I RAQ WAR Ocupation of Iraq Second Gulf War Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L) *

F ACTS AND GOALS Invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003 in order to - overthrow Baath party - execute Saddam Hussein - establish a new government

R EASONS US and UK gov – Iraqi WMDs is a treat to their security Iraqi President Saddam Hussein blamed for harboring and supporting al-Qaeda ( no evidence) Iraq finances Palestinian suicide bombers Iraqi gov human rights abuse Spreading DEMOCRACY to Iraq In 2002 (UN) – no WMDs were found in Iraq US confirmed (after invasion) – Iraq had ended nuclear, chemical and biological programs in 1991

B UT.. In 2002 (UN) – no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found in Iraq US confirmed (after invasion) – Iraq had ended nuclear, chemical and biological programs in 1991

I RAQI INSURGENCY / I RAQI RESISTANCE Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups New faction of al-Qaeda in Iraq 4.7 million refugees (2008) 35% of children are orphans Civilians suffer most in armed conflicts

I RAQ AND US Public opinion- troops out! Iraqi forces– more responsibility Status of Forces Agreement Strategic Framework Agreement – co-operation in constitutional rights, education, energy etc.

T HE TIMELINE 2003 – invasion 2004 – insurgency grows 2005 – 31th January, election of the Iraqi Transitional Government Constitution ratified on 15th October – civil-war like situations (Sunnis attacking Shias) Current government took office on May 20th US soldiers

On March 6, 2006, five United States Army soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, raped the 14-year-old Iraqi girl Abeer Hamza al-Janabi, and then murdered her, her father, her mother Fakhriya Taha Muhasen and her six-year- old sister. The soldiers then set fire to the girls 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 the involvement in the war crime, that became known as the Mahmudiyah killings.

T HE TIMELINE UN Security Council Mandate for Coalition operations in Iraq was renewed in 2007 without the approval of Iraqi parliament August 2007 – deadliest single attack; circa 800 civilians killed by a series of suicide bomb attacks 2008 – overall violence down 80%, murder rate the same as before invasion US forces withdrew 29th June; on November 30 civilian death toll fell to its lowest since the invasion in , April 18th, US and Iraqi forces killed al- Masri, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq

O BAMA, A UGUST 2010 The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. While all combat brigades left the country, an additional 50,000 personnel remained in the country to provide support for the Iraqi military. "We are ending the war.... but we are not ending our work in Iraq, We have a long-term commitment to Iraq."

E CONOMY From 2005 to 2008, the United States had completed approximately $20 billion in arms sales agreements with Iraq UN has returned control of Iraq's oil and gas revenue to the government and ending the Oil- for-Food Programme (Bush 1995, before Gulf War)

S TATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT US combat forces will withdraw by June 30, 2009 All US forces out by 31 December 2011 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 Referendum on this issue

O BAMA, A UGUST 2010 "the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country."

CRITICISM Center for Public Integrity, a group partially funded by George Soros has enumerated a total of 935 allegedly FALSE statements made by George W. Bush and six other top members of his administration in what it termed a "carefully launched campaign of misinformation" during the two year period following 9/11 attacks, in order to rally support for the invasion of Iraq.

A former CIA officer described the Office of Special Plans as a group of ideologues who were dangerous to U.S. national security and a threat to world peace, and that the group lied and manipulated intelligence to further its agenda of removing Saddam. Total cost to US economy is estimated 3 trillion USD Human casualties during the war Humanitarian crisis – malnutrition, lack of doctors, no drinking water Human rights abuses on both sides