The Invasion of Iraq

      On March 19th, 2003, the war in Iraq began with an invasion of combined American and coalition forces, the coalition forces being comprised of mostly British soldiers. Citing the reason for the invasion, President George W. Bush stated over live broadcast during the first hours of the war the reasons were to disarm Iraq and suspend the military operations of Iraq, which he declared to be a grave danger to the world.



      Despite opposition from nations such as France, Germany, and Russia, the UK and the US continued to call for the disarmament or war with Iraq. France and Russia both vetoed attempts to pass a resolution that would give an ultimatum to disarm or war. And thus ultimately, proponents to disarm Iraq went forward without UN approval and ultimately would go to war soon after.

      Saddam Hussein, Iraq's head of state at this point and one of the main US targets in the war for his crimes against humanity, went into hiding following the initial invasion. Quickly, Iraq's government collapsed. On April 9th of 2003, Baghdad, Iraq's capital was captured and just three weeks after the war began, Iraq's major cities had been captured and Saddam Hussein's regime had been toppled. After the regime's toppling however, there was a problem. One of the reasons nations cited for going to war against Iraq, such as the United States, was that it had weapons of mass destruction. This was found to not be the case.

      However, while the end of one conflict, it was the beginning of another. Even after Iraq's conventional forces had been defeated, a guerrilla war had began that would keep American troops in Iraq through 2011. With regards to Saddam Hussein, after a large manhunt to find him, he was found in a hole 9 miles outside his home town. He did not resist he capture, and it could only be assumed he was fully aware of what would come. He was arrested and put on trial for his crimes, including mass killings. The Iraq Interim Government created by the invading nations dealt with his trial and he was found guilty for his crimes on November 6th, 2006. He was sentenced to death by hanging on December 30th, 2006.

      And through 2011, there had been an American presence within Iraq. One of the many goals of the Obama Administration had been to pull troops out of the country, and with a ceremony in Baghdad on December 15, 2011 symbolizing the pulling out of troops, troops were finally coming home after over 9 years. This was ultimately, however, short lived. In 2014 with the emergence of ISIS in the region, President Obama ordered troops back into Iraq. Even 17 years after the initial invasion, troops remain in Iraq. While the Iraq War may be over, conflict in the region is far from over.

Sources:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/war-in-iraq-begins
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36702957
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-declares-end-to-iraq-war