10 The Iraq War

Abstract

This chapter narrates the most important events of the Iraq war, focusing the discussion on two major questions: how did the Iraq War become possible? And why did the Coalition occupation of Iraq descend into sectarian civil war? The first section examines what lay behind the US decision to remove Saddam Hussein, how the case for war could successfully be made domestically, and why the Bush administration’s claims over Iraq received a mixed reception internationally. After describing the brief ground war and the fall of the regime, the chapter moves on to examine the dynamics of the insurgency and the Coalition response against the background of efforts to stabilise and consolidate the Iraqi state. The sectarian conflict threatened to derail state-building efforts in Iraq and contributed to discontent over the war in the United States. It concludes with a discussion of the costs and long term implications of the war. Keywords:Iraq War; Saddam Hussein; United States (US)