US+Invasion+of+Iraq

THE IRAQ WAR

In March of 2003, the United States led the invasion of Iraq along with Great Britain, Austria, and Poland. The Iraq War is known by many names: Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Second Gulf War, or Operation New Dawn.

The hostilities against Iraq really started when the United States and Great Britain made allegations about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq. In 2002, the UN Security Council passed a resolution requiring Iraq to fully cooperate with UN inspections looking for nuclear weapons. The UN Inspection Commission found no evidence of WMDs but was not convinced that there really were no weapons in Iraq.

In January 2003, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq war; many of the most memorable demonstrations took place in Rome. Despite the protests, US troops bombed the Iraqi Presidential Palace on March 19th, 2003. Many coalition forces were, at first met with little resistance and were able to take control of Northern Iraq and along the Kuwait border. On May first, major combat operations and invasions were ended and US occupation began and has continued to this day
 * __INVASION AND OCCUPATION__**

When the United States took official occupation of Iraq and helped to arrest Saddam Hussein, hand him over to officials, and have him tried and executed, there was a lot of resistance. Strife between Shia and Sunni Muslims led to coalition forces and the reemergence of al-Qaeda. During the war, millions of people were misplaced and by 2008, 4.7 million Iraqis were refugees.
 * __RESISTANCE__**

__**ELECTIONS**__ After the US helped to overthrow the Iraqi government and capture Saddam Hussein, the first free elections were held in January of 2005 in order to write a new constitution.

In 2007, President Bush dramatically increased the number of troops in Iraq in order to secure Baghdad and the Al Anbar Province and has been referred to as “The New Way Forward.” Over 200,000 troops were deployed to Iraq in January of 2007 after one of Bush’s television speeches. After the surge, violence in Iraq was reported to have increased by over 40%. Deaths in Baghdad nearly doubled as terrorists and angry Iraqis attacked and set off roadside bombs to deter US troops.  __**REASONS FOR WAR**__ There are different ways that people justify the war and invasion of Iraq. UN officials were in search of chemical weapons, which were never found. US officials accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of supporting al-Qaeda, but there was no evidence of this accusation. Others supported the invasion because of Iraq’s support for Palestinian suicide bombers, that the United States was trying to spread democracy to the Iraqi people, that the United States wanted to protect its foreign oil interests, and to stop the Iraqi government’s human rights violations.
 * __TROOP SURGE__**