The Iraq War, sometimes known as the Second Gulf War is an ongoing campaign which commenced on 20 March 2003 with the invasion of the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq.
The reason for the invasion that was alleged by leaders in both the United States and the United Kingdom, was that Iraq contained weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat to their nations and also their allies.
Invasion of Iraq
At 5:42am Baghdad time on 20 March 2003, a military coalition containing soldiers and equipment from over 40 nations invaded Iraq with the main objectives being to end Saddam Hussein's oppressive regime, locate and destroy any weapons of mass destruction distribute aid and secure Iraq's oil infrastructure.
On 9 April 2003, the capital of Iraq, Baghdad was seized after a month of heavy resistance from Iraqi troops.
During the invasion phase of the war which lasted until 30 April 2003, 9,200 Iraqi soldiers were killed along with 7,300 civilians. Between the US and the UK, 172 soldiers were lost in the phase, which equates to 100 dead Iraqi's to each dead coalition soldier.
Post-Invasion Activity in Iraq
After the initial stage was completed, the main objective of the coalition forces, now working with the United Nations, was to attempt to establish a stable, compliant democratic nation. Insurgent activity increased with rebels using both conventional tactics and guerrilla warfare against the occupiers.
In the Summer of 2003, much of the multinational forces focussed their energy on hunting and capturing leaders from the old Iraqi regime. On 22 July 2003, Saddam Hussein's two sons were killed along with one of his grandsons in an airstrike. Most importantly was the capture of Saddam Hussein himself of 31 December 2003.
After Hussein's capture, insurgent attacks began to fall and it was thought that the invaders were winning in the tireless battle against the Iraqi rebels. The US promised $20 billion in aid to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and the provisional government that had been put in place began to train a new Iraqi army and police force.
The beginning of 2004 showed a lull in the fighting whilst the insurgents reorganised themselves and planned a new offensive. When the fighting began to intensify again, it was mainly aimed at the newly formed Iraqi Security Forces. One infamous attack was on a convoy that was led by 4 private security workers working for Blackwater USA. The armed contractor were killed by small arms fire, dragged from their burning vehicles and hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River.
In November 2004, the largest and bloodiest single conflict of the war so far, the Second Battle of Fallujah was staged. During the 46 day battle, 95 US soldiers and nearly 2000 insurgents were killed.
On 31 January 2005, the Iraqi Transitional Government were elected to draft a new, permanent constitution. Between February and April 2005, it was relatively peaceful throughout Iraq and many people around the world thought that the war may be coming to an end. However, May 2005 proved to be one of the bloodiest months of the war with a sharp rise in suicide bomber attacks on military checkpoints and convoys, as well as a focus on large gatherings of Shia Muslims.
The beginning of 2006 featured government creation meetings and almost continuous anti-coalition attacks. Violence reached a new level with the bombing of the al-Askari Mosque in Samarra on 26 February 2006. Over 150 people are thought to have been killed in the bomb attack which has been blamed on the al-Quaeda terrorist group.
On 23 November, Sunni militants used car bombs and mortars in the single largest attack of the war so far in a Shia slum area, killing and wounding around 500 people. Shia militia retaliated by firing mortars into a number of Sunni neighbourhoods.
Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.
Extraction from Iraq
In January 2007, US President George W. Bush announced that a further 21,500 US troops would be deployed into Iraq with $1.2 billion worth of reconstruction to take place. Tony Blair, the-then British Prime Minister announced that the operation to hand control over to the Iraqi state and troop withdrawal would begin was announced.
Insurgent activity carried on during this time, mainly with ambushes on convoys and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) left at roadsides to destroy military vehicles.
On 1 January 2009, the US handed over the Green Zone, the area of central Baghdad and the UK repatriated Basra Airport and announced that it would remove its military presence by the end of July 2009.
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