On March 16, 2003, President Bush announced

Transcription

1 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 45 On March 16, 2003, President Bush announced that the next day would be the final deadline for Iraq s government to completely disarm. The following day President Bush declared that the United States would no longer seek UN authorization to invade Iraq. On March 17, President Bush gave Saddam Hussein and his two sons forty-eight hours to leave Iraq or the United States would invade. My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war... We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned. President George W. Bush, March 17, 2003 The Invasion The U.S. invasion of Iraq began on the morning of March 19, In three weeks time, U.S. troops had reached the center of Baghdad, the Iraqi government had fallen, and Saddam Hussein had gone into hiding. On May 1, on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific, in front of a sign reading Mission Accomplished, President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. While the statement coincided with the end of the invasion and the capture of Baghdad, it became a flash point of controversy as violence and casualties among U.S. soldiers and Iraqis increased in the years following the speech. On December 14, 2003, coalition forces captured Saddam Hussein at a farmhouse near Tikrit. He was later tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal (a court established by U.S. forces Part III: The War in Iraq and run by Iraqis) and sentenced to death. He was hanged on December 30, Did the United States find weapons of mass destruction? Over the course of 2003, U.S. forces searched Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. While the threat posed by Saddam Hussein s weapons had been the administration s primary justification for invasion, to this day, no WMD have been found. On January 24, 2004, President Bush conceded that his pre-war assertions about weapons had been incorrect. Since the invasion, almost all of the evidence that the Bush administration used to argue that Iraq was a threat to the United States and its neighbors has been found false. In 2004, a U.S. government commission officially declared that Iraq played no role in the September 11 terrorist attacks. Intelligence officials have been unable to confirm any collaboration between the Iraqi government and al Qaeda. These revelations raise serious questions. Did the U.S. government intentionally present a misleading case for war, knowing that there was no real evidence of an Iraqi threat? Was the intelligence incorrectly interpreted, or simply wrong? In a statement released in 2005, Colin Powell called his speech before the UN a blot on his record, but stressed that, at the time, he did not know that the information he presented was inaccurate. Powell passed blame for the speech onto lower level intelligence officials. There were some people in the intelligence community who knew at that time that some of these sources were not good, and shouldn t be relied upon, and they didn t speak up. Colin Powell, September 8, WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

2 46 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq Iraqis line up to vote during the 2005 elections. U.S. Marine Corps. Many people have been accused of intentionally manipulating evidence in order to build a case for war. For example, in February 2011, an Iraqi defector code named Curveball, whose testimony the United States relied upon heavily, admitted publicly that he fabricated stories about biological weapons in Iraq in order to help bring down Saddam Hussein. The realization that Iraq posed very little threat to the United States has brought the decision to go to war under increased scrutiny. Did the government really believe that Iraq had WMD, or did it wage war in Iraq for other reasons? If so, what were they? To showcase U.S. military power in the Middle East? To rid the region of an oppressive dictator? To secure Iraqi oil revenues and war contracts for U.S. corporations? To protect Israel? The invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq raise many questions about the war s value. What did the war achieve? What were the costs of war? And ultimately, was the war worth those costs? In the coming pages you will examine the effects of the war on the United States and Iraq. As you read, try to keep these questions in mind. The Occupation Although President Bush had declared that major combat operations were over, U.S. military forces stayed in Iraq. U.S. and coalition soldiers remained in the country to maintain stability and ensure that the new Iraqi state would be an ally of the United States. In May 2003, U.S. officials created the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), led by L. Paul Bremer, to oversee the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq and lead the government for the first year of the U.S. occupation. In an attempt to start a new era of Iraqi political leadership, Bremer dissolved Saddam Hussein s Ba th Party and disbanded the Iraqi army, police, and other government institutions. While the army and police had often been instruments of brutal control under Saddam Hussein, they had also provided a degree of protection and safety to Iraqis. These