Is this your Vietnam, are you at war?

Answer 1

what? I'm a bit confused.

Answer 2

I'm not sure yet?

THE VIETNAM WAR:

The Vietnam War (known in Vietnam itself as "The America War") was a military conflict in present day Vietnam occurring from 1959 to April 30, 1975. The conflict was a successful effort by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV or North Vietnam) and the indigenous National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, (also known as the Việt Cộng, or more informally as the "Charlie", "VC" or "Cong") to impose on Vietnam a communist system, defeating the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam (RVN). To a degree, the Vietnam War was a "proxy war" between the U.S. and its Western allies on the side of the RVN, with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China supporting the DRV on the other. As a result of this it is often considered part of the Cold War.

The chief cause of the war was the failure of Vietnamese nationalists, in the form of the Viet Minh, to gain control of southern Vietnam both during and after their struggle for independence from France in the First Indochina War of 1946–54.

The U.S., in particular, deployed large numbers of military personnel to South Vietnam between 1954 and 1973. U.S. military advisors first became involved in Vietnam as early as 1950, when they began to assist French colonial forces. In 1956, these advisers assumed full responsibility for training the Army of the Republic of Vietnam or ARVN. President Kennedy increased America's troop number from 500 to 16,000. Large numbers of American combat troops began to arrive in 1965. The last American troops left the country on April 30, 1975.[2]

At various stages the conflict involved clashes between small units patrolling the mountains and jungles, guerrilla attacks in the villages and cities, and finally, large-scale conventional battles. U.S. aircraft also conducted substantial aerial bombing campaigns, targeting both logistical networks and the cities and transportation arteries of North Vietnam. Large quantities of chemical defoliants were also sprayed from the air in an effort to reduce the cover available to enemy combatants.

The Vietnam War was finally concluded on 30 April 1975, with the fall of the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon to North Vietnamese forces. The war claimed between 2 and 5.7 million Southeast Asian lives,[3] a large number of whom were civilians.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
1.1 History to 1949
1.2 Exit of the French, 1950–1955
2 The Diem era, 1955–1963
2.1 The Winston Churchill of Asia
2.2 Coup and assassinations
3 Escalation and Americanization, 1963-1968
4 Vietnamization and American withdrawal, 1969–1973
5 South Vietnam stands alone, 1973–1975
5.1 Total U.S. withdrawal
5.2 Campaign 275
5.3 Final North Vietnamese offensive
5.4 Fall of Saigon
6 Aftermath
7 Other countries' involvement
7.1 Soviet Union
7.2 People's Republic of China
7.3 Republic of Korea
7.4 Democratic People's Republic of Korea
7.5 Australia and New Zealand
7.6 Thailand
7.7 Canada
8 Use of chemical defoliants
9 Notes
9.1 Casualties
10 In popular culture
10.1 Names for the conflict
11 See also
12 Lists
13 Footnotes
14 Bibliography
15 Primary sources
16 External links
17 Further reading



Background
See also: History of Vietnam, Second World War, Decolonization, and The United States and the Vietnam War#Background

History to 1949
From 110 BC to 938 AD (with the exception of brief periods), much of present-day Vietnam, especially the northern half, was part of China. After gaining independence, Vietnam went through a history of resisting outside aggression. The French gained control of Indochina during a series of colonial wars beginning in the 1840s and lasting through the 1880s. At the post-World War I negotiations that led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Hồ Chí Minh requested that a delegation of Vietnamese be admitted in order to work toward obtaining independence for the Indochinese colonies. He hoped that the United States and in particular, President Woodrow Wilson, would support the effort. But he was sorely disappointed and Indochina's status as a colony of France remained unchanged.

During the Second World War, the government of Vichy France cooperated with Imperial Japanese forces sent to occupy Indochina. Vietnam was under de facto Japanese administrative control, although the French continued to serve as official administrators until 1944. Hồ Chi Minh returned to Vietnam and formed a Communist-dominated resistance group called the "League for the Independence of Vietnam" (better known as the Viet Minh) to oppose the Japanese in the north[4]. Ho Chi Minh's guerillas were armed and trained by the United States Office of Strategic Services (the precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency). These teams worked behind enemy lines in Indochina giving support to indigenous resistance groups, of which the Viet Minh was the largest. In 1944, the Japanese overthrew the French administration and humiliated its colonial officials in front of the Vietnamese population. The Japanese then began to encourage nationalist activity among the Vietnamese and, late in the war, granted Vietnam nominal independence.

After the war and following the Japanese surrender, Vietnamese nationalists, communists, and other groups hoped to finally take control of the country. The Japanese army in Indochina assisted the Viet Minh — Hồ's resistance army — and other Vietnamese independence groups by imprisoning French officials and soldiers and handing over public buildings to the Vietnamese. On 2 September 1945, Hồ Chí Minh declared independence from France and proclaimed the formation of a new Vietnamese government under his leadership. In his exultant speech before a huge audience in Hanoi, he cited the U.S. Declaration of Independence and a band played "The Star Spangled Banner." Hồ, who had been a member of the Third Communist International since the early 1920s, hoped that the Americans would ally themselves with a Vietnamese nationalist movement, communist or otherwise. He based this hope partly on speeches by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who opposed a revival of European colonialism after World War II. As well, he was counting on a long series of anti-colonial American pronouncements, stretching back to the War of Independence. Power politics, however, intervened. Roosevelt had changed his position to comply with Churchill's concerns that supporting Indochina's independence would set a bad precedent for Britain's own colonial holdings, notably in India.

The new Vietnamese government only lasted a few days, however, since it had been decided by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference that Vietnam would be jointly occupied by Nationalist Chinese and British forces who would supervise the Japanese surrender and repatriation.[5] The Chinese army arrived in Vietnam from north only a few days after Hồ's declaration of independence and took over areas north of the 16th parallel. The British arrived in the south in October and supervised both the surrender and departure of the Japanese army from Indochina. With these actions, the government of Hồ Chí Minh effectively ceased to exist. In the South, the French prevailed upon the British to turn control of the region back over to them.

French officials, when released from Japanese prisons at the end of September 1945, immediately sought to reassert their colonial control over the country. Despite a number of smaller clashes, the French negotiated with both the Nationalist government of China and the Viet Minh. By agreeing to give up Shanghai and its other concessions in China, the French persuaded the Chinese to allow them to return to northern Vietnam and negotiate with the Viet Minh. Hồ agreed to allow French forces to land outside of the capital, Hanoi, while France agreed to recognize an independent Vietnam within the new French Union. In the meantime, Hồ took advantage of this period of negotiations to liquidate competing nationalist groups in the north. After negotiations with Hồ collapsed over the possibility of his forming a government within the French Union in December 1946, the French bombarded Haiphong, killing thousands and then entered Hanoi. Ho and the Việt Minh fled into the mountainous north to begin a long running insurgency, marking the beginning of the First Indochina War. After the defeat of the Nationalist Chinese by the Communists in the Chinese Civil War, Chairman Mao Zedong was able to provide direct military assistance to the Viet Minh. By this method, the Viet Minh obtained more modern weapons, supplies and the expertise necessary to transform them into a more conventional military force. A long and bloody struggle ensued, with French military casaulties exceeding those of the U.S. during its involvement.

The Pentagon Papers characterized the U.S. position at the time as "ambivalent," on the one hand persuading France to support at least the concept of decolonization, while ultimately relegating the matter of direct control to French authority. During the war, Roosevelt consistently stalled French demands for U.S. help in recolonizing Vietnam, arguing privately that the country was worse off than when the French first arrived. After the war, the French persuaded the U.S. that it would, consistent with the new United Nations principles, grant some degree of liberty and independence to Indochina. However France argued that it could do so only after it regained its control. The uncertain policy meant that Indochina's fate would be likewise uncertain.

Much hinged on the perception of Hồ's communist allegiances. In the wake of WWII, it was agreed that the world would now be shaped according to three main spheres of influence (Western Hemisphere, Europe, Eurasia), in which the wartime Soviet ally would henceforth be a serious competitor to the West. America viewed the Soviet Union and its allies as a "block." As far as Washington was concerned, the entire communist world was ultimately controlled by Moscow. In spite of Hồ's eloquent pleas for U.S. recognition, the U.S. gradually accepted the argument that Ho was ultimately under "Soviet control," and could therefore be regarded as less nationalist than communist. This perception suited the French, who had for years tried various arguments to persuade the U.S. to support its goal of reconquering Indochina and to abandon its checkered anti-colonial stance. American foreign policy recognized the critical role that France would play as an ally against the Soviet Union. In the context of the post-WWII paradigm, this change in the perception of Hồ was critical. Accordingly the U.S. viewed its course of action as limited to supporting French imperialism or else indirectly supporting Soviet imperialism.


