Most significantly, some Sunni Arab groups that had been fighting the Americans and Shiite-led government decided to turn their guns on rival Sunni Arab groups, many of which are members of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a home-grown fundamentalist militia with foreign fighters in its ranks. The American military is giving money and arms to their new Sunni Arab allies, collectively called the Awakening, though Shiite leaders remain suspicious of the Sunnis' intentions.
Also in , acting on the request of General David H. Petraeus, the commander of American forces in Iraq, President Bush decided to increase troop levels in the country to , Commonly called "the surge," the increase in troops helped General Petraeus push forward with a strategy to set up small operating bases in some of the most violent neighborhoods in Baghdad, contributing to the drop in violence in those areas.
But the pace of deployment and operations has severely strained the American military, especially the United States Army, and President Bush began lowering troop levels in late The White House and American commanders say the purpose of the troop increase was to try to dampen the violence to a degree that would allow political reconciliation among the warring Iraqi factions.
In early , as the Iraq war approaches its sixth year, the main question is whether that kind of reconciliation will take place. Leaders of the main factions have haggled over issues behind closed doors and urged Parliament to pass some conciliatory measures. Moktada al-Sadr, the young, rebellious Shiite cleric, has imposed a temporary ceasefire on his militia, the Mahdi Army. But the Iraqi leaders, as well as their supporters in the greater Middle East, have yet to reach a grand peace accord that will truly pull Iraq back from the abyss of a failed state.
The Iraq War at 18 offers lessons for understanding the costs of war. Whatever promises and hopes, war is rarely quick, cheap, effective, or controllable. US and coalition airstrikes alone killed thousands of civilians from All told, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured — most of them Iraqi civilians and soldiers in the U. Millions of Iraqis fled the country and many have yet to return.
At the peak of the war in , there were about , U. There were daily reports of traumatic brain injuries, amputations, and active-duty suicides.
Marine, killed by friendly fire in Iraq on March 21, Born in Guatemala and raised mostly in an orphanage, Gutierrez entered the United States without papers at age 14 and became a permanent resident at age A generation later, and on the very day last year when the U.
In between Lance Cpl. The U. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! In an attempt to lift the state out of the hard times of the Great Depression, the Nevada state legislature votes to legalize gambling.
Located in the Great Basin desert, few settlers chose to live in Nevada after the United States acquired the territory at the end of the Mexican This marked the first time an all-black starting five had won the NCAA championship. The top-ranked University of In the spring of , Elvis Presley was completing his second Hollywood movie, Loving You, and his first movie soundtrack album.
He had two studio albums and 48 singles already under his belt and two years of nearly nonstop live appearances behind him. The Administration and its supporters assert that Iraq was in defiance of 17 Security Council resolutions requiring that it fully declare and eliminate its weapons of mass destruction WMD.
Further delay in taking action against Iraq, they argued, would have endangered national security and undermined U. Skeptics, including many foreign critics, maintained that the Administration was exaggerating the Iraq threat and argued that the U.
Analysts and officials are concerned about the risk of instability and ethnic fragmentation in Iraq after the war. Whether the overthrow of Iraq President Saddam Hussein will lead to democratization in Iraq and the wider Middle East, or promote instability and an intensification of anti-U. The Iraq war has created concerns over the humanitarian situation, particularly in Baghdad and other cities affected by the war, but large-scale refugee flows have not occurred.
Constitutional issues concerning a possible war with Iraq were largely resolved by the enactment of P. International legal issues remain, however, with respect to launching a pre-emptive war against Iraq and the prospective occupation.
Estimates of the cost of a war in Iraq vary widely. If war or its aftermath leads to a spike in the price of oil, economic growth could slow, but oil prices have fluctuated widely during the conflict to date. Conceivably, global oil production could increase significantly after the war. This CRS report provides information and analysis with respect to the war with Iraq, reviews a number of war-related issues, and provides links to additional sources of information.
It will not be further updated. Table 1. For a day-by-day summary of Iraq-related developments through the end of the combat phase of the war, see Iraq-U. This report was created to provide information and analysis on the buildup to the war with Iraq and on the war itself. Since the combat phase of this conflict has ended, the report will not be further updated. The Background section of this report outlines the evolution of the conflict with Iraq after September 11, This section is followed by a more detailed description and analysis of U.
The report then reviews a range of issues that the Iraq situation has raised for Congress. These issue discussions have been written by CRS experts, and contact information is provided for congressional readers seeking additional information.
