U.S. withdrawal Status of forces agreement Invasion (2003) Timeline Preparations for invasion Multi-National Force Battle of Nasiriyah Fall of Baghdad Battle of Debecka Pass Firdos Square statue Mission Accomplished speech US public opinion Occupation (2003–2011) Occupation of Ramadi De-Ba'athification 100 Orders CPA Order 2 CPA Order 17 U.S. military bases Blackwater Reconstruction Development Fund Economic reform UNAMI Al Qa'qaa high explosives U.S. kill or capture strategy Replacement governments Coalition Provisional Authority Iraqi Governing Council Interim Government 2005 parliamentary elections Transitional Government Constitution Ratification
Participants Countries Australia Ba'athist Iraq Denmark Georgia Iran Italy Japan Poland South Korea Thailand Ukraine United Kingdom United States Insurgent groups Sunni groups Islamic Army in Iraq 1920 Revolution Brigades Jaish al-Rashideen Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance Hamas of Iraq Jeish Muhammad Mujahideen Shura Council Islamic State of Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan Black Banner Organization Wakefulness and Holy War Abu Theeb's group Abu Bakr Al-Salafi Army Mujahideen Army Shia groups Mahdi Army Abu Deraa's militia Badr Organization Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Sheibani Network Soldiers of Heaven Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Promised Day Brigade Kata'ib Hezbollah Ba'ath loyalists Fedayeen Saddam Al-Awda Popular Army Al-Abud Network Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation
Battles and operations Operations 2003 Ancient Babylon Catalyst Desert Scorpion Desert Thrust Falconer Iron Hammer Iron Justice Ivy Blizzard Northern Delay Airborne Dragon Panther Squeeze Peninsula Strike Planet X Capture of Saddam Hussein (Red Dawn) Telic 2004 Baton Rouge Bulldog Mammoth Iron Saber New Dawn (Al Fajr) Phantom Fury Phantom Linebacker Plymouth Rock Vigilant Resolve Warrior's Rage 2005 Able Rising Force Able Warrior Cyclone Iron Hammer Matador New Market Spear (Romhe) Squeeze Play Steel Curtain 2006 Al Majid Gaugamela Guardian Tiger Iron Triangle River Falcon Sinbad Swarmer Together Forward 2007 Alljah Arbead II Ardennes Black Eagle Commando Eagle Forsythe Park Imposing Law Leyte Gulf Marne Avalanche Marne Torch Mawtini Phantom Strike Phantom Thunder Polar Tempest Purple Haze Saber Guardian Sledgehammer Stampede 3 Tiger Hammer Valiant Guardian (Harris Ba'sil) 2008 Defeat Al Qaeda in the North Augurs of Prosperity Phantom Phoenix 2009–2011 New Dawn Battles 2003 Invasion Umm Qasr Al Faw Basra I Nasiriyah Karbala I Haditha Dam Najaf I Samawah I Karbala II Al Kut Hillah Karbala Gap Debecka Pass Baghdad I Majar al-Kabir Ramadan Offensive 2004 Spring fighting Karbala City Hall Fallujah I Siege of Sadr City Ramadi I Good Friday ambush Baghdad International Airport Husaybah Danny Boy Najaf II CIMIC House Samarra Fallujah II Mosul 2005 Lake Tharthar Abu Ghraib Al-Qa'im Hit convoy Haditha Tal Afar 2006 Baghdad II Ramadi II Diwaniya Al Rumaythah Amarah Turki 2007 Haifa Street Karbala provincial HQ Najaf III Shurta Nasir Basra II Baqubah Route Bismarck Donkey Island Karbala III 2008 Spring fighting Iraqi Day of Ashura Nineveh Basra III Al-Qaeda offensive 2009–2011 Palm Grove (2010) Related events Turkish incursions into northern Iraq 2007 2008 Abu Kamal raid
War crimes Occupation forces Killings and massacres During the 2003 invasion U.S. killings of journalists Fallujah killings Killing of Nadhem Abdullah (2003) Murder of Muhamad Husain Kadir Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre (2004) Haifa Street helicopter incident (2005) Tal Afar shootings (2005) Basra prison incident (2005) Haditha massacre (2005) Mahmudiyah rape and killings (2006) Ishaqi massacre (2006) Baghdad detainee killings (2006) Hamdania incident (2006) Iraqi bodyguard killing (2006) Iron Triangle Murders (2006) Baghdad airstrike (2007) Nisour Square massacre (2007) Iraq War Logs (2010) Chemical weapons Use of white phosphorus by the United States (2004–05) Torture and abuse Abu Ghraib prison (2003–06) Camp Bucca (2003–09) Camp Nama (2003–04) Balad Air Base (2003–2011) Death of Nagem Hatab (2003) Killing of Baha Mousa (2003) Death of Abed Hamed Mowhoush (2003) Killing of Manadel al-Jamadi (2003) Death of Fashad Mohamed (2004) § Other killings and bombings 2003 Jordanian embassy Canal Hotel Imam Ali mosque bombing Baghdad October 2003 2004 Erbil 2004 Ashura massacre Basra 2004 Mosul 2004 2004 church bombings Baghdad bombings 14 September 30 September Karbala and Najaf bombings Baqubah 2004 Kufa mosque bombing 2005 Al Hillah 2005 Erbil 2005 Musayyib bombing Baghdad bombings August September Balad 2005 Khanaqin bombings 2006 Karbala and Ramadi Al-Askari mosque 2006 Buratha mosque bombing Sadr City bombings July November Hayy Al-Jihad massacre 2007 Mustansiriya University Baghdad bombings 22 January 3 February 12 February 18 February 29 March 18 April 26 July 1 August Al Hillah 2007 Tal Afar 2007 Iraqi Parliament 2007 Karbala mosque bombings Massacres of Yazidis April massacre Qahtaniyah bombings Makhmour Abu Sayda Al-Askari mosque 2007 Al-Khilani mosque bombing Amirli bombing Kirkuk 2007 Al Amarah bombings 2008 Bagdad bombings February March June Balad 2008 Karbala 2008 Al-Karmah Dujail bombing Balad Ruz bombing Attacks on Christians in Mosul 2009 Bagdad bombings March 6 April June August October December Baghdad–Miqdadiyah Taza bombing Kirkuk 2009 Tal Afar 2009 2010 Nationwide attacks 10 May 25 August Bagdad bombings January February April August September November Baqubah 2010 Baghdad church massacre 2011 Nationwide attacks January August Bagdad bombings January August October Arba'een bombings Tikrit assault Al Hillah 2011 Samarra bombing Al Diwaniyah bombing Taji bombings Karbala 2011 Basra 2011 Other war crimes Raid on Camp Ashraf (2011) Archaeological looting Chlorine bombings Torture by the Wolf Brigade (2004–2011) Prosecution United States and the International Criminal Court Hague Invasion Act Prosecution for the 2003 invasion Abtan v. Blackwater Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Saleh v. Bush Taguba Report § All attacks listed in this group were either committed by insurgents, or have unknown perpetrators