decisions angered many Iraqis, particularly Sunnis employed by the Ba th Party, as hundreds of thousands lost their jobs. We all became jobless overnight, and did not know what to do. Bremer says in his book that we got pensions, this is not true. I was given only $120 as a one-time payment, and I didn t even go to collect it. It was one more way for them to humiliate us. Former Iraqi General Adhoum M. March 2006 The CPA hired private companies to rebuild infrastructure and provide services in Iraq. They awarded a number of multi-million and billion dollar contracts to major U.S. corporations. Very few Iraqis were hired for reconstruction projects. The CPA also opened Iraq s economy to the international market by removing barriers to trade, allowing foreign companies and banks to become more involved in the economy, limiting taxes on businesses, and granting foreign contractors immunity from Iraqi laws. Prior to the U.S. invasion, the Iraqi government controlled the economy by owning most CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY

3 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 47 of the large industries, banning foreign control of Iraqi businesses, and imposing high tariffs to limit imports. CPA efforts to privatize the Iraqi economy created sectarian tension (tension between different religious groups) over the distribution of resources, particularly oil profits. Many Iraqis were deeply opposed to the CPA s economic policies. They argued that the United States was stealing from Iraq by paying U.S. corporations to rebuild the country using Iraqi oil revenues. Supporters argued that the policies were in line with international standards on foreign investment and economic development. CPA policies fueled armed resistance to the U.S. occupation. U.S. soldiers repair a military vehicle after a roadside bombing. his seat as prime minister, the election results were disputed with allegations of voter fraud. U.S. Army. What were the results of Iraqi elections? In June 2004, the CPA gave control of the country to an interim Iraqi government that would oversee the first Iraqi elections. On October 15, 2005, a temporary Iraqi National Assembly ratified a new constitution and declared Iraq a democratic, federal, representative republic. Then in December 2005, Iraq elected a 275-person Iraqi Council of Representatives. Voters came out in high numbers, and the newly elected Council of Representatives appointed Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. He then appointed Shi i leader Nouri al-maliki prime minister. (The prime minister is the most powerful figure in the Iraqi government.) Following the election of the new Iraqi government, coalition forces in Iraq began training Iraqi security forces that would assume many of the peacekeeping responsibilities in the years to come. A second parliamentary election took place on March 7, Although Nouri al-maliki retained What was the insurgency? Despite the relative ease with which U.S. forces toppled Saddam Hussein s government, violence continued well after the initial invasion. By the summer of 2003, opposition to coalition forces had grown into an insurgency (or military resistance movement) made up of local and foreign groups fighting against the U.S. presence in Iraq. The CPA s economic and political policies and failure to provide for everyday needs upset many Iraqis and led many to join the insurgency. While the insurgents all opposed the U.S. presence in Iraq, each group had its own set of aims and methods to achieve them. Much of the insurgency was made up of Sunni Arabs who opposed not only the invasion but also what they saw as the anti-sunni policies of the CPA. Fundamentalist (or extremist) Shi i militias like the Mahdi Army have also used violence to resist U.S. authority in Iraq. Many insurgent groups gained influence within the Iraqi government and have elected members to the Iraqi Parliament. WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

4 48 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq Al Qaeda in Iraq The insurgency included several fundamentalist groups that saw the fight against U.S. forces in Iraq as part of a broader struggle against Western control of the Middle East. The extremist group al Qaeda in Iraq (or AQI) developed after the U.S. invasion and has connections to groups throughout the Middle East. While it pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and the rest of the al Qaeda network in 2004, AQI was not controlled by bin Laden. It engaged in violence against U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians in an attempt to stoke civil unrest and drive the United States out of Iraq. AQI was originally led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-zarqawi, though U.S. forces killed him on June 7, AQI s violent tactics so angered Iraqis that Sunni Arab insurgent groups eventually formed a partnership with U.S. forces to fight AQI. Violence between coalition forces and insurgent groups in Iraq has taken a variety of forms. Insurgents have frequently used IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or roadside bombs to attack U.S. troops. IEDs have been concealed in containers alongside routes frequently traveled by U.S. military vehicles. In 2007, IEDs were responsible for