Occupation and Aftermath In August 1990, the armed forces of Iraq (over 100,000 soldiers backed by some 700 tanks) invaded Kuwait, and six days later, the Iraqi government announced that Kuwait had been annexed as the nineteenth province of Iraq. As the Saudi government issued a formal invitation to the US to send troops to defend the kingdom against a possible Iraqi attack, 200,000 US troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia by October 1990. Working through the UN security council, the US pushed through resolutions demanding the Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait and imposing a trade embargo on all goods to and from Kuwait and Iraq. Britain,

The War In November 1990, the UN Security Council passed a resolution setting January 15, 1991, as the deadline for the complete withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The resolution authorized the “use of all necessary means” to enforce Iraq’s pullout after January 15. The UN deadline of January 15 passed without an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, and in response a six-week long bombing campaign codenamed Operation Desert Storm started just before midnight on January 16. After six-weeks long relentless bombing, the ground war started on February 24 and lasted only 100 hours. Finally, on February 27, 1991, President Bush proclaimed the liberation of Kuwait and ordered the US and coalition forces to suspend offensive operations.

Uprisings and Refugees In a spontaneous outburst of anger and resentment, segments of the Iraqi population rose up against the regime that had led the country into two devastating wars. After the defeat of Iraqi troops and their expulsion from Kuwait, withdrawing troops in the south triggered the uprising by Shia in the south. Then, the uprising spread to the north, where Kurdish troops managed to take control of the entire region of Iraqi Kurdistan. The uprisings lasted about two weeks, and at one point most of the country, except for Baghdad and its northern surroundings, were out of government control. However, as the uprising in the south was spontaneous and lack organization, the Iraqi army had managed to crush rebellion by March 1991 and begun the mass executions of rebels. A mass exodus of Shia refugees to Saudi Arabia and Iran was under way. Then the army began to approach the Kurdish region. In response, approximately 2 million Kurds, remembering the chemical attacks of the Anfal Campaign fled to neighboring Turkey and Iran.

Occupation in 2003 After the 9/11 attacks in New York, the so-called ‘war on terror’ sweep around the world, most obviously in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. It soon became clear that Iraq would be the next target. Throughout 2002, the US government made it clear that removing Saddam Hussein from power was a major goal, accusing the Iraqi regime of continuing the production and use of weapons of mass destruction, and of having links with terrorist organizations, particularly al-Qaeda. The invasion of Iraq was launched on March 19, 2003 by American forces with British support. The war was fought fitfully over a three-week period. Large scale operations ended when the US army entered Baghdad in force on 9 April 2003.

Sectarianism The Oxford English Dictionary defines “sectarianism” as adherence or excessive attachment to a particular sect or party, especially a religious one. Political sectarianism thus refers to a system of governance that favors and facilitates the empowerment of parties with platforms defined on the basis of sectarian identity. Sectarianism in Iraq was not simply a result of the occupation. Saddam Hussein had already played on sectarian differences, using divide-and-rule tactics. For instance, while in power he had deliberately established a sectarian hierarchy within government ranks, largely empowering Sunni Arabs over Shias.