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Iraq crisis of 2003

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As of February 2003 the United States appears to be moving rapidly towards a war on Iraq, either with of without the support of the United Nations. This article provides a brief summary of the background of this situation, with pointers to articles where more detailed coverage is available.

Background

The Middle East has been an unstable part of the world for many years. In particular, Iraq, under the Baath Party government of its leader Saddam Hussein, has been involved in a succession of regional conflicts.

Following the Gulf War:

Since the end of the Gulf War, the Iraqi government has continued work on the production of weapons of mass destruction, including long-range missiles and biological weapons. UN attempts to disarm Iraq by weapons inspections were unsuccessful.

Escalation

The events of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on New York by al-Qaida led to a U.S. determination to attack the issue of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In 2002 the U.S. president George W. Bush named Iraq as part of "the Axis of Evil" with Iran and North Korea. A series of UN resolutions on Iraq culminated in UN Security Council Resolution 1441, which called upon Iraq to destroy its weapons of mass destruction.

The failure of the UN initiative led to the U.S. developing a plan to invade Iraq. As time passed without resolution of the weapons issue, the U.S. made increasing diplomatic moves to secure UN authorization for a new war on Iraq, with threats that it would invade unilaterally, if necessarily. This was accompanied by the mobilization of U.S. forces.

Political responses

As an attack appeared imminent, there were political reactions around the world. American popular opinion of war on Iraq is mostly in favour of attacking Iraq, with a significant minority in opposition. In the rest of the world, majority opinion is opposed to the war, at least until all diplomatic measures have been exhausted.

Some of the U.S plans to invade Iraq have stated that they are really about oil imperialism, or the first stage in imposing a Pax Americana on the world. The U.S. government denies this.

The American government position on war on Iraq remains determined, and appears not to have been swayed by worldwide government positions on war on Iraq. There is significant United Nations opposition to the U.S. war plans. The U.S. is employing all diplomatic and public relations measures to try to bring world opinion behind it. See The UN Security Council and the proposed Iraq war for more details.

Starting in January 2003, there have been a series of huge public protests against war on Iraq around the world.

Preparation for war

At the time of writing, the logistics of invasion seem to imply that the U.S. is likely to attack at the end of March, 2003.

The material below is in the process of being replaced by a clean re-write. Please do not use this material as a primary source: fact-checking and POV balancing is needed.

Timeline of proposed conflict with Iraq

  • January, 2003 U.S. and U.K. troops mass in Qatar and Kuwait to prepare for an invasion.
  • February, 2003 - more peace movement activity; first report by Hans Blix on Iraqi disarmament; UN Security Council debates new resolutions; Ariel Sharon re-elected as Prime Minister of Israel - forms coalition on basis of agreement to renew Oslo process starting with low level contacts with the Palestinian Authority - extreme religious party and Labour excluded from cabinet. Anthony Blair faces challenges from within the Labour Party of the UK regarding his position on Iraq - Blair's influence on Bush is widely believed to be a major motivator on the United States seeking another resolution in the UN Security Council - Blair's leadership considered to be at stake and UK participation in the war thought to hinge on success of such a resolution.
  • 25 February 2003 - US troops disembark in Turkey after concluding an aid package deal. Turkey announces it plans to move troops into Iraqi Kurdistan for up to six months - potentially securing Mosul, a major oil producing city. PUK and KDP, major Kurdish parties in Iraq capable between them of fielding 80,000 guerilla fighters, vow to oppose the move militarily, and declare that Turkey is "a greater threat to us than Saddam Hussein", dealing a major blow to the credibility of the U.S. plan to invade Iraq and potential stability of Northern Iraq during and immediately after any war.
  • 26 February 2003 - UK Labour Party supports motion by government of Anthony Blair that does not use the words 'attack' or 'war' but is widely accepted as authorization to participate in the U.S. plan to invade Iraq. 120 Labour MPs vote against, double the previous level of dissent within the back-bench. US convenes talks of democratic Iraqi opposition groups and attempts to cool Turk/Kurd tensions - many parties raised concerns that the Baath Party will retain control of Iraq even if there is a war.
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