over 60 percent of U.S. deaths in Iraq. How did divisions among Iraqis increase during the insurgency? While much of the post-invasion violence was directed at coalition forces, conflict between groups also sprung up as various factions fought for power within the new Iraq. During the 1990s, Saddam Hussein had favored Sunni Arab tribal leaders while repressing the Shi i majority and the northern Kurdish population. Though Iraq had once been a very secular country, Saddam Hussein began to support fundamentalist religious leaders during the sanctions years in order to secure his power. Sectarian tensions intensified after the invasion as the CPA s policies aimed at weakening the Ba th party disproportionately punished Sunni Arabs that had formerly been employed by the government. Sunni Arab militants engaged in violence not only against U.S. forces, but also against the new Iraqi government, which they felt excluded them from power. Many Islamist Shi i Arabs, on the other hand, viewed Sunni Arab violence as a continuation of the repressive tactics of Saddam Hussein and did not want to be ruled by a Sunni minority. Some Shi i militias have engaged in violence against Sunni Arab groups and other Iraqi civilians. Most Kurdish groups wanted, and continue to want, self-determination for Kurdistan, a region in northern Iraq. They have disagreed about whether Kurdistan should be part of a unified Iraq or a separate country. Militant Islamist groups, both Sunni and Shi i, have carried out attacks against non-muslims in Iraq such as the Christian, Mandaean, and Yazidi communities. Violence between different groups increased dramatically in 2005, as car bombings and kidnappings threatened the lives of Iraqi civilians on a daily basis. The conflict between sectarian groups, and campaigns of ethnic cleansing (violence targeting a particular ethnic group), contributed to greater segregation of Iraqi society. Before the war, many Iraqis lived in mixed communities, with multiple ethnic and sectarian groups living together. But since the invasion, major cities like Baghdad have become strictly separated along ethnic and sectarian lines. How did the U.S. military presence in Iraq change after the invasion? Shortly after the invasion, the United States established the Multi-National Force (MNF), which carried out combat operations in Iraq. Most of the soldiers in the MNF were from the United States or Great Britain, though thirty-eight other countries sent small numbers of soldiers. During the initial invasion, CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY

5 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 49 The Battle of Fallujah In 2004, intense violence between coalition forces and the insurgency broke out at Fallujah, forty-three miles west of Baghdad. In March, four private contractors working for the U.S. government were ambushed and killed by insurgent forces in Fallujah. Their bodies were dragged through the streets and hanged over a bridge. Photos of the bodies spread around the world and prompted the United States to launch an attack on the city. After failing to occupy Fallujah in April, U.S. forces returned in November. The battle that followed lasted from November 7 until December 23. While estimates of Iraqi casualties have varied, reports claim that between one thousand and six thousand Iraqis died. The attack destroyed nine thousand homes. Ninety-five U.S. soldiers died in the battle. Following the conflict, controversy erupted due to the high number of civilian deaths and the U.S. military s use of white phosphorous, a controversial weapon that causes severe skin burns. Jeffrey Wolfe. U.S. Army the U.S. government deployed about 150,000 troops in Iraq. The number of U.S. soldiers diminished as the invasion transitioned into an occupation. In 2007, following a year of persistent sectarian and military violence, President Bush announced that he would send an additional twenty thousand troops to Iraq in order to improve stability in Baghdad and the western al-anbar province. Iraqi women carry water home. Throughout the war, U.S. troops and tanks were a constant presence in the lives of Iraqis. Violence diminished significantly in 2008 and the following years. Some U.S. officials attributed the drop in violence to the increase in U.S. troops. Many other Middle East analysts felt that ethnic cleansing and the segregation of neighborhoods caused the reduction in violence by limiting contact and conflict between the Sunni, Shi i, and Kurdish populations. After winning office in the fall of 2008, President Barack Obama announced that U.S. troops would begin to pull out of Iraq. On June 30, 2009, U.S. forces withdrew from Baghdad and other cities. By 2009, coalition troops from all countries except the United States had left. As of July 2011, a force of approximately 46,000 U.S. troops remained in Iraq to train and advise Iraqi security forces. All U.S. soldiers are expected to leave by the end of But the violence in Iraq has not ended. During the spring and summer of 2011, a series of bombings led to many civilian deaths and caused the casualty rate for U.S. soldiers to reach its highest level since The surge in violence has led some in Iraq and the United States to argue that U.S. troops should remain beyond the 2011 deadline. Others feel that attacks in Iraq will only end once the U.S. military leaves the country. Effects of the War The war in Iraq has been fought throughout the country, but the area WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

