Some U.S. officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda,[62] but no evidence of a meaningful connection was ever found.[63][64] Other stated reasons for the invasion included Iraqs financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,[65] Iraqi government human rights abuses,[66] and an effort to spread democracy to the country.[67][68] On 16 March 2003, the U.S. government advised the U.N. inspectors to leave their unfinished work and exit from Iraq.[69] On 20 March[70] the US-led coalition conducted a surprise[71] military invasion of Iraq without declaring war.[72] The invasion led to an occupation and the eventual capture of Saddam, who was later tried in an Iraqi court of law and executed by the new Iraqi government. Violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups soon led to the Iraqi insurgency, strife between many Sunni and Shia Iraqi groups, and the emergence of a new faction of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.[73][74] In June 2008, US Department of Defense officials claimed security and economic indicators began to show signs of improvement in what they hailed as significant and fragile gains.[75] Iraq was fifth on the 2008 Failed States Index,[76] and sixth on the 2009 list.[77] As public opinion favoring troop withdrawals increased and as Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for security, member nations of the Coalition withdrew their forces.[78][79] In late 2008, the American and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement effective through 1 January 2012.[80] The Iraqi Parliament also ratified a Strategic Framework Agreement with the United States,[81] aimed at ensuring cooperation in constitutional rights, threat deterrence, education,[82] energy development, and other areas.[83] In late February 2009, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama announced an 18-month withdrawal window for combat forces, with approximately 50,000 troops remaining in the country to advise and train Iraqi security forces and to provide intelligence and surveillance.[84][85] UK forces ended combat operations on 30 April 2009.[86] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al‑Maliki said he supported the accelerated pullout of U.S. forces.[87] In a speech at the Oval Office on 31 August 2010 Obama declared the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country.[88][89][90] Beginning 1 September 2010, the American operational name for its involvement in Iraq changed from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn. The remaining 50,000 U.S. troops were designated as advise and assist brigades assigned to non-combat operations while retaining the ability to revert to combat operations as necessary. Two combat aviation brigades also remain in Iraq.[91] In September 2010, the Associated Press issued an internal memo reminding its reporters that combat in Iraq is not over, and U.S. troops remain involved in combat operations alongside Iraqi forces, although U.S. officials say the American combat mission has formally ended.[92][93] On 21 October 2011, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year, bringing the U.S. mission in Iraq to an end.[94] On 15 December 2011, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta officially declared the Iraq War over, at a flag lowering ceremony in Baghdad.[95] The last U.S. troops left Iraqi territory on 18 December 2011 at 4:27 UTC.[96] A total of 4,491 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2014.[97] Since the U.S. militarys withdrawal, significant violence has continued in Iraq.[98] The Shia-dominated administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki moved to arrest important Sunni political leaders prior to and following the U.S. withdrawal, and Sunni militant groups stepped up attacks targeting the countrys majority Shia population, undermining confidence in the Shia-led government.[99][100] As of mid-June 2014 the internationally recognized government of Iraq is reported to have lost control of large areas of the countrys north including the provincial capitals of Mosul and Tikrit. Large scale warfare between the supporters of the Shia led government and Sunni militants composed of Baath loyalists and ISIS is underway.[101][102] ISIS or ISIL later took control of Iraqs second largest city. The group has posted videos online of them massacring hundreds of innocent civilians and soldiers. U.S. Forces would ultimately return to Iraq in the summer of 2014.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:26:23 +0000
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