How the US invasion shaped Iraq | Start Here
The Iraq war started a cycle of violence and instability that persists to this day. #AJStartHere with Sandra Gathmann explains how the US invasion set Iraq on a troubled path, and where things stand twenty years later.
00:47 - Life before the invasion: Saddam Hussein was brutal
02:27 - Bad planning in the aftermath of the invasion
05:49 - Corruption is a huge issue
07:31 - Iran is a big player
09:58 - Iraqis are desperate for change
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You should've mentioned that it's the US who supplied Saddam Hussein weapons to fight against Iran.
Exactly, all the Saddam fans seem to forget that US was very generous :)
In every other video they speak in absolutes but here theyre like "it turned out not to be true" and stuff like that
US also secretely sold weapons to Iran during the war
Because Iran is the US enemy?
There was a time that was true all he wanted was more we stopped most of his military was Russian
The world should held the US government accountable for war crimes and human rights violations.
We're never rewarded for any of the good we do, like leading the fight against Communism even though we'd be the last domino to fall if domino theory were correct, or saving millions of lives from AIDS through PEPFAR, so why should be be punished for the bad?
Yes the Iraq war was not ok and was wrong and never should of been there but the us is not like Russia where Russia is killing people on purpose
If that's your main takeaway, you clearly didn't pay attention to the entire video.
No mate, only Russia does war crimes, USA gives liberty and democracy. Good guys and nice kills.
And Iraqi government for invading Kuwait in 1990
As Iraqi myself living in Iraq I just stopped watching news and gave up the thing that bother me is that I am having a baby can't imagine how his future will be in this mess
My heart is in sorrow reading your comment. Every parent should separate their children from outside chaos. A parent protecting their children makes for a strong parent. Do whats necessary to give your child all that he needs to prosper. He and all of the other sons and daughters that will grow up with him will be the future of Iraq. Do not feel lost yet.
@@alainbrochet5610 The vast majority of people in Iraq were killed by the people "the yankees" were there to kill and capture, in large part because they know people like would you blame America for their atrocities and turn them into propaganda victories. How else do you explain such bizarre events as the July Soccer Bombings, which seemed to have no other purpose than to "get attention"?
@@Bjionin thank you for your kind words
It is Allah who provides rizq for me and you and your child and all of humanity brother do not lose hope. Allah is with you.
Pray to allah. He listens everyone
As an American, I want to make clear, the actions of our government do not reflect the will of American people, but rather the will of those who held power. I can’t begin to explain the shame I feel for my country’s actions.
There are literally people in America who see Bush as a war hero
@@Rad_one and those that see him as a war monger
hmm, as a democratic country, that doesnt make sense to me
@@bruceliu9436 then you’re obviously not an American. We can elect them to office, but how they choose to use (or abuse) the presidential power is entirely out of the hands of everyday citizens
@@bruceliu9436Bush lost the popular vote, but the election was so close, there were endless recounts. Finally the conservative Supreme Court stepped in and handed Bush presidency. In Iraq, he got popular support by lying about weapons of mass destruction.
This video should have been titled "How the US destroyed Iraq"
Aljazeera have another video called -How I Sold the Iraqi war-
this may be true but there are division amount themselves before the us got involve. Saddam keep this division from erupting by using force. Even it don't happen in 2003 it will happen later. This happen throughout history to every country.
usa = pos
Though it would be more properly titled "how the US first freed Iraq from a genocidal dictator and then failed to protect it from Al Qaeda and the Iraqis' own stupidity."
@@Christobanistan your most recent post might be entitled 'example of typical out of touch usaian'.
Laos holds a world record: the most bombed country in the world. There are still 80 million bomblets that never went off remain live, buried over 35% of land area of Laos, by more than 580,000 air missions by the USA on Laos between 1964 and 1973 during the Vietnam War. A staggering 270 million bomblets were dropped in a country with a population of 2.5 million, to blanket a huge buffer zone to prevent weaponries to reach Vietnam. By 1975, 1/10th of Laos population was killed, 1/5th of the population wounded. Many Americans don’t even know about this war.
It's because Laos was part of an operation in the Vietnam War.
You forgot to mention Nixons carpet bombing of Cambodia.
Really?I thought that North oores holds this title, as it was 90% bombed to no living at all........ Then I need to learn about this as well...
I read it .....Gosh its awful what they did..and it's just cause USA hated communism....you would communism was Terrorism...just why do USA hates communism so much? It's just a form of Government...
@@ap.39315 Laos was not part of the war, the US bombed Laos clandestinely, hence it is called the secret war.
There are still souls of children crying at the pain that they saw, and the evil that took their lives.
That's Al-Qaeda.
😢😢😢😢
From Argentina, my sympathy for the brave and resilient Iraqi people. I was just a small boy when, while my brother celebrated his 17th birthday, I watched along with my now late paternal grandmother, the Shock & Awe operation in the bedroom. Even though I'm now 30 years old, the horror that began that day is difficult to describe. Best to Iraq. ❤
Thank you we all All of Iraq supported Argentina in the World Cup, and when you won, I swear to you, all the streets became Argentine flags, and we all celebrated.🇮🇶🇦🇷❤
@@messievr… what upsets me more is that Iraq refugees are treated very bad and Ukrainians are welcome.
