Foreign
What Happened When Iraq Was invaded 20 Years Ago?
Twenty years ago, the US and the UK announced that Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and supporting “terrorist groups”.
On March 19, 2003, a US-led coalition began bombing Iraq, and one day later a ground invasion began. In the coalition were US, UK, Australian, and Polish soldiers.
In 2011, the coalition forces withdrew from Iraq, declaring the war over and leaving behind at least 275,000 people dead and a country ravaged.
Al Jazeera breaks down some of the war’s defining moments in the following timeline.
Building up to invasion
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, US President George W Bush began claiming that Iraq had WMDs – a claim later proved false – and that it supported al-Qaeda, making disarming it a new priority.
On September 24, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons: “Of course there is no doubt that Iraq, the region and the whole world would be better off without Saddam.”
Hearing the intent behind those statements, hundreds of thousands of people around the world poured onto the streets to protest against a war in Iraq.
In November 2002, UN Security Council Resolution 1441 afforded Iraq “a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations”.
Four days later, the Iraqi parliament voted to reject the UN resolution.
2003
Bush sends Saddam an ultimatum
On March 17, 2003, Bush declared an end to diplomacy and gave Saddam and his sons an ultimatum to “leave Iraq within 48 hours”.
March 19, 2003
In a televised statement, George W Bush says coalition forces are in the “early stages of a military operation to disarm Iraq” from its purported WMDs and remove Saddam from power.
The first assaults on Baghdad begin shortly after the expiry of the 48-hour deadline for Saddam and his sons to leave Iraq.
March 20, 2003
Coalition forces at the Iraqi-Kuwait border begin their offensive from the Gulf to take Basra and the surrounding oilfields.
Wearing a military uniform, Saddam appears on Iraqi state television to condemn “the criminal junior Bush” and call on Iraqis to defend their country.
March 23, 2003
Military operations move into southern Iraq, coming up against Iraqi resistance in the Battle of Nasiriyah, which lasted till April 2.
Air raids across the country kept the defending Iraqi army in chaos and prevented effective resistance.
April 9, 2003
US forces roll into the Iraqi capital and Baghdad is occupied.
Saddam’s statue in the main square is pulled down in an iconic moment broadcast live around the world. Operations continue against smaller factions of the Iraqi army.
May 1, 2003
George W Bush declares an end to the invasion, marking the beginning of the military occupation.
On May 25, 2003, the new, US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) launched an extensive de-Baathification process aimed at eliminating the former ruling Baath party’s influence in Iraq.
Despite being a secular leader, Saddam’s dictatorship was viewed by the majority, which was Shia Muslim, as inherently sectarian. Many Shia Muslims were forced out of Iraq under his regime’s Sunni minority rule.
During the de-Baathification process, the CPA relied heavily on the expertise of exiled Iraqi Shia Muslims. This arguably resulted in personal bias and political score-settling becoming pervasive throughout the process.
De-Baathification gutted the civil service and disbanded the military, security and other organisations central to public order.
On December 13, US troops capture Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit.
2004
2004
A resistance effort against Western occupation forces in the country begins. Hundreds are reported killed in fighting during a US military siege of Falluja, an hour west of Baghdad, that began April 4.
In late April, photographs are unearthed of US troops abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, sparking an international outcry and a US senate probe of alleged abuses.
Meanwhile, images of gruesome violence in Iraq spread around the world via internet videos as the US claims that Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s armed group, which became al-Qaeda in Iraq in late 2004, has attracted more fighters.
In July, Saddam appears in court for the first time, facing charges including war crimes and genocide.
In the aftermath of the US invasion, the Iraqi unemployment rate reaches 70 percent in August.
The Arab League chief visits Iraq to prepare for a reconciliation conference, and the US military begins paying Iraqi contractors in dinars rather than in dollars.
2005
On January 30, the first multi-party elections in 50 years are held amid stringent security measures. Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish politician, is sworn in as president.
Masoud Barzani becomes the regional president of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.
Voters accept a new constitution that aims to create an Islamic federal democracy. Iraqis vote for a government and parliament.
The Arab League chief visits Iraq to prepare for a reconciliation conference, and the US military begins paying Iraqi contractors in dinars rather than in dollars.
The United Iraqi Alliance – a Shia-led party – wins the parliamentary elections.
2006
By April of 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq was fighting both against the occupation and other Iraqi sects, leaving the country awash in blood.
On May 20, 2006, Nouri al-Maliki becomes Iraq’s first democratically elected prime minister.
