initial stage

At the beginning of the war. On March 20, 2003 (5: 30 am Iraq time), the United States and Britain launched a large-scale air strike and ground offensive against Iraq, code-named "Operation decapitation" and "Operation shock". After the war broke out, Bush delivered a televised speech to the whole country, announcing the beginning of the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime, stressing that this war would be a "quick victory". At present, the United States and Britain have dropped more than 2,000 precision-guided bombs, including 500 Tomahawk cruise missiles, on more than ten cities and ports, including Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Mosul, Kirkuk and Umm Qasr. At the same time, Saddam Hussein also made a speech to the whole country, calling on the Iraqi people to resist American aggression and defeat the United States and Britain.

Stalemate stage

The stalemate in the war. Due to the long supply line and the resistance of Iraq, the goal of "quick victory" of the US-British Coalition forces failed to be realized, and the ground attack was once blocked. Iraqi forces fought fiercely with the United States and Britain in Karbala, Sheila and Hindiya in central Iraq. At the same time, hundreds of Iraqis return to Iraq from Jordan and other countries every day to join the ranks of the United States and Britain.

Steering stage

A turning point in the war. Relying on air superiority and mechanized troops, the United States and Britain launched a powerful offensive in several ways, and successively captured important cities and strategic places such as Basra in southern Iraq, forming an encirclement of Baghdad, which made the war one-sided.

On April 8, 2003, the US military advanced to Baghdad from the north and south, and seized Rasheed military airport in the southeast of Baghdad. American tanks entered Baghdad and occupied Saddam City. In the face of American troops marching into Baghdad and tikrit, Iraqi leaders called on the army and the people to take a mutually assured destruction attack on the United States and Britain. After persuading the people to die with the enemy, he and several cronies went into hiding to survive.

Closing phase

The last stage of the war. On April 15, 2003, the US military announced the end of major military operations in the Iraq war, and the Coalition forces had "controlled the whole territory of Iraq". According to the official data released by the United States, the number of American soldiers killed in the Iraq war was 262, of which 139 was killed and 123 was killed in an accident. 33 British soldiers were killed. The war cost the United States $23 billion. In March 2003, the United States launched the Iraq war. So far, 4,869 American troops have been killed and 4,403 American troops have been killed in the accident. US President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of all US troops in Iraq before 2011231,officially ending the Iraq war that lasted for nearly nine years.

20 10 in August, Obama announced the end of the Iraq war, but still left about 56,000 American troops in Iraq. According to Pentagon statistics, the number of US troops in Iraq has been reduced to 39,000 at this stage. If all are evacuated, millions of weapons and equipment need to be disposed of.

End of war

President's speech

On February 4th, 2065438+0165438+65438, US President Barack Obama delivered a speech at fort bragg Military Base in North Carolina, saying that the Iraq war was officially over.

Obama said that the Iraq war will soon become history. The end of the Iraq war ended "one of the most unusual chapters in the history of the US military". He said that ending a war that lasted for such a long time has far-reaching significance. Facing the American troops present, Obama said "welcome home" four times in a row.

In the Iraq war that lasted for more than nine years, more than 9,000 American soldiers were killed and 56,000 were injured. Obama, who has always opposed the Iraq war, said that the Iraq war caused great controversy in the United States. "It is more difficult to end a war than to start one." Just like everything is easy to start, but it is not easy to end. Because all we need at first is to "think" what we want to achieve-for example, the United States, we think it launched the Iraq war only to make Saddam pay for the 9. 1 1 incident; What is needed to end this war is to really "achieve" the goal it started, which is both my original idea and imposed on you during the period-the United States also wants to end this war, but Saddam's regime still exists and separatism has increased; Second, it has not achieved the improvement of Iraq's economic and social welfare that the Iraqi people hoped for. This is also the reason why the United States was first welcomed by Iraq and then hated by Iraq-expectations were not realized. )

Flag lowering ceremony

On 20111215, the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq held a flag-lowering ceremony at a military base near Baghdad, which marked the official end of the 9-year American war in Iraq.

US Defense Secretary Panetta, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman martin Dempsey, US Supreme Commander Austin in Iraq and US Ambassador to Iraq and other US military and diplomatic officials attended the flag lowering ceremony.

Panetta said that the contribution of the United States in the Iraq war is worthwhile. He said to his army, "You will leave with great pride ... Your sacrifice has helped the Iraqi people to open a new chapter in history."

But many Iraqis obviously don't see it that way. An Iraqi interviewed by the Associated Press said, "The Americans left a country that they destroyed. Americans leave behind not modern schools or large factories, but thousands of orphans and widows. "

According to statistics, the Iraq war, which began in 2003 and lasted for nearly nine years, resulted in the death of more than 654.38 million Iraqis. It also caused trauma to many families in the United States. According to the statistics of the Associated Press, 449 1 American soldiers were killed and 32,753 American soldiers were injured in the Iraq war.

Although the flag lowering ceremony on June 5438+05 marked the end of the Iraq war, as of that day, 4,000 American troops were still stationed in Iraq. According to the agreement between the United States and Iraq, these American troops will all leave before 65438+February 3 1. However, American soldiers hope to withdraw to the United States earlier, and maybe they can catch up with their families for Christmas.

According to foreign media reports, hundreds of Iraqis gathered in the central square of the western city of Fallujah on June 5438+04 to celebrate the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Many people posted anti-American slogans, some burned American and Israeli flags, and some even held up portraits of anti-American armed leaders to show "victory in resistance."

The US-Iraq Party criticized that the premature withdrawal of troops may put the progress made by the United States and Iraq at greater risk. Panetta also warned at the ceremony that day: In the days to come, Iraq will be tested by terrorism, separatism, economic and social problems and democratic requirements. But he also stressed that the United States will support the Iraqi people to meet these challenges and build a stronger and more prosperous country.

War result

As for the Iraq war, it seems that the United States won, but some people say that the United States failed. From a military point of view, the United States defeated Saddam Hussein and achieved its original goal, so the United States won. However, from the overall strategic situation, from the political, military, economic, social and moral perspectives, the United States has actually failed to a great extent.

The influence of war

With the smoke of the Iraq war gradually dispersed, the United States seems to have achieved the goal of "controlling Iraq by overthrowing Saddam Hussein", but the United States soon discovered that they may have been dragged into a protracted guerrilla war. Since President Bush announced the end of large-scale military operations in Iraq, the situation in Iraq has not stabilized as expected, but has become more and more chaotic. The increasingly complex war situation and huge military expenditure have gradually made the United States feel powerless and cast an uncertain shadow over the global economy.

Today, the situation in Iraq is still turbulent, and the influence of war on regional and world economy is increasingly apparent. In view of the increasing interdependence of the world economy due to the ties of economic globalization, compared with the Gulf War in the early 1990s, the serious consequences of the Iraq war will definitely have a negative impact on the world economic situation that is struggling to get out of the trough.

The impact of the war on the economy is mainly reflected in the high international oil price, the heavy blow to tourism and aviation, the blow to the confidence of investors and consumers, and the difficulty in recovering the American economy.