The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition. The United States wanted to destroy Saddam Hussein's regime and bring democracy. In addition to this, the United States and its allies believed that Iraq had secret stockpiles of chemical and nuclear weapons, so Iraq posed a threat to the world (Axford 2010). In March 2003 the United States bombed Baghdad and Saddam fled Iraq. The invasion disarmed Saddam Hussein's government. In March 2003, President Bush gave a premature speech stating that the tyrant of Iraq had fallen and the United States had liberated its people. President Bush flew to Iraq to show the world that the war was over, even though nothing was accomplished (Kirk et al. 2014). Iraq was facing 13 years of reductions, so the regime diverted its resources into flexible patronage networks that kept it in power (Dodge 2007, 88). Iraq faced widespread lawlessness and after the violent regime change the United States failed to control the situation. Iraqi civilians were looting and attacking ministry buildings and this resulted in a series of events (Kirk et al. 2014). From a military point of view the regime was overthrown, but they did not commit to rebuilding or protecting the country. The sudden end of a decade-long ruling regime in three weeks had created a political vacuum, evident in shifting coalitions and divisions between religious groups, ethnic groups, regional groups, and even classes (Barnett et al. 2003, 25). The United States also did not realize the depth of hostility between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and between members of different local tribes and religious groups. Furthermore, to deal with the destruction of Iraq, the United States has decided on a new plan. The plan was to withdraw all troops and deliver the response… halfway through the document… oops, withdraw from Iraq at the end of 2011. (Krik et al. 2014). There were reports in the United States that Maliki became secretary because he replaced Sunni commanders with Shiite loyalists (Krik et al. 2014). This showed that Maliki did not care about having an effective army. Obama was forced to enjoy legal immunity, but still claimed victory by inviting Maliki to the United States (Krik et al. 2014). Once the United States left Iraq, Maliki became a Shiite-dominated ruling authority. He killed his Sunni vice president, Tarqi-al Hashimi, demonstrating that Maliki was using his power for his own interests. A Sunni group, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, joined by former Baathists and other Sunni rebels, captured Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul, so ISIS was moving into Iraq (Krik et al. 2014). Unfortunately, Maliki was no match for ISIS since the war in Syria encouraged violence and ISIS took over parts of Iraq.
tags