Iraq War

War in 2003 between Iraq and an international coalition led by the USA and the UK. The conflict arose over issues surrounding the disarmament process accepted by Iraq as part of peace terms concluding the 1991 Gulf War, and over Iraq's alleged support for international terrorism. The Iraqi regime, led by Saddam Hussein, collapsed when coalition troops reached the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in April 2003. However, resistance to the US military presence in Iraq continued, led by mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents. National democratic elections were held in January 2005, resulting in the emergence of the United Iraqi Alliance – a coalition of Shiah-led parties – as the largest political grouping, and the loss by the the Sunni minority of its privileged position as the traditional ruling elite.

Build-up to war After the 1991 war Iraq was required to destroy and cease all development of weapons of mass destruction (including chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons). In 1988 Iraq expelled all United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors, heightening concerns that it was continuing to develop such weapons in the inspectors' absence. In November 2002 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1441, requiring both the return of the inspectors (under Swedish diplomat Hans Blix) and a full declaration of all Iraqi weapons programmes. Inspectors were readmitted in November and an Iraqi declaration was issued the following month, but Iraqi concessions were not deemed by the USA and the UK to have complied fully with the terms of Resolution 1441. US and UK efforts to secure a further UN resolution authorizing military action to disarm Saddam Hussein's regime were unsuccessful, and many countries expressed concern that the weapons inspectors had not been given enough time to assess the situation. In February 2003, France, Germany, and Russia announced that they would veto any further resolutions brought to the Security Council, leading the USA and the UK to forgo attempts to gain UN backing for war.

Military action On 20 March the USA and UK launched massive precision air strikes on Iraqi strategic targets, beginning the first phase of military action. This was accompanied by an invasion of southern Iraq by 100,000 US soldiers and marines (under the codename Operation Iraqi Freedom), 26,000 UK soldiers and smaller numbers of Australian and Polish forces, with a similar number of naval, air force and logistics personnel and known collectively as the Coalition of the Willing. They faced a 300,000 strong Iraqi army, supported by a 50,000-strong elite Republican Guard and 44,000-strong paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam. US forces moved rapidly northwards towards the capital, Baghdad, and overwhelmed the Iraqi army and captured the key cities of a large nation within 21 days. Iraq failed to mobilise its air force to attempt a defence and its army, mainly using old Soviet equipment and with low morale after weeks of aerial bombardment, was unable to stand up to the invading forces. By the end of March the Iraqi government remained defiant, and reports of increasing civilian casualties provoked worldwide concern. US forces advanced on Baghdad while UK forces surrounded Iraq's second city of Basra in the south of the country. US troops took control of Baghdad on 9 April, marking the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, although he and many senior government figures remained at large (Hussein was finally apprehended on 13 December 2003). Despite earlier diplomatic divisions, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution in May 2003 which granted interim governing powers over Iraq to the USA, provided a role for a UN special representative, and lifted longstanding sanctions against Iraq. Estimates suggest that between 15,000 and 30,000 Iraqi troops may have been killed in the conflict against around 150 US and UK coalition troops and there may have been around 35,000 Iraqi civilian casualties during 2003.

Flawed intelligence The failure of coalition forces to find evidence of covert weapons development programmes reinforced public hostility towards the war, particularly in the UK and other European countries. In July 2004, a committee of inquiry in the UK, chaired by Lord Butler, delivered its report on the government's justification for going to war against Saddam Hussein's regime. It criticized the flawed quality of intelligence about Iraqi weapons capabilities, but concluded that there had been no deliberate attempt on the part of the government to mislead, and it apportioned no blame to individuals. The Butler report followed a few days after a more damning assessment of US intelligence failures on Iraq by the US Senate Intelligence Committee.

Insurgency and elections Despite the formal cessation of hostilities, an Iraqi insurgency continued throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004, with militants using conventional and suicide bombings to attack coalition forces and to destabilize the transitional Iraqi government, led by interim prime minister Ayad Allawi, which took office from 28 June 2004.