U.S. Invades Iraq (2003) On this day in 2003, Iraq was invaded by the U.S. and a "coalition of the willing", including the U.K., Australia, and others. The invasion and subsequent military...
U.S. Invades Iraq (2003) On this day in 2003, Iraq was invaded by the U.S. and a "coalition of the willing", including the U.K., Australia, and others. The invasion and subsequent military...
U.S. Invades Iraq (2003)
Thu Mar 20, 2003
Image: Iraqi women and children line up for a security check by British soldiers on the outskirts of Basra, as they try to flee from this southern Iraqi town on March 30th, 2003. (Anja Niedringhaus, via apnews.com)
On this day in 2003, Iraq was invaded by the U.S. and a "coalition of the willing", including the U.K., Australia, and others. The invasion and subsequent military occupation killed more than one million people and displaced 9.2 million Iraqis.
The invasion came after the U.S. government lied about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessing "weapons of mass destruction", including a now-infamous appearance at the United Nations by then Secretary of State Colin Powell, in which he falsely stated "Indeed, the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction".
On March 20th, a coalition of forces led by the United States invaded Iraq. The day afterward, 76% of Americans approved of military action against Iraq, according to a March 2003 Gallup poll.
The invasion and subsequent military occupation caused widespread death, disease, and displacement for the people of Iraq. According to Brown University's Costs of War project, since 2003, more than 9.2 million Iraqis have been displaced, and more than 300,000 people have been killed as a direct result of violence. In 2007, Opinion Research Business (ORB) estimated that more than one million people have died as a result of the war.
Kurdish feminist Houzan Mahmoud opposed the invasion, speaking at a London anti-war rally in 2003. In a 2017 interview, she stated:
"I asserted my opposition to the war on Iraq, despite the fact of being Kurdish and someone who has suffered immensely under Saddam's regime. I still didn't think that any foreign intervention was going to improve our lives. I also emphasised that this war will only bring more terrorism because it will strengthen political Islam, i.e. Islamism...
There is no doubt that we all wanted an end to Saddam's totalitarian regime, but I was opposed to foreign invasion. In this region we don't have a good experience with foreign interventions and colonialism throughout history. Imperialist powers invade, destroy and support or install puppet regimes to serve their interest only. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan — since the invasion we are faced with much more terrorism, instability, poverty, displacement and mass migration of people. There is a humanitarian disaster and an endless tragedy of war and bloodshed."
- Date: 2003-03-20
- Learn More: apnews.com, en.wikipedia.org, watson.brown.edu, www.reuters.com, medium.com.
- Tags: #Imperialism, #Terrorism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org