Impact General Casualties Iraq Body Count Iraq Family Health Survey Lancet surveys ORB survey Damage to Baghdad Al-Aimmah Bridge disaster Human rights Humanitarian crisis 2007 cholera outbreak Financial cost Refugees Iraqi Christians Mandaeans Violence against Iraqi academics Political controversies Post-invasion WMD conjecture Iraq scandal in Finland Dixie Chicks comments Plame affair Hood event Death of David Kelly Hutton Inquiry Kidnapping of Angelo dela Cruz 2004 document leak Al Jazeera bombing memo Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy MoveOn.org ad controversy Six Days in Fallujah Role of Canada War resisters Investigations Senate Report on WMD Intelligence Duelfer Report Chilcot Inquiry Reactions Pre-war Pre-war international reactions Khuy Voyne! Saddam Hussein interview Views on the invasion U.S. public opinion Opposition Criticism United Nations Oprah's Anti-war series Iraqi map pendant Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan Photo Op A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq Bush shoe-throwing incident Protests Halloween 2002 February 15, 2003 March 20, 2003 Bring Them Home Now Tour January 20, 2005 September 24, 2005 January 27, 2007 March 17, 2007 2007 Port of Tacoma September 15, 2007 March 19, 2008 Aftermath in Iraq The rise of ISIL Insurgency (2011–13) War in Iraq (2013–17) War against ISIL (2014–present) U.S.-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021) Insurgency (2017–present)
Miscellaneous Terminology Axis of evil Outposts of tyranny "Baghdad Bob" "Chemical Ali" Coalition of the willing Dead checking Embedded journalism Freedom fries Friedman Unit "Mother of All Bombs" "Mrs. Anthrax" Old Europe and New Europe Regime change Shock and awe "Sixteen Words" "Smoking gun / mushroom cloud" Star Spangled Ice Cream Strategic reset "There are unknown unknowns" Triangle of Death "Yo, Blair" Critical Global arrogance Inverted totalitarianism "The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time" Memorials Afghan–Iraqi Freedom Memorial (Salem, Oregon) Al-Shaheed Monument Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial (London) Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial Old North Memorial Garden Saving Iraqi Culture Lists Assassinations Aviation shootdowns and accidents Bombings Coalition military operations Documentaries Iraqi security forces fatality reports Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards Private contractor deaths Timeline 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Related Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Chelsea Manning CIA black sites Efforts to impeach George W. Bush "Enhanced interrogation techniques" Torture in the United States Extraordinary rendition Green Zone Guantanamo Bay detention camp Gulf of Tonkin incident Resolution Military–industrial complex Neoconservatism Patriot Act Petrodollar warfare theory Post-9/11 Special Relationship The Iraq War: A Historiography of Misplaced Pages Changelogs Unilateralism Unitary executive theory U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East WikiLeaks Ba'ath Party archives
Outline / Category / Wikinews / Multimedia

Links to related articles

v t e War on terror September 11 attacks War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) (Withdrawal) Iraq War (2003–2011) (Withdrawal) Symbolism of terrorism Participants Operational ISAF Operation Enduring Freedom participants Afghanistan Northern Alliance Iraq (Iraqi Armed Forces) NATO Pakistan United Kingdom United States European Union Philippines Ethiopia Targets Individuals Osama bin Laden Hamza bin Laden Anwar al-Awlaki Sirajuddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani Anas Haqqani Khalil Haqqani Hafiz Saeed Mahmoud Mohamed Ahmed Bahaziq Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Factions al-Qaeda al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Abu Sayyaf Al-Shabaab Boko Haram Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Hizbul Mujahideen Islamic Courts Union Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Lashkar-e-Taiba Taliban Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Islamic State Conflicts Operation Enduring Freedom War in Afghanistan OEF – Philippines Georgia Train and Equip Program Georgia Sustainment and Stability OEF – Horn of Africa OEF – Trans Sahara Drone strikes in Pakistan Other Operation Active Endeavour Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present) Insurgency in the North Caucasus Moro conflict in the Philippines Iraq War Iraqi insurgency Operation Linda Nchi Terrorism in Saudi Arabia Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa War in Somalia (2006–2009) 2007 Lebanon conflict al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen Policies Patriot Act (2001) Torture Memos (2002) Military Commissions Act of 2006 Military Commissions Act of 2009 President's Surveillance Program Protect America Act of 2007 Terrorist Surveillance Program Related Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse Axis of evil Bush Doctrine Clash of Civilizations Cold War Combatant Status Review Tribunal Criticism of the war on terror CIA black sites Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri Killing of Osama bin Laden Enhanced interrogation techniques Extrajudicial prisoners Extraordinary rendition Guantanamo Bay detention camp Iranian Revolution Islamic terrorism Islamism North Korea and weapons of mass destruction Operation Noble Eagle Operation Eagle Assist Situation Room photograph State Sponsors of Terrorism Targeted killing Targeted Killing in International Law Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World Unitary executive theory Unlawful combatant CAGE Category Commons v t e Armed groups in the Iraqi conflict Iraqi government Iraqi Armed Forces Iraqi Army Iraqi Air Force Iraqi Navy Iraqi security forces Iraqi Police Iraqi Police Service National Police Supporting Forces Facilities Protection Service Ba'athists Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order Fedayeen Saddam General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries Al-Awda General Command of the Armed Forces, Resistance and Liberation in Iraq Popular Army New Return Patriotic Front Political Media Organ of the Ba'ath Party Popular Resistance for the Liberation of Iraq Al-Abud Network Free Iraqi Army Militias and others Shia Islamic militias Popular Mobilization Forces Mahdi Army Abu Deraa's Mahdi Army faction Badr Organization Sheibani Network Soldiers of Heaven Free