A month after the elections, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, is killed in a US air raid. Stepping up to fill the void at the top of al-Qaeda in Iraq is one of its founders – Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
In February 2006, the dome of the al-Askari Shia shrine in Samarra was destroyed in a bombing. Sunni fighters are largely blamed for the attack, escalating sectarian tensions into what quickly became known as the Iraqi civil war.
Fighters loyal to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr target 40 Sunnis at checkpoints in Baghdad, and nearly two dozen people were killed in a car bombing in Sadr City, a Shia district in eastern Baghdad, killing 62 and injuring 114 on July 1.
In July, the deadliest month for attacks and bombings, nearly 3,500 Iraqis were killed, about 110 people a day.
‘”Death squads” and bombings killed thousands, with neighbourhoods in mixed cities like Baghdad adopting more sectarian identities as minorities left.
On the morning of the start of Eid al-Adha on December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein is executed for crimes against humanity.
2007
An escalation in rebel activity prompts President Bush to propose a surge of 21,500 additional troops into Iraq in January 2007.
The al-Askari shrine in Samarra is attacked again.
Suicide attacks hit the north of the country, targeting Yazidis and killing and injuring hundreds.
By October of that year, there are 171,00 US soldiers in Iraq and 12,000 from other countries.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni political bloc, withdraws from cabinet following a dispute.
Britain hands over the security of Basra to Iraqi forces as the country pushes towards reducing the number of its troops in Iraq.
2008
Violence continues to escalate despite a troop surge. In April the British defence secretary says the final withdrawal of troops has been postponed after clashes between Shia fighters and Iraqi security forces.
In March, the Iraqi army, supported from the air by the US-led coalition, attacked al-Sadr’s Mahdi army in Basra. Iraq’s PM Nuri al-Maliki vowed security forces would battle the Shia militia in Basra “to the end”.
In May, the government and armed fighters reach a ceasefire.
By the end of 2008, the total number of foreign troops in the country – including US soldiers – stands at just over 151,000.
2009
In February 2009, new US President Barack Obama announces that the US combat mission in Iraq would end by August 31, 2010, and that the final withdrawal of all US forces would take place at the end of 2011.
By April, Britain officially ends combat operations in southern Iraq. It hands control of its Basra base to US forces.
In July, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, orders an independent inquiry into the decisions that led the country to war.
2010
Parliamentary elections are held in March and no coalition wins enough votes for a majority as Iraq’s neighbours anxiously eye the voting.
Iraq’s leading army official criticises the planned withdrawal of US troops, saying that Iraq may not be ready for the move. The last US combat brigade leaves Iraq in August, but 50,000 troops remain for training and advisory purposes.
In November, Jalal Talabani is appointed as president and Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister. Parliament approves a new government that includes the major factions.
2011
In January, Muqtada al-Sadr returns to Iraq after years of self-imposed exile in Iran.
Thousands gather in Baghdad and northern Iraq, demanding improved services and an end to corruption, apparently inspired by the Arab Spring protests that have spread across the region.
The Iraqi government plans a summit to decide whether US troops are needed in the country past the 2011 withdrawal deadline, as US officials continue to advocate for a future presence.
Al-Sadr says his fighters will suspend military attacks on the US, which will resume only if the US fails to pull out in time.
In October, US officials announces they have abandoned plans to keep troops in Iraq and will leave by the end-of-year withdrawal deadline.
By December, the US announces an end to combat operations.
Dozens of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes in central and south Gaza as Red Sea tensions rise.
Here’s how things stand on Monday, January 15, 2024:
Latest updates and human impact
- Israeli attacks continue unabated overnight killing and wounding dozens of civilians in central and southern Gaza. At least 22 people were killed and a large number injured as a result of Israeli forces targeting al-Thalatheni Street in the central Gaza Strip.
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an antiship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, which was shot down by a US fighter jet, announced US Central Command (CENTCOM) on X.
- This was the first US-acknowledged Houthi attack since the US strikes on Yemen on Friday.
- Hamas released a 37-second video showing three Israeli captives held in Gaza on Sunday, saying they would reveal the fate of the captives on Monday and urging the Israeli government to stop the offensive.
- The Israeli military says it has shifted to a new phase of the war focused on the southern end of Gaza, where almost 2 million internally displaced Palestinians are running out of safe spaces to shelter.
- The Gaza Ministry of Health has said almost 24,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive. More than 60,000 people have been wounded in 100 days of war.
