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'''2003 Iraq War''' (3/20/2003-) is presently the largest war operation in the world, started when a Coalition of the Willing drawn from [[NATO]] members including the United Kingdom<ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/20/prague.bush.nato/</ref> launched a combat operation against [[Iraq]], with the stated goal of deposing dictator [[Saddam Hussein]], locating [[Weapons of Mass Destruction|Weapons of Mass Destruction programs]] including "knowhow" to produce WMD and liberating the Iraqi people. Currently the outcome of the war is unknown, and there exists a large debate over topics such as withdrawal of American forces and the role of nations in the region. The Bush administration champions the war as part of the larger U.S. led [[War on Terrorism]], although the topic is up for debate.  The Administration has been widely criticized for numerous strategic blunders in the execution of the war, including the failure to have a post-invasion plan.

'''2003 Iraq War''' (3/20/2003-) is presently the largest war operation in the world, started when a Coalition of the Willing drawn from [[NATO]] members including the United Kingdom<ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/20/prague.bush.nato/</ref> launched a combat operation against [[Iraq]], with the stated goal of deposing dictator [[Saddam Hussein]], locating [[Weapons of Mass Destruction|Weapons of Mass Destruction programs]] including "knowhow" to produce WMD and liberating the Iraqi people. Currently the outcome of the war is unknown, and there exists a large debate over topics such as withdrawal of American forces and the role of nations in the region. The Bush administration champions the war as part of the larger U.S. led [[War on Terrorism]], although the topic is up for debate.  The Administration has been widely criticized for numerous strategic blunders in the execution of the war, including the failure to have a post-invasion plan,{{fact}} though the American left has been criticized for its objections to the execution of the war, which is perceived by some as a failure to support the troops.{{fact}}

===Iraqi Liberation===

===Iraqi Liberation===

The Iraqis welcomed American troops as liberators.  Iraqi resistance to the occupation began almost immediately after the invasion in March 2003, and has been consistently overplayed since then. An 'American Enterprise'-'Wall Street Journal'-Zogby poll in September 2003 found that "Iraqis are optimistic. Seven out of 10 say they expect their country and their personal lives will be better five years from now. On both fronts, 32% say things will become much better." [http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003991]. Furthermore, in a March 2004 poll of Iraqis, the BBC found that Iraqis have great hope in a stable, unified government for their country, with 80% of respondents favoring a centralized state ruled form Baghddad. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3514504.stm] A poll by the IRI in the autumn of 2006 found that 96% of Iraqis condemned the bombing of the mosque in Samarra and 78% of respondents answered that violence is never acceptable.[http://www.iri.org/mena/iraq/pdfs/2006-04-27-Iraq%20poll%20March%20March.ppt]

However, Iraqi opposition to the American presence, both politically and militarily, has gradually increased since 2003. A secret British Ministry of Defence poll conducted in late 2005 found that 82 percent of Iraqis were "strongly opposed" to the presence of Coalition soldiers in Iraq.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/wirq23.xml</ref> The same poll found support for Iraqi rebels at 45%, rising to 65% in Maysan province, although a poll by the IRI in March 2006 found 78% of respondents answered that "violence is never acceptable"<ref>http://www.iri.org/mena/iraq/pdfs/2006-04-27-Iraq%20poll%20March%20March.ppt</ref>.

 

A poll commissioned by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes in the autumn of 2006 found that Iraqi support for anti-Coalition violence had risen to 61%.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-27-iraqi-opinion_x.htm</ref> Similarly, a [[U.S. State Department]] poll conducted in 2006 found that "two-thirds of Iraqis in Baghdad favor an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops". <ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-27-iraqi-opinion_x.htm</ref>

===Iraqi Casualties===

===Iraqi Casualties===

Reporting of civilian casualties in the the Iraq war has been subject to a number of distortions involving projected, unconfirmed deaths.[http://www.iraqbodycount.org/]. Less than 65,000 Iraqi civilians have died.

On-the-ground academic research in Iraq has determined that approximately 600,000 more Iraqis have died since March 2003 than would have otherwise died in that time frame if the war was not raging.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/11/world/middleeast/11casualties.html?ex=1318219200&en=516b1d070ff83c15&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss</ref> Pro-occupation proponents dispute the numbers, but few statisticians do, as the methodology is largely sound.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have fled to neighboring [[Jordan]] and [[Syria]] since the 2003 invasion.<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1966333,00.html</ref>

===Weapons of Mass Destruction===

===Weapons of Mass Destruction===

The Iraqi weapons of mass destruction still have not been found.  Some believe WMD were smuggled out of the country, possibly to [[Syria]], before the onset of the war.  Antiwar liberals insist Saddam Hussein had the country's stockpiles destroyed after the [[First Gulf War]], and that Iraq was at least a decade away from producing more, in spite of evidence to the contrary.

The Iraqi weapons of mass destruction still have not been found.  Some believe WMD were smuggled out of the country, possibly to [[Syria]], before the onset of the war.  Antiwar liberals insist Saddam Hussein had the country's stockpiles destroyed after the [[First Gulf War]], and that Iraq was at least a decade away from producing more, in spite of evidence to the contrary.

==References==

==References==

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