Iraq

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Iraq
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• From the time of the Ottoman Empire, Sunnis had
  always dominated the government (Turks are Sunni)
• When Britain leaves the Middle East, she created
  an artificial state called Iraq
• Iraq is made up of many different ethnicities as
  well as Shiites, Sunnis, and Christians
• Oil was disc. in Iraq in 1927
• 1958 the monarchy is overthrown. Period of coups
  then Hussein comes to power.
• (Hussein was a Sunni by birth but was not
  religious.)
• Shia is technically the majority but are treated
  as less than 2nd class citizens

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• Iran was USs biggest oil supplier until 1979
  (Khomeini's coup)
• US changes sides befriends Iraq
• 1982 takes Iraq off of US list of nations that
  harbor/support terrorists
• 1983 Donald Rumsfeld is envoy to Middle East
  meets with Saddam Hussein. Agrees to help
  Hussein against Iran.
• During Reagan Bush (Sr) administrations (up til
  Aug 90) we give Iraq military intelligence about
  Iran, US loans, weapons, helicopters/tanks,
  high-tech computers/ software, and
  equipment/training for weapon production.
• After war with Iran, Iraq is 100 billion in debt

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Iran-Iraq War

• 1980 clashes over common border turn into war
• Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, invades Iran on
  Sept 22, 1980
• takes control of main waterway (Shatt al Arab)
  connecting to Persian Gulf
• also relig differences btw Sunni Iraqis Shiite
  Iranians are disputed
• over 1 million die for Khomeini (est 1.5 million)
• USA USSR aided Saddam Hussein
• Iran supported by Syria, Libya, North Korea
  China (and covert arms deals from USA)
• July 1988 accepted a UN cease-fire. No true
  winner

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• Beginning in the mid-late 1980s, government
  officials like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul
  Wolfowitz, George Bush (Sr), and Richard Perle
  develop a plan to remove Saddam from power and
  set up a Shia government that would be our ally
  in the region.
• Shia were treated horribly. We can be their
  liberators. If we help them takeover, they will
  be in our debt.
• We can spread a democratic system to Iraq and
  then the rest of the ME will look to Iraq as a
  role model
• ALL of the info we were given by our Shia ally
  (al-Sadr) was wrong!
• Willing to tell us anything that would get us
  involved in getting rid of Sunni leadership.

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The Persian Gulf War

• Saddam Hussein claims Kuwait belongs to Iraq
  since the time of the Ottoman Empire
• Aug 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait
• UN condemns Hussein imposes a trade embargo
• Aug. 2, 1990 Iraq sent troops into Kuwait to
  overthrow monarchy, move disputed border,
  seize oil fields.
• Soldiers needed work after Iran-Iraq War (no jobs
  for them) Saddam needs more oil to help counter
  debt
• Aug 7 US troops station in Saudi Arabia
• UN sets Jan 15, 1991 as date Iraq must vacate.
• Saddam does not so Operation Desert Storm is
  launched under US leadership of Gen Norman
  Schwarzkopf.
• Jan-Feb 1991- US fights on Kuwaits side. This is
  a UN war- 32 nations send troops
• THIS was a UN war- unanimous support from
  everyone on the security council--- even Cuba!
• bomb Iraqi targets- air-war
• Feb 24, 1991 ground forces sent in

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• 2/27/91 Most Iraqi troops surrender
• Iraq suffers tremendously. Defeated but Pres
  George Bush does not remove Saddam Hussein from
  office nor does he try him in internatl crts
• US afraid of break-up of Iraq into separate
  nations
• Iraq had set fire to 700 oil fields in Kuwait.
  34 nations fought to extinguish. Took 8 months
• 1993 US, Fr Brit launch missile strikes against
  Iraq in response to provocations including
  alleged Iraqi plan to assassinate Pres George
  H.W. Bush
• 1994 continued resistance to weapons inspections
  in Iraq leads US to station more troops along
  Kuwaiti border

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• Dec 1998- 4 days of air-strikes by US Brit
  against Iraq called Operation Desert Fox
• Iraq had kicked out US weapons inspectors that
  were part of UN team Nov 1997
• UN weapons inspector, Richard Butler, issue
  statement Dec 15, 1998 that Iraq is operating in
  bad faith
• Dec 16- air strikes begin
• Considered an international PR disaster for US
  Brit- condemned as being belligerent by much of
  global community
• The US Britain continued to bomb Iraq for four
  years on a regular basis, from Jan 1999 to the
  beginning of the war with Iraq on March 19, 2003

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• Under implied US support, Shia sects in South
  attack govt hoping for US military support.
• Crushed by Saddams forces punished
• Ditto for Kurds in the North
• Bush (Sr) decides to leave Saddam in power
• There are 70 Iraqi (Hussein) opposition grps
• Bush doesnt want another Vietnam- pulls out
  before criticism starts

