Iraq War

Post-Baathist government, multi-sided conflict:
Baath Party Loyalists
Mahdi Army
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Other Insurgent groups

Post-Baathist government, multi-sided conflict:
Sunni Insurgents
60,000citation needed]
Mahdi Army

~60,000
al Qaeda/others
1,300+

Insurgents dead
(After Saddam Hussein's Baathist government fell):
11,485 to 12,700+ listed on
a representative list of reports
Detainees: 21,000

Coalition wounded (26,558 US, ~350 UK, 295 other): 27,203

Coalition injured** (27,689 US, 2,436 UK): 30,125

Contractors dead (US 227): 940

War-related & criminal violence deaths (all Iraqis) Iraq Health Minister. Through early November 2006: 100,000-150,000

War-related & criminal violence deaths (civilians) Iraq Body Count - English language media only: 62,841-68,868

The Iraq War, sometimes called The Second Gulf War, (commonly referred to in the US as Operation Iraqi Freedom) is an ongoing conflict which began with a United States-led 20 March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The main rationale for the Iraq War offered by U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and their domestic and foreign supporters was that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction. These weapons, it was argued, posed a threat to the United States, its allies and interests. In the 2003 State of the Union address, Bush claimed that the U.S. could not wait until the threat from Saddam Hussein became imminent. After the invasion, however, no evidence was found of such weapons. To support the war, other U.S. officials cited claims of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Yet others pointed to the abuse of human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the need to establish democracy in Iraq as reason for the war. They have also claimed that the economic importance of Iraq's oil supply limited non-military options. Many critics of the war have alleged that this was a primary reason for the invasion.

The war began on 20 March 2003, when a largely British and American force supported by small contingents from Australia, Denmark and Poland invaded Iraq. The invasion soon led to the defeat and flight of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and attempted to establish a new democratic government; however it failed to restore order in Iraq. The unrest led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil war between Sunni and Shia Iraqis and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. As a result of this failure to restore order, a growing number of coalition nations have withdrawn troops from Iraq. The causes and consequences of the war remain extremely controversial.