Editing Iraq War

[[File:Iraq War sandstorm.png|thumb|U.S. occupation forces arriving in northern Iraq in March 2003]]
The '''Iraq War'''<ref group="lower-alpha">Arabic: حرب العراق هي</ref> was a war against [[Iraq]] by the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|its vassal states]]. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 after falsely claiming that Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]] had weapons of mass destruction.<ref>{{News citation|author=Bob Garfield|newspaper=On the Media|title=The Truth and Lies Behind the Iraq War|date=2018-07-13|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/who-was-reporting-truth-why-we-went-war-iraq|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111180607/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/who-was-reporting-truth-why-we-went-war-iraq|archive-date=2020-11-11|retrieved=2022-06-02}}</ref> The US called their invasion 'Operation Iraqi Freedom,' at one time using the term 'Operation Iraqi Liberation' (which ironically spells OIL).<ref>https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030324-4.html</ref> The war, under the pretext of "freedom", was really an [[Imperialism|imperialist]] struggle for access to and control over vast [[Petroleum politics|oil reserves]].<ref>{{Web citation|author=Bonnie Bricker|newspaper=Foreign Policy in Focus|title=The Costs of the War for Oil|date=2007-10-19}}</ref> In the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks]], sitting President [[George W. Bush]] urged his advisors to investigate the link between the event and Iraq, saying, "I want to know any shred."<ref>{{Web citation|author=Eric Lichtblau|newspaper=The New York Times|title=President Asked Aide to Explore Iraq Link to 9/11|date=2004-3-29|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/us/president-asked-aide-to-explore-iraq-link-to-9-11.html}}</ref> This adds credibility to the theory that Bush was actively looking for a pretext to invade Iraq.

== Death toll ==
At least 480,000 people died directly from violent causes during the war, including 244,000 civilians.<ref>{{News citation|author=Murtaza Hussain|newspaper=The Intercept|title=It's Time for America to Reckon with the Staggering Death Toll of the Post-9/11 Wars|date=2018-11-19|url=https://theintercept.com/2018/11/19/civilian-casualties-us-war-on-terror/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507031915/https://theintercept.com/2018/11/19/civilian-casualties-us-war-on-terror/|archive-date=2022-05-07|retrieved=2022-06-02}}</ref> If deaths from disease, displacement, and destruction of infrastructure are also included, the death toll is around 2.4 million.<ref name=":0" /> According to the [[Red Cross]], 43,000 Iraqis were detained, more than 70% of whom were innocent.<ref>{{Citation|author=Karen Parker|year=2006|title=War Crimes Committed by the United States in Iraq
and Mechanisms for Accountability|page=20|pdf=https://consumersforpeace.org/pdf/war_crimes_iraq_101006.pdf}}</ref> 

An unmentioned major long-term effect of the US invasion of Iraq is cancer and birth defects due to the US firing depleted uranium. Iraqi government figures show the following pattern regarding the rate of cancer cases: 40 people out of 100k prior to the First Gulf War (1991); 800 out of 100k (1995); >1,600 out of 100k (2005).<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=Dahr Jamail|newspaper=Aljazeera|title=Iraq: War’s legacy of cancer|date=2013-3-15|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/3/15/iraq-wars-legacy-of-cancer}}</ref> Dr. Samira Alani, a pediatric specialist in Iraq, noted that childhood cancer rates in Al-Fallujah sat at around fourteen percent but were difficult to determine and were likely underreported:<blockquote>We have no system to register all of them, so we have so many cases we are missing... I think I only know of 40-50 percent of the cases because so many families have their babies at home and we never know of these, and other clinics are not registering them either.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>Further research has shown that the issue has not gone away, remaining a lasting impact of the war.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Murtaza Hussain|newspaper=The Intercept|title=Iraqi Children Born Near U.S. Military Base Show Elevated Rates of 'Serious Congenital Deformities,' Study Finds|date=2019-11-25|url=https://theintercept.com/2019/11/25/iraq-children-birth-defects-military/}}</ref>

== U.S. war crimes ==

* During the occupation, the United States actively tortured Iraqi prisoners in [[Abu Ghraib]] and sexually abused female prisoners.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Luke Harding|newspaper=The Guardian|title=The other prisoners|date=2004-5-19|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/20/iraq.gender}}</ref>
* In 2007, US mercenaries working for [[Blackwater]] killed 17 civilians in the [[Nisour Square massacre]].<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=The New York Times|title=U.S. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings|date=2007-09-18|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018090949/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|archive-date=2020-10-18|retrieved=2022-02-02|journalist=Sabrina Tavernise}}</ref>
* In 2010, documents leaked by [[Chelsea Manning]] showed that the majority of Iraqis killed by US forces were civilians.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=Wikileaks|title=Baghdad War Diary|date=2010-10-22|url=https://wikileaks.org/irq/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127064610/https://wikileaks.org/irq/|archive-date=2022-01-27|retrieved=2022-02-02}}</ref>
* In 2016, [[Barack Obama]] dropped a total of 12,095 bombs on Iraq.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=Sick Chirpse|title=Shocking Map Shows Where Barack Obama Dropped His 26,000 Bombs|date=2017-01-23|url=https://www.sickchirpse.com/map-barack-obama-dropped-bombs/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715221031/https://www.sickchirpse.com/map-barack-obama-dropped-bombs/|archive-date=2017-07-15|journalist=Ghast Lee}}</ref>
* In March 2017, a US air strike killed 112 civilians in Mosul.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[CNN]]|title=Mosul: 112 civilian bodies pulled from site of coalition airstrike|date=2017-03-28|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/middleeast/mosul-civilian-deaths/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013221251/https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/27/middleeast/mosul-civilian-deaths/|archive-date=2021-10-13|retrieved=2022-02-02|journalist=Ghazi Balkiz, et al.}}</ref>

== Cost ==
The Iraq War cost US taxpayers an average of $8,000 per person or over $2 trillion total.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Eric Zuesse|newspaper=Scoop|title=Why U.S. Must Be Prosecuted For Its War Crimes Against Iraq|date=2020-05-17|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2005/S00134/why-u-s-must-be-prosecuted-for-its-war-crimes-against-iraq.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419180334/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2005/S00134/why-u-s-must-be-prosecuted-for-its-war-crimes-against-iraq.htm|archive-date=2021-04-19|retrieved=2022-06-02}}</ref>

== Notes ==
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== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Wars started by the USA]]