Iraq

What is Iraq?

The Republic of Iraq, generally known as 'Iraq', is a country in the Middle East bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait. Straddling the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Iraq occupies what was once ancient Mesopotamia, one of the cradles of human civilisation known as the 'fertile crescent'. In the Middle Ages, Iraq was the centre of the Islamic Caliphate, with Baghdad being the cultural and political capital of an empire extending from Morocco to the west and as far as Pakistan to the east.

More recently, after the invasion by an American-led coalition of forces in 2003, Iraq is officially a developing parliamentary democracy following multi-party elections which took place in 2005, the first in 50 years. However, Iraq has since been on the verge of becoming a failed state with the outbreak of brutal sectarian violence between religious sects and militias. According to the 2007 index of failed states, it was the world's second most unstable country, after Sudan, as insurgents continued to target civilians, security forces, and international agencies.

Ethno-religiously, nearly 60 per cent of Iraqis are Shia Muslims living towards the south of Baghdad, while roughly 30 per cent are Sunni Muslims living in the central-western part of the country, and a small ethnic minority (ten to 15 per cent) of Kurds live in the northern mountain regions near Turkey.

Background

US and British interests were fixed on Iraq after discoveries of petroleum. Historically, the UK controlled the majority of the oil resources under the Iraq Petroleum Company. Iraq became independent from Britain in 1931 under King Faysal and Nuri-as-Said who maintained a pro-British regime. Its oil sector was not nationalised until 1972. A pro-Axis coup was reversed by British intervention in 1941.

After the second world war, during which Iraq was occupied by the British forces, the US attempted to make Iraq the anchor of a Nato-like pro-Western alliance known as the 'Baghdad pact' to counter Soviet influence. In 1958, however, the pro-Western government was overthrown by Abd al-Karim Qasim, only to be overthrown again ten years later by a Ba'athist coup encouraged by the US Central Intelligence Agency. Following the coup, Saddam became president of the Ba'ath party and consolidated power into a dictatorial regime. Saddam invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990, the latter resulting in UN sanctions and military action by a US-led multinational force set to liberate Kuwait.

In late 2002, US president George Bush, along with UK prime minister Tony Blair and Spanish prime minister José Aznar, claimed that Saddam Hussein was in violation of UN sanctions by actively developing 'weapons of mass destruction' and so represented a threat to regional and global stability. This was the main rationale used to justify the invasion which began on March 19th 2003 and succeeded in toppling the regime less than two weeks later. France, Canada, Germany and Russia vehemently opposed the invasion, encouraging diplomacy instead.

Although it could not be ratified by the security council (due to opposition from the aforementioned countries), the coalition determined a pre-emptive strike necessary. The invasion initially involved a 'shock and awe' bombing campaign, targeting the Iraqi leader, followed by a wave of ground forces from the south. All remnants of the Ba'ath party were subsequently removed from power completely and replaced by the coalition provisional authority until sovereignty was officially handed over to the Iraqi interim government in late 2004.

The post-invasion atmosphere has led to asymmetric warfare between insurgent groups and coalition-backed Iraqi forces. This has, as a consequence, led to the outbreak of civil war among rival Sunni and Shia factions as well as fighting within these numerous and loosely aligned groups. As 2006 came to a close Mr Bush sacked his defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and instigated a review of strategy in the country. The ensuing 'troop surge' saw 26,000 additional troops sent to the country and, by the end of 2007, appeared to be making significant improvements towards reducing security issues. However the Iraqi government's clashes with Shia militia groups threatened to undermine the gains in early 2008.

In July 2009, UK combat operations in Iraq were declared complete and UK combat troops withdrew from the country under an agreement between the Iraqi and UK governments. However, the two countries also agreed to have a long-term defence relationship.