Iraqi Forces Special Groups (Iraq) Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Promised Day Brigade Kata'ib Hezbollah Saraya Ansar al-Aqeeda Kata'ib al-Imam Ali Kata'ib Jund al-Imam Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba Saraya al-Jihad Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Forces Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya Quwwat Sahl Ninawa Mukhtar Army Hezbollah Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas Jaysh al-Mu'ammal Liwa Ali al-Akbar Islamic Resistance in Iraq Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Sunni Islamic militias Tribal Mobilization Awakening groups 1920 Revolution Brigades Jaish al-Rashideen Islamic Army in Iraq Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance Hamas of Iraq Harakat Ahrar al-Iraq Kurdish militias Peshmerga Kurdistan Workers' Party Kurdistan Freedom Hawks Asayîşa Êzîdxanê Turkmen militias Iraqi Turkmen Front 16Brigade 52nd Brigade 92nd Brigade Brigade of Imam Hussein Sayyid al-Shuhada Bashir Regiment Assyrian militias Nineveh Plains Nineveh Plain Protection Units Nineveh Plain Forces Qaraqosh Protection Committee Dwekh Nawsha Syriac Military Council Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam Babylon Brigade Yazidi militias Asayîşa Êzîdxanê Êzîdxan Protection Force Sinjar Alliance Sinjar Resistance Units Êzîdxan Women's Units Insurgents Nationalist Salafis Mujahideen Army Mujahideen Battalions of the Salafi Group of Iraq Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions Mohammad's Army Salafi Jihadists Al-Mustafa Army in Iraq Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan Black Banner Organization Abu Theeb's group Abu Bakr Al-Salafi Army Hassan Al-Basri Brigades Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah Islamic State Mujahideen Shura Council Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah Al-Qaeda in Iraq Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Shield of Islam Brigade Wakefulness and Holy War White Flags v t e List of modern conflicts in the Middle East 1910s Italo-Turkish War World War I Middle Eastern theatre Battle of Robat Karim Arab Revolt Armenian genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt 1919 Egyptian revolution Turkish War of Independence Anglo-Turkish War Al-Jazeera Front Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts United States Mahmud Barzanji revolts 1920s Franco-Syrian War Iraqi Revolt (1920) Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion 1930s Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–1936 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Dersim rebellion 1940s World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Allied invasion of Iraq Syria–Lebanon campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Al-Waziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict 1948 Arab–Israeli War Suez Crisis 1967 Six-Day War 1973 Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War 1950s 1952 Egyptian revolution 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cyprus Emergency Suez Crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising 1960s Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen Civil War Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1948 Palestine war First Intifada Second Intifada 1966 Syrian coup d'état 1970s Black September in Jordan 1972 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Yemenite War of 1972 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Islamist uprising in Syria 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq NDF Rebellion Yemenite War of 1979 Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq 1980s Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–PKK conflict South Yemen civil war 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings 1987 Sharjawi coup d'état attempt Abu Nidal's executions 1990s Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 Iraqi uprisings Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq 2000s Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict South Yemen insurgency 2010s 2011 Bahraini uprising Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian civil war Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) Yemeni crisis Yemeni civil war (2014–present) 2020s 2021 Beirut clashes Israel–Hamas war Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) Red Sea crisis This list includes World War I and later conflicts (after 1914) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic, and conflicts with +100,000 killed with bold. v t e Armed conflicts involving the Armed Forces of the United States Listed chronologically Domestic Shays' Rebellion Whiskey Rebellion Fries's Rebellion 1811 German Coast uprising Turner's Rebellion Mormon War Dorr Rebellion Bleeding Kansas Utah War Harpers Ferry raid American Civil War New York City draft riots American Indian Wars Brooks–Baxter War Battle of Liberty Place Range War Hamburg riot Lincoln County War Johnson County War Coal Creek War Homestead strike Pullman Strike Colorado Coalfield War Red Summer Battle of Blair Mountain Tulsa riot Bonus Army Puerto Rican revolts 1960s ghetto rebellions 1969 Greensboro uprising Kent State shootings 1992 Los Angeles riots 2020 racial unrest 2021 U.S. Capitol attack Foreign American Revolutionary War American–Algerian War (1785–1795) Quasi-War First Barbary War War of 1812 Second Barbary War First Sumatran expedition Second Sumatran expedition Ivory Coast expedition Mexican–American War First Fiji expedition Second Opium War Second Fiji expedition Formosa Expedition Korean Expedition Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Boxer Rebellion Banana Wars Border War World War I Russian Civil War World War II Korean War Bay of Pigs Invasion Vietnam War Dominican Civil War Invasion of Grenada Lebanese Civil War Invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Intervention in Haiti Bosnian War Kosovo War War in Afghanistan Iraq War War in North-West Pakistan First Libyan Civil War War against the Islamic State Iraq Syria Cameroon Libya Yemeni civil war Related Conflicts in the U.S. Wars involving the U.S. Timeline of U.S. military operations Length of U.S. participation in major wars Territorial evolution Military history History of the Central Intelligence Agency Casualties of war Peace movement List of anti-war organizations Conscientious