IRAQ WAR MARCH 20. 2003-PRESENT

1. IRAQ WARMARCH 20. 2003-PRESENT

2. WHOS INVOLVED Iraqi Insurgency: Mahdi Army Soldiers of Heaven Baath Party Loyalists Al-Qaeda in Iraq Islamic Army Of Iraq Ansar Al-Sunnah COALITION FORCES: ALBANIA ARMENIA AUSTRALIA AZERBAIJAN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA BRITAIN BULGARIA CZECH REPUBLIC EL SALVADOR ESTONIA GEORGIA KAZAKHSTAN MACEDONIA MOLDOVA MONGOLIA NETHERLANDS POLAND ROMANIA SLOVENIA SOUTH KOREA UNITED STATES DENMARK Norway Withdraw : Aug-06 Lithuania-Withdraw: Aug 07 Slovakia Withdraw: Jan-07 Latvia -Withdraw: Aug-07 Italy Withdraw : Nov-06 Japan Withdraw: Jul-06 Singapore Withdraw: Mar-05 Spain Withdraw : Apr-04 Portugal Withdraw : Feb-05 Iceland Withdraw : Oct-07 Ukraine Withdraw : Dec-05 Tonga Withdraw : Dec-04 Nicaragua Withdraw : Feb-04 Hungary Withdraw:Mar05 Honduras Withdraw : May-04 Dominican Republic Withdraw : May-04 Philippines Withdraw : Jul-04 Thailand Withdraw : Aug-04 New Zealand Withdraw : Sep-04

3. CASUALTIES http://www.npr.org/news/specials/tollofwar/tollofwarmain.html

4. Bush Administration Claims vs. The Facts Pre-War Claims Refuted: • No weapons of mass destruction of any kind were found in Iraq • No mobile biological weapons labs were found in Iraq • Iraq did not seek to acquire uranium from Africa • The aluminum tubes were not suitable for nuclear weapons development • Mohamed Atta the lead 9/11 hijacker did not meet with Iraqi intelligence in Prague • Iraq did not provide chemical weapons training to Al-Qaeda

5. Ten Assurances by the Bush Administration • Assurance #1: The Iraq War won’t cost a lot of moneyThe war has exceeded $500 billion in costs as of 2008 – and probably in excess of a trillion dollars when all costs, such as caring for wounded soldiers over time, are included • Assurance #2: We are prepared for every contingency“The Bush administration's failure to plan adequately for the postwar period has been well documented. The Pentagon, for example, ignored extensive State Department studies of how to achieve stability after an invasion, administer a postwar government and rebuild the country. And administration officials have acknowledged the mistake of dismantling the Iraqi army and canceling pensions to its veteran officers -- which many say hindered security, enhanced anti-U.S. feeling and aided what would later become a violent insurgency.” - Washington Post,6/12/2005 • Assurance #3:  We won’t need a lot of troopsOn February 25, 2003, General Eric Shinseki testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that “several hundred thousand soldiers” would be needed to secure postwar Iraq. • Assurance #4: We will bring peace and freedom to Iraq • The idea of invading Iraq to bring “peace and freedom” disregarded the prescient warning of Bush’s father President George H.W. Bush-“Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq… would have incurred incalculable human and political costs… Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land.  It would have been a dramatically different – and perhaps barren – outcome.” • Assurance #5: We will find Weapons of Mass Destruction Here the American public was being assured that the threat from Saddam Hussein was absolutely real and that it had to be dealt with.  Yet despite numerous claims by the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs, no WMD was found in Iraq

6. CONTINUE • Assurance #6: We will be welcomed as liberatorsAlthough some Iraqis welcomed U.S. troops, the reception was mixed at best.  The notion of a Western army occupying an Arab land summoned up humiliating memories of colonialism, as well as fears regarding underlying U.S. intentions.  Before long a growing insurgency took hold, which has led to more than 4 years of violence. • Assurance #7: We have the best plan available for victoryArmy Brigadier General Mark Scheid stated that the plans for the aftermath of the invasion were intentionally curtailed by the Bush administration-“Months before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists from developing plans for securing a post-war Iraq… In fact, said Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, Rumsfeld said ‘he would fire the next person’ who talked about the need for a post-war plan”  • Assurance #8: The Iraq War will transform the Middle East Prior to the war, many world leaders did not share President Bush’s optimistic vision of how a war with Iraq would play out. AmrMussa, head of the Arab League, said after a two-day meeting of Arab foreign ministers, “We will continue to work to avoid a military confrontation or a military action, because we believe that it will open the gates of hell in the Middle East.” • Assurance #9: It will be easy It is true that the invasion itself met with limited resistance, and Hussein’s military was defeated within weeks.  However, the possibility of a protracted and bloody post-invasion conflict, which ultimately ensued, was downplayed or disregarded by Bush officials prior to the war. Assurance #10: It won’t take long  Although the invasion led to the downfall of Hussein’s government within weeks, the U.S. military, with 150,000 troops, has been mired in violent conflict in Iraq for over 5 years.

7. FACTS • Average Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 5.6 in May 2007 • Pre-War Daily Hours Baghdad Homes Have Electricity - 16 to 24 • Number of Iraqi Homes Connected to Sewer Systems - 37% • Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies - 70% • Journalists killed - 139, 93 by murder and 46 by acts of war • Journalists killed by US Forces - 14 • U.S. 2008 Monthly Spending in Iraq - $12 billion • U.S. Spending per Second - $5,000 in 2008 • Percent of professionals who have left Iraq since 2003 - 40% • Iraqi Physicians Before 2003 Invasion - 34,000 • Iraqi Physicians Who Have Left Iraq Since 2005 Invasion - 12,000 • Iraqi Physicians Murdered Since 2003 Invasion - 2,000 • Iraqi Refugees in Syria & Jordan - 2.1 million to 2.25 million • Iraqi Unemployment Rate - 27 to 60%, where curfew not in effect • Consumer Price Inflation in 2006 - 50% • Iraqi Children Suffering from Chronic Malnutrition - 28%

8. Q&A • What surprised you the most when you viewed No End in Sight? some of the people who is planning for the war and making all the big decision never had visit Iraq or just went for a day or two • What angered you the most when you viewed No End in Sight? The U.S government speicallyrumsfeld, he has a really high ego or something on all his speech videos. And how the ones whose making all these decisions about the war really have never left the states to see what's going on. • What information should every American know about the Iraq War? every American should know that we have no reason or any right to go in a country and rip it apart because we think that they have weapons. And how much of our tax money they spend on the war each second, and how bad life is in Iraq. • What questions do you still have? Should some of the Bush Administration that is involved in the war have criminal charges brought up against them, they should pay for all those innocent life's they destroy • Do you think the there are lessons we have learned that could be applied to new situations? we definitely learn that next time before we do something take time to plan it and see if its worry it and if its really necessary . Have people who actually know what's going on and know that places well plan the stuff.