Diplomacy
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his country will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
- The White House said on Sunday that “it’s the right time” for Israel to scale back its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
- Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said in a statement on Sunday that one of the biggest obstacles to the timely delivery of sufficient aid to Gaza was Israeli inspection of the aid. The statement came after Israel blamed Cairo for the delay in aid delivery to Gaza during its defence at the ICJ.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on X on Monday, calling for the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza on the 100th day since they were taken by Hamas. He did not mention the Palestinian casualties.
- Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who described herself as a “friend of Israel” to the press, will travel to Jordan, Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Arab Emirates this week, her office said on Monday.
West Bank raids and violence
- Israeli forces arrested 25 students staging a sit-in in protest against high tuition fees at An-Najah University in Nablus. Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut reported that the protesting students received a text message from Israeli forces telling them to “surrender now”.
- Israeli forces have reportedly raided the family home of Nael al-Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, in the village of Kobar, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
- The Israeli army said on Friday that it killed three Palestinian men who infiltrated a West Bank settlement and fired upon soldiers.
- The Israeli military killed two Palestinians after accusing them of ramming their car through a checkpoint near Hebron.
- Local sources reported that Israeli forces bulldozed two Palestinian-owned houses during a Sunday midnight raid in the city of Qalqilya, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- Armed Israeli settlers broke into the village of Burin, south of Nablus, and attacked Palestinian residents’ houses and properties after midnight on Sunday, Wafa reported.
- “Violent raids and arrests have become part of the fabric of daily life in the occupied West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. At least 347 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been arrested since October 7.
Flames and smoke billow during Israeli attacks against Gaza on October 9, 2023
Human Rights Watch terms Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s call for a ‘complete siege’ on Gaza a ‘war crime’.
The Hamas movement has threatened to kill an Israeli hostage every time Israel bombs a Palestinian home without warning as Israel mobilised some 300,000 reservists and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, denying the enclave’s millions of residents access to food, water and fuel.
The warning from Hamas came on Monday as the death toll from the armed group’s surprise weekend attack climbed to 900 in Israel and revenge attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Gaza Strip killed more than 700 people and left some 3,700 others wounded.
Residential apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and a mosque have been among the sites attacked by Israeli fighter jets, artillery and drones, according to media reports and witnesses.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida issued the threat to kill Israelis from the dozens held captive by the armed group. He said an Israeli hostage would be killed for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said more than 100 people were taken captive by Hamas during the deadly cross-border incursion over the weekend.
As Israeli forces conducted intense retaliatory attacks on Gaza on Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant drew international condemnation by announcing a total blockade of the densely populated and besieged enclave, which is home to 2.3 million people.
Gallant said Israel would impose a “complete siege” on Gaza. “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply distressed” by the siege announcement and warned that Gaza’s already dire humanitarian situation will now “only deteriorate exponentially”.
Guterres also said some 137,000 people were taking shelter with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at schools across Gaza.
UNRWA said on Tuesday that almost 190,000 people have been displaced in Gaza amid the Israeli attacks and the figure is expected to grow further as the violence intensifies.
Nearly half a million people have also not received food rations this week in Gaza as UN food distribution centres have been forced to remain closed amid the Israeli onslaught, UNRWA said.
Human Rights Watch said Israel’s total blockade on the necessities of life for everyday people in Gaza was a war crime.
“Defense Minister Gallant’s statements are abhorrent,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Depriving the population in an occupied territory of food and electricity is collective punishment, which is a war crime, as is using starvation as a weapon of war. The International Criminal Court should take note of this call to commit a war crime,” he said.
Abhorrent. This is a call to commit a war crime by @yoavgallant. The @IntlCrimCourt should take note.
Quote by @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/kKVo6YtpI1 pic.twitter.com/neHQMwnXVn
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
Shakir also condemned the threat by Hamas to kill hostages, warning that such action was also a war crime.
“All hostages should be safely released to their families,” he said.
Grotesque. These threatened acts would amount to flagrant war crimes by Hamas’ armed wing. The @IntlCrimCourt will be watching.
Quote from @OmarSShakir ⤵️ https://t.co/FuNtvHe0YG pic.twitter.com/6cnHODLWyZ
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) October 9, 2023
On the diplomatic front, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Hamas and Israel to immediately end violence and protect civilians, the Egyptian presidency said.
Erdogan urged Israel against “indiscriminately” attacking civilians and delivered measured criticism of Hamas, urging both sides to respect the “ethics” of war.