6 50 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq around Baghdad and the al-anbar province have experienced much of the violence. The results of the war have been mixed. Coalition forces quickly toppled the Ba thist government and captured Saddam Hussein. Though the new Iraqi government has held two elections, challenges to stability and democracy remain, and many Iraqis complain about the government s inability to provide basic services to the people. While the violence of has diminished significantly, U.S. and Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians face continued threats of violence. Iraq It is difficult to make generalizations about what Iraqis think about the war. Iraqis experienced, and continue to experience, the war in a variety of ways and have different interpretations of the war s impact on their country and their lives. Though the invasion effectively ended thirty-five years of Ba thist rule in Iraq, the U.S. occupation brought with it a series of new challenges for the Iraqi people. While the majority of Iraqis feel that their country is better off with Saddam Hussein out of power, many also feel that the years of chaotic violence have been far worse than life under dictatorship. Many Iraqis feel their country was safer under Saddam Hussein s rule. What were the political effects of the war? The Bush administration said that the United States would invade Iraq, in part, to end authoritarian rule and bring democracy to the Iraqi people. The extent to which the invasion has brought about lasting political change remains unclear. There have been some positive steps. Since 2003, Iraq has held two parliamentary elections that brought new voices into Iraqi politics. A viable trade union movement has grown, as has the presence of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). These developments have presented Iraqis with new opportunities to advocate for themselves and their beliefs. But in many ways, the invasion has not yet led to the new political system that many Iraqis and U.S. leaders had hoped for. While a dictator no longer rules Iraq, a small group of elites maintains a great deal of power through violence and intimidation; Iraq is not currently categorized as a democracy. The prime minister, Nouri al-maliki, has increasingly sought to expand his power by taking control of organizations in charge of banking and elections, and limiting the ability of Parliament to propose new legislation. Some Iraqis argue that he represents a threat to democratic progress. On February 25, 2011, thousands of protestors gathered throughout Iraq to demand that the government provide jobs, electricity, and greater transparency. Government security forces violently repressed the protests, killing nearly twenty people. How did the war impact Iraq s economy? Prior to the 2003 invasion, Iraq s economy was in shambles. The Gulf War and years of sanctions had hampered oil production and created high unemployment and inflation. Following the invasion, the economy went from bad to worse. The unemployment rate jumped as thousands of state employees lost their jobs. Very few Iraqis were involved in the reconstruction effort, and during the height of the war the unemployment rate fluctuated between 25 percent and 40 percent. Unemployment remains a major problem to this day. When the CPA cut taxes on imported goods, foreign products poured into Iraq and thousands of businesses collapsed. Lack of regulation and oversight led to rampant corruption during the reconstruction process; millions of dollars in funding went unaccounted for. The CPA never even used much of the money allocated for reconstruction projects. Recently, there have been some positive signs. Though inflation increased during the early part of the war (inflation makes prices rise and goods become more expensive), by 2007, the Iraq Central Bank managed to stabilize the Iraqi currency, the dinar. Iraq has also recently managed to reduce its massive foreign debt. Iraq s economic future remains uncertain. While some economic indicators, like gross domestic product (GDP), have risen CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY

7 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 51 Jeremy Wood. U.S. Navy. An Iraqi family waits outside while a U.S. soldier searches their home. to pre-war levels, other problems, like unemployment, continue to make life very difficult for Iraqis. How did the war affect public health in Iraq? The Iraqi healthcare system, which had flourished in the 1970s and early 80s, deteriorated significantly during the 1990s as the economic sanctions caused public health to drop to the level of the world s poorest countries. The 2003 invasion stressed the healthcare system even further, as attacks damaged hospitals and clinics and caused many medical professionals to flee the country. Damaged infrastructure limited access to safe drinking water and waste-management services, and the destruction of military equipment released dangerous heavy metals into the groundwater, soil, and air. Over half