History:Outline of the Iraq War

Short description: Overview and topical guide

The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, the Iraq War.

Iraq War – a protracted armed conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011, which began with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the coalition forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. US troops were officially withdrawn in 2011. The invasion occurred as part of the George W. Bush administration's war on terror following the September 11 attacks.

Overview of articles

Top level overview articles

Changes in territorial control during the 2003 invasion of Iraq

• Iraq War
• 2003 invasion of Iraq

Major overview subdivisions

• Rationale for the Iraq War
• Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)
  • American occupation of Ramadi
• Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
• Anbar campaign (2003–2011)
• Fallujah during the Iraq War
• Execution of Saddam Hussein (2006)
• Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)
• Iraq War troop surge of 2007
• Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)

Timelines

• Timeline of the Iraq War
  • Timeline of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
  • Timeline of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007
• Iraq disarmament timeline 1990–2003
• Timeline of Saddam–al-Qaeda conspiracy allegations
• Timeline of the Plame affair

Years in Iraq

2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Participants of the Iraq War

Multi-National Force – Iraq

• Balad Air Base
• Multi-National Division - Baghdad
• Multinational Division Central-South
• Multi-National Division (South-East)
• Multi-National Force West
• Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq

March 2003 invasion forces

• United States
  • Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration
• United Kingdom (until May 2011)
• Australia (until July 2009)
  • Al Muthanna Task Group
• Poland (until October 2008)
  • Polish zone in Iraq

Other contributors

• Denmark (April 2003–2008)
• South Korea (May 2003–2008)
• Italy (July 2003–2006)
• Plus Ultra Brigade (July 2003–2004)
• Georgia (August 2003–2008)
• Ukraine (August 2003–2008)
• Thailand (September 2003–2004)
• Japan (2004–2006)

Iraq

• Ba'athist Iraq (until April 2003)
• Coalition Provisional Authority (2003–2004)
• Republic of Iraq

Private militaries

• Private militias in Iraq
• Private military company § Iraq
  • Aegis Defence Services
  • Asgaard – German Security Group
  • Blackwater (company)
  • Custer Battles
  • DynCorp
  • KBR
  • Unity Resources Group

Others

• Canada
• Template:Country data Islamic Republic of Iran Iran

Background to the Iraq War

Historical background

• Cold War
• Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
• British foreign policy in the Middle East
  • Iraq–United Kingdom relations
• United States foreign policy in the Middle East
  • Iraq–United States relations

Before 1990

• 14 July Revolution
• Ramadan Revolution
• 17 July Revolution
• Iranian Revolution
• 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge
• Iran–Iraq War
  • United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War
  • British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War
    • Arms-to-Iraq affair (Scott Report)
  • Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran
  • Anfal campaign
  • Iran–Contra affair

1990–2001

• Gulf War (1990–1991)
  • Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
  • Nayirah testimony
• Sanctions against Iraq (1990–2003)
• Iraqi uprisings (1991)
• Iraqi no-fly zones conflict (1991–2003)
  • Operation Provide Comfort
• United Nations Special Commission regarding Iraq's use of weapons of mass destruction (1991–1998)
• Oil-for-Food Programme (1995–2003)
  • Oil-for-Food Program Hearings (2004–2005)
• 1998 bombing of Iraq
• September 11 attacks (2001)
  • Motives for the September 11 attacks
  • Aftermath of the September 11 attacks
    • Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001
    • Patriot Act
• War on terror
• 2001 anthrax attacks
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • United States invasion of Afghanistan (2001)

Prelude

• Failed Iraqi peace initiatives
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441
• 2003 United States–British–Spanish Draft Resolution on Iraq

Rationale for invasion

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, holding up a model vial of alleged weaponized anthrax during a February 2003 presentation at the United Nations.

• Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council
• Human rights in Ba'athist Iraq
• Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
  • Allegations of Iraqi mobile weapons laboratories
    • Curveball (informant)
  • Iraq disarmament crisis
  • Iraqi aluminum tubes
  • Iraqi biological weapons program
  • Niger uranium forgeries
• Iraq War and the war on terror
  • Mohamed Atta's alleged Prague connection
  • Saddam–al-Qaeda conspiracy theory
  • Wood Green ricin plot

Media and communications of the Iraq War

Documents

Articles are sorted chronologically.

Battles of the Iraq War

All battles are sorted in chronological order.

First insurgency phase (2003–2006)

2003 battles

• Battle of Majar al-Kabir
• Ramadan Offensive (2003)

Second insurgency phase (2008–2011)

• Operation Augurs of Prosperity
• 2008 Abu Kamal raid
• Battle of the Palm Grove

Economics of the Iraq War

• Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP)
• Development Fund for Iraq (DFI)
• Economic reform of Iraq
• Financial cost of the Iraq War
• Investment in post-invasion Iraq
  • Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR)
• Task Force Shield

Human rights and war crimes in the Iraq War

• Human rights in post-invasion Iraq
• Humanitarian crises of the Iraq War

Casualties

• Casualties of the Iraq War
  • List of Iraqi security forces fatality reports in Iraq
  • List of private contractor deaths in Iraq

Estimates of Iraqi casualties

Further information: Casualties of the Iraq War § Total Iraqi casualties

White and red flags, representing Iraqi and American deaths respectively, sit in the grass quadrangle of The Valley Library on the campus of Oregon State University. (May 2008)

• Iraq Family Health Survey (2008)
• Lancet surveys of Iraq War casualties (2004, 2006)
• Iraq Body Count project (2003–2011)
• ORB survey of Iraq War casualties (2007, 2008)

Chemical weapons

• Chlorine bombings in Iraq
• White phosphorus munitions § Use by US forces in Iraq

Disease

• 2007 Iraq cholera outbreak

Ethnic and religious attacks

Attacks are sorted in chronological order.