Exit of the French, 1950–1955
Main article: First Indochina War
Further information: International Control Commission, The United States and the Vietnam War#Timeline: Harry S. Truman and the Vietnam War (1945–1953), and The United States and the Vietnam War#Timeline: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Vietnam War (1953–1961)

Four power talks: Geneva, 1954In the meantime, the U.S. was supplying its French allies with military aid. The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 changed everything for the Americans. Seen from Washington, what had been a colonial war in Indochina became another example of expanding world-wide communism, directed by the Kremlin.[6] The French did nothing to discourage this view. In 1950, the U.S. Military Assistance and Advisory Group (MAAG) arrived to screen French requests for aid, advise on strategy and train Vietnamese soldiers.[7] In 1956, MAAG assumed responsibility for training the Vietnamese army.[8] By 1954, the U.S. had supplied 300,000 small arms and spent one billion dollars in support of the French military effort. The United States was shouldering 80 percent of the cost of the war.[9]

The battle of Dien Bien Phu marked the turning point for the French. As they became surrounded and bogged down in a seige, the U.S. Congress eventually refused additional military support.[10] The Viet Minh handed the French a stunning military defeat. On May 7, 1954 French forces surrendered. The French public and government had had enough. At the Geneva Conference the French negotiated a peace agreement with the Viet Minh. It allowed the French to leave Indochina and granted independence to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. However, Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel. The Viet Minh established a socialist state, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, in the North and in the South a non-communist state was established under the Emperor Bảo Đại. Ngo Dinh Diem became Prime Minister. More than 400,000 civilians and soldiers had died during the conlict.[11]


President Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles greet President Ngo Dinh Diem in Washington
The Diem era, 1955–1963
Main article: Ngo Dinh Diem

The Winston Churchill of Asia
As dictated by the Geneva Accords of 1954, the partition of Vietnam was meant to be only temporary, pending national elections in 1956. The agreement stipulated that the two military zones, which were separated by a temporary demarcation line (known as the Demilitarized Zone or DMZ), "should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary." However, the Diem government refused to hold the elections. They were encouraged by U.S. unwillingness to allow a certain Ho Chi Minh victory. This called into question the United States' committent to democracy in the region, but also raised questions about the legitimacy of any election held in the communist-run North. The U.S. supported government of South Vietnam, however, which justified its refusal to comply with the Geneva Accords by virtue of the fact it had not signed them.

The cornerstone of U.S. policy was the Domino Theory. This widely accepted idea argued that if South Vietnam were to fall to communist forces, then all of South East Asia would follow. Popularized by the Eisenhower administration, some argued that if South Vietnam fell, the next stop for communism would be Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. Thus, the Domino Theory provided a powerful motive for the American creation of a client state in southern Vietnam.

Diem was an unlikely prospect to lead the Vietnamese people. A devout Roman Catholic, he was aloof, closed-minded, and trusted only the members of his immediate family. For the U.S., however, he was a godsend. He was fervently anti-communist and was untainted by any connection to the French. He was the only prominent Vietnamese nationalist who could claim both attributes. In April and June of 1955, Diem (against U.S. advice) cleared the decks of any political opposition by launching military operations against the Cao Dai religious sect, the Buddhist Hoa Hao, and the Binh Xuyen organized crime group (which was allied with the secret police and some army elements).

Beginning in the summer of 1955, Diem launched a 'Denounce the Communists' campaign, during which communists and other anti-government elements were arrested, imprisoned, tortured or executed. During this period refugees and re-groupees moved across the demarcation line in both directions. It was estimated that around 52,000 Vietnamese civilians moved from south to north. 450,000 people, primarily Catholics, travelled from the north to south, in aircraft and ships provided by the France and U.S.[12] CIA propaganda efforts increased the outflow with slogans such as "the Virgin Mary is going South." The northern refugees were meant to give Diem a strongly anti-communist constituency.[13]

In a referendum on the future of the monarchy, Diem rigged the poll and received 98.2 percent of the vote. This American advisors had recommended a winning margin of 60 to 70 percent. Diem, however, viewed the election as a test of authority. [14] Emperor Bao Dai left the country. On October 26, 1955, Diem declared the new "Republic of Vietnam," with himself as president. [15] After the referendum, the United States agreed to provide military aid to South Vietnam and train its armed forces. Ho Chi Minh accepted Soviet assistance.

As a wealthy Catholic, Diem was viewed by many ordinary Vietnamese as part of the old elite that had helped the French rule Vietnam. The majority of Vietnamese where Buddhists. So his attack on the Buddhist community only served to deepen mistrust. Diem's human rights abuses further alienated the population. As opposition to Diem's rule in South Vietnam grew, a low-level insurgency began to take shape in 1957. It was conducted mainly by Viet Minh cadres who had remained in the south and had hidden caches of weapons, in case unification failed to take place through elections. Four hundred government officials were assasinated throughout the year. In May, Diem undertook a ten day state visit of the U.S. There, President Eisenhower pledged continued support for his government. A parade in New York city was held in his honor.

In late 1956, one of the leading communists in the south, Lê Duẩn, returned to Hanoi to urge that the Vietnam Workers' Party take a firmer stand on national reunification. But Hanoi hesitated in launching a full-scale military struggle. Finally, in January 1959, under pressure from southern cadres who were being successfully targeted by Diem's secret police, the north's Central Committee issued a secret resolution authorizing an armed struggle in the South. Diem enacted tough new anti-communist laws. Inflitration of men and weapons from the north began along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. On December 12, 1960, under instructions from Hanoi, southern communists established the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NFL) to overthrow the government. The NLF was made up of two distinct groups: South Vietnamese nationalist intellectuals who opposed the government and communists who had remained in the south after the partition. While there were many non-communist members of the NLF, they were subject to party control and increasingly side-lined as the conflict continued. They did, however, enable the NLF to portray itself as a nationalist movement.

John F. Kennedy won the 1960 U.S. presidential election. In May, 1961, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson visited Saigon. He proudly declared Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia." [16] Johnson promised more aid. Money, equipement and men were shipped overseas, in order to mold a fighting force that could resist the communists. The quality, however, of the South Vietnamese military remained consistently poor. Bad leadership, corruption and political interference all played a part in emasculating the military. The number of U.S. military advisors ballooned, as control of the country steadily slipped from the fingers of the government. The frequency of guerilla attacks rose, as the insurgency gathered steam. Hanoi's support for the NLF played a significant role in the deteriorating situation. But South Vietnamese governmental incompetence also contributed to the worsening climate. When Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow visited in October, they recommend to Kennedy that U.S. troops be sent to South Vietnam disguised as flood relief workers. Kennedy rejected idea, but increased military assistance to the Diem regime yet again. By mid-1962, the number of U.S. military adviors rose from 700 to 12,000.


South Vietnam, Military Regions, 1967
Coup and assassinations
See also: The United States and the Vietnam War#Timeline: John F. Kennedy and Vietnam (1961–1963) and The United States and the Vietnam War#Kennedy and Vietnam
Some policy-makers in Washington began to conclude that Diem was incapable of defeating the communists and some even feared that he might make a deal with Ho Chi Minh. He seemed more concerned with protecting his power base, rather than fighting the guerrillas. During the summer of 1963 administration officials began discussing the possibility of a regime change in Saigon. The State Department was generally in favor of encouraging a coup. Pentagon and CIA were more alert to the destabilizing consequences of such an act and wanted to continue applying pressure on Diem to make political reforms.

Chief among the proposed changes was the removal of his younger brother Ngo Dinh Nhu. Nhu was in charge of South Vietnam's secret police and was seen as the man behind the Buddhist repression. As Diem's most powerful advisor, Nhu (and his wife) had become a hated figure in South Vietnam and one whose continued influence was unacceptable to the Kennedy administration. Eventually, the administration decided that Diem was unwilling to modify his policies and the decision was made to pull U.S. support. This choice was made jointly by the State Department, Pentagon, National Security Council and the CIA. President Kennedy agreed with the consensus.

In November 1963, the CIA was in contact with military officers planning to remove Diem. They were told that the United States would support such a move. The president was overthrown and executed along with his brother on November 2, 1963. After the coup, Kennedy appeared to be genuinely shocked and dismayed by the murders. Top CIA officials were baffled that Kennedy didn't understand that this was a possible outcome.[citation needed]

Following the coup chaos ensued. Hanoi took advantage of the situation and increased its support for the insurgents in the south. South Vietnam now entered a period of extreme political instability, as one military junta replaced another in quick succession. Kennedy increased the number of U.S. military advisors to 16,000, in order to cope with rising guerilla activity. Ironically, he was himself assassinated on November 22, 1963 just three weeks after Diệm. He was automatically succeeded by Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who declared on November 24, that the U.S. would continue its support of the South Vietnamese. By the end of the year Saigon had received $500 million in military aid.

The Cold War paradigms of containment and the domino theory were in their heyday. From a U.S. geopolitical standpoint, the conflict was to deter a perceived strategy of global aggression directed by the Soviet Union and articulated through its allies. The Saigon government and Washington portrayed their military actions as defensive. As far as the North Vietnamese and the NLF were concerned, the conflict was a struggle to reunite their homeland and to repel foreign aggression and neo-colonialism - battle cries that were a virtual repeat of those of the war against the French.


