THE IRAQ
WARS
ZOLTAN GROSSMAN
Assistant Professor of Geography
“War is
God’s way of
teaching
Americans
geography.”
--Ambrose Bierce,
writer (1842-1914)
Mesopotamia, Fertile Crescent
Origin of some of the earliest seed agriculture, cities
Ancient City of Baghdad
Founded 762, became key Islamic capital,
controlled by Arabs and others
Ottoman (Turkish) Empire to WWI
Iraqis welcomed 1917 British liberation, then fought Brits
British mandate, 1920-32
Mideast divided
between Brits, French
Iraqis fought
British mandate;
independent 1932
Iraqis ousted
Hashemite
monarchy,
declared
republic, 1958
King Faisal II
Oil fields
Water conflicts
Turkey
Turkey building
dams on Tigris &
Euphrates rivers
upstream from Iraq
Iraq
Ethnic &
religious
divisions
Ethnic:
Arabs vs.
Kurds
Religious:
Sunnis vs.
Shi’as
Rulers are
Sunni Arab
Ethnic/religious groups mixed in some regions.
Kurds
Ethnic group in
Turkey, Iraq,
Iran, Syria.
Many Kurds
for state of
Kurdistan.
States pit Kurds
against each
other; US betrays
Kurds in 1975
Iraqi
Tribes
(some cross
ethnic or
religious
divides)
Ba’ath Party take power, 1968
Arab (ethnic) nationalists;
want one Arab country
Against Islamic (religious) fundamentalists
Against Kurdish nationalists, Communists
Saddam took power by 1979,
modeled regime on Stalinism;
Favored relatives from Tikrit
Iranians
Iran-Iraq War,
1980-88
IRAN (Shi’a Persian) vs.
IRAQ (Sunni Arab leaders)
Iraq seized Iran’s oil fields after
Iran’s Islamic revolution,
but Iran fought to stalemate
Iraqi Shi’as fought for Iraq, not Iran
Iraqis
U.S. supported Iraq with weapons
also later supplied weapons to Iran
Chemical weapons
Israel first in Mideast to have
nuclear, chemical arms;
Saddam wanted to match
Israel bombs Iraqi reactor, 1981
Both Iran and Iraq used
poison gas in 1980-88 war
Iraq gassed Kurdish minority
U.S. continued to back Iraq;
had sold bio-chemical equipment
Halabja 1988
Rumsfeld
meets
Saddam
Iraq invades Kuwait, 1990
Kuwait small oilrich monarchy;
Iraq claimed from
Ottoman days
U.S. turned against
Saddam, sent troops
with UN backing
Allies paid $52 billion;
US paid $9 billion
Gulf War I, 1991
Large coalition drove Iraqis
out of Kuwait
Saddam launched missiles
at Israel, Saudi Arabia
Allied bombing focused
on troops in open desert
Month of bombing
followed by 100-hour ground war
Gulf War I, 1991
Iraqi troops surrender
Gulf War I, 1991
US bombed retreating
Iraqis on “Highway of Death”
from Kuwait to Basra
Gulf War I, 1991
Iraqi civilians also died;
Civilian infrastructure targeted
(water treatment plants)
After Gulf War I, 1991
“Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable
human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably
impossible.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in
effect, rule Iraq....there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see,
violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been selfconsciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the
post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally
exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the
precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to
establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could
conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.”
From George H.W. Bush
and Brent Scowcroft,
A World Transformed (1998), pp. 489-90
Chemical releases in Gulf War?
Detections of
chemicals in air
Bombing of biochemical sites, 1991
Saddam had chemical weapons;
did not use them due to retaliation fears
Chemical
arms bunkers
in Iraq, 1991
Detonation of Iraqi
chemical/biological storage
after end of Gulf War
Possible exposure to troops?
Kuwait oil
well fires, 1991
Set by withdrawing
Iraqi forces; also
spilled oil into
Persian Gulf
Depleted Uranium (DU)
Dense munitions to penetrate
tanks, armor. Made from
nuclear waste.
Depleted Uranium (DU)
Releases radioactivity when
explodes or burns, leaves behind dust
Huge cancer rates in
southern Iraq (387 tons
of DU left behind)
82% of U.S combat troops in
Iraq came in contact with DU dust
Gulf War Syndrome
“Agent Orange of the 1990s”
A variety of illnesses
reported by military personnel
Increase in personnel cancers, 1991-97
Gulf War Syndrome
CAUSES?
Depleted Uranium?
Chemical releases?
Children of U.S. troops affected
Oil well fires?