@@luisafrance1635 exactly 🙂🙂 USA and European countries invade Middle East and then don’t wanna take or remove refugees example : Denmark, Sweden, etc.
@@luisafrance1635it's the racist west
@@luisafrance1635 ofcourse terrorists cant be treated as normal people.
Not directly related, but as a Vietnamese, I wonder when the US pays war compensation to Vietnamese people, especially the ones suffering Agent Orange (chemical weapons used by the US back then), despite after almost 50 years since the war. Anybody knows?
Don't hold your breath, Native Americans and African-Americans have been waiting 200 years for reparations.
Think China would?
The vietnam war was an american crime against humanity
@@kasperh.s2066got nothing to do with China, stop changing the subject and answer the question.
Wars have everything to do with resources @Ocean, I'm sure you can check with the Rubber Tree growers and Tin Miners to confirm. Most American companies operate in China, there's your "Commie" outrage in a nutshell. Most young men sent there had no idea that they were victims as well, we're all players in the rich man's game...
George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard should be held accountable.
The imperialists don't want to have that conversation.
NO It was nothing but your greed which made your country your graveyard , you opted America over Islam , now enjoy the taste of America
unfortunately this changes nothing. These tactics are common in the west, such "after the fact" analysis/reporting is not uncommon, it gives the impression that U$ has freedom of speech, and that govt is being held to account, so called public enquiries are the same. It gives the illusion of a civil society that ordinary people can discuss the issue, but if you look at the outcomes, of all these "analysis", it changes absolutely N0THING , and here we are in 2023 it's the same with ukr, soon Taiwan, Iran, and elsewhere. Meanwhile Bu$h and Bla!r have joined the list of multi trillionaire, and Bla!r even got knighted.
@@Anteater01 we want the world to celebrate our war heroes, and we want the world to forget our war criminals.
@@brokenrecord3095 We don't want them forgotten. We want them held accountable. We want them to face the law. Invasion of a country for destruction and murder is not something a country bestowed as the custodians of peace should be doing. With great power comes great responsibility. The responsible thing is to prosecute these people, not show off their art collection.
He was brutal indeed but atleast Iraqi people were living the life
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who aren't allowed to be criticized" - John F. Kennedy.
Dude, I like your name ! Are you from noble family ?
@@demoncloud6147 Lol. Holodomor. Famine in USSR that killed millions of peasant during collectivization because they took grain from them.
Yeah like Saddam
Hah, you think criticize those people would prevent them from ruling? Those words are empty as usual.
The Juice.
This the freedom and democracy America talk about
this is a country that should never existed. its like trying to force people of yugoslavia back together in 1 state but 10 times worse. they at least speak same language and have much more in common. only way to do it is by a saddam. so if u dont like democracy what system do u prefer?
@@chiman75 Monarch is far better, most monarch country is safe and and poverty is under 1 digits percent. While democratic country, poverty sky rocket and safety in the country is so bad like second world civilization.
@@muhammadradhivan8436 can u name a successful monarchy that don't have oil? Or diverse ethnic problems to add to complexity?
Aye. March 19 marks 15 years since the U.S.-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the American people have no idea of the enormity of the calamity the invasion unleashed. The U.S. military has refused to keep a tally of Iraqi deaths. General Tommy Franks, the man in charge of the initial invasion, bluntly told reporters, “We don’t do body counts.” One survey found that most Americans thought Iraqi deaths were in the tens of thousands. But our calculations, using the best information available, show a catastrophic estimate of 2.4 million Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion. Source Davidswanson warlist The millitary is America’s biggest jobs program. The idea isn’t about protecting people, but protecting corporate interests in dominating foreign resources and economies. The goal isn’t to end wars, but to keep the wars ongoing as long as possible and as profitable as possible. -FRISHR
@@chiman75 why oil? If you have it and use for your people then what? What US gov do about their oil? How is your logic work man? diverse ethnic problems? every gov will have some issue about that but try this one: open your mind, be neutral, then stay in 5 monarch countries, a month/country and then tell the world what you experience there. Dont forget to compare with your country. Cheers!
My sincerest condolences to all the innocent people who got killed in so called war on terror... Justice would take time but it will be served for sure...
A survey conducted between March 22 and April 9, 2004 showed Iraqis believed the invasion was "worth it" for ousting Saddam by a margin of more than 2 to 1. It wasn't until mid-2006 when sectarian violence kicked into high gear that they changed their tune. They mass murdered each other, blamed Americans, and then claimed they never wanted to be liberated.
Too late for empty apologies
@@Eddyke he is not talking about this worldly life! if justice doesnt serve on them then it would be so unfair for those who got suffered for nothing. dont think that we are living a good life and wont be judged for what we did with our life. we are surely being tested.
@Top G allah doesn't exist
They are free at last
Thankyou for all the great journalism that you are doing.
