The reasons for the US invasion of Iraq. Chronicle of the US military operation, losses in Iraq

The war in Iraq has become one of the largest armed conflicts of the early 21st century. At the same time, the prerequisites and vicissitudes of this war are still largely a mystery. Let's try to unwind the tangle of those events. So, let's find out what was the reason for the US invasion of Iraq and how the military operation was going on.

Prehistory

For a start, let's go a little into the background of this conflict.

Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq in 1979, although in fact he concentrated in his hands the threads of governing the country long before that. His powers were equal dictatorial. No important issue in the country could be resolved without agreement with the president. Against the opposition and the periodically rising Kurds, Hussain used repression and torture, which he even publicly admitted. In addition, the personality cult of Hussein began to develop in Iraq.

Already in 1980, the Iraqi army launched an invasion of the Iranian province of Khuzestan, thus unleashing the Iran-Iraq war. It is noteworthy that in this war both the US and the USSR supported Hussein. But in the end, the war ended in 1988 with nothing, because, according to the terms of the peace treaty, both countries retained the status quo.

The new adventure Saddam Hussein started in 1990, when he occupied Kuwait and annexed it to Iraq as a province. This time, both the US and the USSR condemned the actions of the Iraqi president. Moreover, the United States, with the support of the UN, formed an international military coalition that opposed Hussein. Thus began the first war in Iraq, or, as it is called in another way, the war in the Persian Gulf. The coalition from the first days of confrontation had a significant advantage, due to the fact that it used modern aviation.

It was a brilliant allied operation led by the United States. The losses in Iraq of the coalition forces were less than 500 people, while the number of dead in the Iraqi troops reached several tens of thousands. As a result, Hussein was defeated, was forced to release Kuwait, significantly reduce the army. In addition, a number of other sanctions were imposed on the country, which were supposed to weaken the armed forces of Iraq.

Practically all 90th years of XX century the latent opposition between Iraq and the USA increased. The Americans constantly accused Hussein of applying repression against the opposition, as well as the availability of illegal weapons. Especially the situation escalated after Hussein expelled UN observers in 1998, which were supposed to see to it that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. The world was on the verge of a new war.

Prerequisites and causes of war

Now let us examine in more detail what was the reason for the US invasion of Iraq.

The main reason for the Americans' invasion of Iraq was the desire of the States to secure their dominance in the region. However, it is likely that the ruling circles feared that Hussein was indeed developing weapons of mass destruction, which could even be directed against the United States, although they had no real evidence of this. However, some experts in the list of possible reasons for the beginning of the US operation against Iraq also call personal hatred of US President George W. Bush to Saddam Hussein.

The formal reason for the invasion was the US Secretary of State Colin Powell 's demonstration in February 2003 of evidence at the UN Security Council that Iraq had developed weapons of mass destruction. As it turned out later, most of the evidence presented was falsified.

Attraction of allies

The US has not succeeded in obtaining permission from the Security Council to use force in Iraq. Nevertheless, the American ruling circles ignored this and began to prepare for an invasion.

They also asked for help from their NATO allies. But France and Germany refused to support the US invasion of Iraq without UN sanctions. But Britain, Poland and Australia expressed their readiness to support the US with military force.

After the overthrow of the Hussein regime, other countries joined the coalition: Italy, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Spain, Georgia. Separately, Turkey took part in the conflict in 2007-2008.

The total number of troops of the contingent of the international coalition was about 309 thousand people, 250 thousand of them were US servicemen.

The beginning of the invasion

The US military operation in Iraq began on March 20, 2003. In contrast to the "Desert Storm", this time the coalition conducted a large-scale ground operation. Even Turkey's refusal to provide its territory for the offensive did not prevent this. The United States invaded Iraq from Kuwait. Coalition forces already in April, without a fight, occupied Baghdad. In this case, Iraqi aviation was not actually used to repel an enemy attack. The active phase of the offensive was completed after the capture of the city of Tikrit in the middle of the same month.

Thus, the main key settlements in Iraq by the end of the offensive operation were controlled by a coalition led by the United States. The losses in Iraq of the Allied forces during this period amounted to 172 soldiers killed and 1,621 wounded. The Iraqi Armed Forces lost nearly 10,000 people killed during the allied offensive operation. Slightly smaller victims were among the civilian population.

At the first stage of the war, US troops in Iraq won a convincing victory. However, it was necessary not only to seize the territory, but also to be able to hold it until a government loyal to the Americans was formed in Iraq, which would be able to keep the situation in the country under control.

The further course of hostilities

After the defeat of the government troops in the country began to organize a guerrilla movement. It united not only the military, loyal to Hussein, but also representatives of various groups of Islamists, including those close to Al-Qaeda. Detachments of the partisans were most closely concentrated in the so-called "Sunni triangle", which was located north-west of the Iraqi capital.

Detachments of partisans destroyed the infrastructure, carried out terrorist attacks, struck blows at separate units of the coalition led by the United States. The loss of allied forces in Iraq increased during this period. The bulk of the dead and wounded were soldiers who had been blown up by improvised explosive devices.

Meanwhile, in late 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured in a village in Iraq. A court was held over him, on the verdict of which the former dictator was publicly executed in 2006.

Civil War

Meanwhile, in 2005 elections were held in Iraq. After their holding, Shiites came to power. This caused an increase in protests among the Sunni population of the country, which soon developed into a phenomenon that could be called a civil war.