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• UN Inspections are part of Desert Storm
• Check for WMD
• Hussein appears to conceal info, accuses team of
  illegal activities spying
• 1998 inspectors file strong report against Iraq.
• US (under Clinton) GB launch another strike
  against Hussein
• UN Embargo against certain materials continues
• 1997 Project for New American Century (PNAC)
• Repubs plan to ensure US would be a dominant
  force everywhere in the world. If a rival is to
  emerge, we should be prepared to stop it.
• 1998 US strategies should aim above all at
  removal of Saddams regime from power
• Elliott Abrams, Richard L. Armitage, William J.
  Bennett, Jeffrey Bergner, John Bolton, Paula
  Dobriansky, Francis Fukuyama, Robert Kagan,
  Zalmay Khalilzad, William Kristol, Richard Perle,
  Peter W. Rodman, Donald Rumsfeld, William
  Schneider, Jr., Vin Weber, Paul Wolfowitz, R.
  James Woolsey, Robert B. Zoellick
• Feb 1998 Kofi Annan brokers peaceful solution in
  Iraq

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• 9/11/2001 gives Americans a cause to rally
  around.
• Not a problem for us if we dont have world
  support b/c 9/11 is fire for our unilateral
  action
• Hans Blix- UN weapons inspector in Iraq for 6
  months and finds nothing.
• 2002 GW Bush calls Iraq (w/ Iran N Korea) the
  Axis of Evil in his State of the Union Address.
  (bad, bad evil-doers)
• Oct 2002 Congress gives Bush authority to wage
  war.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom

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• In Iraq a dictator is building and hiding
  weapons that could enable him to dominate the
  Middle East and intimidate the civilized world -
  and we will not allow it.
• US President George W Bush, February 2003
• 2/2003- want UN coalition invasion of Iraq.
  Security Council has 15 members.
• Fr, Brit, China propose sending back inspections
  team. We disagree.
• 3/2003- we attack. 130,000 troops plus another
  29,000 for all other UN countries.

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• Reports were given to Dept of Defense (DoD) and
  Pres Bush by Iraqis, CIA and FBI saying that what
  Shia was telling them was a lie.
• Rumsfeld Bush insisted on listening to their
  insiders
• Yellow Cake Uranium Incident- alleged that
  Iraqis got this from Niger.
• Totally forged documents- signature even
  misspelled
• Brits CIA denounce it as total lies
• Bush fits it into his agenda discusses in State
  of Union Address anyway
• CIA spy had infiltrated Iraqi government- was the
  Minister of Foreign Affairs in Husseins cabinet
• He insists that there are NO WMDs

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• In 2 official speeches, Bush brings up Egyptian
  Muhammad Attas involvement w/ WTC his
  membership in al Qaeda a link to Iraq
• It is now PROVEN that there was NO connection btw
  Atta Iraq
• CIA fought w/ pres GW Bush before both speeches,
  showing evidence that Atta was not connected to
  Iraq.
• Bush uses it anyway

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• March 2003 Saddam Hussein is ousted
• March 17, 2003- UK's ambassador to the UN says
  the diplomatic process on Iraq has ended arms
  inspectors evacuate US President George W Bush
  gives Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to
  leave Iraq or face war.
• March 20,2003- American missiles hit targets in
  Baghdad, marking the start of a US-led campaign
  to topple Saddam Hussein. In the following days
  US and British ground troops enter Iraq from
  south.
• May 1st- Bush declares victory in war in Iraq.
• War switches to ground/ tank warfare v.
  explosives suicide bombers

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• July 2003- US acting as Coalition Provisional
  Authority (CPA) that administers Iraq established
  a Governing Council in Iraq.
• Composed of 25 Iraqi
• Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay killed in gun battle
  in Mosul.
• December 14, 2003- Saddam Hussein captured in
  Tikrit
• June 2004- Saddam Hussein transferred to Iraqi
  legal custody
• June 2004- US hands sovereignty to interim
  government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
• October 2005 Saddam Hussein goes on trial
• October 2005 voters approve a new constitution,
  which aims to create an Islamic federal democracy

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• Jan 30, 2005- first election!
• Elect a 275 member Transitional National Assembly
• Serves as Iraqs legislature
• Names a Presidency Council (1 pres 2 vps
  names P.M.)
• Drafts new constitution to be ready by Oct 2005
• Full election for permanent govt held in Dec
  2005
• November 2006- Saddam Hussein is found guilty of
  crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.
• December 30, 2006 - Saddam Hussein is executed by
  hanging.
• January 2007 - US President Bush announces a new
  Iraq strategy thousands more US troops will be
  dispatched to shore up security in Baghdad.
• Barzan Ibrahim - Saddam Hussein's half-brother -
  and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former head of the
  Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging.

