Iraq War: Map of the Middle East
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Overview
of the Iraq War
Facts for kids
The Iraq War (March 20, 2003 to December 18, 2011) was
to have two phases consisting of Invasion and
Occupation. The first, brief invasion phase took place
from March to April 2003 during which time U.S. and
British troops invaded Iraq and swiftly defeated Saddam
Hussein's Iraqi military forces. The second occupation
phase of the war began in April 2003 in which US-led
forces occupied Iraq and entered the long period of
guerrilla warfare as the country descended into the
“sectarian violence" of civil war. The second phase of
the war focused on the on-going rebuilding process and
the hunt for Saddam Hussein.
Iraq War Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the Iraq
War.
When did the Iraq War start? The Iraq War
started on March 20, 2003. It would last for
8 years, 8 months and 28 days ending on
December 18, 2011.
Who was Saddam Hussein?
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December
2006) was the president of Iraq. He was a
brutal dictator who implemented widespread,
systematic violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law.
What was the cause of the Iraq War? The
cause of the Iraq War was due to Saddam
Hussein’s alleged possession of illegal
weapons of mass destruction and Iraq’s ties
to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda Who
won the
Iraq War?
The US-led coalition succeeded in toppling
the regime of Saddam Hussein but Iraq
subsequently descended into Civil War and
the US declared the end of the Iraq War on
December 18, 2011.
What are Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDMs)?
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDMs) are
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and
long-range ballistic missiles.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: History of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq
Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq and leader of
the Arab Socialist Baath Party. Between 1980- 1988 he led the
country in the Iran-Iraq War employing indiscriminate
ballistic-missile attacks and the extensive use of chemical weapons.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait sparking the
Gulf War.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDM's)
In March 1988
Saddam Hussein had launched a large-scale chemical weapons attack
against the Kurdish population in Iraq killing thousands of people.
In addition, his military forces had attacked targets in Iran with
combinations of mustard gas and nerve agents through the use of
aerial bombs. During the Cold War (1945 - 1991) not many countries
had WDM's and the US relied on a policy of deterrence to prevent the
use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDM's).
In the 1980's the policy of deterrence
became unviable as countries began developing weapons of mass
destruction and were actively sponsoring terrorism.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDM's)
The Bush administration
believed that Iraq posed the most immediate threat from weapons of
mass destruction when, following the
Gulf War
against Iraq (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), UN
Weapons Inspectors had been tasked to seek evidence that Iraq, led
by President Saddam Hussein, had developed biological weapons and
had an advanced nuclear weapons development program. The peace terms
of Gulf War included that Iraq relinquished all weapons of mass
destruction and any ballistic missiles with ranges exceeding 90
miles (150 km).
Iraq War
Facts for kids: Weapons Inspections
In April 1991 Iraq was subjected to weapons inspection program. In
October 1998 Saddam Hussein ended cooperation with the United
Nations (UN) Special Commission to Oversee the Destruction of Iraq's
Weapons of Mass Destruction (Unscom). In December 1999 the UN
Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic) was
created to replace Unscom but Iraq rejected the UN resolution and
refused to cooperate with weapons inspectors. In November 2002 the
UN weapons inspectors returned to Iraq, backed by a UN resolution
which threatens serious consequences if Iraq is in "material breach"
of its terms.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: Iraqi support of Terrorist Groups
Saddam Hussein and Iraq were also believed to sponsor and support
terrorist groups such as
Al-Qaeda. In 1998 the leader of
Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, had declared that acquiring and using
weapons of mass destruction was his Islamic duty and played integral
part of his jihad. It was clear that Al Qaeda wanted to purchase or
develop nuclear and biochemical weapons of mass destruction.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: The "Axis of Evil" and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WDM's)
On January 29, 2002, in
his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush used the
term "Axis of Evil" to describe the governments of Iraq, Iran and
North Korea that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking Weapons
of Mass Destruction (WDM's) consisting of nuclear, biological
and chemical weapons.
Saddam
Hussein and the Iraq War
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on Iraq
War
for kids.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: The Invasion of Iraq
Iraq War
Facts -
1: Iraq failed to
fully cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors and on
March 17, 2003 President George W. Bush issued an
ultimatum demanding that President Saddam Hussein
stepped down from power and leave Iraq within 48 hours,
or face another war.
