In August 2022, serious fighting broke out in the Green Zone, the heavily defended heart of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. While immediate fears of a wider return to conflict appear to have been premature, it nevertheless served to highlight the deep problems facing Iraq almost twenty years after the 2003 US invasion of the country. This prompts the question: was it worth it?
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The United States invasion of Iraq was one of the most controversial wars of modern times. Coming at a moment when US strength was at its greatest after the end of the Cold War, it marked the peak of a line of thinking in many Western circles that armed intervention was acceptable to tackle human right abuses, spread liberal democracy and take on countries that posed a direct threat to the US and the wider West. In the case of Iraq, the Ba’ath Party regime of Saddam Hussein, which has invaded Kuwait in 1990, had come to be seen by many members of the Bush Administration (2001-2009) as one of the greatest threats to US interests. And yet the invasion and occupation proved to be a disaster. Liberated from Saddam Hussein, Iraq quickly sank into a violent insurgency and civil war between the Sunni and Shia communities. Ultimately, this all led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and cost trillions of dollars. Since then, Iraq has continued to be plagued by numerous ethnic, religious and political problems. It has also seen Iran increase its influence over the country. And yet, for all these difficulties, is there a case to be made that it has had some positive effects?
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Titles
00:45 Western Interventionism and Iraq
02:01 Iraq: Geography and Demography
02:53 History of Iraq
03:50 Iraq under Saddam Hussein
05:19 The US Invasion of Iraq 2003
06:16 The US Occupation of Iraq, 2003-2011
08:04 The Ongoing Problems in Iraq
09:43 Was the US Invasion of Iraq Worth It?
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FURTHER READING & USEFUL SOURCES
Iraq Government
George W. Bush Presidential Library
UN Resolution 660
The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988
A History of Iraq
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KEYWORDS
#Iraq #Invasion #UnitedStates
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