Escalation and Americanization, 1963-1968
For more details on this topic, see The United States and the Vietnam War#Americanization.
See also: Opposition to the Vietnam War and Gulf of Tonkin Incident

U.S. F-105 aircraft dropping bombs.On August 2, 1964, just days after the U.S. increased the number of military advisers in South Vietnam to 21,000, a U.S. destroyer reported being attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was on an intelligence mission in support of covert South Vietnamese operations along North Vietnam's coast. A second attack was reported two days later. The circumstances of the attack were murky. It is possible that a radar malfunction led the crew to believe they were under attack. Lyndon Johnson commented to his Undersecreatry of State George Ball that "those sailors out there may have been shooting at flying fish."[17]The second attack led to retaliatory air strikes by the U.S. and prompted Congress to approve the South East Asia Resolution, commonly known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The resolution gave the president power to conduct military operations in South East Asia without a declaration of war. It was later revealed that the second attack never occurred. Rather, reaction to the attack came to be viewed as a piece of political theater, orchestrated by the Johnson administration, in order to gain approval for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.[18]

The National Security Council recommended that Johnson adopt a plan for a three-stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam. On March 2, 1965, following an attack on a U.S. Marine barracks at Pleiku (see Operation Flaming Dart), Operation Rolling Thunder commenced. The bombing campaign, which would ultimately last three years, was intended to force North Vietnam to cease its support for the NLF in South Vietnam by threatening to destroy North Vietnam's air defenses and its transportation and industrial infrastructure. As well, it was intented to bolster the morale of the South Vietnamese.[19] Bombing was not restricted to North Vietnam, and other aerial campaigns, such as Operation Commando Hunt, targeted different parts of the NLF and PAVN infrastructure, including their supply chains (most famously the Ho Chi Minh Trail) that ran through Laos, Cambodia and of course South Vietnam.

After several attacks it was decided that U.S. Air Force bases in South Vietnam needed more protection. The South Vietnamese military seemed incapable of providing security. On 8 March 1965, 3,500 United States Marines were dispatched to South Vietnam. This marked the begining of the American ground war and was an open ended commitment by Washington to fight its ally's war. Due to attacks from the NLF, Operation Starlite began as the first major ground operation by U.S. troops and proved largely successful. Learning from their defeat, the NLF began to engage in small-unit guerrilla warfare instead of conventional American-style warfare. This allowed them to control the pace of the fighting, engaging in battle only when they believed they had a decisive advantage.


The Ho Chi Minh Trail, 1967Under the command of General Westmoreland, the U.S. dramatically increased its troop commitment in Vietnam from 21,000 military advisers in 1964 to more than 553,000 servicemen by 1969. The country was also flooded by civilian specialists from every conceivable field, many hired by the U.S. to advise the South Vietnamese government and improve its performance. Washington encouraged its allies to contribute troops. Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines all agreed to send in troops, which were supported by U.S. aid and logistics. Major U.S. allies, however, notably European nations, Canada and Great Britain declined Washington's troop requests.[20] The U.S. and its allies mounted complex operations, such as operations Masher, Attleboro, Cedar Falls, and Junction City. However, communist forces remained elusive and demonstrated great tactical flexibility. The Americanization of the war was an implicite acknowledgement that the government of South Vietnamese was unable to prosecute the conflict successfully on its own.

Meanwhile, the political situation in South Vietnam began to stabilize with the coming to power of Nguyen Van Thieu as President and Nguyen Cao Ky as Vice President in 1967. This ended a long series of military juntas that had begun with Diem's assassination in 1963. The relative calm allowed the ARVN to collaborate more effectively with their western allies and to become a more effective force in the war.


General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes an NLF officer in Saigon during the Tet Offensive.Having lured General Westmoreland's forces into the hinterland at Khe Sanh[21], in January 1968, the PAVN and NLF broke the truce that had traditionally accompanied the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. They launched the surprise Tet Offensive in the hope of sparking a national uprising. Over 100 cities were attacked. Although the U.S. and South Vietnamese were initially taken aback by the scale of the urban offensive, they responded quickly and decimated the ranks of the NLF. After the war North Vietnamese officials acknowledged that the Tet Offensive caused grave damage to the Viet Cong (NLF) guerilla forces. But the offensive had another unintended consequence.

General Westmoreland had became the public face of the war. He was featured on the cover of Time magazine three times and was named 1965's Man of the Year.[22] Time described him as "the snewy personification of the American fighting man .... (who) directed the historic buildup, drew up the battle plans, and infused the ... men under him with his own idealistic view of U.S. aimes and responsibilities." [23] In November 1967, Westmoreland spearheaded a public relations drive for the Johnson administration to bloster flagging public support.[24] In a speech before the National Press Club he said that a point in the war had been reached "where the end comes into view." [25] Thus, the public was shocked and confused when Westmoreland's predictions were trumped by the Tet a few months later. [26]The American media, which had been largely supportive of U.S. efforts, rounded on the Johnson administration, for what it described as a widening "creditility gap." By the end of 1967, over a 1000 U.S. combat deaths were reported each month. [27] In January, 1,163 U.S. troops were killed; in February the number rose to 2,197 and in the three following months 5,000 more were killed.[28] Despite its military failure, the Tet Offensive became a political victory and ended the career of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who declined to run for re-election. Johnson's approval rating slumped from 48% to 36%. [29] As James Witz noted, Tet "contradicted the claims of progress ... made by the Johnson administration and the military." [30] The Tet Offensive was the turning point in America's involvement in the Vietnam War and had a devastating impact on domestic support for the conflict. The offensive constituted a serious intelligence failure. [31] Westmoreland was promoted to Army Chief of Staff in March. The move was technically a promotion. However, his position had become untentable, because of the Tet Offensive and because his request for troop increases that had been leaked to the press. "Westy" was succeeded by his deputy Creighton Adams.


Vietnamese children flee an ARVN napalm strike in their village. This picture was to become one of the most common reminders of the war.On May 10, 1968, in spite of low expectations, peace talks began in Paris between the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). Negotiations stagnated for five months, until Johnson gave preliminary orders to halt the bombing of North Vietnam. This gave an electoral boost to the Democratic candidate, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, who was running against Republican former Vice-President Richard Nixon. Through an intermediary, Nixon advised Saigon to refuse to participate in the talks until after elections, claiming that Nixon would give them a better deal once elected. Thieu obliged, leaving almost no progress made in the negotiations by the time Johnson left office.


Vietnamization and American withdrawal, 1969–1973
Further information: The United States and the Vietnam War#Vietnamization and American Withdrawal, 1969–1974
During the 1968 presidential election, Nixon had promised to bring "peace with honor". The means he later used to achieve this was to build up the armed forces of America's allies until they could take responsibility for their own defense (the Nixon Doctrine), while simultaneously pursuing negotiations. The Nixon Doctrine, when applied to Vietnam, became known as "Vietnamization". The war in general shifted to smaller operations aimed at NLF logistics, better use of power, more cooperation with the South Vietnamese, and more openness in the media. Nixon also began to pursue détente with the Soviet Union, and rapprochement with China and other communist nations, helping to decrease anti-war opposition in the United States itself and ease global tensions generally. This caused a short era of détente that led to nuclear arms reduction on the part of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. However, the anti-war movement was strengthened by incidents such as the leak of the Pentagon Papers, the revelations of the My Lai Massacre, and the Kent State Shootings. And to Nixon's disappointment, China and the Soviet Union continued to supply the North Vietnamese with materiél and financial aid in order to prove their "fraternal socialist links" with Hanoi, despite their increased interest in a negotiated settlement.

Due to a change of stance on the part of Cambodian leader Prince Sihanouk in 1969, the North Vietnamese were no longer welcome to use the Ho Chi Minh Trail; President Nixon took this as an opportunity to launch a massive secret bombing campaign, called Operation Menu, against the PAVN/NLF bases and sanctuaries along Cambodia's eastern border. Over 14 months, approximately 2,750,000 short tons of bombs were dropped, more than the total tonnage dropped by the Allies in all of World War II. In 1970, Cambodian Prince Sihanouk was deposed while out of the country on a state visit, and replaced by the pro-American general Lon Nol. The country's borders were immediately closed off, and the U.S. and its South Vietnamese allies launched incursions into Cambodia to attack PAVN/NLF bases and buy time for South Vietnam. The coup against Sihanouk and the heavy U.S. bombing gravely destabilized Cambodia and increased support for the Communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas.

In 1971, the ARVN launched Operation Lam Son 719, aimed at the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. This operation was a fiasco and seen as a failure for Vietnamization[citation needed]; Australia and New Zealand withdrew their soldiers. Nonetheless the U.S. troop count was further reduced to 196,700, with a deadline to remove another 45,000 troops by February 1972.


The Nguyen Hue Offensive, 1972; part of the Easter offensive.Vietnamization was severely tested by the Easter Offensive of 1972, a massive conventional invasion of South Vietnam by PAVN forces. The PAVN/NLF quickly invaded the northern provinces of South Vietnam and in co-ordination with another attack from Cambodia, threatened to divide the country in half. Although U.S. troop withdrawals continued despite the attack, American airpower came to the rescue of the South Vietnamese Operation Linebacker and the offensive was halted. However, it became clear that without American airpower South Vietnam would not have survived. The last remaining American ground combat troops were withdrawn in August. But a force of civilian and military advisors remained in place.