Thank you for the video!
As an Iranian, this worries me as to how the US is planning what to do with Iran next
They will never dare that in Iran. Btw, the internal social and religious dynamics are not the same.
Satan's kid's wanna Destroy everything makes region restless
At this point, Iranians would welcome American "help" with open arms, so don't flatter yourself habibi.
We have defeated isis in Iraq, pushed them out of Afghanistan, defeated them in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and so on. They’re the one who are worried.
@@vino2230 was ISIS in Iraq in 2003?
As an American, I'm sorry for what my government has done to Iraq and I do agree those who committed war crimes and such should be prosecuted, but unfortunately that most likely won't ever happen. The 2nd Iraq War was a huge mistake.
Huh ! As Usual
@@catc1297 As usual what?
Your country is spitting the same lies again (Uyghur "genocide"). Uyghur "genocide" fake story is just Iraq WMD 2.0
This is a nice apology, but millions of Iraqis won't be healed from this, sadly. Tons of Iraqi rebels won't forgive, because the majority of Iraq, while may not like Saddam, hated the U.S. coming in a thousand times more. That is a fact. While U.S. troops apologize for this every day, it doesn't seem like Iraqi militias care, nor want to apologize.
your message is pleasant to read . thank you
As an Iranian, truly ashamed that my country and people are involved in these mundane subjects and which are our primary rights 😔
This is a well balanced perspective from the inside view.
The image of US democracy abroad.
They gave democracy to several countries, and they seem to be doing just fine.
Where there is oil (aka. valuable resources), there’s a need of democracy.... 🥴
*If the US could invade Iraq without any direct cause, why is Russia's invasion of Ukraine considered war crimes?*
It's hilarious that they don't have a democracy themselves but then try to set it up in other countries
@@faludasabzi4020 op
the US and NATO states cry out for Russia's compensation to Ukraine but they forget what they did in other countries
And Africa
@@bobmag8227 and Mexico and native American
@@bobmag8227 and Vietnam😂
and Libya
@@zhaomengyu028 did the us steal land?
Amazing documentary!!
great report - thanks
Saddam was not killed due to WMD’s, he was a challenge to US getting access to Iraq’s resources
They should have finished him after the first gulf war. The west was naive as they are too often.
Also Saddam was using gold as standard currency instead of petro dollar. This was a big threat for US oil monopoly at mid-east.
Did the US take Iraq's oil? No. I opposed the Iraq War, but Arabs love to blame the West. America didn't tell Shias and Sunnis to bomb each others weddings, schools and funerals.
@@parashit2181 same as Ghadaffi
I thought how it went was Iraq had very little oil and resources compared to other petro states and Hussein believed they were intentionally plummeting the cost of oil to ruin Iraq's economy; so, he used that as an excuse to invade Kuwait and take control of their oil fields as well as their coastline. As a result, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, etc., asked the U.S. for help to depose Hussein as he literally invaded another sovereign nation for oil. Is that not what happened? I'm genuinely asking cos it seems like everyone pins America as a war-hungry oil-hungry nation that just invades for oil, but from what I know, that's literally what Iraq did. Like I'm not trying to start a fight here or anything I just genuinely don't understand what's going on.
“The War on terror” became “The war of terror” I don’t know if US’s appetite for terror has ended
It was a war of terrør from the beginning
The vast majority of innocent people in Iraq were killed by the people Americans were not killed by coalition forces. They were killed by people who knew every death that happened in Iraq would be blamed on their Western enemies. People like you created a perverse incentive for insurgents to wreak as much senseless havoc as possible. How else do you explain bizarre events like the July Soccer Bombings, that seemed to target no one in particular.
It won't end until the world puts an end to it.
As long as it's not happening in American land they don't care
Nonsense, and F&ck you.
Thanks for sharing that
a very insightful video about IRAQ
if you think the chaos they created wasn't deliberate, you're not paying attention.
I know saying that makes you feel like a real badass who's sticking it to the man, but how did chaos serve American interests? Even oil exports decreased as violence increased.
Because of petro dollar?
@@Dennis-nc3vw Saddam wanted independence from deadly$ cant believe people still have this question even after 20 years
@@Dennis-nc3vw it surely served Saudi interest and that time, and Israel 💁🏾♂️both US Allies unfortunately open ur eyes 💁🏾♂️The saudis wanted him Gone
@yqisq6966 yes correct
Everyone talks about Russia’s military failure in Ukraine, but we also forget about America’s failure in Iraq and Afghanistan and the bravery of Iraqis and afghans.
Iraq wasn’t a failure, Saddam is dead his regime was dismantled in less then a month. Same with Afghanistan. (It was inevitable that the Taliban would come back we just arrogantly thought they wouldn’t) Russia failed to achieve its main objectives, and has been humiliated globally.
@@blackwatertv7018 Russia has it failed already?
@@blackwatertv7018 by Replacing Taliban with Taliban? 😅 by creating ISIS?
@@blackwatertv7018 fleeing a country with insurgent fire at your back is a failure. Cope more westoid.