objector Cold War War on terror War crimes v t e Iraq topics History Chronology Ubaid period Hassuna culture Halaf culture Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period Samarra culture Uruk period Jemdet Nasr period Sumer Subartu Akkadian Empire Gutian dynasty Neo-Sumerian Empire Isin-Larsa period First Babylonian Empire Old Assyrian Period Middle Assyrian Empire Kassite dynasty of the Babylonian Empire Simurrum culture Babylonia Assyria Neo-Assyrian Empire Neo-Babylonian Empire Babylonian captivity Fall of Babylon Achaemenid Assyria Seleucid Babylonia Parthian Babylonia Sassanid Asorestan 638–1958 Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Buyid dynasty Qara Qoyunlu Aq Qoyunlu Safavids Ottoman Iraq (incl. Mamluk dynasty) Mandate for Mesopotamia Mandatory Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Kings Arab Federation Republic 1958–1968 1968–2003 2003–2011 2011–present Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region (National Command) Saddam Hussein Iraqi–Kurdish conflict 1974–1975 Shatt al-Arab clashes 1977 Shia uprising in Iraq 1979–1980 Shia uprising in Iraq Weapons of mass destruction Iran–Iraq War Operation Opera Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War 1991 uprisings Sanctions Iraq War U.S. invasion Iraqi insurgency U.S. troop withdrawal Insurgency (2011–2013) War (2014–2017) Fall of Mosul Mosul liberation Insurgency 2019–2021 protests 2021–2022 Iraqi political crisis Geography Faw peninsula Upper Mesopotamia Lower Mesopotamia Borders Euphrates river Hamrin Mountains Iraqi Kurdistan Lakes Islands Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Places Shatt al-Arab Syrian Desert Tigris river Umm Qasr Zagros Mountains Wildlife Sinjar Mountains Politics Administrative divisions Constitution Council of Representatives (legislative) Democracy Elections Foreign aid Foreign relations Government Council of Ministers Presidency Council President List Prime Minister List Human rights in pre-Saddam Iraq in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in post-invasion Iraq in ISIL-controlled territory LGBT Freedom of religion Women Law Military Police Political parties Judiciary Wars and conflicts Economy Banks Central Bank Companies Corruption Dinar (currency) Infrastructure Foreign Investment Oil Industry Oil reserves Reconstruction Stock Exchange Telecommunications Transportation Airlines Railways Tourism Society Demographics Iraqis Languages Mesopotamian Arabic Aramaic Kurdish Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman dialects Persian Minorities Armenians Assyrians Circassians Kurds Mandaeans Marsh Arabs Persians Solluba Iraqi Turkmen/Turkoman Jews Religion Secularism Islam Christianity Mandaeism Yazidis Irreligion General Art Cinema Cuisine Culture Literature Education Health Media Television Music Smoking Sports Squatting Public holidays Mesopotamian spring festival (Akitu) Mandaean New Year Category Portal WikiProject Commons v t e United States articles History By period 1776–1789 1789–1815 1815–1849 1849–1865 1865–1917 1917–1945 1945–1964 1964–1980 1980–1991 1991–2008 2008–present By event Pre-colonial era Colonial era Stamp Act Congress Thirteen Colonies Continental Congress Continental Association United Colonies military history Founding Fathers Halifax Resolves Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence American Revolution War Treaty of Paris Articles of Confederation Perpetual Union Confederation period American frontier Constitution drafting and ratification Bill of Rights Federalist Era War of 1812 Territorial evolution Mexican–American War Civil War Reconstruction era Indian Wars Native genocide Gilded Age Progressive Era Women's suffrage Civil rights movement 1865–1896 1896–1954 1954–1968 Spanish–American War Imperialism World War I Roaring Twenties Great Depression World War II home front American Century Cold War Korean War Space Race Feminist Movement LGBT Movement Vietnam War Post-Cold War (1991–2008) September 11 attacks War on Terror War in Afghanistan Iraq War Great Recession COVID-19 pandemic By topic Outline of U.S. history Demographic Discoveries Economic Inventions Military Postal Technological and industrial Geography Territory Contiguous United States counties federal district federal enclaves Indian reservations insular zones minor outlying islands populated places states Earthquakes Extreme points Islands Mountains peaks ranges Appalachian Rocky Sierra Nevada National Park Service National Parks Regions East Coast West Coast Great Plains Gulf Mid-Atlantic Midwestern New England Pacific Central Eastern Northern Northeastern Northwestern Southern Southeastern Southwestern Western Longest rivers Arkansas Colorado Columbia Mississippi Missouri Red (South) Rio Grande Yukon Time Water supply and sanitation World Heritage Sites Politics Federal Executive President of the United States powers Executive Office Vice President Cabinet Executive departments Independent agencies Intelligence Community Director of National Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency National Security Agency National Reconnaissance Office Law enforcement ATF CBP Diplomatic Security DEA FBI ICE Marshals Secret Service TSA Inspector generals Civil service Public policy Legislative House of Representatives current members Speaker Senate current members President pro tempore President Capitol Police Library of Congress Congressional Budget Office Government Accountability Office Government Publishing Office Judicial Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices list Courts of appeals list of judges District courts/Territorial courts list of courts list of judges Other tribunals U.S. attorney Law Bill of Rights civil liberties Code of Federal Regulations Constitution federalism preemption separation of powers civil rights United States Code Uniformed Armed Forces Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Space Force Coast Guard National Guard NOAA Corps Public Health Service Corps State, Federal District, and Territorial Executive Governor list Lieutenant governor list Secretary of state Attorney general Treasurer Auditor/Comptroller Agriculture commissioner Insurance commissioner Public utilities commission State police list Legislative List of legislatures List of legislators Judicial Supreme courts Chief justices District attorney list Law State constitutions