The Iraq War Explained

What is disastrous? I'm Mr. Beat. You might be wondering why I'm in some random apartment complex. Well, this apartment complex is not random. It's where I was living when I found out that the United States had invaded Iraq. I was in college at the time. On March 19, 2003, I remember coming home after a long day of school and work, and I turned on the television to see this... my fellow citizen, at this hour, US and Coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq. to free his people and defend the world from grave danger and I saw images like this and reports like this, it was just over 90 minutes past the deadline set by President Bush for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq when the warships and American aircraft launched the initial Salvo of Operation Iraqi. freedom and I remember being full of anger and frustration why my government was doing this it wasn't an unjust war well I wasn't the only one who felt that way we live in a time where we have a man who sends us to war for fictitious reasons those of us who are against this war, Mr.

Bush, shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame on you, and every time you have pop and the Dixie Chicks against you, you're running out of time, thank you . But as he could hear in the boos of those Hollywood actors. In the Oscar audience, many Americans thought this war was JUST. Which means it was... good. So, you know my bias, as you should, but in this video, I'm going to try really hard to IGNORE my bias to tell the story of one of the most controversial wars in American history, the Iraq War. -Causes of the Iraq War- It is 1998.

The country of Iraq is ruled by a ruthless dictator named Saddam Hussein. A ruthless dictator known for killing up to 250,000 of his own citizens, sometimes using chemical weapons to do so. A ruthless dictator who had invaded a smaller country to the south in what became known as the Persian Gulf War. (sings) I have a video about that! Yes, Hussein was not a good guy, and in 1998 the United States was actively supporting efforts to remove him from power. Heck, the US Congress even passed a law that President Bill Clinton signed (Iraq Liberation Act) that called for just that.

After the United States accused Hussein of developing weapons of mass destruction and after he refused to allow the United Nations to search for them, Clinton ordered Operation Desert Fox, which led the U.S. military to drop bombs on approximately 100 sites. soldiers around Iraq, killing or wounding. up to 1,400 Iraqis. Fast forward to September 11, 2001, the day of the deadliest attack on American soil and the deadliest terrorist attack in world history. I made a whole video about 9/11, as it is more commonly called, but the gist of it is that terrorists associated with Al Qaeda hijacked four airliners with the goal of crashing them into four prominent American buildings.

Two crashed into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon, ultimately killing nearly 3,000 people. In an attempt to pursue those responsible for 9/11, the United States government invaded Afghanistan and waged a war there for 20 years. But the United States didn't just send troops to Afghanistan. Oh no. With the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, Congress gave President George W. Bush the power to fight terrorism WORLDWIDE. In fact, the country has been fighting the so-called “War on Terrorism” ever since. So what does 9/11 have to do with Iraq? Well nothing. But MANY members of the Bush administration wanted to link the two.

In fact, they had been looking for an excuse to invade Iraq for YEARS, and maybe 9/11 would be their chance. One of the loudest voices linking 9/11 to Saddam Hussein was a guy named Paul Wolfowitz, who was serving as US Deputy Secretary of Defense at the time. He argued that Hussein was helping terrorists around the world and basically said that eliminating him would go a long way toward ending terrorism around the world. Wolfowitz even compared Hussein to the head of a snake. "It's almost like cutting off the head of the snake and the rest of the body will disappear." It wasn't just Wolfowitz.

His boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, also hoped that this new war on terrorism would give them a chance to take down Hussein. He started going around telling the press things like this: they used chemical weapons, we know they've had an active program to develop nuclear weapons, uh, it's also clear that they are actively developing biological weapons, I don't know what other types of weapons would fall under the rubric of weapons of mass destruction, but if there are more, I suspect they are also working on them, although I don't have to know what they are, the most important thing that was there was the weapon. on the question of mass destruction and he had agreed and the UN had agreed that he would not have a weapons of mass destruction program, we know that he does have one and will continue it soon.

Vice President Dick Cheney was sounding the alarm about Hussein by simply saying there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is accumulating them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us. Oh, there were a lot of doubts, but Sheney also wanted to go to war with Iraq and finally, the president himself was now raising the alarm about Hussein by pleading his case to the American people directly. I take the fact that he develops weapons of mass destruction very seriously. Remembering the fact that he has invaded two countries before knowing for sure that he is poisoning his own people, the regime must allow witnesses to his illegal activities to be interviewed outside the country.

