First Gulf War
Shortly after he came to power in 1979, there was an eight-year war with neighboring Iran, in which a million people were probably killed. Disputes with Iran were the trigger, but the background was Saddam Hussein’s plan to win the Iranian oil wells for himself.
At the same time he strove for more power in the region. Whoever owned the oil wells was automatically powerful. The war became more and more cruel, and Iraq even used poison gas. This war is also known as the First Gulf War. The US and the West supported Saddam Hussein in this war against Iran. But it wasn’t to end with this one war.
Second Gulf War
In 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded the neighboring state of Kuwait. Kuwait is a rich, oil-rich country and Saddam Hussein had serious money problems after the war against Iran.
The United States intervened and the Second Gulf War broke out, in which Kuwait was liberated again in February 1991. Economically, the regions in Saudi Arabia bordering Kuwait were particularly important. That’s why they didn’t want to leave Kuwait to Saddam Hussein just like that. Many countries took part in the “Desert Storm” campaign, as you can see on the adjacent map.
Third Gulf War
In 2003 the Third Gulf War began. The US believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, they wanted to finally overthrow the dictator Saddam Hussein. Many people – including many civilians – died in the attacks by the Americans and their allies, who had come together under the so-called “Coalition of the Willing”.
There was no UN mandate for the attack on Iraq, which was actually necessary. The number of victims is still debated today. There are said to have been over 650,000 victims. Incidentally, no weapons of mass destruction were found. Although the dictator Saddam Hussein was eliminated in the end, no democracy could be established in Iraq that quickly. The country fell into chaos. Essentially, three major currents determined and determined politics: the Shiite Arabs rule over one part, the Sunni Arabs over another. There is also an area that is mainly inhabited by Sunni Kurds.
Situation today
As a country located in Middle East according to paradisdachat, Iraq is now divided into three states. The administration often works little or not at all and actually only in the larger cities. The economic situation in the country is very bad. Many people are poor and / or unemployed.
At the same time, the rifts between the different worldviews, religions and political views are deep. There are also big differences between urban and rural areas. But who actually rules this country?
This question is not that easy to answer. There is a kind of base state in the center and in the south of the country, which is supposedly ruled from Baghdad. The north is ruled by the Kurds, who do not yet have an officially recognized state, but at least largely autonomous and would like to have their own state. Other parts of the country were occupied by the Islamic State (IS). Although this has meanwhile been pushed back and defeated, we still cannot speak of an elimination of the Islamic State, because the members repeatedly draw attention to themselves with terrorist attacks. These attacks have been intensifying since mid-2020. The aim of the attacks is to intimidate the population.
Iraq is repeatedly shaken by attacks in which many people die. That is why many Iraqis are fleeing to neighboring countries and Europe in order to seek protection there. However, Syrians are also seeking refuge in Iraq again to flee the war and its aftermath in their country.
New elections are planned in Iraq for 2021
In autumn 2019 there were protests by the population. Shiite militiamen also attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. The situation got worse when US President Donald Trump specifically ordered the killing of an Iranian general named Soleimani on the soil of Iraq. Foreign armed forces have now largely withdrawn from Iraq, firstly because Iraq wanted it that way, and secondly because many countries, including Germany, were concerned that they would not be able to guarantee the safety of their soldiers.
In May 2020, after a domestic political crisis, after much back and forth, the former head of the secret service Mustafa Kadhemi elected the new Prime Minister by a majority of the MPs. He has scheduled early parliamentary elections for 2021 in order to be able to take action against the political chaos in the country. Originally, there should not be new elections until 2022.