In this section and elsewhere, text boxes list CRS products that provide in-depth information on the topics under discussion or on related topics. The final section links the reader to additional sources of information on the Iraq crisis. Bush Administration concerns about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programs intensified after the September 11, terrorist attacks. Vice President Cheney, in two August speeches, accused Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of seeking weapons of mass destruction to dominate the Middle East and threaten U.
Security Council to meet the "common challenge" posed by Iraq. On November 8, , the Security Council, acting at U. Prelude to War. During January-March , the U. Officials maintained that it would be possible to attack later, even in the extreme heat of summer, but military experts observed that conditions for fighting a war would be far better in the cooler months before May. Statements by President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and other top officials during January, February, and March expressed a high degree of dissatisfaction over Iraq's compliance with Security Council disarmament demands.
The President said on January 14, that "time is running out" for Iraq to disarm, adding that he was "sick and tired" of its "games and deceptions. On February 5, , Secretary of State Powell detailed to the United Nations Security Council what he described as Iraq's "web of lies" in denying that it has weapons of mass destruction programs. On February 26, President Bush gave a major address on Iraq.
He said that the end of Hussein's regime would "deprive terrorist networks of a wealthy patron And other regimes will be given a clear warning that support for terror will not be tolerated. Final Diplomatic Efforts. Despite the resolve of U. President Jacques Chirac of France was a leading critic of the U. Security Council, maintaining that he was not convinced by the evidence presented by Secretary of State Powell.
On February 10, at a press conference in Paris with President Putin of Russia, Chirac said "nothing today justifies war. Security Council, stating that Iraq had failed "to take the final opportunity afforded to it by Resolution " to disarm. The proposed resolution was regarded as authorizing the immediate use of force to disarm Iraq.
On March 10, President Chirac said that his government would veto the resolution, and Russian officials said that their government would likely follow the same course. Chirac's stance, and the Administration's lack of success in garnering other support for the "second resolution," seemed to convince U. President Bush flew to the Azores for a hastily-arranged meeting with the prime ministers of Britain and Spain on Sunday, March 16, The meeting resulted in a pledge by the three leaders to establish a unified, free, and prosperous Iraq under a representative government.
At a press conference after the meeting, President Bush stated that "Tomorrow is the day that we will determine whether or not democracy can work.
EST that evening to declare that unless Saddam Hussein fled Iraq within 48 hours, the result would be "military conflict, commenced at the time of our own choosing. The war began on the night of March 19, , with an aerial attack against a location where Saddam Hussein was suspected to be meeting with top Iraqi officials. The northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul fell shortly afterward, and on April 14, U.
Public Reactions. In mid-January , polls showed that a majority of Americans wanted the support of allies before the United States launched a war against Iraq. The polls shifted on this point after the State of the Union message, with a majority coming to favor a war even without explicit U. Security Council vote. Major anti-war demonstrations had also occurred on the weekends of January and February , and there were demonstrations in support of Administration policy as well.
Many reports have noted that U. Demonstrations against the war in European cities on February were widely described as "massive," and, as in the United States, large demonstrations also took place on March Large demonstrations were reported in many cities worldwide after the fighting began, and efforts to launch boycotts of U. Some observers dismiss foreign protests as of little lasting significance, but others argue that rising anti-Americanism could complicate U.
Some reports suggest that European opposition to the war is moderating in light of the successful overthrow of the Iraqi dictator, and the welcome given to coalition troops in some places.
On March 17, , as noted above in Background , President Bush addressed the American people and announced that Iraq would face conflict with the United States if Saddam Hussein and his sons, Uday and Qusay, did not leave Iraq within 48 hours. On March 19, , after the expiration of the hour ultimatum, President Bush told the American people that military operations against Iraq had been authorized, and the effort began that evening.
On April 11, , two days after Iraq's regime had fallen from power in Baghdad, President Bush said he would declare a U. As of April 22, combat had wound down and the main focus of U. In making its case for confronting Iraq, the Bush Administration characterized the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq as a grave potential threat to the United States and to peace and security in the Middle East region.
The Administration maintained that the Iraqi regime harbored active weapons of mass destruction WMD programs that could be used to attain Saddam Hussein's long-term goal of dominating the Middle East. These weapons, according to the Administration, could be used directly against the United States, or they could be transferred to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. The Administration said that the United States could not wait until Iraq made further progress on WMD to confront Iraq, since Iraq could then be stronger and the United States might have fewer military and diplomatic options.