These witnesses must be free to bring their entire families with them so that they are out of the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror. The torture of Saddam Hussein. The assassination of Saddam Hussein in In addition to declaring and destroying all its weapons of mass destruction, Iraq, in accordance with the demands of the UN Security Council, must end its support for terrorism as early as January 29, 2002, during his State of the Union address, he talked trash. Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward the United States and to support terrorism, the Iraqi regime has conspired to develop anthrax, nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for more than a decade.

I mean, it's really no surprise that President Bush wanted to eliminate Saddam Hussein. Bush had hated Hussein for years, especially after Hussein threatened and possibly even planned to kill his father, George Bush, Sr. Anyway, and to be clear here... although they had absolutely no evidence to support this, the Bush administration simply continued to argue that Hussein not only had weapons of mass destruction, but that he was giving them to terrorists to They will attack the United States again. Well, this scaremongering scared Americans, no doubt. Including members of Congress. Intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons arsenal, his missile launch capabilities and his nuclear program.

He has also provided aid and shelter to terrorists, including members of Al-Qaeda. In October 2002, Congress passed the Authorization to Use Military Force Against Iraq Resolution, which said President Bush could send troops to Iraq to end Hussein's government if necessary. That said, the law also “encouraged” diplomacy first, saying the Bush administration should work with the United Nations to see if Hussein would hand over weapons of mass destruction before invading. It is worth noting that most Americans wanted diplomacy to continue before any type of invasion. Still, the British government and even the US Department of Defense found little evidence of the development of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

At this point, there is plenty of evidence to show that Bush was going to invade Iraq, whether his administration found weapons of mass destruction there or not. Still, it would be nice if at least the United Nations got on board with this, amirite? In November 2002, the United Nations sent weapons inspectors to Iraq, but ultimately never found any, even after some 700 inspections. And yet, on February 5, 2003, the highly respected Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was also a general during the Persian Gulf War, defended the invasion of Iraq before the United Nations Security Council. The events and behavior of Iraq show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are hiding their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam Hussein has no qualms about using them again against his neighbors and against his own people, and we have sources telling us that he has recently authorized his field commanders to use them; he would not be giving the orders if he did not have the weapons or the intention to use them. . However, Hans Blix, the guy in charge of weapons inspections in Iraq, accused Powell and In fact, the entire Bush administration is beating the war drums without sufficient evidence. The CIA even investigated Blix in an apparent attempt to undermine him, as he was damaging support for an invasion.

In March, even though UN inspections were still ongoing and even though anti-war protests were brewing around the world, the United States prepared for an invasion anyway. Many of the most powerful countries in the world were against an invasion. Still, the Bush administration was able to assemble a multinational force from at least 48 countries to help them overthrow Hussein. Together, they were known as a “coalition of the willing.” In reality, most of these countries had little power and would contribute little to the war effort. In fact, unlike the Persian Gulf War that occurred just over 12 years earlier, this was primarily a unilateral effort.

Sure, the United Kingdom helped quite a bit, but this invasion would be primarily by American forces. Heck, even the Pope said, "Friends, are you sure you want to do this?" Anyway, what became known as Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 19, 2003, when the United States began bombing Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Two days later, American and British troops invaded southern Iraq. -What happened in the Iraq war- The invasion of Iraq lasted just over a month. As I said a minute ago, it began with airstrikes against Iraqi military bases and the Presidential Palace in Baghdad. It was a surprise attack.

There was no declaration of war or anything like that. According to Tommy Franks, the general who led the invasion, Operation Iraqi Freedom had eight objectives: Eliminate Saddam Hussein Find and get rid of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction Find and get rid of terrorists in the country Well, that could, uh ...take a little time, right? Gather intelligence to destroy global terrorist networks Gather intelligence to find weapons of mass destruction around the world End sanctions and obtain humanitarian support for Iraqi citizens allegedly injured under Hussein's control Secure Iraq's oil fields Ok, ok, ok . I know what you're thinking, but Franks said that American troops would secure this oil for the Iraqi people... (shrugs) I don't know And finally...

Help the Iraqi people transition to a representative democracy Approximately 160,000 soldiers, again mostly American and British troops landed in southern Iraq beginning on March 21, 2003. They encountered little resistance. Only Hussein's most loyal supporters fought back, many of them in Basra. Still, the Americans and British defeated them fairly easily and soon advanced northwest across the Tigris-Euphrates river system toward Baghdad, bypassing areas where resistance was strongest. By April 4, US forces had taken over Baghdad International Airport. The Iraqi Republican Guard defended Baghdad, but its defense was very disorganized. American forces bombed and stormed the city in what became known as the Battle of Baghdad.

