Iraq crisis of 2003

The Iraq crisis of 2003 has many dimensions, articles on some of which already exist. The U.S. plan to invade Iraq which has reputedly existed in some form since at least 2001, the G. W. Bush administration's 2002 labelling of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "Axis of Evil", and the early 2003 peace movement activity and related politics focusing on role of the UN Security Council, has triggered debate on a large number of broader potential military, political, social, individual, infrastructural, diplomatic and ecological impacts. This article lists as many of those impacts as possible, without dealing with any in depth.

As impacts occur the article will list them under the appropriate categories, as "impacts on":

• Persian Gulf watershed
• Tigris River watershed
• Euphrates River watershed
• Kuwait desert ecoregion
• other ecoregions of Iraq and Kuwait
• the Baath Party of Iraq as a political movement, with or without Saddam Hussein
• the (now publicly owned) oil infrastructure and oilfields of Iraq
• Caspian Sea watersheds especially if new oil pipelines are built
• the civilian population of Iraq and their fate in 2003 and the decades beyond
• ongoing food supply of Kurdish, Arabian, and Shi'ite regions of Iraq itself
• the political stability of Arabia especially the monarchies of Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
• the security of Kuwait
• the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia
• the fate of Kurdistan as an independent region within Iraq, and the role of Turkey, Syria and Iran which also have Kurds in their populations
  • Turkey's role in the U.S. plan to invade Iraq
• Shi'ite regions including Iran (and the Persian influenced areas called Greater Persia).
• international law and the role of the world court and United Nations especially the United Nations Security Council
• role of UN weapons inspectors
• UN sanctions on Iraq if the Baath Party continues in power
• UN humanitarian relief as a precondition to war planning in general, and as a major consideration of UN Security Council approval of future wars
• NATO especially the role of the U.S. and Turkey
• disparities between North American and Eurasian views, i.e. those of the European Union and Russia.
• oil prices and the perceived risk of instability of supply on the markets
• control of Iraq's oil supplies which presently flow mostly to Europe
• Afghanistan especially regarding Al Qaeda and Taliban resurgence and potential alliances with groups in Iraq
• Pakistan especially regarding control of its nuclear weapons
• Canada-US relations
• UK-Europe relations
• European Union internal politics
• the Labour Party of the UK - split between Cabinet (pro) and Commons (con)
• the UK House of Commons' confidence in UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
• the Democratic Party of the US - split on the war but not strongly opposed
• the Green Party of the US - the only party clearly against the war
• status of Israel under international law, especially regarding UN Security Council resolution adherence, and weapons of mass destruction
• status of West Bank settlers (or "colonists")
• status of Oslo process between Israel and Palestinian Authority
• North Korea, as a precedent for dealing with the "Axis of Evil"
• global tolerance of American leadership on questions of international relations
• American world prestige
• American doctrine on nuclear weapon use and tolerance of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of other nations
• safety of American citizens travelling abroad
• Islamist revolution in Arabia: Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and especially Saudi Arabia
• Islamist activity in Egypt
• Islamist terrorism elsewhere
• role of the Internet in mass media and forming of public opinion
• role of the Internet in the peace movement
• the G. W. Bush administration and its prospects for re-election in the U.S. presidential election, 2004
• role of Colin Powell within the G. W. Bush administration
• credibility of the US government and its handling of evidence
  • Office of Strategic Influence fiasco
  • acceptance of US wiretap and satellite evidence by the UN
• credibility of the UK government and its handling of evidence
• credibility of photo and audio and video evidence vs. forgeries or fakes
• oil imperialism
• war as a means of resolving crises
• weapons development, especially nuclear weapons and anti-missile technology
• attitude of developed nations towards nuclear proliferation
• attitude of developing nations towards nuclear proliferation
• attitude of the U.S. public towards aid to dictators friendly to the U.S.
• attitude of developed nations towards general spread of dual-use technology potentially useful to create weapons of mass destruction.

As the crisis unfolds, it will become easier to assess the actual impacts. For now this article must focus on the projected impacts. Please list them as subitems under the above for now - write whole articles if there is significant material on any of the above. Also please add events to the timeline below:

• 1 March 2003 - UN deadline for Iraq to begin to dismantle long range missiles.
• 7 March 2003 - next report of Hans Blix to the United Nations Security Council
• 14 March 2003 - proposed deadline date in France's proposal for a second resolution to follow up UN Security Council Resolution 1441 under which authority Iraq has received the order and Blix the authority to inspect.
• 23 March 2003 - first new moon after US and UK forces fully assembled; estimated most likely invasion date, possibly as late as the 25th of March