The UK government signed a bilateral defence Training and Maritime Support Agreement with the Iraqi government under which British forces continued to train the Iraqi Navy and Royal Navy ships continued to protect Iraq's offshore oil platforms. This agreement came into force in November 2009 to last for one year. British Forces are also involved in NATO's Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I) which operates under a separate Long Term Agreement between the Government of Iraq and NATO.

The last US combat troops left Iraq in August 2010 under an agreement between the US and Iraqi governments. Around 50,000 troops remain in the country to provide support and training until the end of 2011.

Controversy

The invasion itself was, of course, extremely controversial. Firstly, many accused the US, UK and others of dubious motives for their intervention in Iraq, namely, the desire to control Iraq's largely untapped oil reserves. This was an especially popular critique given the failure of weapons inspectors to find evidence of WMD production or exportation. Following the invasion, there were massive protests around the world, with some of the largest taking place in the UK.

Furthermore, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, in which pictures showing soldiers subjecting detainees to sexual humiliation and harassment were leaked to international media, sparked widespread concern over human rights abuses by Coalition forces against Iraqis. This reflected a wider debate about torture, what constitutes it, and the treatment of detainees as 'enemy combatants'.

With widespread criticism about the handling of the war in Iraq, administrations in both the US and the UK faced mounting pressure to withdraw their troops from Iraq. Following Tony Blair's departure as prime minister, Gordon Brown promised in September 2007 the number of UK troops in Iraq would be cut from 5,500 to 2,500 by the following Spring. The Bush administration, on the other hand, refused to set out a timetable for the extraction of American troops despite repeated pressure from the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Aside from concerns about casualties in general, there was also disagreement about the number of civilian casualties resulting from the invasion. The Lancet put the figure over 650,000 while the Iraq Body Count put it at 81,000. The Economist said the civilian death toll "almost certainly exceeds 100,000". The data varies widely due to the fact that complete records of civilian casualties are not kept by coalition forces.

Before the fifth anniversary of the initial invasion Mr Brown confirmed an inquiry would take place into the use of intelligence before the war, conduct during the conflict and the prolonged reconstruction period after Saddam was ousted. That followed the information tribunal allowing the publication of a draft intelligence dossier and the publication of Cabinet meeting minutes from March 2003.

The Iraq Inquiry chaired by Sir John Chilcot was launched officially in July 2009 and covered the period from the summer of 2001 to the end of July 2009, looking into the run-up to the invasion, the military action and the aftermath. The public hearings began in November 2009 and concluded in July 2010; both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were called as witnesses. The Inquiry's report, expected in late 2010/early 2011, will be debated in Parliament.

Statistics

The number of UK military personnel deployed in Iraq has changed over time:
Peak during Major Combat Operations (March/April 2003): 46,000 (including those stationed outside of Iraq in support of the operation)
At the end of May 2003: 18,000
At the end of May 2004: 8,600
At the end of May 2005: 8,500
At the end of May 2006: 7,200
At the end of May 2007: 5,500
At the end of May 2008: 4,100 (in southern Iraq)
At the end of May 2009: 4,100 (in southern Iraq)
At the end of Jan 2010: 150
The majority of UK personnel are based in southern Iraq mentoring the Iraqi Navy, with a smaller number based in Baghdad providing training to Iraqi officers as part of the NATO training mission.

Source: MOD - 2010

Iraq has the potential for huge wealth with the world's third largest oil reserves and tenth largest gas reserves. In 2009 it awarded licenses to ten international oil companies to increase oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day to over 6 million within seven years.
Its budget for 2010 is $72.4 bn, 24% higher than in 2009. With per capita income of $3,655 in 2009 PPP-adjusted, IMF Iraq is a Lower Middle Income country, poorer than Iran or Jordan, but richer than Syria or Egypt.

Source: DfID - 2010

Quotes

"The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people..Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page."

President Barack Obama, speech on ending combat operations in Iraq - August 2010

"The members of the Security Council reiterate that no terrorist act can reverse the path towards peace and prosperity, which is supported by the people and the Government of Iraq and the international community."

UN Security Council - August 2010