@@blackwatertv7018 Are you an idiot Don't forget the creation of ISIS which did many terror attacks arcods the world was because the United States because they left a bunch of Iraqis soliders unemployed and also gave them weapons in Afghanistan
Very informative ❤
So while some of this I know because I was aware of some of this because of what little the media shared, I'm glad that this video really helped clarify on what has happened in Iraq since Saddam was removed from power. I do feel that the country could have become more stable from within if our leaders would've helped to setup their new govt in a better way, but I believe that our flawed political system helped to create ISIS. Its sad that the country has become much worse due to our country's latest fouls up (ie surrendering the weapons) in order to encourage power over its people and therefore greed has become more prevalent in recent history.
It feels like this anniversary is not being observed in the US, as if people just want to forget it ever happened. There should be at least a moment of silence somewhere
Who cares? Iraqis cheered in the streets when they heard about 9/11, why should any America shed a tear over their enemies loss? Iraqis should be happy the US didn't carpet bomb the entire country into dust along with the rest of the Arab world.
George W. Bush Jr. likes to crack jokes to his supporters about the unprovoked invasion, destruction and genocide of Iraqis. Trump pardoned US soilders going off on a killing spree killing civilian Iraqis so that is their stance on this subject. The US presidents regardless of political parties always carry out the comand of their zionist handlers. That particular lobby works behind the scenes to push for wars to strengthen the dominance of the settler colonialism/illegitimate state of Israel.
Mainstream media have been told not to broadcast it , especially considering they are condemning Russia when the USA done exactly the same thing !! The USA is the biggest threat on the planet
u.s.-ers have no problem murdering millions and just moving on and THEN accusing russia of being a lawless state ... smh
When the politic/religion blocs have been diverging, there's no big problem, but when they don't wanna live in the same place, you have a real problem. And that feeling of dictatorship any moment.
as an Iraqi I can confirm this is very accurate...
So, America has successfully brainwashed you guys to believe that it wasn't America's fault but your own. America was the angel trying to get things right but just because of Iraqis, it couldn't get it right. That's basically what the report is saying.
It was nothing but your greed which made your country your graveyard , you opted America over Islam , now enjoy the taste of America
Oh really its just starting you will taste more as you opted usa over ISLAM
Iraqis shouldnt have voted for Kafirs to lead the country
@@user-rd2ic8iy4k it wasnt opting a choice over another usa used force and entered iraq you need to learn more about history of events
Don’t know about Iraq! But the US invasion has surely changed Afghanistan. Today we Afghans lost almost everything.
O My Afghans 😭😭😭
Afghanistan's population doubled under US "occupation."
@@Dennis-nc3vw NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES OUT THE TEXAN MOUTH!
Those poor people. May God Almighty shine His light on Iraq and help its people. You’ll be in my prayers. 🇮🇶
You won't see CNN or BBC cover this
Such bias networks
@@greatsena They're the ones who pushed this war, I doubt they'll be commenting on the crimes they helped enable. If this world had any justice most the people working at these networks would be in jail.
They're part of the manipulation
You're kidding right? BBC covered loads of both the lies around the invasion and the total mess USA crated in Iraq afterwards.
Yes you will?
March 19 marks 15 years since the U.S.-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the American people have no idea of the enormity of the calamity the invasion unleashed. The U.S. military has refused to keep a tally of Iraqi deaths. General Tommy Franks, the man in charge of the initial invasion, bluntly told reporters, “We don’t do body counts.” One survey found that most Americans thought Iraqi deaths were in the tens of thousands. But our calculations, using the best information available, show a catastrophic estimate of 2.4 million Iraqi deaths since the 2003 invasion. Source Davidswanson warlist The millitary is America’s biggest jobs program. The idea isn’t about protecting people, but protecting corporate interests in dominating foreign resources and economies. The goal isn’t to end wars, but to keep the wars ongoing as long as possible and as profitable as possible. -FRISHR
Please, you people rig the game from the start. First you say the US is serving the interests of oil companies, then when we point out it doesn't benefit oil companies to have terrorists blowing up pipelines and the highways used by a oil tankers, you say it's all a plan by the Military Industrial Complex to sell more weapons. So literally anything can be spun as serving US interests to sate your diseased hearts. Also, your number relies on the Lancet study, which was already thoroughly discredited.
Succinct
Most academic estimates put the Iraqi death toll from the invasion and civil war around 250,000. There is only one peer-reviewed study that has a death toll of over 1 million and very few with a toll in excess of 500,000.
Those estimates are ridiculously overstated and are 100% the fault of Al-Qaeda and the near civil war it provoked.
Very well explained
Well done Al Jazeera for putting this out there, people are short minded
Same things happened to my country Haiti after The 2004 invasion, they promised us democracy and freedom 😂look at us now 😢
Luckily the world is waking up. Join BRICS, drop the dollar, watch them crumble.
Same to Ukraine..... and Taiwan next
What about taking care of yourself? Why don’t people bring their desired democracy themselves?
A Future is not given to you, you have to take it for yourself.