Hostages and kidnapping

• Foreign hostages in Iraq
• Hostage Working Group

Hostage-taking and kidnapping by insurgents

• June 2006 abduction of United States soldiers in Iraq
• May 2007 abduction of United States soldiers in Iraq
• Abduction of Russian diplomats in Iraq
• Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis
• Kidnapping of Angelo dela Cruz
• Nepal hostage crisis

Hostage-taking and kidnapping by coalition forces

• Kidnapping of Jalal Sharafi
• United States raid on the Iranian Liaison Office in Erbil

Prisons and torture

Infamous photo of Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh being tortured at Abu Ghraib prison, standing on a box with wires attached to his hands.

• Iraq prison abuse scandals
  • Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
  • Camp Bucca
  • Camp Cropper
  • Camp Nama
• Invasion of Iraq prisoner escapes
  • United States prisoners of war in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• United States prison operations in the Iraq War
  • Ghost detainees
• Wolf Brigade (Iraq)

Torture methods

• Copper Green
• Enhanced interrogation techniques
• Five techniques

Refugees and internal displacement

• Internally displaced persons in Iraq
• Refugees of Iraq
  • Assyrian exodus from Iraq
  • Diavata refugee camp
  • Iraqi Refugee Camp, West Azerbaijan
• List Project

Violence

• Sectarian violence in Iraq
• Violence against academics in post-invasion Iraq
• Violence against Palestinians in the Iraq War

War crimes by U.S.-led coalition forces

War crimes are listed in roughly chronological order.

War crimes by the Iraqi Army

• 2011 raid on Camp Ashraf

Other human rights topics

• Archaeological looting in Iraq
• Damage to Baghdad during the Iraq War
• United States kill or capture strategy in Iraq

Law and the Iraq War

• Legality of the Iraq War
• Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Iraqi sovereignty during the Iraq War

Case law

UK case law

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs v Rahmatullah

Commissions, inquiries and reports

Unofficial commissions

• Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission

Court-martials

• United States v. Hasan K. Akbar
• United States v. Manning

International law

• International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• United States and the International Criminal Court
  • American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court
• United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)

Resolutions, agreements and legislation

De-Ba'athification

• 100 Orders
  • Coalition Provisional Authority Order 1
  • Coalition Provisional Authority Order 2
  • Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17

Saddam Hussein

• Capture of Saddam Hussein (December 2003)
• Interrogation of Saddam Hussein (2003–2004)
• Trial of Saddam Hussein (2005–2006)
• Execution of Saddam Hussein (December 2006)
  • Reactions to the execution of Saddam Hussein

Governments, elections and referendums of the Iraq War

Governments

Governments of Iraq

Further information: Transitional Administrative Law (Iraq)

Parliament of Iraq holding a meeting in the Baghdad Convention Center, December 2008

• Revolutionary Command Council (1968–2003)
• Coalition Provisional Authority (2003–2004)
  • Iraqi Governing Council (2003–2004)
• Iraqi Interim Government (2004–2005)
• Iraqi Transitional Government (2005–2006)
• Federal government of Iraq (since 2006)
  • Governments of Nouri al-Maliki (2006–2010, 2010–2014)
    • 2006 Iraqi government formation
    • 2010 Iraqi government formation

Governments of the United Kingdom

• Premiership of Tony Blair (1997–2007)
• Premiership of Gordon Brown (2007–2010)
• Premiership of David Cameron (2010–2016)

Governments of the United States

• Presidency of George W. Bush (2001–2009)
• Presidency of Barack Obama (2009–2017)

Elections and referendums

In Iraq

Further information: Democracy in Iraq

In the United Kingdom

• 2001 United Kingdom general election
• 2005 United Kingdom general election
• 2010 United Kingdom general election

In the United States

• 2000 United States presidential election
• 2004 United States presidential election
• 2008 United States presidential election

Protests against the Iraq War

| image1 = Iraqi citizens protest coalition forces in downtown Baghdad (April 15, 2003) - 4.jpg | image2 = 18 Mar 2007 Seattle Demo 23.jpg | align = right | total_width = 300 | image3 = Whitehall protests.jpg | perrow = 1/2 | footer = (1) Iraqi citizens protesting coalition forces in downtown Baghdad, April 2003; (2) anti-war protest in Seattle, USA, March 2007; (3) anti-war protest in Sheffield, UK, February 2005 }}

Protests are sorted in chronological order.

Anti-Iraq War groups

Groups are sorted in alphabetical order.

Scandals and controversies of the Iraq War

Scandals and controversies are sorted in roughly chronological order.

British scandals and controversies

• 190th Fighter Squadron, Blues and Royals friendly fire incident
• Death of David Kelly
• Al Jazeera bombing memo

Other scandals and controversies

• Iraq leak, Finland
• Hood event, Turkey

See also

Contemporaneous conflicts in Iraq

• Iran–PJAK conflict (from 2004)
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)
  • List of Turkish operations in northern Iraq
    • December 2007 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq
    • 2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq
    • August 2011 Turkey–Iraq cross-border raids
    • 2011 Hakkâri attack

External links

• A timeline of the Iraq War – PBS NewsHour (March 7, 2023)
• CPA Official Documents – official documents of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), archived at the University of North Texas
• Iraq Body Count website
  • Iraq Body Count database