Iraq War
Facts - 2: Saddam Hussein refused to step
down or cooperate with the weapons inspectors and on March 20,
2003 United States, Britain and allied forces launched an attack in
Iraq to topple the Iraqi dictator and his regime and the Iraq War
began.
Iraq War
Facts - 3: Invasion of Iraq: The
coalition of American-led, British and allied forces launched cruise
missiles from fighter-bombers and warships stationed in the Persian
Gulf.
Iraq War
Facts - 4: The mission of the coalition,
as described by U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass
destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to
free the Iraqi people."
Iraq War
Facts - 5: President Bush addressed the
American people stating that "At this hour, American and coalition
forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm
Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger".
Iraq War
Facts - 6: The invasion of Iraq, called
'Operation Iraqi Freedom', lasted from March 2003 to April 2003 as
200,000 coalition troops invaded the country.
Iraq War
Facts - 7: The invasion began
with an an air strike on the Presidential Palace and
ministries in Baghdad on 20 March 2003 as ground forces
enter the country close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border in
an incursion into Basra Province.
Iraq War
Facts - 8: The Battle of
Basra, fought between the British 7th Armored Brigade
(The Desert Rats) and Iraqi forces, lasted from March
21, 2003 to April 6, 2003 and resulted in the British
occupation of the city of Basra.
Iraq War
Facts - 9: American forces
engaged in the Battle of Najaf (March 24, 2003 – April
4, 2003) and captured the city as the main body of
coalition forces fought their way into the heart of Iraq
and the capital of Baghdad.
Iraq War
Facts - 10: The Battle of
Karbala, at a key approach to Baghdad, was fought by
American troops from March 23 – April 6, 2003 against
some of the best units of the Iraqi Republican Guard.
The US victory at the Battle of Karbala enabled
coalition troops to move onward to Baghdad.
Iraq War
Facts -
11: Three weeks into
the invasion the intense Battle of Baghdad was fought
between April 3–12, 2003. Several thousand Iraqi
soldiers were killed in the battle - the coalition lost
34 troops. Saddam International Airport was captured and
governmental palaces and offices were taken.
On April 9, 2003
Saddam Hussein emerged from his command bunker in
northern Baghdad to greet Iraqi supporters. Later that
day the city of Baghdad was formally occupied by
Coalition forces. Saddam Hussein escaped from Baghdad
and went into hiding.
The coalition
victory at the Battle of Baghdad was symbolized by the
dramatic toppling of a 20ft statue of Saddam Hussein by
an U.S. Marine Corps M88 Recovery Vehicle in Firdos
Square, Baghdad.
Iraq War
Facts - 12: On May 1, 2003 President
George H Bush announced the official end of combat operations in
Iraq. Less than 150 American troops were killed in the allied
invasion of Iraq but the aftermath and occupation of the country
would claim many thousands more.
Continued...
Iraq War
Facts for kids: The Invasion of Iraq
Facts
about the Iraq War for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about Iraq War for kids.
Iraq War
Facts for kids: The Occupation of Iraq
Iraq War
Facts - 13: Occupation: In April 2003 the
second occupation phase of the Iraq war began. US-led forces
occupied Iraq and entered the long period of full-scale guerrilla
warfare as Iraq descended into the “sectarian violence" of civil
war.
Iraq War
Facts - 14: Occupation: During the weeks
and months that followed the invasion and occupation of Iraq, a
violent insurgency began to grow against the occupying coalition
forces. The insurgents included the Fedayeen Saddam (a paramilitary
organization loyal to the Baathist government of Saddam Hussein),
Iraqi citizens loyal to Hussein and foreign Islamic fighters.
Fighting also broke out between the two Islamic sects in Iraq - the
Sunnis and the Shiites - which was tantamount to Civil War.
Iraq War
Facts - 15: The U.S. military
developed a set of playing cards (officially named the
"personality identification playing cards") to help
troops identify the most-wanted members of President
Saddam Hussein's government.
Iraq War
Facts - 16: In July 2003
Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in
gun battle in Mosul, but their father remained illusive,
as the an intense manhunt for the dictator continued. Following a
tip-off the American military launched 'Operation Red
Dawn' that led to the capture of Iraqi president Saddam
Hussein on December 13, 2003.