The war was the central issue of the 1972 presidential election, with Nixon's opponent, George McGovern, campaigning on a platform of withdrawal from Vietnam. Nixon's National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, had continued secret negotiations with North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho. In October 1972, they came to an agreement. However, South Vietnamese President Thieu demanded massive changes to the peace agreement. When North Vietnam went public with the agreement's details, the Nixon administration claimed that North Vietnam's negotiators were attempting to undermine the proceedings and embarrass the President. The negotiations became deadlocked, with Hanoi demanding changes of its own to counter those of Thieu. To show his support for South Vietnam and force Hanoi back to the negotiating table, Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II, a massive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong. The offensive destroyed much of the economic and industrial capacity of North Vietnam. Simultaneously Nixon pressured Thieu to accept the terms of the agreement, threatening to conclude a bilateral peace with North Vietnam and end American aid.


Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger (fourth and fifth from the left, respectively)On 15 January 1973, Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action against North Vietnam, to be followed by a unilateral withdrawal of the remaining U.S. forces. The Paris Peace Accords on 'Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam' were signed on 27 January, 1973, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. A cease-fire was declared across South Vietnam, but North Vietnamese forces were allowed to remain on the South Vietnamese territory they had seized; U.S. POWs were released, and both sides agreed to seek a political solution to the future of South Vietnam.

Nixon had promised Thieu that he would use airpower to enforce the agreement. The growing Watergate scandal and an American public tired of the war in Vietnam, however, made it impossible for Nixon to keep his promise. The balance of power shifted decisively in North Vietnam's favor.


South Vietnam stands alone, 1973–1975

Total U.S. withdrawal
Further information: Watergate scandal
In December 1974, the Democratic majority in Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1974, which cut off all military funding to the South Vietnamese government and made unenforceable the peace terms negotiated by Nixon. Nixon, threatened with impeachment because of Watergate, had resigned his office. Gerald R. Ford, Nixon's vice-president stepped in to finish his term. The new president vetoed the Foreign Assistance Act, but his veto was overridden by Congress.

By 1975, South Vietnamese Army was much larger on paper then its opponent. But they faced a well-organized, highly determined and well-funded North Vietnam. Much of the North's material and financial support came from the communist block. Within South Vietnam, there was increasing chaos. The withdrawal of the American military had compromised an economy dependant on U.S. financial support and the presence of large numbers of troops. Along with the rest of the non-oil exporting world, South Vietnam suffered from the price shocks caused by the Arab oil embargo and the subsequent global recession.

Between the signing of the 1973 Paris Peace Accord and late 1974 both antagonists had been satisfied with minor land-grabs. The North Vietnamese, however, were growing impatient with the Thieu regime, which remained intransigent on the issue of national reunification. Hanoi was also concerned that the U.S. would, once again, support its former ally if large scale operations were resumed.

By late 1974, the Politburo gave its permission for a limited VPA offensive from Cambodia into Phuoc Long Province. The strike was designed to solve local logistical problems, gauge the reaction of Saigon forces and determine if the U.S. would return to the fray. In late December and early January the offensive kicked off and Phuoc Long Province quickly fell to the VPA. There was considerable relief when American air power did not return. The speed of this success forced the Politburo to reassess the situation. It was decided that operations in the Central Highlands would be turned over to General Van Tien Dung and that Pleiku should be seized, if possible. Before he left for the south, General Van was addressed by First Party Secretary Le Duan: "Never have we had military and political conditions so perfect or a strategic advantage as great as we have now."[32]


Campaign 275
On 10 March, 1975, the General Dung launched Campaign 275, a limited offensive into the Central Highlands, supported by tanks and heavy artillery. The target was Ban Me Thuot, in Darlac Province. If the town could be taken, the provincial capital of Pleiku and the road to the coast would be exposed for a planned campaign in 1976. The ARVN proved incapable of resisting the onslaught and its forces collapsed on 11 March. Once again, Hanoi was surprised by the speed of their success. Van now urged the Politburo to allow him to seize Pleiku immediately and then turn his attention to Kontum. He argued that with two months of good weather remaining until the onset of the monsoon, it would be irresponsible to not take advantage of the situation.

President Thieu, himself a former general, now made a strategic blunder. Fearful that the bulk of his forces would be cut off in the northern provinces and Central Highlands, Thieu ordered his remaining forces to retreat southward, in what he declared was a "lighten the top and keep the bottom" strategy. But the withdrawal soon turned into a bloody rout, as the VPA suddenly attacked from the north. While the bulk of ARVN forces attempted to flee, isolated units fought desperately. ARVN General Phu abandoned Pleiku and Kontum and retreated toward the coast, in what became known as the "column of tears". As the ARVN attempted to disengage from the enemy, refugees mixed in with the line of retreat. Roads and bridges, already destroyed by years of conflict, slowed Phu's column. As the North Vietnamese got nearer, panick set in. Often abondoned by their officers, the leaderless soldiers and the civilians were shelled incessantly. The retreat degenerated into a desperate scamble to reach the coast. By 1 April the "column of tears" was all but annihilated. It marked one of the poorest examples of a strategic withdrawl in modern military history.

On 20 March, Thieu reversed himself and ordered Hue, Vietnam's third-largest city, be held at all costs. But as the North Vietnamese attacked, panic set in and ARVN resistance withered. On 22 March, the VPA opened the siege of Hue. Civilians flooded the airport and the docks hoping for any mode of escape. Some even swam out to sea, in order to reach boats and barges anchored offshore. In the confusion, routed ARVN soldiers fired on civilians to make way for their retreat. On 31 March, after a three-day battle, Hue fell. As resistance in Hue collapsed, North Vietnamese rockets rained down on Da Nang and its airport. By the 28 March, 35,000 VPA troops were poised to attack the suburbs. By the 30th, 100,000 leaderless ARVN troops surrendered as the VPA marched victoriously through Da Nang. With the fall of the city, the defense of the Central Highlands and Northern provinces came to an end.


Final North Vietnamese offensive
Main article: Ho Chi Minh Campaign
With the northern half of the country under their control, the Politburo ordered General Van to launch the final offensive against Saigon. The operational plan for the Ho Chi Minh Campaign called for the capture of Saigon before 1 May. Hanoi wished to avoid the coming monsoon and prevent any redeployment of ARVN forces defending the capital. Northern forces, their morale boosted by their recent victories, rolled on, taking Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, and Da Lat.

On 7 April, three North Vietnamese divisions attacked Xuan-loc, 40 miles east of Saigon. They met fierce resistance from the ARVN 18th Infantry Division. For two bloody weeks, severe fighting raged as the ARVN defenders, in a last-ditch effort, tried to block their advance. By 21 April, however, the exhausted garrison surrendered. An embittered and tearful President Thiệu resigned on the same day, declaring that the United States had betrayed South Vietnam. He left for Taiwan on 25 April, leaving control of the government in the hands of General Duong Van Minh. At the same time, North Vietnamese tanks had reached Bien Hoa and turned towards Saigon, brushing aside isolated ARVN units along the way.

By the end of April, the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam had collapsed on all fronts. On the 27th, 100,000 North Vietnamese troops encircled Saigon. The city was defended by about 30,000 ARVN troops. In order to hasten a collaspe and forment panic, the VPA shelled the airport and forced its closure. With the air exit closed, large numbers of civilians found that they had no way out. On 29 April, the U.S. launched Operation Frequent Wind, arguably the largest helicopter evacuation in history.


Fall of Saigon

Vietnamese civilians scramble to board an Air America helicopter during Operation Frequent WindMain articles: Fall of Saigon and Operation Frequent Wind
Chaos, unrest, and panic ensued as hysterical South Vietnamese officials and civilians scrambled to leave Saigon. American helicopters began evacuating both U.S. and South Vietnamese citizens from the U.S. embassy. The evacuations had been delayed until the last possible moment due to U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin's belief that Saigon could be held and that a political settlement could be reached with the communists. The evacuations began in an atmosphere of desperation, as hysterical crowds of Vietnamese vied for limited seats on the helicopters. Martin pleaded with the U.S. government to dispatch $700 million in emergency aid to bolster the regime and help it to mobilize fresh military reserves. But American public opinion had long soured on this conflict halfway around the world.

In the U.S., South Vietnam was now perceived as doomed. President Ford had given a televised speech on April 23, declaring the end of both the Vietnam War and of all U.S. aid to Saigon. The evacuations continued day and night, as North Vietnamese tanks breached defenses on the outskirts of the city. In the early morning hours of 30 April, the last U.S. Marines evacuated the embassy roof by helicopter, as civilians swamped the embassy perimeter and poured into the grounds. Many of them had been employed by the Americans and were now left to their fate.

On that day, VPA troops overcame all resistance, quickly capturing the U.S. embassy, the South Vietnamese General Staff, the police headquarters, the airport, the radio station, the Presidential Palace, and other vital facilities. Tanks broke down the gates of the Presidental Palace and the NLF flag was raised over it. Thieu's successor, President Dương Văn Minh attempted to surrender Saigon, but VPA Colonel Búi Tín informed him that he did not have anything left to surrender. Minh then issued his last command, ordering all South Vietnamese troops to lay down their arms.


