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Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600–45,000[65][66] Insurgents (post-Saddam) Killed: 26,544+ (2003–11)[f] (4,000 foreign fighters killed by Sep. 2006)[71] Detainees: 12,000 (Iraqi-held, in 2010 only)[72] 119,752 insurgents arrested (2003–2007)[73] Total dead: 34,144–71,544
Documented deaths from violence: Iraq Body Count (2003 – 14 December 2011): 103,160–113,728 civilian deaths recorded[74] and 12,438 new deaths added from the Iraq War Logs[75] Associated Press(March 2003 – April 2009): 110,600 Iraqi deaths in total[76]
Statistical estimates Lancet survey** (March 2003 – July 2006): 654,965 (95% CI: 392,979–942,636)[77][78] Iraq Family Health Survey*** (March 2003 – July 2006): 151,000 (95% CI: 104,000–223,000)[79] Opinion Research Business**: (March 2003 – August 2007): 1,033,000 (95% CI: 946,258–1,120,000)[80] PLOS Medicine Study**: (March 2003 – June 2011): 405,000 (60% violent) (95% CI: 48,000–751,000)[81]
* "injured, diseased, or other medical": required medical air transport. UK number includes "aeromed evacuations". **Total excess deaths include all additional deaths due to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc. ***Violent deaths only – does not include excess deaths due to increased lawlessness, poorer healthcare, etc. ****Sukkariyeh, Syria was also affected (2008 Abu Kamal raid).
In October 2002, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution that granted Bush the power to use military force against the Iraqi government. The Iraq War officially began on 20 March 2003, when the US, joined by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, launched a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Shortly following the bombing campaign, US-led forces launched a ground invasion of Iraq. Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as coalition forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba'athist government; Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed three years later.
The United States based most of its rationale for the invasion on claims that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and that Saddam Hussein was supporting al-Qaeda. The US government had also alleged that Al-Qaeda was secretly co-operating with Iraq to build weapons of mass destruction and argued that Iraq posed a threat to the United States and its allies. However, in 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded that there was no evidence of any relationship between Saddam's regime and al-Qaeda. No stockpiles of WMDs or active WMD program were ever found in Iraq. Bush administration officials had also made numerous claims about a purported Saddam–al-Qaeda relationship and WMDs that were based on insufficient evidence rejected by intelligence officials. The rationale for the Iraq war faced heavy criticism both domestically and internationally. Kofi Annan, then the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called the invasion illegal under international law, as it had violated the UN Charter. The 2016 Chilcot Report, a British inquiry into the United Kingdom's decision to go to war, concluded that not every peaceful alternative had been examined, that the UK and US had undermined the United Nations Security Council in the process of declaring war, that the process of identification for a legal basis of war was "far from satisfactory", and that, these conclusions taken together, the war was unnecessary. When interrogated by the FBI, Saddam Hussein confirmed that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion, although the Iraq Survey Group did find that Saddam had the aim of WMD proliferation and maintained the laboratories and scientists necessary for WMD development.
The war killed an estimated 150,000 to 1,033,000 people, including more than 100,000 civilians (see estimates below). Most died during the initial insurgency and civil conflicts. The 2013–2017 War in Iraq, which is considered a domino effect of the invasion and occupation, caused at least 155,000 deaths and internally displaced more than 3.3 million Iraqis.
The war hurt the United States' international reputation as well as Bush's domestic popularity and public image. It also reduced UK prime minister Tony Blair's popularity, leading to his resignation in 2007.
^Moore, Solomon; Jr, Richard A. Oppel (24 January 2008). "Attacks Imperil U.S.-Backed Militias in Iraq". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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