Fk ukraine man
I hope the Iraqi people get justice for the war crimes committed against them. I understand it because my family are in camps around Bethlehem and treated less than human by Israeli occupation and Apartheid that is directly financed by USA.
But the West is very silent. The hypocrisy in these people.
US paying Israel 10million dollar per day as pocket money..
They get justice, they have democracy they was craving for
@@habibcisse9809 A Canadian news crew filmed my aunt Huda Huwaja murdered in Aida Bethlehem when IDF bombed her wall. They refuse to let her help for hours until she passed. The footage is online with millions of views, 'What Israel doesn't want you to see' I want justice for my aunt and my family!
@@habibcisse9809 20 years of war can't be covered by democracy plus democracy only destroyed the country even further..
nice episode
Excelente reportaje 👏🏻 felicidades Sandra y todo el equipo de Al Jazeera 🎉
I love your videos, short and precise
There are some people who require a strong administrator without democracy. Iraq is one of them
10:24 gave me goosebumps 😢
Remember UK played a big role here imaging 40,000 troops?????
What a great work indeed, may the upcoming years bring peace, safety and well being to our beloved neighbors, the Iraqi people
As an Iraqi Kurd, I totally agree that main problem in Iraq is the internal corruption , in post 2003 we have barely seen any Gov minister or hifh rank official who no steal millions $ in matter of months if not weeks
im not an iraqi but i will say what i see as an outsider. Iraq will have to face this internal issue sooner or later either the us got in iraq or not. I see the same theme happens to every country throughout history. Each country going through sorting their difference amount their ethnicity group, religion, and the rule of law before they actually united. Hope that you guys sort your things out before the future generations have to go through the same thing.
@@superjnovaannularaurora9065 well said , thats is correct but the issuevin Iraq is each ethnic has different outsiders supporting them and non of iraq neighbors want a united strong iraq
When I see the situation of middle east, the wars, the atrocities happened. I mean they have the oil reserves, they have the resources but still they are in great trauma. And west plays an important role in this whole picture that we saw today.
Informative video. Very well done.
It’s bullshit ? She is a total moron
Half millions children died😢 they even sanctions baby food sanitary pad wtf wtf and they have right to say human rights,
If you cared so much about the people killed by the sanctions, why were you railing so hard against the invasion that would stop the sanctions? Iraqis killed under the sanctions (which BTW Cheney called "the most intrusive form of arms control in human history) were silent death. Because ultimately people don't care about human life, they just hate seeing America win.
If half a Million Children alone died, why did the Population has still increased so much?
@@bumarangnebula2589 The population would've increased even more.
@@bumarangnebula2589 where u get data that Iraq population is increase?
@@bumarangnebula2589 Are you dumb? The whole world keeps increasing look at the last 70 years.
The capacity to combine commitment with scepticism is essential to democracy.
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From an Iraqi, Aljazeera has more Iraqi blood on its hands than any outsider can fathom. Their role in instigating sectarian violence and terrorism, misinformation and pursuing a destructive agenda that brought Iraq’s societal fabric destruction to a point of no return, should never be forgotten.
Really? Can you elaborate a bit more? I do know that it's a full fleged propoganda arm of the qatari govt but didn't know that their impact has been so destructive
They want to replace muslim leader to kuffar(american) leader to lead you somewhere. Remember Allah also let you do by your self n hands off from you [O ye who believe! obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves refer it to Allah and His Apostle if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best and most suitable for final determination.] O believers! Take neither Jews nor Christians as guardians-they are guardians of each other.1 Whoever does so will be counted as one of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. Allah put someone become a leader is 1 of our faith qada n qadar Allah can even put someone like firaun n nimrod. But to replace a muslim to kuffar is a serious matter. Making a deal with Allah is better then Allah lay you off by urself. See what happen?
CNN. FOXNEWS ect
It was nothing but your greed which made your country your graveyard , you opted America over Islam , now enjoy the taste of America
Its just starting , you will taste alot more because you opted america Over ISLAM
The US is trying to convince us that we should hold Russia accountable for invading another country 😂😂
Why did Russia invade Ukraine, can any body explain.
@@ikhtabar Russia made up a bunch of lies because they wanted to effect regime change, which is exactly what the US did in Iraq.
@@ikhtabar for stopping nato influence on their borders.
@@syedwaseemakram7006 Funny cause even if they take Ukraine they will be neighbours with NATO.
@@syedwaseemakram7006 Russia had a 30 year lease on Sevastopol, which would've made Ukraine not able to join NATO as long as that lease was valid. Just wake up and realize that Putin is doing his own Anschluss, and his regime can independently do bad things without them having to be justified because of Bush's crimes. Simpleton.
My parents lived horribly they had babies and allhamduillah no one died but my parents experienced trauma. My dad fought then and was really innocent 😭😞✌️
Those Iraqis that cheering for Americans, are they really represent the whole majority voice of Iraqis?
No they don’t Lmao
Yes. A poll conducted between March 22 and April 9 found Iraqis thought removing Saddam was "worth it" by a margin of more than 2 to 1. It wasn't until sectarian violence kicked into high gear, in mid-2006, that they changed their tune. They mass murdered each other and blamed Americans.