Aftermath
Main articles: Mayagüez Incident, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Democratic Kampuchea, and Third Indochina War
The last official American military action in Southeast Asia occurred on 15 May 1975, when 18 Marines were killed during a rescue operation known as the Mayagüez incident.

The dire predictions of a generation did not come to fruition. The Domino Theory, so widely trumpeted, prove an illusion. South East Asia did not collaspe into the arms of communism. The idea of a monolithic communist block also proved to be misguided, as Nixon pried China away from its traditional ally, the Soviet Union. Vietnam, without the presence of the United States, showed itself to be of little economic or stategic value. The American position in Asia remained unaltered by the loss. Far from undermining its credibility abroad,[33] in 1972 the United States signed a strategic arms limitation treaty with its arch foe the Soviet Union. At home, a generation of Americans struggled to absorb the lessons of military intervension without clear motives or objectives.[34] The war demontrated that no power, not even a superpower, has unlimited strength and resources. But perhaps most significantly, the Vietnam War illustrated that political will, as much as material might, is a decisive factor in the outcome of conflicts.


Other countries' involvement

Soviet Union
The Soviet Union supplied North Vietnam with medical supplies, arms, tanks, planes, helicopters, artillery, ground-air missiles and other military equipment. Hundreds of military advisors were sent to train the Vietnamese army. Soviet pilots acted as training cadre and many have flown combat missions as "volunteers". Fewer than a dozen Soviet citizens lost their lives in this conflict. After the war Moscow became Hanoi's main ally.


People's Republic of China
The People's Republic of China's involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1949, when the communists took over the country. In the summer of 1962, Mao Zedong agreed to supply Hanoi with 90,000 rifles and guns free of charge. After the launch of Operation Rolling Thunder, China sent anti-aircraft units and engineering battalions to North Vietnam to repair the damage caused by American bombing, rebuild roads, railroads and to perform other engineering works. This freed North Vietnamese army units for combat in the South. Between 1965 and 1970 over 320,000 Chinese soldiers served in North Vietnam. The peak was 1967, when 170,000 served there. Although Chinese assistance was accepted gladly, the North Vietnamese remained distrustful of their larger neighbour. This was due to the historical antipathy between the two nations. The People's Republic of China briefly launched an invasion of Vietnam in 1979. In April 2006, a ceremony was held in Vietnam to honor the almost 1100 Chinese soldiers who were killed in the Vietnam War.


Republic of Korea
The military of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) had the second-largest contingent of foreign troops in South Vietnam. South Korea dispatched its first troops in 1964. Large combat battalions began arriving a year later. South Korean troops developed a reputation for ruthlessness. A total of approximately 300,000 South Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam. As with the United States, soldiers served one year, and then were replaced with new soldiers, from 1964 until 1973. The maximum number of South Korean troops in Vietnam at any one time was 50,000. More than 5,000 South Koreans were killed and 11,000 were injured in the war.


Democratic People's Republic of Korea
As a result of a decision of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1966, in early 1967, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese 921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi. They stayed through 1968, and 200 pilots were reported to have served.[35] In addition, at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well. North Korea also sent weapons, ammunition and two million sets of uniforms to their comrades in North Vietnam.[36] Kim Il Sung is reported to have told his pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky were their own".[37][38][39]


Australia and New Zealand
Main article: Military history of Australia during the Vietnam War

New Zealand forces with Viet Cong prisoners during the Vietnam WarAs U.S. allies under the ANZUS Treaty, Australia and New Zealand sent ground troops to Vietnam. Both nations had gained valuable experience in counterinsurgency and jungle warfare during the Malayan Emergency. Geographically close to Asia, they subscribed to the Domino Theory of communist expansion and felt that their national security would be threatened if communism spread further in Southeast Asia. Australia's peak commitment was 7,672 combat troops, New Zealand's 552 and most of these soldiers served in the 1st Australian Task Force which was based in Phuoc Tuy Province. Australia re-introduced conscription to expand its army in the face of significant public opposition to the war. Like the U.S., Australia began by sending advisers to Vietnam, the number of which rose steadily until 1965, when combat troops were committed. New Zealand began by sending a detachment of engineers and an artillery battery, and then started sending Special Forces and regular infantry. Several Australian and New Zealand units were awarded U.S. unit citations for their service in South Vietnam. The ANZUS forces were cohesive and well-disclipined.


Thailand
Thai Army formations, including the "Queen's Cobra" battalion saw action in South Vietnam between 1965 and 1971. Thai forces saw much more action in the covert war in Laos between 1964 and 1972. There, Thai regular formations were heavily outnumbered by the irregular "volunteers" of the CIA-sponsored Police Aerial Reconnaissance Units or PARU, who carried out reconnaissance activities on the western side of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The activities of these personnel remain one of the great unknown stories of the Southeast Asian conflict.


Canada
Canadian, Indian and Polish troops formed the International Control Commission, which was supposed to monitor the 1954 ceasefire agreement. The Canadian government also lent diplomatic assistance to the United States in order to establish contact with the North Vietnamese regime. The government of Prime Minister Lester Pearson resisted considerable U.S. pressure to send troops to Vietnam. Although not a major arms supplier, Canadian made military hardware was used in Vietnam, including large amounts of Agent Orange. Most Canadians who served in the Vietnam War were members of the United States military with estimated numbers ranging from 2,500 to 3,000. Most became U.S. citizens upon returning from Vietnam or were dual citizens prior to joining the military.[40] The Canadian government gave political asylum to significant numbers of American deserters and draft dogders during the conflict. Many returned to the United States after a pardon was issued by President Jimmy Carter.


Use of chemical defoliants
One of the most controversial aspects (and certainly the longest lasting in its effects) of the U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia was the wide-spread use of herbicides between 1961 and 1971, which were utilized to remove plant cover from large areas. These chemicals continue to change the landscape, cause diseases, and poison the food-chain in the areas where they were sprayed.

Early in the American effort, the U.S. military decided that, since PAVN/NLF activities were being hidden by triple-canopy jungle and undergrowth, a useful first step might be to "defoliate" areas, especially those surrounding base camps (both large and small) in what became known as Operation Ranch Hand. Corporations like Dow and Monsanto were given the task of developing herbicides for this purpose. The defoliants (which were distributed in drums marked with color-coded bands) included the Rainbow Herbicides Agent Pink, Agent Green, Agent Purple, Agent Blue, Agent White, and, most famously, the dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange. About 12 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed over Southeast Asia during the American commitment. A prime area of Ranch Hand operations was in the Mekong Delta, where the U.S. Navy patrol boats were vulnerable to attack from the undergrowth at the water's edge.


U.S. helicopter spraying chemical defoliants in South VietnamIn 1961-1962, the Kennedy administration authorized the use of chemical weapons to destroy rice crops. Between 1961 and 1967, the U.S. Air Force sprayed 20 million U.S. gallons (76,000 m³) of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres (24,000 km²) of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13 percent of South Vietnam's land. In 1997, an article published by the Wall Street Journal reported that up to half a million children were born with dioxin-related deformities, and that the birth defects in southern Vietnam were fourfold those in the north. The use of chemical defoliants may have been contrary to international rules of war at the time. A 1967 study by the Agronomy Section of the Japanese Science Council concluded that 3.8 million acres (15,000 km²) of foliage had been destroyed, possibly also leading to the deaths of 1,000 peasants and 13,000 pieces of livestock.

As of 2006, the Vietnamese government estimates that there are over 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam, although the United States government denies any conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and the Vietnamese victims of dioxin poisoning. In some areas of southern Vietnam dioxin levels remain at over 100 times the accepted international standard.[41]

The U.S. Veterans Administration has listed prostate cancer, respiratory cancers, multiple myeloma, type II diabetes, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, peripheral neuropathy, and spina bifida in children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange as possible side effects of their parent's exposure to the herbicides. [citation needed] Although there has been much discussion over whether the use of these defoliants constituted a violation of the laws of war, it must be noted that the defoliants were not considered weapons, since exposure to them did not lead to immediate death or even incapacitation.