Iraqi civilians
also affected:
leukemia victim
in Basra hospital.
Pesticides?
A combination?
Shi’a Rebellion against Saddam, 1991
Bush stopped war
when Kuwait goals met
Shi’as revolted as he had urged,
but US watched as rebels killed
US felt that Shi’as would form
Pro-Iran Islamic state;
Saddam meant stable Sunni rule
A democratic Iraq could take
control of its oil
Saddam’s draining
of southern Iraq
marshes, 1992
Area was haven for Marsh
Arabs, Shi’a rebels
Kurdish Rebellion against Saddam, 1991
Saddam also crushed
Kurds in north
U.S. created safe havens
for Kurds, grew into
mini-state
Turkey fears example
for its Kurds, sent troops
Splits among Iraqi Kurds
No-Fly Zones, 1990s
Iraq cannot send aircraft
over Kurdish north and
Shi’a south
Iraq fires on
US, British aircraft
Aircraft often bomb
Iraqi military sites
Economic sanctions
Lack of medicines, sanitation,
diet led to high infant mortality
Iraq had been modern, educated
technological society
Resignations by UN officials;
perceive civilians as victims
Iraqi civilians trying to survive;
less likely to organize revolt.
Saddam can blame US for economy
Economic sanctions
500,000 + children died
since Gulf War
(UN Food & Agriculture
Organization)
Sec. Albright: “price is worth it.”
One reason for less global
support for war to oust Saddam
Infant mortality since sanctions
UN weapons inspections, 1990s
Inspectors destroyed
nearly all chemical weapons
Inspectors destroyed Iraqi
nuclear capability (IAEA)
Biological weapons more
difficult to track
Clinton bombing, 1998
Iraq blocked some inspections
UN ordered out inspectors
US bombed for 4 days
Inspectors could not return,
track developments
Project for a New American Century, 1990s
Later leaders of Bush II
Administration
(Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle etc.)
Pre-emption Doctrine
(Don’t need immediate threat
to invade)
Start with Iraq, extend to others
G.W. Bush Administration
Outgoing Defense Sec. Cohen (R):
Iraq kept at bay
Former inspectors:
Need to return to confirm
disarmament
New cabinet leaders:
Regime change no matter
what weapons Saddam has
September 11th, 2001
Hijackers almost all Saudi
(none were Iraqis); all
Islamic fundamentalists
Some nearly accused Iraq,
but no evidence found
Bush decision:
Afghanistan first, Iraq later
Intelligence led to decision, or
decision led to intelligence?
(Clarke, O’Neill on 9/11, WMD)
Saddam could aid Bin Laden?
Bin Laden wanted to fight
Saddam on his own in 1991,
resented US bases left behind
Bin Laden wants a (religious)
Islamic state
Saddam wants a (secular)
ethnic Arab state
Bin Laden sees Saddam
as “infidel” enemy;
Al Qaeda group in Kurdish zone
New U.S. military bases
BASE CLUSTERS
1. Gulf War,
1991
2. Yugoslav Wars,
1995-99
3. Afghan War,
2001
4. Iraq War,
2003
“Next to the U.S. nuclear monopoly, there was no more universally recognized symbol
of the nation’s superpower status than its overseas basing system.”
-- James Blaker, former Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1990
Moves toward war, 2002
Originally unilateral
pre-emptive “regime change,”
not internal coup
Objections from some
former Gulf War
Commanders
(Zinni, Schwarzkopf)
Powell urges Bush to go to UN,
appeal on weapons of
mass destruction,
but little new information
UN inspectors return, 2002
IAEA confirmed nuclear
disarmament views
(aluminum tube, Niger uranium stories not hold)
No evidence of biochemical arms
Iraq violated ballistic missile ban,
ordered to dismantle
If Saddam had chemical weapons,
why not used when cornered?
Fears of terrorism
Bin Laden opposes Bush and Saddam
Sees war as chance for new Islamic
caliphate in Baghdad
Recruiting new followers,
planning attacks?
War might radicalize Muslims,
especially if quick and successful?
War debate in U.S.
Largest antiwar movement before a war in U.S. history;
Also some pro-war protests
War debate around world
U.S., Britain, Australia send combat troops;
support from 27 smaller governments
Largest protests in capitals backing war
Germany, France, Russia, China,
opposed to war, had most votes in UN
Canada, Mexico, most other countries
opposed to US war without UN backing
“Shock and Awe”
1000+ Cruise missiles in 2 days;
more intense bombardment than all 1991
U.S. strategy for Iraqi military to surrender
Civilian casualties & refugees
Civilian neighborhoods bombed;
Thousands dead or injured.
