Outline of the Iraq War

The following outline is provided as an overview of, and topical guide to, the Iraq War.

Iraq War – a protracted armed conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011, which began with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.[1][2] The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the coalition forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. US troops were officially withdrawn in 2011.[3][4] The invasion occurred as part of the George W. Bush administration's war on terror following the September 11 attacks.[5][6]

Overview of articles

Top level overview articles

Changes in territorial control during the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Background to the Iraq War

Events leading up
to the Iraq War

Historical background

Before 1990

1990–2001

Major overview subdivisions

Timelines

Years in Iraq

2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Participants of the Iraq War

Main article: Combatants of the Iraq War

Multi-National Force – Iraq

Main article: Multi-National Force – Iraq
Further information: United States Forces – Iraq, Joint Special Operations Command Task Force in the Iraq War, and Task Force Viking
United States Marines escorting Iraqi prisoners of war to a holding area in the desert, 21 March 2003.[7]

March 2003 invasion forces

Other contributors

Iraq

Insurgent groups

See also: Tactics of the Iraqi insurgency

Ba'athist insurgents

Sunni insurgents

Shi'a insurgents

See also: Iranian involvement in the Iraq War

Private militaries

Others

Prelude

Main article: Prelude to the Iraq War

Rationale for invasion

Main article: Rationale for the Iraq War
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, holding up a model vial of alleged weaponized anthrax during a February 2003 presentation at the United Nations.[8]

Media and communications of the Iraq War

Documents

Articles are sorted chronologically.

Public relations, propaganda and disinformation

Slogans, symbols and neologisms

Battles of the Iraq War

All battles are sorted in chronological order.

Invasion phase (2003)

First insurgency phase (2003–2006)

Main article: 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency

2003 battles

2004 battles

Main article: 2004 Iraq spring fighting

2005 battles

Civil war (2006–2008)

Main article: Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)

2006 battles

2007 battles

2008 battles

Main article: 2008 Iraq spring fighting

Second insurgency phase (2008–2011)


Economics of the Iraq War

Human rights and war crimes in the Iraq War

Casualties

Estimates of Iraqi casualties

Further information: Casualties of the Iraq War § Total Iraqi casualties
White and red flags, representing Iraqi and American deaths respectively, sit in the grass quadrangle of The Valley Library on the campus of Oregon State University. (May 2008)

Chemical weapons

Disease

Ethnic and religious attacks

Attacks are sorted in chronological order.

2003 attacks

2004 attacks

2005 attacks

2006 attacks

2007 attacks

2008 attacks

2009 attacks

2010 attacks

2011 attacks

Hostages and kidnapping

Hostage-taking and kidnapping by insurgents

Hostage-taking and kidnapping by coalition forces

Prisons and torture

Infamous photo of Abdou Hussain Saad Faleh being tortured at Abu Ghraib prison, standing on a box with wires attached to his hands.[9]

Torture methods

Refugees and internal displacement

Targeted violence

War crimes by U.S.-led coalition forces

War crimes are listed in roughly chronological order.

War crimes by the Iraqi Army

Other human rights topics

Law and the Iraq War

Case law

UK case law

US case law

Commissions, inquiries and reports

Unofficial commissions

Courts-martial

International law

Resolutions, agreements and legislation

De-Ba'athification

Main article: De-Ba'athification

United Nations Security Council resolutions (2003–2011)

Main article: List of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq

Saddam Hussein

Governments, elections and referendums of the Iraq War

Governments

Governments of Iraq

Further information: Transitional Administrative Law (Iraq)
Parliament of Iraq holding a meeting in the Baghdad Convention Center, December 2008

Governments of the United Kingdom

Governments of the United States

Elections and referendums

In Iraq

Further information: Democracy in Iraq

In the United Kingdom

In the United States

Protests against the Iraq War

Main article: Protests against the Iraq War
Further information: Criticism of the Iraq War
(1) Iraqi citizens protesting coalition forces in downtown Baghdad, April 2003; (2) anti-war protest in Seattle, USA, March 2007; (3) anti-war protest in Sheffield, UK, February 2005

Protests are sorted in chronological order.

Anti-Iraq War groups

Groups are sorted in alphabetical order.

Scandals and controversies of the Iraq War

Scandals and controversies are sorted in roughly chronological order.

American scandals and controversies

British scandals and controversies

Other scandals and controversies

Views on the Iraq War

Main article: Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Aftermath of the Iraq War

Aftermath in Iraq

See also: Iraqi conflict

Memorials

Lists of the Iraq War

See also

Contemporaneous conflicts in Iraq

References

Notes

  1. ^ Spain, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua
  2. ^ See § Governments of Iraq for more details

Citations

  1. ^ Patrick E. Tyler (21 March 2003). "A nation at war: The attack; U.S. and British troops push into Iraq as missiles strike Baghdad compound". The New York Times. p. B8.
  2. ^ Taddonio, Patrice (March 17, 2023). "The U.S.-led Invasion of Iraq, 20 Years Later". PBS Frontline.
  3. ^ Denselow, James (25 October 2011). "The US departure from Iraq is an illusion". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. ^ Jaffe, Greg (18 December 2011). "Last U.S. troops cross Iraqi border into Kuwait". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  5. ^ Garamone, Jim (19 September 2002). "Iraq Part of Global War on Terrorism, Rumsfeld Says". American Forces Press Service. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  6. ^ Marsi, Federica (March 19, 2023). "How the US and UK tried to justify the invasion of Iraq". Al Jazeera.
  7. ^ "Defense.gov News Photos". U.S. Department of Defense. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell Addresses the U.N. Security Council". The White House. February 5, 2003. Archived from the original on April 11, 2003.
  9. ^ "Torture scandal: the images that shamed America". The Guardian. May 2004. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018.