THE IRAQ WAR:

The Iraq War (March 20, 2003 to present), sometimes known as the Second Gulf War,[23] is an ongoing war that resumed with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The coalition overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and occupied Iraq in an attempt to establish a new governmental regime. However, the coalition was unsuccessful at restoring order to the entire country, leading to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil warfare between Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al Qaeda terror operations in Iraq.[24][25] Despite this failure to restore order, a growing number of coalition nations have decided to withdraw troops from Iraq.[26] The causes and consequences of the war remain controversial.[27][21][18]

Contents [hide]
1 Timeline of the war
1.1 1991-2003: the no-fly zones
1.2 2002-2003: Iraq disarmament crisis
1.3 2003: Invasion
1.3.1 April 2003: Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group
1.3.2 May 2003: "End of major combat"
1.3.3 December 2003: Saddam captured
1.4 2004: The insurgency expands
1.4.1 April 2004: The First Battle of Fallujah
1.4.2 Early-mid 2004: The Shi'ite south
1.4.3 June 2004: Iraqi Interim government and the Battle of Najaf
1.4.4 November 2004: The Second Battle of Fallujah
1.5 2005: Elections and sovereignty transferred to Iraqi Transitional Government
1.5.1 August 2005: Increasing instability and renewed fighting
1.5.2 December 2005: Iraqi legislative election
1.6 2006: Permanent Iraqi government and possible outbreak of civil war
1.6.1 February 2006: Al-Askari shrine bombing and Sunni-Shia fighting
1.6.2 May 2006: Permanent Iraqi Government takes power
1.6.3 Fall 2006: Increased sectarian violence
1.6.4 November 2006: Change at the Pentagon, Sadr City bombing
1.6.5 December 2006: Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution
1.7 2007: U.S. troop surge
1.7.1 January 2007: Bush's "New Way Forward" confronts Iran
1.7.2 February 2007
2 Recent history
3 Troop deployment 2003 to current
3.1 United Nations
4 Armed Iraqi groups: insurgents and militias
4.1 Insurgents
4.2 Militias
5 Iraq War and U.S. War on Terrorism
6 Casualties
6.1 Iraqi
6.1.1 Iraqi healthcare deterioration
6.1.2 Iraqi refugees
7 Financial costs
7.1 U.S. equipment losses
8 Criticism
8.1 Calls for withdrawal from Iraq
8.2 Criticism of military strategy
8.3 Human rights abuses
9 References
10 See also
11 External articles



Timeline of the war

1991-2003: the no-fly zones
Main: Iraqi no-fly zones
See also: United Nations Security Council Resolution 688, Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Southern Focus, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Southern Watch, Iraqi Kurdistan, Oil-for-Food Programme
Following the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations mandated that Iraqi chemical, biological, nuclear, and long range missile programs be verifiably halted and all such weapons verifiably destroyed. (Res. 687) U.N. weapons inspectors inside Iraq were able to verify the destruction of a large amount of WMD-material, but substantial issues remained unresolved after they left Iraq in 1998 due to the lack of cooperation by the Iraqi government.

Prior to the invasion, the United States and the United Kingdom (accompanied by France until 1998) had been engaged in a low-level conflict with Iraq, by enforcing the two Iraqi no-fly zones in the north and the south of the country. These zones were created following the Persian Gulf War. Iraqi air-defense installations repeatedly targeted American and British air patrols and were often engaged by the coalition aircraft shortly afterwards.

Approximately nine months after the 9/11 attacks, the United States initiated Operation Southern Focus as a change to its response strategy, by increasing the overall number of missions and selecting targets throughout the no-fly zones in order to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. The weight of bombs dropped increased from none in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 8 and 14 tons per month in May-August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6 tons in September 2002.


2002-2003: Iraq disarmament crisis
Main: Iraq disarmament crisis (Timeline)
See also: Governments' pre-war positions on invasion of Iraq, Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq, The UN Security Council and the Iraq war, American government position on invasion of Iraq, Legitimacy of the invasion, Iraq and weapons of mass destruction,
The issue of Iraq's disarmament reached a crisis in 2002-2003, when U.S. President George W. Bush demanded a complete end to alleged Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq comply with UN Resolutions requiring UN inspectors unfettered access to areas those inspectors thought might have weapons production facilities. Iraq had been banned by the United Nations from developing or possessing such weapons since the 1991 Gulf War. It was also required to permit inspections to confirm Iraqi compliance. Bush repeatedly backed demands for unfettered inspection and disarmament with threats of invasion.

Iraq reluctantly agreed to new inspections in late 2002. The inspectors didn't find any WMD stockpiles, but they did not view Iraqi declarations as credible either.

In early 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, and Spain proposed another resolution on Iraq, which they called the "eighteenth resolution" to give Iraq a deadline to comply with previous resolutions before a possible military intervention. This proposed resolution was subsequently withdrawn because not enough countries would have supported it. In particular, NATO members France and Germany, together with Russia, were opposed to a military intervention in Iraq, on the ground that it would be very risky, in terms of security, for the international community, and defended a diplomatic process of disarmament. On January 20, 2003, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "...we believe that military intervention would be the worst solution".[28]

In March 2003 the U.S. government announced that "diplomacy has failed" and that it would proceed with a coalition of allied countries, named "coalition of the willing", to rid Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. Iraq's disarmament was supported by a majority of Congress, who passed the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq on the 11 October 2002. This authorization was used by the Bush Administration as the legal basis for the United States to invade Iraq.

On September 16, 2004 Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, speaking on the invasion, said, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."[29]


2003: Invasion
Main articles: 2003 invasion of Iraq, 2003 Iraq war timeline, and List of people associated with the 2003 invasion of Iraq
See also: Military operations of the Iraq War for a list of all Coalition operations for this period, Iraq War order of battle
The 2003 invasion of Iraq began on March 20, under the U.S. codename "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The British military's codename for their participation in the invasion was called Operation Telic. The coalition forces cooperated with Kurdish peshmerga forces in the north. Approximately forty other nations, dubbed "coalition of the willing," also participated by providing equipment, services and security as well as special forces. The initial coalition military forces were roughly 300,900, of which 98% of whom were U.S. and British troops. The invasion, on March 20, 2003, marked the the beginning of the war.


April 2003: Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Survey Group
Main articles: Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq Survey Group, and Iraqi Governing Council
See also: International Advisory and Monitoring Board, CPA Program Review Board, Development Fund for Iraq, Reconstruction of Iraq
Shortly after the invasion, the multinational coalition created the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) سلطة الائتلاف الموحدة as a transitional government of Iraq until the establishment of a democratic government. Citing UN Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003), and the laws of war, the CPA vested itself with executive, legislative, and judicial authority over the Iraqi government from the period of the CPA's inception on April 21, 2003, until its dissolution on June 28, 2004.

The CPA was originally headed by Jay Garner, a former U.S. military officer, but his appointment lasted for only a brief time. After Garner resigned, President Bush appointed L. Paul Bremer as the head the CPA and he served until the CPA's dissolution in July 2004.

Another group created in the spring of 2003 was the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). This was a fact-finding mission sent by the multinational force in Iraq after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs developed by Iraq under the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Its final report is commonly called the Duelfer Report. It consisted of a 1,400-member international team organized by The Pentagon and CIA to hunt for suspected stockpiles of WMD, such as chemical and biological agents, and any supporting research programs and infrastructure that could be used to develop WMD. The ISG has been unable to find these.


May 2003: "End of major combat"

Map of the Sunni TriangleMain article: Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–2006
Further information: U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis
On May 1, 2003, President Bush staged a dramatic visit to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln while the ship was a few miles west of San Diego. The Lincoln was on its way home to Everett, Washington from a long deployment which had included service in the Persian Gulf. The visit climaxed at sunset with his now well-known "Mission Accomplished" speech. In this nationally-televised speech, delivered before the sailors and airmen on the flight deck, Bush effectively declared victory due to the defeat of Iraq's conventional forces. However, Saddam Hussein remained at large and significant pockets of resistance remained.

After Bush's speech, the coalition military noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on its troops in various regions, especially in the "Sunni Triangle". In the initial chaos after the fall of the Iraqi government, there was massive looting of infrastructure, including government buildings, official residences, museums, banks, and military depots. According to The Pentagon, 250,000 tons (of 650,000 tons total) of ordnance was looted, providing a significant source of ammunition for Iraqi insurgents. The insurgents were further helped by hundreds of weapons caches created by the conventional Iraqi army and Republican Guard beforehand.

Initially, the resistance largely stemmed from fedayeen and loyalists of Saddam Hussein or the Ba'ath Party,[citation needed] but soon religious radicals and Iraqis angered by the occupation contributed to the insurgency. The insurgents are generally known to the Coalition forces as "Anti-Iraqi Forces."

Most initial insurgency was concentrated in the Sunni Triangle, which includes Baghdad.[30] The three provinces that had the highest number of attacks were Baghdad, Anbar, and Salah Ad Din. -Those 3 provinces account for 35% of the population, but are responsible for 73% of U.S. military deaths (as of December 5, 2006), and an even higher percentage of recent U.S. military deaths (about 80%).[31] This resistance has been described as a type of guerrilla warfare. Insurgent tactics include mortars, missiles, suicide bombers, snipers (cf. Juba, the Baghdad Sniper), improvised explosive devices (IEDs), roadside bombs, car bombs, small arms fire (usually with assault rifles), and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), as well as sabotage against the oil, water, and electrical infrastructure.


American soldier and an Iraqi childPost-invasion Iraq coalition efforts commenced after the fall of the Hussein regime. The coalition nations, together with the United Nations, began to work to establish a stable democratic state capable of defending itself,[32] holding itself together[33] as well as overcoming insurgent attacks and internal divisions.

Meanwhile, coalition military forces launched several operations around the Tigris River peninsula and in the Sunni Triangle. A series of similar operations were launched throughout the summer in the Sunni Triangle. Toward the end of 2003, the intensity and pace of insurgent attacks began to increase. A sharp surge in guerrilla attacks ushered in an insurgent effort that was termed the "Ramadan Offensive", as it coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Coalition forces brought to bear the use of air power for the first time since the end of the invasion. Suspected ambush sites and mortar launching positions were struck from the air and with artillery fire. Surveillance of major routes, patrols, and raids on suspected insurgents were stepped up. In addition, two villages, including Saddam’s birthplace of al-Auja and the small town of Abu Hishma were wrapped in barbed wire and carefully monitored.