Cluster bombs hit civilians
Kurds fled cities in fear of Saddam
Reception for U.S. troops
Shi’a Arabs opposed Saddam
(yet hostilities greater in south than expected)
Kurds opposed Saddam and Turks
Sunni Arabs in Baghdad, central Iraq
fear Shi’ite (& Kurdish) rule
Baghdad
5 million = 2 x Twin Cities metro area
Capital of Sunni Arab heartland
Half of population under 15
Winning was the easy part
No WMDs found.
Many Iraqis want U.S. to leave now
that Saddam captured--the job is done
How to keep together such an ethnically
and religiously fragmented country?
Humiliation of foreign occupation?
“You have humiliated us more than
our enemies” --Umm Qasr Shi’ite
“If [Bush] stays here, he is just
another Saddam” -- Baghdad Shi’ite
Thumbs-up to thumbs-down
Iraqis glad that Saddam gone, and
using newfound freedoms
Shi’ites hated Saddam, but mistrust
U.S.-British intentions on oil.
U.S. failure to provide water, power,
security from looters, museum looted,
but oil ministry guarded.
Shi’ites sensitive to holy sites.
Tensions increase, 2004
Iraqi “sovereignty” June 2004,
but U.S. troops/bases staying
Is Occupation preventing
a civil war or worsening
internal conflicts?
Sunni & Shi’ite opponents
of U.S. banding together?
Interim Government
Lack of democratic history or
foreign support for democracy
U.S.-backed exiles divided &
unpopular (elite did not suffer)
Training new Iraqi police and
troops has been difficult
Paul Bremer
(U.S. administrator)
Iyad Allawi
(Secular Shi’ite
Prime Minister)
Poor Shi’ites are majority;
Sunni Arabs & Kurds nervous
Insurgents: Ba’athists
Support Saddam’s Ba’ath Party
Secular Arab nationalists
(win over with threat of Iran?)
Former military/police who
went underground during war
Saddam’s general
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Stronghold: Sunni Triangle
Insurgents: Sunni Jihadists
Support Bin Laden’s Jihad
(Struggle) using suicide
bombings, kidnappings, terror
Want Sunni religious state
Iraqis, some foreign fighters;
not active in Saddam’s Iraq
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Stronghold: Fallujah
in Sunni Triangle
Insurgents: Shi’ite Mahdi Army
Support Shi’ite Cleric Al-Sadr,
fought U.S. at holiest mosque
Al-Sadr’s dad was killed by
Saddam, who saw him as pro-Iran
Moqtada al-Sadr at
Imam Ali Mosque
in holy city of Najaf
Anti-U.S. Occupation, want state
led by poor Shi’ite majority
Strongholds: South (Najaf, Kufa),
Baghdad (Sadr City)
Insurgents: Iraqi nationalists
Some tribes hated Saddam &
oppose foreign occupation
Lost family or friends to
U.S. bombing or troops
Do not want U.S. bases or
support for Israel
Iraqis protest U.S.
decision to let Ba’athists
in new police force
U.S. fought Saddam’s
worst enemies in 2004:
Shi’ites & Iraqi nationalists
Premier
Ibrahim
al-Jaafari
(Shi’ite)
President
Jalal
Talabani
(Kurd)
Election 2005
Large turnout by Shi’ite Arabs,
Sunni Kurds to elect parliament
Sunni Arabs boycott election,
largely left out of government
(internal conflict may intensify)
Shi’ites majority in parliament;
leaders had been exiled in Iran
Iran ends up with influence in
Iraq, without firing a shot
The Toll
1,500+ U.S. military
150+ U.S. allies
17,000-18,000+ Iraqi civilians
www.IraqBodyCount.net
9,000–20,000+ Iraqi military
Countless injured
Domestic Debates in U.S.
Pro-war rally,
March 2003
How long should U.S. forces stay?
Iraq diverting from anti-terrorism?
Losing international support?
(Spain, Central America, East Europe)
Will new gov’t bring freedom
or more centralized rule?
Anti-war veterans’ rally,
Sept. 2004
Will occupation prevent civil war
or cause a civil war?
The Future of Iraq
How to overcome economic disasters
of Saddam, sanctions, and wars?
Dr. Zoltán Grossman
Assistant Professor of Geography
P.O. Box 4004, 258 Phillips Hall,
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Eau Claire, WI 54702
Tel.:
(715) 836-4471
E-mail: grossmzc@uwec.edu
Website: www.uwec.edu/grossmzc