of all Iraqi households currently lack access to safe drinking water. While efforts to rebuild and improve hospitals continue, the Iraqi medical system remains hampered to this day. Thirtyfour thousand doctors lived in Iraq before the invasion; some estimate that, as of 2010, this number had dropped to nine thousand. How many Iraqis have died during the war? Violence between Iraqis and U.S. forces and among different sectarian and ethnic groups has persisted throughout the war. Attempts to estimate the number of civilian casualties have been extremely controversial. On numerous occasions the U.S. government stated publicly that it does not count the number of people killed in armed conflicts. Various independent groups have estimated the number of Iraqi deaths from the war. As of 2011, these estimates ranged from 100,000 deaths to over one million. The gigantic range between various estimates shows the difficulty of calculating the number of human lives lost in conflicts. Some estimates count deaths caused indirectly by malnutrition, disease, and other war-related health problems. Other estimates only count deaths caused by violence. The accuracy of different studies has been fiercely contested largely because civilian casualties are connected to a political debate about the war. The U.S. government s estimates have consistently been the lowest many argue because they do not want the numbers to reflect badly on the war. Critics of the various independent studies have argued that their high numbers reflect the anti-war bias of the researchers. While an exact number will never be known, the human costs of the war in Iraqi lives have been immense. What is the refugee crisis in Iraq? The refugee crisis in Iraq did not begin with the invasion. Under sanctions, some two million Iraqis left their country in search of better opportunities. In the years following the invasion, over five million additional Iraqis fled their homes 2.4 million left the country while 2.7 million were internally displaced (made homeless within their country). Some were forced to leave because of violence, while WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

8 52 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq others left because of increased inflation and unemployment. In all, almost one in five Iraqis has been displaced by the war many fleeing to neighboring countries like Jordan, Syria, and Egypt. Sweden has been the most welcoming non- Middle Eastern country, admitting over forty thousand Iraqis since the war began in The effect of the refugee crisis on Iraq has been significant. Iraqi society has suffered from a brain drain, as many of the college-educated professionals including academics, doctors, and nurses have left the country seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families. The loss of so many skilled individuals has made it difficult for Iraq to rebuild. Iraqis living in Middle Eastern countries often cannot get access to education and medical services. They have sometimes struggled to find jobs and are vulnerable to exploitation by employers looking for cheap labor. It has been difficult for refugees to integrate themselves into new societies abroad; people in countries that accept Iraqi refugees sometimes blame them for economic hardships. The migration of Iraqi refugees to various European countries has sparked anti-immigrant protests and racist violence directed at Iraqi refugees. How has U.S. policy towards Iraqi refugees evolved? The U.S. policy towards Iraqi refugees has evolved throughout the war. From April 2003 to December 2006, the U.S. government allowed just 466 refugees to resettle in the United States. Critics argued that the United States did not want to acknowledge the refugee crisis in Iraq because it would mean admitting that U.S. policies in Iraq were failing. In January of 2007, under pressure from a number of U.S. senators, the U.S. government increased humanitarian assistance from $43 million in 2006 to $200 million in A year later, under even more political pressure, the administration declared that it would admit an additional twelve thousand Iraqis refugees. Since 2007, forty thousand Iraqi refugees have been resettled in the United States. Many continue to argue that this is not nearly enough. By comparison, the United States admitted over one million refugees after the war in Vietnam. When reviewing applications for asylum, the U.S. government gives preferential status to individuals who helped U.S. forces in Iraq. However, due to fears about terrorism in the United States, many Iraqis that worked for the U.S. military find themselves stuck in the long terrorist screening process for U.S. visa applicants. If they do make it to the United States, the U.S. government provides Iraqi immigrants with very little assistance getting settled in their new life. Some of the refugees who helped U.S. forces in Iraq say they feel betrayed by the U.S. government for not doing more to support them. In the United States, the language barrier has made it particularly difficult for refugees to feel at home in new communities. In addition, since the September 11 attacks, anxiety and uncertainty about Islam has increased in the United States. Some Iraqi refugees and other people of Arab descent have been subject