However, the failure to restore basic services to above pre-war levels, where over a decade of sanctions, bombing, corruption, and decaying infrastructure had left major cities functioning at much-reduced levels, also contributed to local anger at the IPA government headed by an executive council. On July 2, 2003, President Bush declared that American troops would remain in Iraq in spite of the attacks, challenging the insurgents with "My answer is, bring 'em on", a line the President later expressed misgivings about having used.[34] In the summer of 2003, the multinational forces also focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime. On July 22, 2003, during a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and soldiers from Task Force 20, Saddam Hussein's sons (Uday and Qusay) and one of his grandsons were killed. In all, over 300 top leaders of the former regime were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser functionaries and military personnel.


December 2003: Saddam captured
See also: Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal and Trial of Saddam Hussein
In the wave of intelligence information fueling the raids on remaining Ba'ath Party members connected to insurgency, Saddam Hussein himself was captured on December 13, 2003 on a farm near Tikrit in Operation Red Dawn. The operation was conducted by the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force 121.

With the capture of Saddam and a drop in the number of insurgent attacks, some concluded the multinational forces were prevailing in the fight against the insurgency. With the weather growing cooler, Coalition forces were able to operate in full armor which reduced their casualty rate.[citation needed] The provisional government began training the New Iraqi Security forces intended to defend the country, and the United States promised over $20 billion in reconstruction money in the form of credit against Iraq's future oil revenues. Of this, less than half a billion dollars had been spent in 10 months after it had been promised.[citation needed] Oil revenues were also used for rebuilding schools and for work on the electrical and refining infrastructure.

Shortly after the capture of Saddam, elements left out of the Coalition Provisional Authority began to agitate for elections and the formation of an Iraqi Interim Government. Most prominent among these was the Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani. The Coalition Provisional Authority opposed allowing democratic elections at this time, preferring instead to eventually hand-over power to the Interim Iraqi Government.[35] Due to the internal fight for power in the new Iraqi government more insurgents stepped up their activities. The two most turbulent centers were the area around Fallujah and the poor Shia sections of cities from Baghdad (Sadr City) to Basra in the south.


2004: The insurgency expands
See also: Military operations of the Iraq War for a list of all Coalition operations for this period, 2004 in Iraq, Iraqi coalition counter-insurgency operations, History of Iraqi insurgency, United States occupation of Fallujah, Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004
The start of 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. Insurgent forces reorganized during this time, studying the multinational forces' tactics and planning a renewed offensive. Guerrilla attacks were less intense. However, in late 2004 foreign fighters from around the Middle East as well as al-Qaeda in Iraq (an affiliated al-Qaeda group), led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would help to drive the insurgency.

As the insurgent activity increased, there was a distinct change in targeting from the coalition forces towards the new Iraqi Security Forces, as hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police were killed over the next few months in a series of massive bombings. One hypothesis for these increased bombings is that the relevance of Saddam Hussein and his followers was diminishing in direct proportion to the influence of radical Islamists, both foreign and Iraqi. An organized Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming more powerful throughout Iraq. The Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets in an attempt to seize control from Iraqi security forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq were beginning to erupt in urban guerrilla combat as multinational forces attempted to keep control and prepared for a counteroffensive.

The coalition and the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to face the growing insurgency with a pair of assaults: one on Fallujah, the center of the "Mohammed's Army of Al-Ansar", and another on Najaf, home of an important mosque that had become the focal point for the Mahdi Army and its activities.


The crowds mob the bridge on which two corpses are hangedOn March 31, 2004 - Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a convoy containing four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA who were conducting delivery for food caterers ESS.[36] The four armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were dragged from their cars, beaten, and set ablaze. Their burned corpses were then dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates.[37] Photos of the event were released to news agencies worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the United States, and prompting the announcement of a upcoming "pacification" of the city.

April 2004: The First Battle of Fallujah
Main: First Battle of Fallujah
See also: White phosphorus use in Iraq
After this incident, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force began plans to re-establish a coalition presence in Fallujah. On April 4, the multinational forces began assaults to clear Fallujah of insurgents. On April 9, the multinational force allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave. Meanwhile, insurgents were taking advantage of the lull in combat to prepare defenses for a second assault. On April 10, the military declared a unilateral truce to allow for humanitarian supplies to enter Fallujah. Troops pulled back to the outskirts of the city; local leaders reciprocated the ceasefire, although lower-level intense fighting on both sides continued. During the assault, U.S. forces used white phosphorus as one of the weapons on the insurgents. This use of a chemical weapon attracted controversy.

When the Iraqi Governing Council protested against the U.S. assault to retake Fallujah, the U.S. military halted its efforts. In the April battle for Fallujah, Coalition troops killed about 600 insurgents and a number of civilians, while 40 Americans died and hundreds were wounded in a fierce battle. The Marines were ordered to stand-down and cordon off the city, maintaining a perimeter around Fallujah. A compromise was reached in order to ensure security within Fallujah itself by creating the local "Fallujah Brigade". While the Marines attacking had a clear advantage in ground firepower and air support, LtGen Conway decided to accept a truce and a deal which put a former Ba'athist general in complete charge of the town's security. The Fallujah Brigade's responsibility was to secure Fallujah and put a stop to insurgent mortar attacks on the nearby U.S. Marine bases. This compromise soon fell apart and insurgent attacks returned, causing Marine commanders to begin preparations for a second attack in the coming fall. By the end of the spring uprising, the cities of Fallujah, Samarra, Baquba, and Ramadi had been left under guerrilla control with coalition patrols in the cities at a minimum.[citation needed]


Early-mid 2004: The Shi'ite south
Meanwhile, the fighting continued in the Shiite south, and Italian and Polish forces were having increasing difficulties retaining control over Nasiriya and Najaf. United States Marines were then shifted there to put down the overt rebellion and proceeded to rout Muqtada al-Sadr's Shiite militia. In all, April, May and early June saw more fighting. Over the next three months, the multinational forces took back the southern cities. Also, various insurgent leaders entered into negotiations with the provisional government to lay down arms and enter the political process.


June 2004: Iraqi Interim government and the Battle of Najaf
Main article: Iraqi Interim Government
On June 28, 2004, the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred the "sovereignty" of Iraq to a caretaker government, whose first act was to begin the trial of Saddam Hussein. However, fighting continued in the form of the Iraqi insurgency. The new government began the process of moving towards open elections, though the insurgency and the lack of cohesion within the government itself, had led to delays.

One of the results of this weakened government was an increase in power of the sectarian militias. This was most clearly seen when the religious and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr took control of the holy city of Najaf. After negotiations broke down between Sadr and the Interim Iraqi government, the government asked the Coalition for help in dislodging him. So in July and August, coalition forces and the Mahdi Army fought in the Battle of Najaf which culminated in the siege of the Imam Ali Mosque. Fighting ended only after a peace deal brokered by Grand Ayatollah Sistani in late August.


November 2004: The Second Battle of Fallujah
Further information: United States occupation of Fallujah
The First Battle of Fallujah in April 2004 created an area of extreme instability and a de facto insurgent safe zone. After several months of this situation, in November 2004 coalition forces attacked and successfully captured Fallujah in the Second Battle of Fallujah. This battle resulted in the reputed death of around 1,200 insurgent fighters. The U.S. Marines (the main coalition force in combat) also took substantial casualties with 95 dead and around 500 wounded in action. According to local sources, hundreds of civilians were also killed and much of the city was destroyed in the battle.


2005: Elections and sovereignty transferred to Iraqi Transitional Government
Main articles: Iraqi legislative election, 2005, Iraqi Transitional Government, and 2005 in Iraq

An Iraqi Army unit prepares to board a Task Force Baghdad UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for a counterinsurgency mission in Baghdad.On January 31, an election for a government to draft a permanent constitution took place. Although some violence and lack of widespread Sunni Arab participation marred the event, most of the eligible Kurd and Shia populace participated. On February 4, Paul Wolfowitz announced that 15,000 U.S. troops whose tours of duty had been extended in order to provide election security would be pulled out of Iraq by the next month.[38] February, March and April proved to be relatively peaceful months compared to the carnage of November and January, with insurgent attacks averaging 30 a day from the prior average of 70.

Hopes for a quick end to an insurgency and a withdrawal of U.S. troops were dashed at the advent of May, Iraq's bloodiest month since the invasion by U.S. forces in March and April of 2003. Suicide bombers, believed to be mainly disheartened Iraqi Sunni Arabs, Syrians and Saudis, tore through Iraq. Their targets were often Shia gatherings or civilian concentrations mainly of Shias. As a result, over 700 Iraqi civilians died in that month, as well as 79 U.S. soldiers.