The United Kingdom, French, German, Italian and US governments issued a joint statement on Monday recognising the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people and supporting equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
But the prospect that fighting could spread also alarmed the region and the world.
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to at least three of its members being killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon.
Israel said one of its deputy commanders was also killed in an earlier cross-border raid from Lebanon.
US President Joe Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the US, September 20, 2023
Social media users, including journalists and observers, are calling out what they call a ‘double standard’.
After Saturday’s surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to the social media platform X to offer “condolences go out to everyone who lost relatives or close ones in the terrorist attack”.
He also stated, “Israel’s right to self-defence is unquestionable.”
Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, shared similar sentiments.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, “Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”
Accusations of Western ‘double standards’
Some social media users have criticised these statements, saying they highlight a double standard.
The world is seeing appalling images.
Thousands of rockets raining down on Israeli cities. Hamas terrorists killing not only Israeli soldiers, but civilians on the streets and in their homes.
It’s unconscionable. Israel has a right to defend itself – full stop.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 7, 2023
Ukraine’s right to defend itself is praised by most international leaders while Russia’s invasion is condemned, but commentators said the same cannot be said about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Aaron Bastani, a leftist British journalist, said on X that there’s a “clear double standard in endorsing terrorism against civilian targets in Ukraine … and condemning it by Palestinians”.
Many users said Western diplomats and media support the Ukrainians who defend their land, but label the Palestinians fighting against Israel as “terrorists”.
https://twitter.com/KhaledBeydoun/status/1710787817415082349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710787817415082349%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
An illustration of a woman’s face, in which one eye is closed beside a Palestinian flag, and one eye open beside a Ukrainian flag, has been regularly shared as a symbol of the West’s alleged double standards in how the two conflicts are viewed.
https://twitter.com/OnlinePalEng/status/1710994682883273172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710994682883273172%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
Clips also emerged on social media from a CNN interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, in which he posed the rhetorical question, “Why does the United States support Ukraine in fighting occupation – while here they support the occupier, who continues to occupy us?”
The hypocrisy and double standards of western governments and media platforms dealing with situations in Ukraine-Russia and Palestine-Israel blow the mind. Absolute disgrace.
— Said Yacoubi (@AlyacoubiSaid) October 8, 2023
It is not the first time Western nations have been accused of double standards in their stance on the Ukraine war.
Earlier in the year, Amnesty International published a report highlighting the West’s “double standards” on global human rights.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary-general, told Al Jazeera at the time that the occupation of Palestinian territory was a “particularly important one”.
“Without making any comparison between Russia’s aggression and Israel … it is clear the Palestinian people are under a regime of oppression – a regime of occupation and a regime of apartheid,” Callamard told Al Jazeera.
Over the last three days, X users recirculated earlier statements calling out what they called Western hypocrisy, sharing video by the Irish lawmaker Richard Boyd Barrett from March 2022 in which he berated the Irish government’s double standards regarding Ukraine and Palestine:
“You’re happy to use the most strong and robust language to describe the crimes against humanity of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but you will not use the same strength of language when it comes to describing Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.”
Barrett on Sunday again called out what he described as “shocking double standards of Western leaders supporting Ukraine resistance but condemning Palestinian[s].”
Meanwhile, others warned against comparing conflicts.
https://twitter.com/denfordauthor/status/1710993737738768607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1710993737738768607%7Ctwgr%5E6acf829869e993177f32aa38aa48c02f38cb7f61%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F10%2F9%2Fwestern-leaders-accused-of-hypocrisy-over-response-to-palestine-ukraine
And some cautioned that Hamas and the Palestinians should not be seen as one and the same.
Just to clarify:
Palestine did not mount an attack on Israel. An Iranian proxy militia did. Palestinians are by and large huddled in their homes praying that an Israeli airstrike won't kill them or theirs. Hamas is the culprit here. This isn't a decentralized grassroots thing.
— Romeo Kokriatski (@VagrantJourno) October 9, 2023
Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, who plays for Arsenal, posted on Instagram, stating he “stands with Israel”.
Zinchenko has been a vocal supporter of his home country in its ongoing defence against Russia, and he participated in a Game4Ukraine charity match in London earlier this year to raise money for Ukraine.
After online backlash, with some questioning an alleged double standard in his support of Israel, the footballer removed the post and switched his social media account to private.
Several people claimed that Zinchenko’s football club, in not responding to his comments, was guilty of hypocrisy after they had distanced themselves from former player Mesut Ozil’s comments in 2019 over alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.
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