to racist discrimination and bigotry. How has the war affected human rights in Iraq? Saddam Hussein s Ba thist regime committed countless human rights violations including torture, mass murder, and ethnic cleansing. During the run-up to invasion, many pro-war advocates argued that removing Saddam Hussein would improve human rights conditions in Iraq. While the future of human rights in Iraq has yet to fully unfold, the invasion led to new abuses in the short-term. Women suffered significant gender discrimination during Saddam Hussein s rule. Many anticipated that the fall of the Ba thist regime would bring about new opportunities and increased gender equality. Since 2003, this has not been the case. With the fall of the secular government, fundamentalist religious leaders have gained increased power and imposed stricter restrictions on women s behavior. Many Iraqi women have stopped going to school because of violence and harassment. Since the invasion, Iraq has seen a rise in CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY

9 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 53 murders of women suspected of having sex out of wedlock (sometimes called honor killings ). Violence toward the LGBTQ community in Iraq has also increased; fundamentalist militias have killed over 450 gay men since Women in particular are less safe now than at any other time during the conflict or in the years before. Oxfam report, March 2009 Religious and ethnic minorities have also been subjected to increased harassment and violence since the invasion. Nearly 50 percent of the 1.5 million Iraqi Christians have fled the country due to targeted attacks. The number of Mandaeans (adherents of the Mesopotamian religion Mandaeanism) in Iraq has shrunk from forty thousand before the war to five thousand today. Palestinians in Iraq, once a protected group under Saddam Hussein, have been attacked and threatened by militia groups warning them to leave the country. U.S. and coalition forces have also been guilty of human rights violations. Various soldiers have been accused of using excessive force against Iraqis, and some have been convicted of violent crimes including the murder and rape of unarmed civilians by U.S. courts. In May 2004, pictures emerged of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. An U.S. Army official later released a report detailing intentional acts of violence, sexual assault, and humiliation committed by U.S. guards on Iraqi prisoners. While the Bush administration characterized the events as isolated crimes by a few A U.S. soldier and an Iraqi prisoner at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In September 2006, the U.S. Army released an updated version of its manual on interrogation that bans abusive methods of questioning that were used at Abu Ghraib. Although these methods were not permitted before, the updated manual explicitly prohibits using dogs against detainees; forcing a detainee to be naked or perform sexual acts; beatings and other forms of causing pain (such as electric shocks or withholding food, water, or medical care); waterboarding (a technique in which a prisoner is strapped to a board and made to feel as if s/he is drowning) and several other methods that were used at the Abu Ghraib prison. bad apples, evidence suggests that the abuse and torture of prisoners occurred throughout the war. Critics feel that military and civilian leadership should be held accountable for policies that allowed and even encouraged prisoner abuse. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld offered to resign in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, but President Bush did not accept his resignation. What effect did the war have on Iraq s cultural and historical artifacts? Iraq is sometimes referred to as the cradle of civilization because of its ancient history. The war destroyed many of the irreplaceable cultural artifacts once found in museums throughout the country. In the chaos that followed the U.S. invasion, looters stole or destroyed thousands of ancient artifacts from museums and archeological sites. Looting of the Iraqi National Library and Archive de- U.S. Military. WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

10 54 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq stroyed 25 percent of the books and hundreds of invaluable Islamic manuscripts and texts. The Iraqi Museum lost fifteen thousand items, including a five-thousand-year-old vase believed to be one of the world s first sculptures. (It was later returned to the museum in fragments by an anonymous source.) U.S. military leaders claimed that they did not have the resources to prevent the looting. Critics argued that the military had not sufficiently prepared for peacekeeping operations. How did Iraqis feel about the occupation? People in Iraq have held a variety of opinions about the U.S. occupation. For example, Kurds, who were persecuted heavily under Saddam Hussein, generally supported the coalition forces. But many Iraqis resented the U.S. presence in their country resentment that continues to this day. A 2005 poll concluded that 65 percent of Iraqis opposed the presence of coalition forces, and a 2006 poll found that just under half of all Iraqis supported attacks on U.S. troops. Many Iraqis have