In January , the Administration revived assertions it had made periodically since the September 11, attacks that the Baghdad regime supported and had ties to the Al Qaeda organization and other terrorist groups. According to the Administration, Iraq provided technical assistance in the past to Al Qaeda to help it construct chemical weapons. A faction based in northern Iraq and believed linked to Al Qaeda, called the Ansar al-Islam, had been in contact with the Iraqi regime, according to the Administration.
Other experts are said to believe that there might have been some cooperation when Osama bin Laden was based in Sudan in the early s but that any Iraq-Al Qaeda cooperation trailed off after bin Laden was expelled from Sudan in and went to Afghanistan. Bin Laden issued a statement of solidarity with the Iraqi people on February 12, exhorting them to resist any U. In attempting to win international support for its policy, the Administration asserted that Iraq was in material breach of 17 U.
Security Council resolutions - including Resolution of November 8, - mandating that Iraq fully declare and eliminate its WMD programs. A number of U. Diplomatic negotiations to avert war ended after the United States and Britain could not muster sufficient support for a proposed U. Security Council resolution that would have authorized force if Iraq did not meet a final deadline for Iraq to fully comply with WMD disarmament mandates.
The Bush Administration's September decision to seek a U. The purpose of downplaying this goal may have been to blunt criticism from U. The United States drew little separation between regime change and disarmament: the Administration believed that a friendly or pliable government in Baghdad was required to ensure complete elimination of Iraq's WMD. As the U. Since the war began, senior officials have stressed the goal of liberating the Iraqi people and downplayed the hunt for alleged WMD stockpiles.
Policy Debate. Several press accounts indicate that there were divisions within the Administration on whether to launch war against Iraq, and some of these divisions re-emerged on post-war issues such as the degree to which the United Nations should be involved in political and economic reconstruction.
Secretary of State Powell had been said to typify those in the Administration who believed that a long-term program of unfettered weapons inspections could have succeeded in containing the WMD threat from Iraq. However, after January , Secretary Powell insisted that Iraq's failure to cooperate fully with the latest weapons inspections indicated that inspections would not succeed in disarming Iraq and that war would be required, with or without U. Press reports suggest that Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, among others, were consistently skeptical that inspections could significantly reduce the long-term threat from Iraq and reportedly have long been in favor of U.
These and other U. In a speech before the American Enterprise Institute on February 26, , President Bush said that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by the United States could lead to the spread of democracy in the Middle East and a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Congress was overwhelmingly supportive of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Members expressed their strong backing for U. On March 20, , the House of Representatives, by a vote of in favor to 11 opposed, passed H.
That same day, the Senate passed a similar resolution, S. Congress also backed the war effort by approving the largest supplemental appropriations bill in U. On April 3, , both the House and the Senate approved a supplemental funding measure, H. For more information, see below, Cost Issues. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in , Congress played an active role in supporting U. Security Council resolutions. Congress restricted aid and trade in goods to some countries found to be in violation of international sanctions against Iraq.
Congress also called for the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power and the establishment of a democratic Iraqi state in its place. On October 16, , the President signed H. The resolution conferred broad authority on the President to use force and required the President to make periodic reports to Congress "on matters relevant to this joint resolution.
In the months after the passage of H. Many Members who voted in favor of the resolution offered strong support for President Bush's attempts to force Iraq into compliance with U.
Other lawmakers, including some who supported the resolution, commended the Administration for applying pressure on Saddam Hussein's regime but called on the Administration to be more forthcoming with plans for the future of Iraq and to be more committed to achieving the broadest possible international coalition of allied countries.
Still others, including some Members who voted in favor of H. Finally, many Members who voted against H. In one instance, several Members initiated a lawsuit to curtail the President's ability to authorize the use of force. During the diplomatic phase of the confrontation with Iraq, a period that covered the beginning of the th Congress until mid-March , bills introduced ranged from measures that would forestall military action to calls for punitive action against European nations that did not support the use of military force against Iraq.
Many analysts suggested that these proposals were mostly symbolic gestures and had insufficient support for passage. The Senate did pass S. The Senate also passed S. Neither S. After the start of the war, the House of Representatives passed H. The House also passed H. A number of other proposed resolutions on the Iraq war may or may not see floor action during the post-war phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Congress and Post-War Iraq. With the transition of Operation Iraqi Freedom from a military to a reconstruction phase, Congress started to become more vocal in requesting specific information from the Bush Administration on plans for the post-war future of Iraq.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was particularly active in trying to obtain credible reconstruction costs from Bush Administration officials.