Same problem in Africa as well, too many traitors
they were small amount of people that had the american flag but the media focused all the cameras on them
ikr clowns forgot US dropped bombs on hospitals in Baghdad. Even the maternity hospital were destroyed.
I'm happy that my country India has taken a neutral stance in Russia-Ukraine war & not sided with America like a puppet government.
Hello I feel sad that a lot of Indians dislike USA do you think the same?
@@13ased_American whole world not just indian keep in mind for all the wars and killing and atrocities you have been doing on foreign lands is it not enough to hate mumrika
@@QuranRecitation-xo8vm They will want us when China invades India 🤣
It's because India is cowardly and weak. Easy prey for China in the future. Think the CCP is going to sit by while India grows? LOL. Have fun with that
you dont like americans but you like scamming their innocent citizen
Hi I always watch your news From Bangladesh 🇧🇩
God bless you all family
Best video Thanks Al Jazeera👍Love And Respect For Iraqi 🇮🇶 Nation✌️♥️
It was nothing but your greed which made your country your graveyard , you opted America over Islam , now enjoy the taste of America
An amazing analysis ma'am.
So sorry for people to died from cruel bad people
So many Americans here apologising for what their politicians and military have done to Iraq, all the time forgetting what they also did in Libya, Syria, Afghanistan etc. Then they also thank their military for their ‘service’. Hypocrisy at its finest.
It’s unreal that it’s been 20 years I remember it very well.
20 years ago iraq was gold
Not just gold, but children spent their days frolicking in the sun with butterflies! 🦋
Let’s make some peace not war ✌️☮️
Evil Empire of Death , Chaos & Destruction must pay WAR REPARATIONS & send ALL their WAR CRIMINALS to the ICC
I think the initial invasion was good but the problem was how we handed the aftermath of it.
The initial invasion was a war crime, justified with obvious lies and should NEVER have happened.
Great report
When you do not help yourself, no one can't either.
Guys, what is the name of this anchor? She narrates well and especially her deep voice
"why don't they just eat cakes?" "why don't just give them freedom?"
We don't really want freedom for anyone else that isn't us. We use it to fool those idiots. It isn't sarcasm or irony, I literally believe every other country is inferior to ours. Enjoy your sand 🇺🇸
Very good summary! Thanks for clarifying. I hope people finally realize that the West does not help them and only creates chaos and setting people against each other. Also the role of Iran and other gulf states in the region is chaotic.
We don't need to help anyone. What we need is oil and those countries have got it. How do you think we keep this empire running? Call me cynical all you want, but if the situation were reversed they'd be doing the same.
You must know about America’s involvement in Iran then?
usa = pos
@@chungusmaximus526 That's why nobody likes America. one day this account will arrive, no empire lasts forever.
Guess who controls Iraqi oil now ? Exxon & Royal Dutch Shell.
What did the people of iraq have today?😢 the situation wors than during the Sadaam Hussien .? He was a hero 😢
Sad because the US is still the warmonger and the only main powers today to challenge its hegemony are Russia and China. Just hope a day will come when US will suffer the same as USSR.
as someone who has filmed in Iraq twice, Saddam's legacy is mixed, the Sunnis and Christians miss him, the Kurds and some Shiites are glad that he's gone, at the very least Saddam kept things more centralized and in order
@@mikenogozones absolutely rights , so many countries need to centralizes everything, ?democratic is not good for us ?
He’s criminal nothing else
@@mikenogozones Kurds and Shias are 80% of Iraq Saddam was a tyrant. Keeping things centralized is pointless if you are going to opress people.
unlike Japan or Germany, Irak was impossible to govern, let alone democratize. Also, its neighbors did everything to sabotage any attempt to implement a western-styled democracy there. Had Irak been administered by the american after the war, it would have become the Japan or Germany of the middle east. Meaning more modern and prosperous. Irak has an economical potential that waits only to be developped.
the video and content is good but please turn down the music and sound effects next time, its at a distractingly loud level and I'm trying to listen to the speakers
This is a very good video. It is astonishing to hear it put this way, I knew the US had no plan in Iraq, but dismantling the army and government without foreseeing the chaos it would bring?
They made the chaos to loot Iraq.
Imo the desired outcome was achieved
@@curtisthomas2670 Even you don't know how that makes any sense. How was chaos in anyway good for the US? Why did the US benefit from highways and oil pipelines getting blown up by carbombs? How did it benefit from having to spend hundreds of billions repair infrastructure? How did it benefit for Iraq to be a breeding ground for our mortal enemies.
The US succeeded in Germany, in Japan, in Panama, and (it seemed at the time) in Afghanistan. Why would we see this coming?
@@Dennis-nc3vw do you actually think the US rebuilt the Iraqi infrastructure they damaged for free? Iraq had to take loans from US banks and US corporations got contracts to rebuild. US pmc companies made millions. Iraq is still repaying US from the first invasion
Thanks for this report! Relatively impartial and factual. Wondering what people of Iraq would choose if they had a choice - now or pre-US invasion? 😢
The report is just a sham of key takeaways. The underlying message is that it wasn't America's fault. It had all the good intentions but did tiny mistakes here and there. The Iraqis and the sectarian divide of Iraq is to blame.