By April 9, American soldiers had already taken control of the city. Northern Kurdish fighters helped the Americans capture the northern Iraqi cities of Kirkuk and Mosul on April 11. And finally, Saddam's hometown of Tikrīt fell on April 13. Isolated groups of soldiers loyal to Hussein continued fighting in the following days, but by the end of the month, the United States had essentially controlled most of Iraq. The initial invasion cost the lives of almost 13,000 Iraqis and only 172 coalition soldiers. On May 1, 2003, President Bush delivered his now infamous televised "Mission Accomplished" speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, off the coast of San Diego.

In case you were wondering, San Diego is on the opposite side of the world from Iraq. Major combat operations in Iraq endedIn the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies prevailed. Now I know this speech has become a meme. At this point, it basically comes up every time someone declares victory too early in a crisis, but it's worth it. Noting that Bush also said the following in this speech: We have a difficult job to do in Iraq and boy did he fall short. Bush did not know that this war would continue for the next 8 years while Saddam Hussein and his inner circle had gone into hiding.

We thought the war was over and we celebrated and we had won the war, we ate ice cream and I thought they would hate us, but they didn't know it, they didn't start hating us until we stayed. If the coalition forces had just left. On May 1, perhaps this war would not have been so controversial. A Gallup poll found that 79% of Americans thought the war had been justified, with or WITHOUT clear evidence of weapons of mass destruction. And yet the Americans stayed...the insurgency part of the war had already begun. An insurgent is a person who rebels against a government or authority.

Shortly after Bush declared victory on May 1, 2003, the first armed insurgents began attacking American soldiers. At first, these insurgents were nothing more than Saddam Hussein loyalists who refused to surrender. However, the insurgents soon became Islamist extremists who saw Hussein's overthrow as an opportunity to create an Islamist government. Oh well, speaking of Hussein, American forces soon closed in on him. They had killed his sons Uday and Qusay in a shootout in Mosul, in addition to killing or capturing at least 300 of his top leaders in his government. On December 13, 2003, Hussein was found hiding in a farm outside Tikrit. He surrendered and the new Iraqi government found him guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging.

You can see the images online. I'm not even kidding. Still, although American forces had captured Hussein, the insurgency was growing and now many of the insurgents were Iraqis angry that the occupying forces refused to leave. Kidnappings, assassinations, car bombs, suicide bombings, and roadside explosions caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) became much more common and increasingly put the lives of American soldiers at risk. Things got worse in April 2004, when word spread that American soldiers were torturing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. This sparked a rush of Islamist militants into Baghdad. And talk about bad timing. All of this occurred as the US military was trying to prop up a new Iraqi government.

Meanwhile, the Iraq War hadn't hurt President Bush's popularity much...yet. He would win re-election in 2004. But if Americans knew how bad the war would be in the next two years, he probably would not have been re-elected. In 2005, millions of Iraqis voted to draft a new constitution and vote for new representatives and a president. But uh... that didn't go so well. The Sunnis boycotted the elections, resulting in the Shiites gaining power. Wait, you might not know what the words “Sunni” and “Shia” mean. Oh shit. Guess I better explain what they mean, huh? Sunni Islam is only one branch of Islam, the largest branch of Islam, in fact.

Shia Islam is the second largest branch. Iraq is unique in that the country has a fairly even split between Shiites and Sunnis within its borders. A major event during the Iraq War was actually a smaller conflict within a larger one: radicalized Iraqi Shiites and Iraqi Sunnis began attacking each other. Sunnis accused Shiite leaders of killing Sunni leaders and setting off bombs in Sunni neighborhoods. The Sunnis retaliated and the cycle of violence spiraled out of control, especially after the bombing of al-Askari Shrine on February 22, 2006. At one point, Baghdad became so violent that it averaged around 33 deaths per day. .

However, most of the violence was based in Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq, particularly in the provinces of Al Anbar and Saladin. By the end of 2006, all this violence and destruction had displaced hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iraqis. One place where insurgents were particularly active during the Iraq war was Ramadi, in Al Anbar province. For six months in 2006, American forces fought al Qaeda in the city in what became known as the Battle of Ramadi. Uhhh yeah. You heard right. Al Qaeda. One particularly crazy event that occurred during the war was that Al Qaeda appeared in Iraq for the first time.

Yes. They were not there before, and no links were ever found between the Hussein regime and Al Qaeda, but after the overthrow of the Hussein regime and after the American occupation they are not only there but they are recruiting. Oh, and THEY now also had Saddam's old chemical weapons of yesteryear. Now that al-Qaeda was actually IN Iraq, President Bush said, well, uh... maybe we should send MORE troops, right? And that's exactly what happened. In January 2007, Bush announced plans for an increase. No, not the soda. An increase, as in a rapid increase in the number of American troops in Iraq to restore security there.