Statutory codes Uniform act Comparison of governments Tribal Tribal sovereignty Native American recognition in the United States Federally recognized tribes Federally recognized Alaska Native tribes State-recognized tribes Indian reservation list Hawaiian home land Local County List of counties and county equivalents County executive Sheriff Clerk Cities Consolidated city-county Independent city Coterminous municipality Charter Mayor–council government Council–manager government City commission government Mayor City manager City council Minor divisions Township Town meeting Special district School district list Corruption Elections Electoral College Red states and blue states Foreign relations foreign policy Imperial presidency Ideologies Anti-Americanism exceptionalism nationalism Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Scandals Economy By sector Agriculture Banking Communications Companies Energy Insurance Manufacturing Mining Science and technology Tourism Trade by state Currency Exports Federal budget Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States Federal Reserve System Financial position Labor unions Public debt Social welfare programs Taxation Unemployment Wall Street Transport Aviation Driving Public transportation Rail transportation Transportation policy Transportation safety Trucking industry Society Culture Americana Architecture Cinema Crime Cuisine Dance Demographics Economic issues affluence eviction homeownership household income income inequality middle class personal income poverty standard of living wealth working class Education attainment literacy Family Fashion Flag list Folklore Holidays Federal holidays Homelessness Housing Human rights Languages American English Indigenous languages ASL Literature Media journalism internet newspapers radio television Music Names National anthem National symbols Columbia Mount Rushmore Statue of Liberty Uncle Sam People Philosophy Political ideologies Race Religion Sexuality Social class Society Sports Theater Transportation Video games Visual art Social class Affluence American Dream Educational attainment Homelessness Homeownership Household income Income inequality Middle class Personal income Poverty Standard of living Health Aging Healthcare Abortion Birth control Prenatal care Hospice care Immigrant health care Rationing Health care finance Health insurance costs Health care prices Prescription drug prices Disability Health insurance Food safety Physician shortage Poverty and health Race and health Obesity Medical deserts Women's reproductive health Life expectancy Issues Capital punishment Crime incarceration Criticism of government Discrimination affirmative action antisemitism intersex rights Islamophobia LGBT rights racism Native American African American Energy policy Environmental issues Environmental movement Climate change Gun politics Mass shootings Hunger Smoking Human rights Immigration illegal National security Terrorism Opioid epidemic Separation of church and state Xenophobia Outline Index Category Portal v t e History of the United States Timeline Outline Events Pre-Colonial Prehistoric Pre-Columbian Era Colonial Exploration of North America European colonization Native American epidemics Settlement of Jamestown Thirteen Colonies Atlantic slave trade King William's War Queen Anne's War Dummer's War First Great Awakening War of Jenkins' Ear King George's War Prelude to Revolution American Enlightenment French and Indian War Proclamation of 1763 Sugar Act Stamp Act Congress Sons of Liberty Boston Massacre Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts First Continental Congress Continental Association 1776–1789 American Revolution War Second Continental Congress Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence Treaty of Paris Confederation period Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union Pennsylvania Mutiny Shays' Rebellion Northwest Ordinance Drafting and ratification of the Constitution 1789–1815 Bill of Rights Federalist Era Whiskey Rebellion Quasi-War Jeffersonian era Louisiana Purchase War of 1812 1815–1849 Era of Good Feelings Missouri Compromise Monroe Doctrine Jacksonian era Trail of Tears Nat Turner's slave rebellion Nullification crisis Westward expansion Mexican–American War Seneca Falls Convention First Industrial Revolution Second Great Awakening 1849–1865 Antebellum Era California Gold Rush Prelude to War Compromise of 1850 Fugitive Slave Act Kansas–Nebraska Act Bleeding Kansas Dred Scott decision Election of Lincoln Secession Civil War Emancipation Proclamation Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 1865–1917 Reconstruction era Amendments First transcontinental railroad Ku Klux Klan Enforcement Acts Compromise of 1877 Second Industrial Revolution Gilded Age The Gospel of Wealth Assassination of James A. Garfield Chinese Exclusion Act Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act Haymarket affair Sherman Antitrust Act Progressive Era Spanish–American War Imperialism Assassination of William McKinley Square Deal Nadir of American race relations 1917–1945 World War I Paris Peace Conference First Red Scare Roaring Twenties Prohibition Women's suffrage Tulsa race massacre Second Klan Bath School disaster Harlem Renaissance Great Depression Wall Street Crash of 1929 Dust Bowl New Deal World War II Pearl Harbor home front Manhattan Project Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945–1964 Strike wave of 1945–1946 Start of Cold War Truman Doctrine Early Cold War North Atlantic Treaty Korean War Ivy Mike McCarthyism Post-war boom Project Mercury Civil Rights Movement Early–mid Cold War Cuban Missile Crisis Assassination of John F. Kennedy 1964–1980 Great Society Space Race Project Gemini Apollo program Mid Cold War Détente Vietnam War Fall of Saigon Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Counterculture Second-wave feminism Gay liberation Stonewall riots Watergate scandal Iran hostage crisis Moral Majority 1980–1991 Reagan era Reaganomics Iran–Contra affair Crack epidemic Late Cold War Invasion of Grenada Reagan Doctrine End of the Cold War Space Shuttle program War on drugs Invasion of Panama 1991–2008 Gulf War NAFTA Los Angeles riots WTC bombing Waco siege Republican Revolution Oklahoma City bombing Columbine Bush v. Gore September 11 attacks War on terror War in Afghanistan Iraq War Hurricane