Is this even a serious question? Pre US of course.
@@yahudigahba well! The video is trying too hard to make the lines blurry and show that pre US was as bad and the intervention of USA was an angelic move and the innocent did few mistakes here and there but majorly it's Iraq's fault.
Depends on if you were a Ba'athist, or the rest of the people, who constantly feared genocide like the Kurds, or having their whole family being fed into a wood chipper as Saddam watched. Whatever chaos exists today, it beats living in silent fear for your life.
As iraqi ,The tow choose is bad ,as Shia we was killed by sadaam and now our live isn't the better,we need to be free ,and make new country in south iraq to shia arab ,just that what will give as freedom.
One thing I am getting from this video is the invasion was not an issue. It was the occupation that was the issue.
♥️🇮🇶♥️✌🏻🇮🇶♥️✌🏻 Long live to Iraq 🇮🇶♥️✌🏻♥️🇮🇶
I sincerely believe that the current situation in Ukraine can be blamed directly on GW Bush who set a precedent by ignoring the UN and international law and invading Iraq without going through the proper channels. Putin saw him do it and is now following in his footsteps. The UN is supposed to be the keeper of the international rules-based order and needs to be respected by every nation.
Yep, Putin took a page from American playbook. But he failed to conquer Ukraine in two weeks and had to resort to draft, something that the U.S. has been avoiding since Vietnam war. Also, as Boris Nemtsov said, Russia is not the U.S. - quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi. No one sanctioned the U.S. twenty years ago, but everyone has sanctioned Russia.
@@jmaddalena42 the UN went in first to find weapons of mass destruction and did not recommend the US go to war. Where in the UN charter gave the US the right?
@@jacklane7489 the UN could not verify whether or not Saddam did in fact possess wmd bc they would, among other things, shoot at UN inspectors trying to do their job. In 2002 Iraq fired over 200 surface to air missiles at UN aircraft. Saddam may have not had WMD, but at the time he was making that extraordinarily difficult to believe. Saddam had strung the UN along for over a decade since 1991 and the US and others had had enough.
@@jacklane7489 the US invasion was certainly illegal, Russia and France have a history of using veto power to protect genocidal dictators, but the U.S. invasion was justified.
Nope, completely Putins fault.
Love to my Iraqi brethrens from Pakistan 🇵🇰.
Pakistan also becoming puppet of US...they trying to jail Khan now
Very good reporting but I have a question what’s actually happening in Iraq it’s totally disastrous and totally chaotic seems like a burned paper and ashes left of the paper and people are trying to read from the ashes very sad and very disappointing situation in Iraq
Any video on whats happening in France/ what are Pension Reforms ??
Why does al Jazeera say that saddam was cruel? Iraqis had enjoyed their lives during saddam rule. Not only Iraqis but many Indians had worked in Iraq then which really helped many down trodden Indian families
He was criminal he killed lots of kurds and others
He disappeared 10,000 people a year according to Human Rights Watch estimates.
@@Dennis-nc3vw”human rights watch is propaganda and the US killed way more
Americans have amnesia when it comes to the invasion of Iraq, who had nothing to do with……you know
Americans like to mock outrage about 9 11 but don't care about 9 11 enough to find out from which country the passports found belonged to. Not Iraq. Not Afghanistan. Not Syria. Not Libya.
It was nothing but your greed which made your country your graveyard , you opted America over Islam , now enjoy the taste of America
You are a Palestinian and have nothing to do with Iraq therefore your opinion is worthless to more than 80 percent of the Iraqi people
As an Iraqi citizen , I can easily say that Iraq’s today is a million times better than under Saddam’s regime
@@Baghdad.78 is it Iraqi or western puppet?? Actually there is difference If you understand
God bless Iraq. Hope they know peace soon.
شكرا لك يا اخي محبتي وتقديري من العراق
If I recall, Al Jazeera was a cheerleader for the war. And Al Jazeera was a cheerleader for Libya and Syria.
I was in Iraq 2003. Still haunts me
I love Al Jazeera. U give the right position in the right direction.
USA sitting in a corner blameless.
Because the world won't do anything.
@@cashewnuttel9054 *Can't do anything.
@@williamdavis9562 The world can, they are just scared.
@@cashewnuttel9054 the world cannot, the world does not have balls.
"In 2003 the US and a handful of allies invaded Iraq..." What she meant to say is that in 2003 the US and 48 countries, or roughly a quarter of the world's countries, invaded Iraq.
This. People like to blame everything on US but the truth is that world was fed up with Saddam who invaded 2 countries himself, plus committed genocide and terror insidd his own country.
@@fungunsun1 Since the whole "Saddam has WMDs" was an obvious lie (heck, did you see Powell talking about those mobile labs? When the top brass clearly not believe what they are sent out to tell, you now it is BAD!), followed by the attitude "only American companies should get contracts to rebuild Iraq", I dare say without any hesitation that yes, this mess IS the fault of Bush, Blair, Rumsfield and Cheney.
