Operation Iraqi Freedom
2003 Iraq War (3/20/2003-) is presently the largest war operation in the world, started when the United States and allies including the United Kingdom[1] launched a combat operation against Iraq, with the stated goal of deposing dictator Saddam Hussein, locating Weapons of Mass Destruction programs including "knowhow" to produce WMD and liberating the Iraqi people. The war is currently ongoing, and there exists a large debate over topics such as withdrawal of American forces and the role of nations in the region. The war is is crucial to the larger U.S. led War on Terrorism. The Administration has been widely criticized for supposed strategic blunders in the execution of the war, including the failure to have a post-invasion plan.[Citation Needed] The American left has been criticized for its objections to the execution of the war.
Contents
Iraqi Liberation
Most Iraqis welcomed the American invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and in the proceeding months, were optimistic about their country's future. An 'American Enterprise'-'Wall Street Journal'-Zogby poll in September 2003 found that "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".[2] 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 Baghdad. [3]
Iraqi Resistance
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.[4] 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"[5].
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%.[6] 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". [7] Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have fled to neighboring Jordan and Syria since the 2003 invasion.[8]
Since the removal of Saddam, the United States has been in the middle of Arab Sunni and Arab Shia. Among the Arab Shia majority, notably the Jaysh Al-Madhi, have began to attack American and other coalition troops even while the coalition has been protecting the Shia from Sunni attacks. Other Shia groups that have not attacked coalition forces have pursued their own factional aims while relying on the US to ensure Shia majority rule. To many if not most Sunnis, the US is viewed as the enemy because it supports Shia majority rule. Under Muslim law, only Muslims may rule a Muslim state, and the Shia are considered heretics and thus not fit to lead the nation. Though a minority, the Sunni have traditionally ruled Iraq and view themselves entitled to continue the privilge of doing so.[9]
Weapons of Mass Destruction
While, aside from two mobile biological weapons labs seized in April 2003, massive stockpiles and production facilities of Iraq's WMD programs have not been located, persons associated with the programs have been detained and documents related to various programs have yet to be translated. Only about one-third of 36 million captured pages have been examined by a linguist and a summary gist of the document prepared.[10] Some believe the physical WMDs that had been produced prior to the invasion were smuggled out of the country, possibly to Syria, before the onset of the war. Critics of the Administration 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.
Costs
(Needs more statistics) Since the war is not yet over, the total cost has yet to be tallied. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the war has, as of 3/12/2007, cost approximately $400Billion.[11]
References
- ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/20/prague.bush.nato/
- ↑ http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003991
- ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3514504.stm
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/wirq23.xml
- ↑ http://www.iri.org/mena/iraq/pdfs/2006-04-27-Iraq%20poll%20March%20March.ppt
- ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-27-iraqi-opinion_x.htm
- ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-27-iraqi-opinion_x.htm
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1966333,00.html
- ↑ Testimony of Edward N. Luttwak, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate , Hearings on Securing America's Interest in Iraq, 23 January 2007.
- ↑ Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq’s WMD, 30 September 2004.
- ↑ Iraq: the hidden cost of the war
External links
- Iraq Weekly Status Report U.S. Department of State.
