Iraq: A Brief History
Geography
Mountains, desert, and a fertile
river valley
About twice the size of Idaho
The People
Population of 36 million
Mostly Arab, but large minority of
Kurds in north
97% Muslim, but conflict between
large Shiite and smaller Sunni
populations
The Economy
Iraq has the 5th
largest oil
reserves in the
world
Under Foreign Control
Part of the
Ottoman
Empire for
centuries
Occupied by
Britain
during WWI
and until
1932
Under Control of Dictators
Declared a republic in 1958, but
ruled by a series of military
dictators
Saddam Hussein
and his Sunnidominated Ba’ath
Party took power
in 1979
Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988
Causes – longstanding
disputes over
territory; Hussein
wanted to stop
Iran’s support of
Iraqi Shiites; Iraq
invaded Iran
Effects – U.S. supported Iraq
because of Iran’s Islamic
fundamentalist govt’; 8 years long;
over 1 million died; No clear winner
led to U.N. cease fire
Persian Gulf
War 1990
Causes – Huge
debt from IranIraq War; Kuwait
had oil, larger
route to Persian
Gulf & was part of
Iraq in Ottoman
Empire; Iraq
invaded Kuwait
Effects – U.S. established a trade
embargo; U.S.-led UN coalition
removed Iraq from Kuwait (Jan-Feb
1991); U.S. left Iraq
Unresolved Issues after
Persian Gulf War
Saddam Hussein was still in power
U.S. forces stayed Saudi Arabia
and Persian Gulf to enforce “no-fly
zones” to protect Kurds in
northern Iraq and Shiites in
southern Iraq from Saddam’s
Sunni regime
Concerns remained about Iraq’s
possession of chemical and
biological weapons
UN Security Council
(UNSC) required Iraq to
destroy weapons of mass
destruction & long-range
missiles & to allow UN
inspections.
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Causes - Iraq would not allow full
inspections, violating the treaty
Effects - As a result of noncompliance and reports that Iraq
had WMD (weapons of Mass
Destruction), the U.S. invaded Iraq
in March 2003
Complications following
U.S. Action
Essential services (electricity,
water, police, etc.) were disrupted
Sectarian conflict started between:
-Shiites in south
-Sunnis in central and west
-Kurds in north
al Qaeda became active in Iraq and
targeted US and coalition forces
Iraq’s Future
Saddam Hussein was captured and
brought to trial, found guilty of
crimes against his own people, and
hanged
The process to
establish a
democracy in Iraq
proved difficult
The last U.S. forces left at the end of
2011
Since then:
– Iran has gained influence
– there has been Sunni-Shiite conflict
– ISIS took control of much of western
Iraq
– Some US troops have returned to Iran
to help fight ISIS.