During early and mid-May, the U.S. also launched Operation Matador, an assault by around 1,000 Marines in the ungoverned region of western Iraq. Its goal was the closing of suspected insurgent supply routes of volunteers and material from Syria, and with the fight they received their assumption proved correct. Fighters armed with flak jackets (unseen in the insurgency before this time) and using sophisticated tactics met the Marines, eventually inflicting 31 U.S. casualties by the operation's end, and suffering 125 casualties themselves. The Marines were unable to recapture the region due to their limited numbers and the continual insurgent IED attacks and ambushes. The operation continued all the way to the Syrian border, where they were forced to stop (Syrian residents living near the border heard the American bombs very clearly during the operation). The vast majority of these armed and trained insurgents quickly dispersed before the U.S. could bring the full force of its firepower on them, as it did in Fallujah.


August 2005: Increasing instability and renewed fighting
On August 14, 2005 the Washington Post[39] quoted one anonymous U.S. senior official expressing that "the United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges... 'What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground'". On September 22, 2005, Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said that he had warned the Bush administration in recent days that Iraq was hurtling toward disintegration, and that the election planned for December was unlikely to make any difference.[40] U.S. officials immediately made statements rejecting this belief.[41]


December 2005: Iraqi legislative election
Main article: Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15, 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi National Assembly.


2006: Permanent Iraqi government and possible outbreak of civil war
Main article: 2006 in Iraq
The beginning of 2006 was marked by government creation talks, growing sectarian violence, and continuous anti-coalition attacks. The United Nations has recently described the environment in Iraq as a "civil war-like situation."[42] A 2006 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has estimated that more than 601,000 Iraqis have died in violence since the U.S. invasion and that fewer than one third of these deaths came at the hands of Coalition forces.[43] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Iraqi government estimate that more than 365,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, bringing the total number of Iraqi refugees to more than 1.6 million.[44]


February 2006: Al-Askari shrine bombing and Sunni-Shia fighting
See: Al Askari Mosque bombing

A U.S. soldier with M240 machine gun on patrol in Diwaniyah.On February 22, 2006, at 6:55 a.m. local time (0355 UTC) two bombs were set off by five to seven men dressed as personnel of the Iraqi Special forces who entered the Al Askari Mosque during the morning. Explosions occurred at the mosque, effectively destroying its golden dome and severely damaging the mosque. Several men, one wearing a military uniform, had earlier entered the mosque, tied up the guards there and set explosives, resulting in the blast.

Shiites across Iraq expressed their anger by destroying Sunni mosques and killing dozens. Religious leaders of both sides called for calm amid fears this could erupt into a long-feared Sunni-Shia civil war in Iraq.

On March 2 the director of the Baghdad morgue fled Iraq explaining, "7,000 people have been killed by death squads in recent months."[45] The Boston Globe reported that around eight times the number of Iraqis killed by terrorist bombings during March 2006 were killed by sectarian death squads during the same period. A total of 1,313 were killed by sectarian militias while 173 were killed by suicide bombings.[46] The LA Times later reported that about 3,800 Iraqis were killed by sectarian violence in Baghdad alone during the first three months of 2006.[47] During April 2006, morgue numbers showed that 1,091 Baghdad residents were killed by sectarian executions.[48] Insurgencies, frequent terrorist attacks and sectarian violence led to harsh criticism of U.S. Iraq policy and fears of a failing state and civil war. The concerns were expressed by several U.S. think tanks[49][50][51][52] as well as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad.[53]

In early 2006, a handful of high-ranking retired generals began to demand United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation due in part to the aforementioned chaos that resulted from his management of the war.


May 2006: Permanent Iraqi Government takes power
Main article: Government of Iraq from 2006
The current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005. The government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government which had continued in office in a caretaker capacity until the new government was agreed.


Fall 2006: Increased sectarian violence

British Land Rover Wolfs on patrol around BasraIn September 2006, The Washington Post reported that the commander of the Marine forces in Iraq filed "an unusual secret report" concluding that the prospects for securing the Anbar province are dim, and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there.[54]

Iraq was listed fourth on the 2006 Failed States Index compiled by the American Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace think-tank. The list was topped by Sudan.[55][56]

As of October 20 the U.S military announced that Operation Together Forward had failed to stem the tide of violence in Baghdad, and Shiite militants under al-Sadr seized several southern Iraq cities.[57]


November 2006: Change at the Pentagon, Sadr City bombing
See: Sadr City bombings
On November 7, 2006, United States elections removed George W. Bush's Republican Party from control of both the United States House and the Senate. The failings in the Iraq war was cited as one of the main causes for these election results.

On November 8, 2006, Donald Rumsfeld tendered his resignation as United States Secretary of Defense. President George W. Bush then appointed former CIA chief Robert Gates to replace him.

On November 23, 2006 the deadliest attack since the beginning of the Iraq war occurred. According to The Associated Press, suspected Sunni-Arab militants used five suicide car bombs and two mortar rounds on the capital's Shiite Sadr City slum to kill at least 215 people and wound 257 on Thursday. Shiite mortar teams quickly retaliated, firing 10 shells at Sunni Islam's most important shrine in Baghdad, badly damaging the Abu Hanifa mosque and killing one person. Eight more rounds slammed down near the offices of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the top Sunni Muslim organization in Iraq, setting nearby houses on fire. Two other mortar barrages on Sunni neighborhoods in west Baghdad killed nine and wounded 21, police said late Thursday.[58]

On November 28, 2006 another Marine Corps intelligence report was released confirming the previous report on Anbar stating that, "U.S. and Iraqi troops 'are no longer capable of militarily defeating the insurgency in al-Anbar,' and 'nearly all government institutions from the village to provincial levels have disintegrated or have been thoroughly corrupted and infiltrated by Al Qaeda in Iraq.'"[59]


December 2006: Iraq Study Group report and Saddam's execution
The Iraq War (Invasion to Civil War)

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See: Execution of Saddam Hussein, Iraq Study Group Report
A bipartisan report by the Iraq Study Group was released on December 6, 2006. The group was led by former secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, and concludes that "the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating" and "U.S. forces seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end." The report's 79 recommendations include increasing diplomatic measures with Iran and Syria and intensifying efforts to train Iraqi troops. On December 18, a Pentagon report finds that attacks on Americans and Iraqis average about 960 a week, the highest since the reports began in 2005.[60]

Coalition forces formally transferred control of a province to the Iraqi government. The shift is the first of its kind since the war began. Military prosecutors charged 8 Marines with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha that allegedly occurred in November 2005. Ten of the casualties were reported to be women and children. Four officers were also charged with dereliction of duty in relation to the event.[61]

Saddam Hussein, captured in December 2003, was hanged on December 30, 2006 after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.[62]

Also, in December 2006 officials of various Shiite parties formed a coalition favoring reconciliation and met with Ayatollah Al-Sistani, spiritual head of Iraq's Shiite community, to seek his approval for this effort.[63] Moqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army, did not initially join this coalition, but eventually decided to join the coalition.[64][65] This Shiite coalition asserted that their goal was to assert reconciliation, stability and the rule of law, and that private armies would not be continued once the Shiite coalition produced some stability.[66]


2007: U.S. troop surge
Further information: 2007 in Iraq, Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and 2007 State of the Union Address
Following the 2006 United States midterm elections where the Republicans lost control of the United States Congress, the Bush administration attempted to distance itself from its earlier "stay the course" rhetoric.[67]


January 2007: Bush's "New Way Forward" confronts Iran
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Further information: US attack on Iranian liaison office in Arbil and Kill or Capture strategy
In the first week of January, several retirements and personnel changes occurred:[68]

CENTCOM commander -- Navy Admiral William J. Fallon replaces General John Abizaid as CENTCOM commander
Commander of Multinational Force Iraq -- General David Petraeus replaces General George Casey as Commander of Multinational Force Iraq.[69]
U.S. ambassador to Iraq -- Zalmay Khalilzad, now U.S. ambassador to Iraq, nominated as the next ambassador to the United Nations to replace Alejandro Daniel Wolff as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. If Khalilzad is confirmed by the Senate, he will be the first Muslim to serve in the position, and he will be the highest serving Muslim American official in the U.S. government.[70]
On January 10, 2007 President Bush addressed the United States and proposed increase in the number of troops in Iraq. In his speech, he made references to changes to be made, including a surge of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, a job program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and 1.2 billion dollars for these programs.[71] Asked why he thought his plan would work this time, Bush said: "Because it has to."[72]

At the same time, Iran has taken a more active role in Iraq. Talks between the two nations (Iran and Iraq) have been successful, with Iran even going so far as to build a major Iranian Bank branch inside Iraq.[73] In reaction to Iran's increased role in Iraq, American troops raided an Iranian liaison office in northern Iraq on 11 Jan 2007 and detained five employees.[74] "Around 5.00 a.m., after disarming the guards they (U.S. troops) broke into the office, without giving any explanation and arrested five employees," the official IRNA news agency reported, adding that documents and computers were seized.[75][76] The fate of the kidnapped Iranian officials is not known.


February 2007
Coalition and Iraqi forces launched a new security plan for Baghdad. Under the Surge plan developed in late 2006, Baghdad is to be divided into ten zones, with Iraqi and American soldiers working side-by-side to clear each sector of Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents so that reconstruction programs can begin in safety. The U.S. military commander in Iraq, David Petraeus, has gone so far as to say Iraq will be 'doomed' if this current plan fails.[77]