The Legacy Of Two Wars: Examining The Accomplishments In Iraq And Afghanistan

The Iraq War, which began in 2003, was the second time the US fought a war in the country in a little over a decade. The war was started by the US-led coalition to destroy Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. Within weeks, the coalition forces achieved their primary objective and ousted Hussein's regime. However, the war continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the coalition forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.

The war resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 US service members and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. It also cost the US Department of the Treasury $800 billion.

The war began with an overwhelming show of American military might, described by the unforgettable phrase shock and awe. However, the military campaign that began so auspiciously ended up deeply dividing Americans and alienating key US allies. As the war continued, the US faced a mounting Iraqi insurgency. In 2004, four American private security contractors were killed and their bodies desecrated in a spate of anti-American violence. Then, the first pictures emerged of abuse of prisoners by US troops at Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi prison.

In 2007, President Bush defied growing calls from Democrats to withdraw US forces from Iraq and instead announced that he was sending more troops to the country. This decision was broadly unpopular with a public that had grown weary of war.

In 2011, the US withdrew all but a handful of its troops from Iraq. In 2014, a new security threat emerged in Iraq – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. In response, Obama reluctantly authorized US airstrikes and dispatched a small number of US forces back to Iraq.

In 2020, then-President Trump objected to withdrawing troops and threatened Iraq with sanctions over this decision. In 2021, the last US soldier left Iraq, ending a nearly nine-year military mission.

The initial objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom was to oust Saddam Hussein's regime

The US-led coalition military operation in Iraq, known as Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), began on March 20, 2003, with the primary goal of removing Saddam Hussein's regime from power and preventing his use of weapons of mass destruction. This objective, shared by both Congress and the military, was considered the most immediate and crucial aspect of the operation.

The initial phase of OIF focused squarely on regime change, with the US military taking on the bulk of the responsibility for removing Hussein and his Ba'ath Party from power. The operation successfully achieved this goal, as Hussein's regime was toppled, and he himself was either killed or forced into hiding. However, pockets of resistance remained, and the focus soon shifted to broader nation-building objectives.

Following the removal of Hussein, the mission of OIF evolved into a more open-ended endeavour. The US and its allies turned their attention to assisting the emerging Iraqi leadership in three key areas: improving security, establishing effective governance, and fostering economic development. This phase of the operation involved the creation of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC), a trained and armed security force intended to maintain stability and emergency response capabilities within Iraq.

While the initial military objectives of OIF were largely accomplished, the broader goals of establishing a stable, prosperous, and free Iraq proved more challenging. Insurgent groups, both domestic and foreign, posed significant challenges to the new Iraqi leadership. Nevertheless, by 2009, the security situation in Iraq had improved, and the country was making strides towards managing its own affairs.

In comparison, the war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, became the longest war in US history. The initial objective was to defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. While the Taliban government was swiftly defeated, the war dragged on for nearly two decades, resulting in a military stalemate and heavy casualties on both sides. However, the US presence in the region did lead to the capture or elimination of several key al-Qaeda figures, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden, and prevented Afghanistan from becoming a staging ground for further attacks on US soil.

The US-led coalition forces quickly overwhelmed the Iraqi Army

The US-led coalition forces were able to overwhelm the Iraqi Army due to a combination of factors, including:

• Saddam Hussein's strategic miscalculations, such as his belief that war with the US could be avoided and that the conflict would involve air attacks rather than an invasion.
• Saddam's preoccupation with internal threats, which prevented the adoption of an effective defensive strategy and degraded the quality of Iraq's military leadership and battlefield decision-making.
• Poorly designed and executed Iraqi military strategy and operations, which failed to exploit options for prolonging the conflict and maximising Coalition casualties.
• Poor motivation and morale among Iraqi forces, with harsh service conditions, a belief that resistance would be futile, and a lack of willingness to fight and die for Saddam leading many officers and troops to desert their units.
• Superior military capabilities of the Coalition forces, including accurate, lethal fire on Iraqi targets at long ranges and at night, rapid ground force movement, and the ability to sustain forces over long distances.

The US declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq in 2003

On the 1st of May, 2003, US President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. This declaration came just over a month after the US-led coalition forces invaded Iraq on the 19th of March, 2003. The invasion, involving troops from the US, the UK, Australia, and Poland, resulted in the swift capture of Iraq's major cities, including the capital, Baghdad, which fell on the 9th of April.

President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, delivered from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, marked a significant turning point in the Iraq War. The speech indicated that the initial phase of the war had concluded, and the focus would now shift towards stabilisation, reconstruction, and the transition to successive transitional governments, leading up to the first Iraqi parliamentary election in January 2005.

However, despite this declaration, an insurgency emerged, leading to intense guerrilla warfare in the years following. This resulted in thousands of coalition, military, insurgent, and civilian deaths. The US military remained in Iraq until their withdrawal in 2011.

The disbanding of the Iraqi army and intelligence services by the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, resulted in hundreds of thousands of armed men being sent into the streets. This contributed to the ongoing instability and sectarian violence in the country.

The US presence in Iraq also had implications for the formation and spread of terrorist organisations. For instance, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the future leader of the Islamic State, joined Al-Qaeda while detained at Camp Bucca in 2004. Similarly, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the future leader of the al-Nusra Front in Syria, was also held at Camp Bucca and released in 2008.

The disbanding of the Iraqi Army and intelligence services sent hundreds of thousands of well-armed men into the streets

The disbanding of the Iraqi Army and intelligence services was a decision made by L. Paul Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Bremer's decision was influenced by the belief that the Iraqi Army had already demobilized itself and could not be reconstituted. Bremer's order sent hundreds of thousands of well-armed men into the streets, which fueled the violent insurgency that followed. Bremer's decision was also influenced by the belief that the Iraqi Army was gone and that there was no intact Iraqi force to "disband". Bremer's decision was not well-received by some U.S. officials, who believed that the Iraqi Army could have been used to help with reconstruction efforts. Bremer's decision was also criticized for not providing a plan for paying the disbanded soldiers, which led to protests from former soldiers. Bremer's decision has been described as one of the biggest mistakes of the Iraq War and a key factor in the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The US-led coalition forces faced a mounting Iraqi insurgency

• Saddam's strategic miscalculations, such as his belief that war with the US could be avoided, that such a conflict would involve air attacks rather than an invasion, and that the Coalition would accept a negotiated settlement that left his regime in power.
• Saddam was preoccupied with internal threats, which prevented the adoption of an effective defensive strategy, degraded the quality of Iraq's military leadership and battlefield decision-making, and prevented the coordination and unified command of Iraqi forces.
• Iraq's military strategy and operations were poorly designed and executed. The defensive scheme failed to exploit potential options for prolonging the conflict and maximising Coalition casualties.
• Poor motivation and morale undermined the Iraqi defence. Harsh service conditions, the belief that resistance would be futile, and a lack of willingness to fight and die for Saddam led the majority of officers and troops to do little fighting or to desert their units before being engaged.
• Superior military capabilities gave Coalition forces an overwhelming advantage. Coalition ground and air forces were able to deliver accurate, lethal fire on Iraqi targets at long ranges and at night. The Coalition's ability to manoeuvre ground forces rapidly and to sustain them over long distances also undermined the Iraqi ability to mount a coherent defence.

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