He sent 30,000 additional troops and extended deployments by three months. Well, 2007 ended up being the deadliest year for U.S. forces since 2004, but stability continued and insurgent attacks decreased afterward, although it's unclear if that was due to the increase or not. On February 10, 2007, General David Petraeus took over as leader of the coalition forces. His leadership had been one of the few success stories during the war, much of it centered on his focus on rebuilding the country's infrastructure and redirecting funding directly to Iraqis. Still, by 2008, most Americans were done with this war. Polls now showed that a clear majority of Americans were against it and wanted the troops back.

And the war not only affected the popularity of George W. Bush, it also affected the popularity of the entire Republican Party. In fact, Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, promising to end the Iraq war. That said, by that time the Iraqi parliament had already established a timetable for withdrawing US forces. In February 2009, newly elected President Obama said that all US combat forces would be out of Iraq by August 31, 2010. Well, this was two weeks ahead of schedule. I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Iraqi people now have primary responsibility for the security of their country.

That said, around 50,000 US troops remained in Iraq to help the Iraqi army fully take over. . At the time, the media organization WikiLeaks had released footage of what became known as the Baghdad airstrike of July 12, 2007. The video, which WikiLeaks called Collateral Murder, showed US troops aboard a helicopter Apache shooting and killing journalists and other civilians. These images, as well as 400,000 secret American military documents from the war released by WikiLeaks later that year, further turned Americans against the war. In October 2011, President Obama announced that the last 39,000 American troops in Iraq would leave the country by the end of 2011.

And he wishes that was the end of the story, but it isn't. You see, almost as soon as the American troops left, a power vacuum ensued and the insurgency rose again in Iraq. Sunni extremists intensified attacks against the Shiite majority and soon many of them were allying themselves with Islamist extremists in Syria, a country that borders Iraq to the north and was having its own civil war. Well, long story short, all of this eventually led to ANOTHER DAMN WAR. That's how it is. The Iraq War led to the Iraq War. By December 30, 2013, the insurgency had become an all-out guerrilla war across western Iraq with the rise of the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq. and Syria, also known as ISIS.

At the end of 2015, ISIS controlled an area where millions of Iraqis lived. The Iraqi government finally defeated them in 2019, but only after coalition forces returned to help them. In fact, today, and I bet you didn't know, there are still about 2,500 American soldiers stationed in Iraq to assist the Iraqi soldiers there. -The Legacy of the Iraq War- According to most people, the Iraq War was a disaster. Probably at least a million people died directly from it. It led to the displacement of millions of Iraqis. It costs TRILLIONS of dollars. Not billions. TRILLIONS. It led to one of the largest humanitarian crises in modern history, and today Iraqis are still recovering from its devastation, although, to be fair, things are MUCH better there than before.

Like the Vietnam War, which occurred 30 years earlier, the Iraq War further eroded American confidence in its government. Today, most of us see it as an unnecessary war... a war that simply made things worse for everyone involved. By invading and conquering Iraq in 2003 and then occupying it for nine years, the United States ended up destabilizing not only the entire country, but the entire damn region. Before the war, there was no proven connection between the Iraqi government and Al Qaeda. And yet, this war was so disastrous that it literally... ironically, you could say... CAUSED Al Qaeda to take over large parts of Iraq.

My God. The Iraq war damaged the international reputation of not only the United States but also the United Kingdom. It harmed global efforts to fight terrorism. Heck, the Iraq War made most Americans tired of wars in general. After that, when the U.S. government tried to drum up support for war in a foreign country in the name of “spreading democracy” or “nation-building,” most Americans simply stopped falling for it. And not just the Democrats. I would say that just as many Republicans today say that the Iraq war was a mistake as Democrats, as evidenced by the rise of Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his discontent with that war.

But maybe that's a silver lining to the Iraq war. Before, we were more likely to fall into an unjust war. After that, we weren't anymore. In 2003, when he lived in these apartments, he was young and an idiot. (Turning to look back) But even then he knew that this war was unjust. Well, for the record, I'm still an idiot. Obviously, I left out a lot and, as always, I encourage you to do more research on The Iraq War. I have listed some sources in the description. Once again, I'm biased. I lived during the Iraq war. I have family and friends who were actually IN the Iraq war.

Obviously I'm going to have an opinion on that. Anyway, I did my best. I appreciate you looking. See you soon. Bye