Katrina Virginia Tech shooting Great Recession 2008–present Killing of Osama bin Laden Rise in mass shootings Tucson Aurora Sandy Hook Orlando Las Vegas Parkland El Paso Uvalde Black Lives Matter Obergefell v. Hodges Unite the Right rally COVID-19 pandemic recession George Floyd protests January 6 insurrection Afghanistan withdrawal Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Support of Ukraine Indictments of Donald Trump Topics American Century Antisemitism Cultural Cinema Music Newspapers Sports Demography Immigration Economy Banking Education Higher education Flag Government Abortion Capital punishment Civil Rights Corruption The Constitution Debt ceiling Direct democracy Foreign policy Law enforcement Postal service Taxation Voting rights Journalism Merchant Marine Military Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Space Force Coast Guard Party Systems First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Religion Genocide Slavery Sexual slavery Technology and industry Agriculture Labor Lumber Medicine Railway Groups African American Asian American Chinese American Filipino American Indian American Japanese American Korean American Thai American Vietnamese American European American Albanian American English American Estonian American Finnish American Irish American Italian American Lithuanian American Polish American Serbian American Hispanic and Latino American Mexican American Jewish American Middle Eastern American Egyptian American Iranian American Iraqi American Lebanese American Palestinian American Saudi American Native Americans Cherokee Comanche Women LGBTQ Gay men Lesbians Transgender people Places Territorial evolution Admission to the Union Historical regions American frontier Manifest destiny Indian removal Regions New England The South The West Coast States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Federal District Washington, D.C. Insular areas American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Outlying islands Baker Island Howland Island Jarvis Island Johnston Atoll Kingman Reef Midway Atoll Navassa Island Palmyra Atoll Wake Island Cities Urban history Cities List of years Historiography Category Portal v t e Post–Cold War conflicts in Asia South Asia India Kashmir conflict (1947–present) 2013 India–Pakistan border skirmishes 2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes 2016–2018 India–Pakistan border skirmishes Kargil War (1999) Jammu and Kashmir insurgency (1989–present) Insurgency in Northeast India (1964–present) Naxalite–Maoist insurgency (1967–present) Religious violence in India Insurgency in Punjab (1981–1995) Pakistan Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes Kashmir conflict (1947–present) 2013 India–Pakistan border skirmishes India–Pakistan border skirmishes (2014–2015) India–Pakistan border skirmishes (2016–2018) Kargil War (1999) Jammu and Kashmir insurgency (1989–present) Insurgency in Balochistan (2004–present) Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2004–present) Insurgency in Sindh (2010–present) Sri Lanka JVP insurrection (1971) Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009) JVP insurrection (1987–1989) Others Maldives political crisis (2011–2013) Nepalese Civil War (1996–2006) Operation All Clear East Asia China Taiwan Strait Crisis (1996) Xinjiang conflict (1960s–present) Tibetan unrest (2008) Korea (North and South) Korean conflict Maritime border incidents 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis 2017–2018 crisis Taiwan Taiwan Strait Crisis (1996) Southeast Asia Cambodia Cambodian–Thai border dispute (2008–2011) Indonesia Papua conflict (1969–present) Insurgency in Aceh (1976–2005) East Indonesia Mujahideen insurgency (2015–2022) Myanmar Myanmar conflict (1948–present) Karen conflict Kachin conflict Rohingya conflict Civil war (2021–present) Thailand South Thailand insurgency (2004–present) Cambodian–Thai border dispute (2008–2011) East Timor Indonesian occupation (1975–1999) 1999 crisis 2006 crisis Others Cambodian Conflict (1979–1998) Laotian insurgency (1975–2022) Philippine civil conflict (1969–present) NPA Moro FULRO insurgency (1964–1992) Central Asia Afghanistan Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes Afghan conflict Civil War 1989–1992 1992–1996 1996–2001 2001–2021 War Republican insurgency Kazakhstan Ethnic conflicts Kyrgyzstan 1990 Osh clashes 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution 2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashes Tajikistan Tajikistani Civil War (1992–1997) Insurgency in Gorno-Badakhshan (2010–2015) Uzbekistan Fergana massacre (1989) Andijan massacre (2005) Western Asia Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988–2024) First War 2016 conflict Second War Bahrain Bahraini uprising (2011) Iran Kurdish separatism in Iran KDPI insurgency (1989–1996) Iran–PJAK conflict (2004–2011) Western Iran clashes (2016–present) Arab separatism in Khuzestan (1922–2020) Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict (1979–present) Qatif conflict Iran–Israel (1985–present) South Lebanon (1985–2000) Lebanon War (2006) Syrian arena (2012–present) Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency (2004–present) Iraq Iraqi–Kurdish conflict (1918–2003) Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (1994–1997 Iraqi conflict Iraqi Kurdistan conflict (2001–2003) Iraq War (2003–2011) Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) ISIL insurgency (2017–present) Israel Israeli–Palestinian (1948–present) Second Intifada (2000–2005) Gaza–Israel (2006–present) Iran–Israel (1985–present) Syrian arena (2012–present) Lebanon South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) Lebanon War (2006) Conflict in Northern Lebanon (2007) Lebanon conflict (2008) Palestine Israeli–Palestinian (1948–present) Second Intifada (2000–2005) Gaza–Israel (2006–present) Fatah–Hamas conflict (2006–2008) Saudi Arabia Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict (1979–present) Qatif conflict Persian Gulf crisis (2019–2021) Syria Syrian Civil War (2011–present) Regional spillover Turkey Maoist insurgency DHKP/C insurgency Kurdish–Turkish conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemen Civil war (1994) al-Qaeda (1998–2015) Houthi (2004–2015) South Yemen (2009–2015) Yemeni crisis (2011–present) Houthi takeover (2014–2015) Civil War (2014–present) Inter-continental