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Second Iraq War Research Paper

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On March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq, beginning what is now known as the Second Gulf War. The invasion, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom by the United States, lasted one month, and is speculated to have been one of the starting points in the Global War against Terrorism. The goal of the invasion, and the war, was to topple the regime of the dictator Saddam Hussein.
Although the war originally started as a foreign invasion in 2003, the internal struggle in Iraq has continued into the present day. The center of the unrest is due to the majority Shiite Arabs obtaining ruling status in Iraq after the fall of the regime. Sunni Arabs, who strongly oppose Shiites, long had control over the region. Sunni leader Saddam Hussein, reserved special torture for Shiite Muslims under his rule. However, after his fall during the war, Shiite Muslims started targeting Sunni Muslims, which caused great unrest in the years to follow. After the United States took down the regime, there were unintended effects. Without a stable government, the violence between the Sunnis and Shiite in Iraq escalated and led to an insurgency of sectarian violence. …show more content…

As for the effects of the Iraqi people and the Middle East, the war had a very destabilizing effect. Since the invasion, about two million Iraqi refugees have been forced to leave Iraq and flee in neighboring countries like Syria and Jordan. During the war attacks on cities with civilians led to rising death rates, and also increased displacement problems. After the fall, unemployment and poverty rose to, as basic programs, such as education broke down. According to the United Nations Development Program, one third of the entire Iraqi population now lives in poverty, lacking basic things such as drinking water and sufficient

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