Iraq War: A History from Beginning to End

The US-led war in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 was one of the most controversial wars in recent history. The invasion of Iraq was justified by claims that the regime of Saddam Hussein had links with terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and possessed weapons of mass destruction that might be used in an attack on another country. Both these claims were later shown to be false.

The six-week initial active combat phase of the war was an overwhelming military success for coalition forces. Saddam Hussein was deposed and later executed, and the Ba’ath regime was removed from power. But this quick military victory was followed by a violent insurgency that still resonates today and which claimed the lives of over 4,500 US and coalition troops as well as over 200,000 Iraqis. Iraq was left in chaos, and the very terrorist groups that the coalition troops had been sent there to suppress were able to gain control in some areas.

Why did this war happen at all? What was the real outcome of the Iraq War? This is the story of the events that led to war, the war itself, and the long period of bloody chaos that followed.