conflict Sinai insurgency (2011–present) Related topics War on terror Operation Inherent Resolve Arab Spring Arab Winter Colour revolutions v t e Islamic State Names of the Islamic State Members (List of leaders) Current Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari Abdul Qadir Mumin Abu Fatima al-Jaheishi Abu Yusaf Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi Abu Habib al-Libi Abu Jandal al-Masri Zulfi Hoxha Bajro Ikanović Faysal Ahmad Ali al-Zahrani Fatiha Mejjati Ahlam al-Nasr Issam Abuanza Musa Baluku  † Former Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi Abu Ahmad al-Alwani Haji Bakr Abu Usamah al-Maghrebi Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi Abdul Rauf Aliza Abu Sayyaf Ali Awni al-Harzi Tariq al-Harzi Abu Khattab al-Tunisi Maher Meshaal Abu Muslim al-Turkmani Abu Saleh Mohammed Emwazi Abu Nabil al-Anbari Abu Ali al-Anbari Abu Waheeb Ali Aswad al-Jiburi Abu Omar al-Shishani El-Hassen Ould Khalill Jouleibib Abu Mohammad al-Adnani Abu Hamza Al-Qurashi Abu Muhammad al-Furqan Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti Abu Bilal al-Harbi Ahmad Abousamra Turki al-Binali Tareq Kamleh Lavdrim Muhaxheri Abu Osama al-Masri Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir Abu Muhammad al-Shimali Gulmurod Khalimov Abdul Nasser Qardash (captured) Abu Yasser al-Issawi Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi Abu Hamza Al-Qurashi Yusuf al-Hindi Abu Omar al-Muhajir (captured) Othman al-Nazih Jamal Udeen Al-Harith Aine Davis (captured) Alexanda Kotey (captured) El Shafee Elsheikh (captured) Denis Cuspert Abdelhamid Abaaoud Boubaker El Hakim History Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999–2004) Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004–2006) Mujahideen Shura Council (2006) Islamic State of Iraq (2006–2013) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013–2014) Islamic State (2014–present) Timeline of events 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Groups International branches Khorasan Province (Afghanistan and Pakistan) Libyan Provinces (Libya) Caucasus Province (North Caucasus, Russia) Sinai Province (Sinai, Egypt) Algeria Province (Algeria) Yemen Province (Yemen) Abnaa ul-Khilafah (Somalia and Somaliland) Bengal Province (Bangladesh) Boko Haram (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Mali) (2015–2016) West Africa Province (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger) Central Africa Province (DR Congo and Uganda) Sahil Province (Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso) Hind Province (India) Pakistan Province ((Pakistan) Turkey Province (Turkey) Mozambique Province (Mozambique) Khalid ibn al-Walid Army (Syria) (2016–2018) Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade (Gaza) Abu Sayyaf (Philippines) (2014–2024) Ansar Khalifa (Philippines) (2014–2021) Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil (Brazil) (2016–2018) East Indonesia Mujahideen (Indonesia) (2014–2022) Unorganized cells Azerbaijan Province (Azerbaijan) Jammu and Kashmir Province (Jammu and Kashmir) Kurdistan Province (Kurdistan) Haramayn Province (Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) Lebanon Province (Lebanon) Jund al Khilafah in Tunisia (Tunisia) Brussels Islamic State terror cell (Belgium) Wars War on terror Iraq War Insurgency (2003–2011) Iraqi civil war (2006–2008) Insurgency (2011–2013) War in Iraq (2013–2017) Insurgency (2017–present) Syrian civil war Spillover Spillover in Lebanon Opposition–Islamic State conflict Sinai insurgency Second Libyan Civil War Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mozambique Islamist insurgency in the Sahel Mali War War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Conflict with Taliban Moro conflict (1968–2019) al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Boko Haram insurgency Military intervention against IS US intervention in Iraq US intervention in Syria Russian intervention in Syria Turkish operation Somalia Battles 2013 Akashat Hawija Raqqa Al-Shabah Ras al-Ayn Tell Abyad Latakia Menagh Sidi Ali Ben Aoun Sadad Qalamoun Aleppo Al-Yaarubiyah Tell Hamis and Tell Brak Anbar 2014 Fallujah N Aleppo Markada N Iraq (Jun) Mosul Salahuddin Baiji (Jun) Tikrit N Iraq (Aug) Kobanî Sinjar (Aug) Derna Ramadi Deir ez-Zor Baiji (14–15) Sinjar (Dec) Zumar Amirli 2015 Nofaliya W Africa Egyptian airstrikes in Libya Niger raid E al-Hasakah Tikrit Sirte Hama & Homs (Mar–Apr) Sarrin (Mar–Apr) Yarmouk Qalamoun Palmyra (May) W al-Hasakah Al-Hasakah city Tell Abyad Sarrin (Jun–Jul) Al-Hasakah Kobani Palmyra (Jul–Aug) Ramadi (15–16) Al-Qaryatayn Al-Hawl Homs (Nov–Dec) Sinjar E Aleppo (15–16) Niveneh Plains Tishrin Dam 2016 Deir ez-Zor (Jan) Fallujah (Feb–May) Nangarhar Ben Guerdane Ithriyah-Raqqa (Feb–Mar) Al-Shaddadi Khanasir Al-Qaryatayn (Mar–Apr) Palmyra (Mar) N Aleppo (Mar–Jun) Hīt Tipo-Tipo Sirte Ar-Rutbah N Raqqa Fallujah (May–Jun) Manbij Ithriyah-Raqqa (Jun) Abu Kamal al-Rai (Aug) N al-Bab (Sep) W al-Bab (Sep) Dabiq W al-Bab (Oct–Nov) Al-Bab Aleppo Palmyra 2017 Mosul (16–17) Raqqa (16–17) Palmyra Deir ez-Zor (Jan–Feb) E Aleppo (Jan–Apr) E Homs Hama W Nineveh Tabqa Syrian Desert (Dec 16–Apr 17) Syrian Desert (May–Jul) Maskanah Marawi Raqqa S Raqqa C Syria Tal Afar Deir ez-Zor (17–19) Hawija E Syria (Sep–Dec) NW Syria (Oct 17–Feb 18) Abu Kamal W Iraq 2018 As-Suwayda (Jun) S Syria As-Suwayda (Aug–Nov) 2019 Hajin Baghuz Fawqani Barisha raid 2020 Chinagodrar Danag Mocímboa da Praia Al Bayda 2021 Tessit Palma Sambisa Dangarous 2022 Al-Hasakah Atme raid Andéramboukane Talataye 2023 Falagountou Attacks 2014 Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting Camp Speicher massacre Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming 2015 Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege Beheading of Copts in Libya Corinthia Hotel Al Qubbah bombings Bardo National Museum Sanaa bombings (Mar) Jalalabad bombing Curtis Culwell Center Qatif & Dammam bombings 26 June Kobanî massacre Saint-Quentin-Fallavier Kuwait mosque bombing Sousse Khan Bani Saad bombing Suruç bombing Baghdad bombing (Aug) Sanaa bombing (Sep) Ankara bombings Saihat shooting Metrojet Flight 9268 Beirut bombings Paris (Nov) Tunis bombing San Bernardino attack Qamishli bombings 2016 Zliten truck bombing Hurghada Istanbul bombing (Jan) Jakarta Ramadi bombing Mahasin mosque Sayyidah Zaynab (Jan) Mosul