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• July 2007 - President Bush says there's been only
  limited military and political progress in Iraq
  following his decision to reinforce US troops
  levels there
• President Bush warned Wednesday (7/4/07) that the
  war will require more patience, more courage and
  more sacrifice."

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• Savage fighting btw Shia Sunni
• Sumara- attack on Golden Mosque of Shia while ppl
  were worshipping
• The Shia we thought we were saving
• Ayatollah Sayed Mohamad Baqir Al-Hakim, has very
  close ties to Iran. (His father, Ayatollah
  Muhsin Al-Hakim, was murdered by Hussein- we
  thought this would ally him to us.)
• Moqtada Al-Sadr really one of our biggest
  enemies right now. VERY anti-American. 6,000
  armed men in his personal army. (His father was
  also an ayatollah killed by Hussein.)
• Govt is weak!
• We are barely holding lid on intersectarian
  fighting.
• If we pull out right now, Al-Sadr will definitely
  become the leader.

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NY Times photo collection
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LINE OF FIRE Exhausted marines in Falluja take
cover within sight of an insurgent bunker, which
has just been blown up.
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LINE OF FIRE A civilian tries to extinguish a
flaming van with a bucket of sand.
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Artwork by the children is displayed on the wall.
Mrs. Aasan and her co-workers have tried to steer
the children toward more positive depictions of
their lives.
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Students in the chemistry lab at Mustansiriya
University.
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Portraits of students killed in the sectarian
violence are displayed on the walls at
Mustansiriya University.
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• Kofi Annan says Iraq is far worse now than before
  the invasion.
• Hezbollah training fighters in Iraq now to
  infiltrate w/ Sunnis
• Wealthy Iraqis becoming refugees fleeing nation
• Not positive for future status of country
• estimated 1.7 million Iraqis are internally
  displaced from their homes
• and up to 2 million fleeing the country to
  neighboring nations amid intensifying sectarian
  violence
• the United States has allowed only 466 Iraqis to
  immigrate under refugee status since 2003 --
  including 202 out of 70,000 slots for refugees
  last year

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• Only safe area was in Kurdish controlled regions
• Sulaimaniya and other parts of the Kurdish area
  of northern Iraq have remained largely peaceful
  as well as affluent.
• Fears of Kurds getting an independent nation
• Turks marched in beginning in Oct 2007 b/c of
  their desire to keep Kurds from forming their own
  nation.
• December - Turkey launches an air raid on
  fighters from the Kurdish PKK movement inside
  Iraq.
• Could turn into issue w/ Iran as well-
  Ahmadinejad has made recent trips to Iraq to form
  alliance
• 2008 March - Unprecedented two-day visit by
  Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Iraq.

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Soldiers patrolled a road in southeastern Turkey
near the border with Iraq, alert for signs of
separatist Kurdish rebels.
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Iraqi Kurdish protesters in Erbil Thursday
criticized the Turkish Parliaments decision to
authorize sending troops into Iraq. Oct 2007
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Iraqis carry the coffin of the victim of an
attack in Baquba that also killed a local leader.
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• President Bush does not want to leave office with
  a loss in Iraq.
• Upped troops to over 160,000 troops.
• Wants at least a stalemate
• State of Union Address 2008
• The mission in Iraq has been difficult and
  trying for our nation. But it is in the vital
  interest of the United States that we succeed. A
  free Iraq will deny al Qaeda a safe haven. A free
  Iraq will show millions across the Middle East
  that a future of liberty is possible. A free Iraq
  will be a friend of America, a partner in
  fighting terror, and a source of stability in a
  dangerous part of the world.
• By contrast, a failed Iraq would embolden the
  extremists, strengthen Iran, and give terrorists
  a base from which to launch new attacks on our
  friends, our allies, and our homeland. The enemy
  has made its intentions clear. At a time when the
  momentum seemed to favor them, al Qaida's top
  commander in Iraq declared that they will not
  rest until they have attacked us here in
  Washington. My fellow Americans We will not rest
  either. We will not rest until this enemy has
  been defeated. (Applause.) We must do the
  difficult work today, so that years from now
  people will look back and say that this
  generation rose to the moment, prevailed in a
  tough fight, and left behind a more hopeful
  region and a safer America. (Applause.)

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• At the Pentagon on March 19, 2008, the fifth
  anniversary of the U.S-led invasion, the
  president stated, "Five years into this battle,
  there is an understandable debate over whether
  the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is
  worth winning, and whether we can win it." He
  added, "The answers are clear to me Removing
  Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision
  -- and this is a fight America can and must win."

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• there are 4,000 dead American service members in
  Iraq
• The war costs almost 5,000 every second
• Were now paying 12.5 billion a month for Iraq
• the total costs, including the long-term bills
  were incurring, amount to about 25 billion a
  month
• The eventual total cost of the war will be about
  3 trillion