reported that the U.S. occupation was a humiliating experience, and feelings of humiliation have fueled opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq. For example, by disbanding the Ba th party and the Iraqi Army, the CPA caused many Iraqis to lose the social status associated with their former jobs. During the height of the war, many Iraqis complained that U.S. troops, who had very little knowledge of Iraqi culture, were dictating their daily lives. The perception that the United States did not respect Iraq, and that the U.S. occupation was just a new chapter in a long history of Western interference in Iraqis affairs, motivated many to join the armed resistance to the U.S. occupation. I am glad that they got Saddam, but also I want them out of our country to be free at last. Ali Razak al-lamy, December 2003 The United States While Iraqis experienced the violence of war on a daily basis, the war affected the Friends and family wait for soldiers to return from Iraq at a National Guard camp in Louisiana. United States in significant ways as well. Though the Bush administration claimed that toppling Saddam Hussein would improve national security, it is unclear whether the war has made the United States safer. The war has fueled anti-american sentiment around the world and become a recruiting tool for terrorist organizations. But some maintain that the United States is better off without a ruler like Saddam Hussein opposing U.S. interests in the Middle East. The costs of the war to the United States, in both lives and dollars, have been great as have the social effects that cannot be easily quantified. How has the war affected U.S. soldiers? While the U.S. public has experienced the war in Iraq through the stories and images they see in the media, soldiers lived through the daily realities of combat. Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq War. About half of these have been killed directly in combat; the other half in car wrecks, friendly fire accidents, equipment failures, and other Master Sgt. Toby Valadie, U.S. Air Force. CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY

11 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq 55 job-related incidents. Many more soldiers have been severely injured. Burns, broken bones, shrapnel wounds, traumatic brain injuries, and hearing loss have been some of the most common injuries. The Department of Defense reports that 32,051 soldiers have been wounded in action in Iraq. This number does not account for many troops whose injuries do not meet the military s official criteria for this status, including victims of heat stroke and car accidents. In reality, far more soldiers have experienced traumatic injuries during their time in Iraq. Military statistics on deaths and injuries often leave out an important group contractors. (Contractors are employees of private security companies working for the U.S. military in Iraq.) Approximately three hundred contractors have been killed since the war began, and another thirty-six thousand have been injured about six thousand of whom were U.S. citizens. Regardless of numbers, the U.S. soldiers and contractors that fought and died in Iraq paid for the war with their lives. That loss of life is one of the clearest and most tragic consequences of the war, and has affected families and communities throughout the United States. What happens to soldiers once they return to the United States? When soldiers return home from war they bring traumatic experiences and memories home with them. Many of the troops returning from Iraq suffer from anxiety related to their experiences during the war. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a form of anxiety that afflicts many people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event like a natural disaster, a violent crime, or a war. PTSD can result in flashbacks, mood swings, anger management issues, and difficulty sleeping. As of June 2010, the Veterans Administration (VA) the branch of the U.S. military responsible for providing care to U.S. soldiers who have returned from war had reported 171,423 cases of PTSD among soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In some cases, mental health issues related to the war have led to suicides, and veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have much higher rates of suicide than average civilians. A 2009 study found that eighteen U.S. veterans commit suicide every day. (This statistic includes veterans of other U.S. wars.) The instances of PTSD and other mental health problems are higher for Iraq War veterans than for the veterans of previous conflicts like the Vietnam War (though some argue this is because doctors are better able to diagnose PTSD now). Soldiers with high exposure to violence and trauma are the most vulnerable to mental health problems like PTSD. While the military and VA have begun to recognize the importance of PTSD, many feel that their attempts to provide quality, accessible mental healthcare to veterans need improvement. When military institutions are not able to adequately care for all of the veterans seeking mental health services, the responsibility falls on families, private mental health professionals, and community organizations. Veterans transitioning out of combat situations often