massacre Homs bombings (Feb) Sayyidah Zaynab bombings (Feb) Baghdad bombings (Feb) Istanbul bombing (Mar) Brussels bombings Aden bombing Iskandariya bombing Baghdad bombing (Apr) Samawa bombing Gaziantep bombing (May) Baghdad bombings (11 May) Real Madrid fan club massacres Baghdad gas plant Yemen police bombings (15 May) Baghdad bombings (17 May) Jableh & Tartous bombings (May) Yemen bombings (23 May) Aktobe shootings Pulse nightclub shooting Magnanville stabbing Mukalla (Jun) Movida Bar Atatürk Airport Dhaka (Jul) Karrada bombing Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hadi Mausoleum Nice truck Würzburg train Kabul bombing (Jul) Ansbach bombing Normandy church Qamishli bombings (Jul) Charleroi stabbing Shchelkovo Highway police station Aden bombing (Aug) Syria bombings (5 Sep) Baghdad bombings (9 Sep) Baghdad bombings (Oct) Quetta police college Hamam al-Alil massacre Khuzdar bombing Samarinda bombing Hillah bombing (Nov) Aden bombings (Dec) Botroseya bombing Al-Karak Berlin truck Murders of Sefter Taş and Fethi Şahin Baghdad bombings (Dec) 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting Baghdad bombings (2 Jan) Azaz bombing (Jan) Sehwan bombing Kabul (Mar) Westminster St Petersburg Metro bombing Egypt church bombings Mastung bombing Manchester Arena bombing Jakarta bombings Minya Al-Faqma bombing London Bridge Brighton siege Tehran Pakistan attacks (Jun) Hurghada Quetta bombing (Aug) Barcelona Brussels (Aug) Nasiriyah Afghanistan (20 Oct) New York City truck Sinai mosque Kabul bombing (28 Dec) Saint Menas church 2018 Baghdad bombings Save The Children Jalalabad Kizlyar church shooting Kabul bombing (Mar) Carcasonne & Trèbes Kabul bombing (22 Apr) Kabul bombings (30 Apr) Tripoli Mako Brimob standoff Paris knife Surabaya bombings Liège Jalalabad bombing (Jul) Mastung & Bannu bombings Quetta bombing As-Suwayda Tajikistan attack Kabul (Sep) Ahvaz military parade Minya bus Melbourne stabbing Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings Sri Lanka Easter bombings Sainthamaruthu shootout Kabul bombing (17 Aug) 2020 Kabul shooting (6 Mar) Kabul gurdwara Xitaxi Afghanistan (May) Jalalabad prison Jolo bombings Kabul University Vienna Afghanistan (Dec) 2021 Machh January Baghdad bombings Kabul school bombing Kabul airport Kunduz bombing Kandahar bombing Kampala bombings Kabul hospital 2022 Diyala massacre Peshawar mosque Hadera shooting Mazar-i-Sharif mosque bombing Mazar-i-Sharif minivan bombings Bourasso and Namissiguima Kuje prison break 5 August Kabul bombing August Kabul mosque bombing Bombing of the Russian embassy in Kabul Shah Cheragh Kabul hotel 2023 Kabul airport bombing Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan bombing Al-Sukhnah Hama Khar bombing Arras school stabbing Pul-i-Khumri bombing Brussels shooting Kabul bombing (Nov) Paris Mindanao State University bombing 2024 Kerman bombings Istanbul church shooting Balochistan bombings Sibi bombing Mucojo attack Karabulak clash Kandahar New Kabul Bank bombing Tillabéri attack Crocus City Hall attack 2024 Guzara Attack 2024 Bamyan shooting 2024 Beirut US embassy shooting Rostov-on-Don pre-trial detention center hostage crisis 2024 Dagestan attacks 2024 attack on the Israeli embassy in Belgrade 2024 Muscat mosque shooting 2024 Kabul bus bombing Surovikino penal colony hostage crisis 2024 Solingen stabbing 2024 Qala Bakhtiar bombing 2024 Afghanistan bus shooting Politics and organization Finances Ideology Medicare Military Armoured warfare Human rights Genocide of Christians Persecution of Shias Genocide of Yazidis Genocide of Turkmen Persecution of gay and bisexual men Killing of captives Beheading incidents Destruction of cultural heritage Occupation of Mosul Executions in Mosul Relations Iran and the Islamic State Philippines and the Islamic State United Kingdom and the Islamic State Trinidad and Tobago and the Islamic State Foreign fighters Name changes due to the Islamic State Portrayal of the Islamic State in American media Connection with Saddam Regime and Baath Party Society Members Terrorist cell in Brussels Territorial claims al-Barakah district Collaboration Media A Second Message to America Al-Bayan Al-Furat Media Center Al-Hayat Media Center Al-Naba Amaq News Agency Dar al-Islam Dabiq Dawlat al-Islam Qamat Huroof I'lam foundation Istok Konstantiniyye Rumiyah Al-Fatihin Salil al-Sawarim Related topics Defeating ISIS ISIS-chan Islamism Millenarianism Sexual violence in the Iraqi insurgency Shia–Sunni relations Slavery in 21st-century jihadism Theocracy v t e Armed conflicts involving the Armed Forces of the United States Listed chronologically Domestic Shays' Rebellion Whiskey Rebellion Fries's Rebellion 1811 German Coast uprising Turner's Rebellion Mormon War Dorr Rebellion Bleeding Kansas Utah War Harpers Ferry raid American Civil War New York City draft riots American Indian Wars Brooks–Baxter War Battle of Liberty Place Range War Hamburg riot Lincoln County War Johnson County War Coal Creek War Homestead strike Pullman Strike Colorado Coalfield War Red Summer Battle of Blair Mountain Tulsa riot Bonus Army Puerto Rican revolts 1960s ghetto rebellions 1969 Greensboro uprising Kent State shootings 1992 Los Angeles riots 2020 racial unrest 2021 U.S. Capitol attack Foreign American Revolutionary War American–Algerian War (1785–1795) Quasi-War First Barbary War War of 1812 Second Barbary War First Sumatran expedition Second Sumatran expedition Ivory Coast expedition Mexican–American War First Fiji expedition Second Opium War Second Fiji expedition Formosa Expedition Korean Expedition Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Boxer Rebellion Banana Wars Border War World War I Russian Civil War World War II Korean War Bay of Pigs Invasion Vietnam War Dominican Civil War Invasion of Grenada Lebanese Civil War Invasion of Panama Gulf War Somali Civil War Intervention in Haiti Bosnian War Kosovo War War in Afghanistan Iraq War War in North-West Pakistan First Libyan Civil War War against the Islamic State Iraq Syria Cameroon Libya Yemeni civil war Related Conflicts in the U.S. Wars involving the U.S. Timeline of U.S. military operations Length of U.S. participation in major wars Territorial evolution Military history History of the Central Intelligence Agency Casualties of war Peace movement List of anti-war organizations Conscientious objector Cold War War on terror War crimes