Iraq War
Facts - 17: Saddam Hussein was
captured in ad-Dawr, a small town in central Iraq about
10 miles south of his hometown of Tikrit. U.S. soldiers
found Saddam Hussein hiding in a six-to-eight-foot deep
hole, he did not resist and was uninjured during the
arrest.
Iraq War
Facts - 18: Saddam Hussein was
taken into custody by United States forces at Camp
Cropper in Baghdad. Images of the former president
Saddam Hussein, having his mouth inspected and his
unkempt hair searched for lice, were televised across
the world.
Iraq War
Facts - 19: The Trial of
Saddam Hussein began on December 9, 2003. The former
dictator was found guilty of crimes against humanity and
sentenced to death by hanging.
Iraq War
Facts -
20: On January 30,
2005 Iraqis voted in the first democratic parliamentary
elections in 50 years. The Shiites and Kurds vote in
large numbers, but the Sunnis did not. Fighting between
the factions erupt with a surge of violence and civilian
deaths toll and the new formation of new Shia led
government failed to bring order.
Iraq War
Facts -
21: On June 8, 2006 : Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
a leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, is killed in a U.S. strike
north of Baquba.
Iraq War
Facts -
22: After an
unsuccessful appeal, Saddam Hussein was executed on 30
December 2006 at "Camp Justice," an Iraqi army base in
Kazimain, in northeast Baghdad
Iraq War
Facts -
23: In 2007 ongoing
violence by a group calling itself "Al-Qaeda in Iraq",
triggered a backlash, known as the Sunni Awakening when
nearly 80,000 former Sunni insurgents turn against
Al-Qaeda and support the new Iraqi government.
Iraq War
Facts -
24: Iraq War troop
surge of 2007 saw an increase in the number of American
troops in order to provide security to Baghdad, where
50% of the fighting took place. There was considerable
opposition to this policy in the Bush administration.
The US surge focused in protecting the population rather
than killing insurgents.
Iraq War
Facts -
25: In 2007 the Iraqi
government called for the withdrawal of U.S. and foreign
troops by 2011 and the British began withdrawing their
forces from the country..
Iraq War
Facts -
26: In February 2009,
new elected U.S.
President Barack Obama announced that
US combat troops would withdraw from Iraq. Although
combat duties would cease up to 50,000 troops would
remain to help with intelligence-gathering and train
Iraqi security forces.
Iraq War
Facts -
27: The final U.S.
combat troops left Iraq on 18 August 2010. In October,
2011 President Barack Obama announced that the remaining
American soldiers would leave the country at the end of
2011.
Iraq War
Facts -
28: The U.S. military
formally declared the end of its mission in Iraq in a
ceremony in Baghdad on December 15, 2011 as the final
U.S. troops prepared to withdraw from the country.
Iraq War
Facts -
29: The war had lasted
for 8 years, 8 months and 28 days during which time
4,487 American soldiers were killed and over 32,000 were
wounded. Over 55,000 Iraqi insurgents were killed during
the conflict. The death count of Iraqi citizens was in
the hundreds of thousands. Nearly 7% of the total
population fled the war accounting for over 2 million
Iraqi refugees.
Iraq War
Facts -
30: No weapons of mass destruction were
ever found in Iraq.
Iraq War
Facts -
31: Fighting continues as the terrorist
groups known as
ISIS and ISIL consolidated its hold over
numerous towns and cities in
Iraq. Following their takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul, ISIS and ISIL merged to
create a caliphate, renamed as the
Islamic State (IS).
Iraq War
Facts for kids: The Occupation of Iraq
Saddam Hussein and the 2003
Iraq War - President George W Bush Video
The article on the
Iraq War provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
George W Bush video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 43rd American President whose presidency spanned from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009.
Saddam Hussein and the Iraq War for kids
●
Interesting Facts about Iraq War for kids and schools
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Summary of the Iraq War in US history
●
Iraq War of important, key
events - Weapons of Mass Destruction
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The rise and fall of Saddam Hussein
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Fast, fun facts about the Iraq War
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Foreign & Domestic
policies of President George W Bush
● The
Iraq War for schools,
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