struggle to reintegrate themselves back into communities in the United States. This has been particularly true for veterans of the Iraq War. Since 2003, violent crime has increased among U.S. veterans, especially those with high levels of combat experience. Domestic violence has increased 177 percent, while rates of sexual assault have nearly tripled. Veterans sometimes struggle to relate to friends and family members who cannot fully understand what they went through during their service. Divorce rates for Iraq veterans are high, and the children of veterans are at risk for anxiety and other mental health conditions. Iraq War veterans are also at high risk of homelessness and incarceration due to mental health conditions and a lack of social support. What was the economic impact of the Iraq War on the United States? The cost of the Iraq War to the United States has been enormous. Though the Bush administration initially estimated that the war would cost between fifty and sixty billion dollars, the actual cost has been far greater. As of May 2011, the government had spent over WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM

12 56 A Global Controversy: The U.S. Invasion of Iraq seven hundred billion dollars on the war in Iraq. These numbers do not include many costs of war that the United States will continue to pay long into the future. For example, the government will need to provide continued medical care and disability benefits to veterans. With high rates of injury and mental disorders like PTSD some economists have predicted that the cost of caring for veterans of the war in Iraq will eventually exceed five hundred billion dollars. The United States will also need to repair and replace equipment damaged during the war, and pay interest on the money borrowed to fund the conflict. These longer-term costs mean that U.S. taxpayers will continue to pay for the Iraq War long after the last troops have come home. How did the war affect the United States relationship to other countries? The conflict was generally unpopular internationally, and friction between the United States and other countries because of the Iraq War hindered international cooperation on other issues. While most countries stood by the United States in its efforts to combat terrorism after September 11, this broad support diminished when the United States justified the war with Iraq as part of the struggle against terrorism. By going to war without UN authorization, the United States disregarded international laws about the use of force. The decision to invade was a clear rejection of the idea that international security should be best maintained through cooperation and consensus between many countries. The role of the UN and international cooperation in international peacekeeping efforts appears to be less secure than it was immediately after the Cold War, when members of the UN collaborated to force Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. The war also strained relationships between the United States and Middle Eastern countries. For example, the U.S. relationship with Turkey, a longtime ally of the United States that borders Iraq, was significantly strained by the war. Popular support for the United States in Turkey dropped from 50 percent before the war to 15 percent during The U.S. war in Iraq contributed to a rise in anti-american sentiment throughout the Middle East and the world, and the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq became a powerful recruiting tool for terrorist groups seeking to harm the United States. Conclusion Though historians have already begun to tell the story of the Iraq War, this process will carry on long after the last soldier has come home. Years from now, scholars, politicians, and students will still be debating the causes and effects of the war in Iraq, and understandings of the events described in this reading will change. Different interpretations of the past will inform future conversations about U.S. foreign policy, international conflict resolution, and the morality of war. While wars affect international politics in important ways, they also have profound effects on a wide range of individuals from the soldiers who fight them, to the children killed in explosions, to the taxpayers who fund the tanks and planes. The plight of these individuals should be remembered when thinking about any war. Whether one believes that invading Iraq was the correct decision, exploring the process that brought the United States into this long and costly war raises many questions questions that will help U.S. citizens prepare for a day in the future when the United States will debate whether or not to use military force to solve international problems. What role should the public play in decisions to go to war? How can we be sure that information in the media and from the government is accurate? What are acceptable grounds, if any, for going to war? For invading and occupying another country? What costs are acceptable in human and financial terms? Should the United States commit itself to working with United Nations? How can we reduce the likelihood of war in the future? CHOICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION PROGRAM WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, BROWN UNIVERSITY