In addition, many analysts believe that the costs of rebuilding Iraq will require Congress to appropriate additional funds in the future.
In testimony before Congress, Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, remarked that supplemental funding for Iraq's reconstruction will not carry very far into fiscal year At the international level, several Members submitted a letter to President Bush, expressing their support for widening the role of the international community in helping to rebuild Iraq.
The letter noted that by engaging the United Nations in the immediate aftermath of the war, the United States could help bridge rifts in our international relationships while "strengthening ties with our allies as we continue in the war against international terrorism. However, lawmakers have questioned how long Iraq will require U. All organized Iraqi military resistance has ceased, and coalition forces are in control of all major cities and oilfields.
The operations of the U. Central Command CENTCOM , which has overseen the war in Iraq, are now focused on establishing public order, restoring basic services in urban areas, tracking down former regime leadership members, and locating chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. Until Baghdad is more stabilized, Garner and his upporting personnel will be based in the south of Iraq. Oilfields and port facilities have been secured, as have air bases in northern and western Iraq.
Though a few oil wells were set afire, all fires were quelled, and there has been no widespread environmental sabotage. Allied forces did not encounter the mass surrenders characteristic of the campaign; however DOD reports that over 6, Iraqis have been taken prisoner, and believes that many more simply deserted their positions.
Iraqi paramilitary forces, particularly the Saddam Fedayeen, engaged in guerrilla-style attacks from urban centers in the rear areas, but did not inflict significant damage. Nevertheless, greater attention than anticipated had to be paid to protecting extended supply lines and securing urban centers, particularly around an-Nasiriyah and Najaf, and in the British sector around Umm Qasr and Basra.
The anticipated support for the invasion from the Shiia population in southern Iraq was slow in developing, but now some cooperation is forthcoming throughout Iraq, despite some outbreaks of factional fighting and some popular opposition to the U. Cooperation with Kurdish militias in the north has been excellent. Even a mistaken airstrike against a Kurdish vehicle convoy, killing or wounding senior Kurdish leaders, did not adversely affect this cooperation.
Turkish miliary spokesmen have indicated that no additional Turkish forces will move into Iraq at this time. The United States has assured Turkey that the Kurdish forces involved in seizing Mosul and Kirkuk will be withdrawn and replaced with U. With the onset of widespread looting and some breakdown of public services electricity, water in the cities, coalition forces are confronted with the challenges of restoring public order and infrastructure.
Though U. Harsh reactions risk alienation of the population, yet inaction reduces confidence in the ability of coalition forces to maintain order. The situation is further complicated by continuing small-scale attacks on coalition troops in relatively secure areas.
Increased patrols, the return of many Iraqi policemen to duty, and the emergence of civilian "watch groups" are assisting what appears to be a natural abatement of looting.
Coalition forces will also have to ensure that factional violence and retribution against former government supporters do not derail stabilization efforts. The United States continues to introduce new ground force units in the Persian Gulf region, while withdrawing some air and naval units. The Department of Defense has released limited official information on these deployments; but press leaks have been extensive, allowing a fairly good picture of the troop movements underway.
The statistics provided below, unless otherwise noted, are not confirmed by DOD and should be considered approximate. The number of U. Additional units that have been alerted for deployment, and elements of which have begun to transit, include the 1st Armored Division, and 1st Mechanized Division.
The 4th Mechanized Infantry Division, originally intended to attack through Turkey, has arrived in Iraq and deployed north of Baghdad. Some airborne elements rd Airborne Brigade have moved into positions in northern Iraq, and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment has started deployment from the United States.
The U. Air Force units throughout the theater are also beginning to re-deploy to home bases. In addition to U. Poland has approximately special operations troops augmenting British forces in the Basra region. DOD has announced that, as of April 16, , more than , National Guard and Reservists from all services are now called to active duty. See below, Burden Sharing. Because of significant popular opposition to this support in some countries, governments have sought to minimize public acknowledgment of their backing.
Only the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland offered combat force contributions. The United States is actively seeking military forces from other countries to assist in the post-conflict stabilization effort. To date, the following additional countries have indicated a willingness to participate: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Turkey. As military operations shift from combat to stabilization, the issues that move to center stage are how many ground forces will be required to maintain order while the reconstruction of the Iraqi state is undertaken and how long this process will take.
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