You do know without America pushing the war there wouldn't be a war
Really? Show me the facts. UN did not proved this war.
US: invades Iraq, Syria, Lybia and Yugoslavia The world: It's okay, we still love you 🤗 Russia: does the exact same thing, just with a different country The world: OMG how dare you?! You're a monster! 😡
Us never invaded Syria Libya or Yugoslavia.
@@Popovich16 nato is usa
@@Popovich16 these countries were 💣 bombed badly.
thats how the usa deal with other countries. they divide them whether based on ethnicity or race or religion. or where you born. always leave behind separation and caste. just like old colonial
Exactly. My heart can’t be broken any more it’s just sad and I feel sad that this is what the world is. We have NEVER given peace a chance and it’s all because of money and an innate need to feel superior to our fellow man.
Even you have no idea what you mean by this. How could the US possibly engineer a sectarian divide in Iraq even if it wanted to.
@@Dennis-nc3vw lol how you think us keep taiwan as puppet countries for 50 years just incase china make it big. there is a letter from the cia or pentagon mentioning taiwan as the base military against china in 1970 when china still poor. so usa does have idea what they wanted to happen wayyyyyy before we can think about it.
@@Dennis-nc3vw Dude, no need of defending your country. Your country is evil. Don't sanctify it. The US has been responsible for these proxy wars in Africa too. The CIA and Belgium killed the one leader, Patrice Lumumba, who was about to end neo colonialism in Congo and deny the West the colonial rights to minerals in the country. They even took his teeth as war trophy. Such barbarism from the civilized west. Look it up, the teeth were returned back to Congo in 2022 with a half hearted apology. They continue to fund the rebels in Russia, disrupting lives, but still manage to get their hands on the minerals like Lithium. Look up the work of CIA in Angola too. It's high time you started correcting the wrongs those who came before you did, and it all starts with acknowledgement and an apology. But I know we won't get that any time soon.
@@Dennis-nc3vw Israel and the US government have a made a map of the Middle East with a bunch of small puppet states, that is their goal
I'm going next week to Iraq to report on this legacy- really cannot wait
be smart and stay away from the West and North-West, might get kidnapped lmao and appear in the next ISIS video.
I guess you could go back to the Saddam days if its so bad now. And, military invasion isn't your problem: Religious beliefs are your problem (as with most of the world). It'll never end. Ever. Its impossible for any current species to live together in harmony.
Having a good report on world events is really useful. The Middle East is very complicated and as an American I find it very difficult to understand how ethnic differences quickly become violent. Understanding the truth is also important. Often distortions or lies simply create more confusion. Claims that Saddam and the Iraqi military use poison gas against their enemies is very difficult to understand. Iraq is not a developed modern state and making poison gas is beyond their ability. Yet you have stated Saddam and his military use poison gas. As the 2003 US invasion of Iraq has shown no weapons of mass destruction were found. No biological weapons, no chemical weapons, and no nuclear weapons were found. So repeating distortions or lies about poison gas just hurt your credibility. Iraq is not technologically developed enough to make modern weapons of mass destruction, which is a good thing. However, your explanation about the sectarian or ethnic differences between the different people in Iraq is useful. I hope the people of Iraq can put aside their cultural differences and see each other as one people and one nation. It is difficult to create a democratic government for your country when you do not tolerate differences. Also it seems that intolerance for sectarian difference is a recurring theme in the Middle East. If this is the case then a strong man who has no religious allegiance is the only choice for leadership in such an environment. Lastly, in other documentaries the conflict in Iraq is not between the US and Iran, but Saudi Arabia and Iran. Are you saying the US and Saudi Arabia are allies and the US and Saudi Arabia are confronting Iran in Iraq? Is Iran strong enough to confront the US and Saudi Arabia together? Overall this video is a good summary for the conflict going on in Iraq.
In the first part of your reply, I think there are two points you're missing. 1. Saddam carried out most of the mentioned chemical attacks before the 1991 Kuwait invasion. 2. When it came specifically to chemical weapons, the UN Inspectors did conclude that there were numerous unaccounted-for caches. This second point is important because it's what got Congress on board in voting to invade. Point being, Saddam was a bad dude that needed dealt with. The problem is we took the "street justice" approach in dealing with it, which always looks bad in hindsight. 98% of American politicians are 75% scum, Bush included. I'm just not sure it would be handled any differently today under the same circumstances (post-9/11 emotions).
They don't want to put the pieces back together. They want the oil, same as it ever was, same as it ever was.
They already have the oil they wanted. The post-Saddam government opened up the oil industry to private investors, and if there's one thing investors like it's political stability. If you think anyone wants chaos (aside from terrorists), you need to sharpen those critical thinking skills.
@@Alex-ez1lk They read Chomsky once though so that ain't gonna happen.
Right because its so easy to do business with a failed state. That's why you always see US mega-corporations setting up shop in places like the Congo.