In addition, oil was added to the fire by various crimes committed by individual members of the US military or even by entire units of the US Army. The losses in Iraq, both among the military and among the civilian population, have been increasing all the time, and the civil war has flared up with renewed vigor.

This caused discontent not only in Iraq, but also within American society. Many US citizens began to compare the protracted Iraqi operation with the Vietnam War. The increasing losses of the US Army in Iraq led to the fact that the Republicans had failed in the Congressional elections, having lost the majority in both houses.

Strengthening of Islamist organizations

In the meantime, if initially the resistance in Iraq to the occupation forces of the coalition was more or less neutral religious character, by 2008, various Islamic organizations, often of a terrorist nature, became the head of the guerrilla movement.

Right after the US invasion of Iraq, the activities of the terrorist organization "Monotheism and Jihad" under the leadership of al-Zarqawi were transferred to the territory of this country. After a certain time, around this cell, the majority of other Islamist paramilitary organizations in Iraq united. In 2004, the leader of Monotheism and Jihad swore allegiance to Usama bin Laden, and the organization was renamed "Al-Qaeda in Iraq."

In 2006, al-Zarqawi was killed as a result of the bombing of American aircraft. But before his death, he even more united the Islamist groups of Iraq. On the initiative of Az-Zarqawi, the Consultative Assembly of Mujahideen in Iraq was created, except for "Monotheism and Jihad", which included a number of other organizations. Already after the death of al-Zarqawi, in the same year 2006, it was reorganized into the Islamic State of Iraq (IGI). And this was done without agreement with the central leadership of Al-Qaeda. It is this organization that in the future, after spreading its influence on part of Syria, reborn in IGIL, and then in the Islamic State.

As stated above, during the time of the American occupation contingent in Iraq, the Islamists gained the greatest power in 2008. They controlled the second largest city of Iraq - Mosul, and their capital was Baquba.

Completion of the US operation in Iraq

The considerable losses of the USA in Iraq for 10 years, during which the war continued, as well as the relative stabilization of the situation in the country made us think about the possibility of withdrawing the international contingent from the territory of the state.

In 2010, the new US President Barack Obama signed a decree on the withdrawal of major US forces from the territory of Iraq. Thus, that year 200 thousand people were withdrawn. The remaining 50,000 troops were supposed to help the troops of the new Iraqi government monitor the situation in the country. But they also remained relatively short in Iraq. In December 2011, the remaining 50 thousand soldiers were withdrawn from the territory of the country. In Iraq, there were only 200 military consultants who represented the United States.

Thus, on December 15, 2011, the war in Iraq for Americans officially ended.

Loss of the US Army

Now let's find out how much American troops lost their manpower and military equipment during the operation in Iraq, which lasted almost a decade.

The forces of the international coalition lost a total of 4,804 people killed, of which 4,423 fighters represented the US Army. In addition, 31 942 Americans were injured of varying severity. This statistics takes into account both combat and non-combat losses.

For comparison: during the war the regular army of Saddam Hussein lost tens of thousands of soldiers killed. The calculation of the losses of various partisan, terrorist and other organizations that fought against the coalition can not be realized at all.

Now we calculate the loss of US technology in Iraq. During the war, the Americans lost 80 tanks of the Abrams model. The losses of US aviation in Iraq were also significant. Twenty American planes were shot down. The cars F-16 and F / A-18 suffered most. In addition, 86 American helicopters were shot down.

The situation after the withdrawal of US troops

After the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq, the situation deteriorated sharply. Many extremist and terrorist organizations have risen. The most influential of these was the IGIL grouping, which then changed its name to the "Islamic state", claiming supremacy in the entire Muslim world. It has placed under its control significant areas in Iraq, and after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, it extended its influence to this state.

The activity of IGIL caused concern of many states of the world. A new coalition led by the United States was created against this organization. Russia joined the fight against terrorists, which, incidentally, acts independently. The peculiarity of this operation is that the Allies conduct only air strikes in Syria and Iraq, but do not resort to ground intervention. Thanks to the actions of the allies, the territory controlled by the Islamic state militants has significantly decreased, yet this organization continues to pose a serious danger to the world.

However, there are many other opposing forces, the contradictions between which prevent the peace in Iraq: Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, etc. Thus, the American troops have not managed to ensure a stable peace in the region. They left without fulfilling one of the main tasks.

The meaning and consequence of the US invasion of Iraq

As for the justification of the invasion of the coalition forces in Iraq, there are many conflicting opinions. But most experts agree that since the outbreak of the war in Iraq, the region has become much more unstable, and there are no prerequisites for stabilizing the situation. Moreover, many prominent politicians who participated in the decision to invade Iraq have already stated that the war with Hussein was a mistake. In particular, the head of the independent investigation commission, the former deputy interior minister of Great Britain John Chilcot said about it.

Of course, Saddam Hussein was a typical dictator who suppressed the opposition and applied repression. He also repeatedly conducted aggressive military actions against other countries. Nevertheless, most experts concluded that Hussein's weapons at the beginning of the 21st century no longer allowed him to carry out large-scale military operations, as evidenced by the relatively rapid defeat of the regular army of Iraq by the coalition forces.

And many experts recognize the Hussein regime as the lesser of evils, in comparison with the chaos that began to prevail in the region after its overthrow, and with the ever increasing danger from the Islamic state.