# Iraq **Iraq** is the country this vault mentions more than almost any other without, until now, having a page for it. It enters the record in four capacities: as the object of the 2003 invasion and the [[Iraq WMD Intelligence Failure]] that justified it; as the territory the [[Islamic State]] rose from; as the arena where Iran built its most powerful militia network inside a neighboring state; and, in 2026, as a launch ground for drone strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure and the country American troops finally left. > [!note] Canonical country record > This page owns the bare name **Iraq** and is the default target for `[[Iraq]]`. > Its history is at [[Iraqi History Hub]]. > A page covering its influence operations directed at the United States, if one is built, belongs in /Foreign Influence/ under an adjectival title and does **not** claim this name. ## Half a century in one table | Period | What happened | |---|---| | 1979–2003 | [[Saddam Hussein]]'s Baathist dictatorship; the [[Iran-Iraq War]], the [[Halabja Massacre]] and Anfal campaign against the [[Kurds]], the 1991 Gulf War | | 2003 | U.S.-led invasion on the WMD case that proved false ([[Iraq War]], [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]], [[Mission Accomplished]]) | | 2003–2011 | Occupation: the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]], [[De-Baathification]], [[Abu Ghraib Torture Scandal]], sectarian civil war, the [[Anbar Awakening]] and [[Iraq Surge]]; U.S. troops peak above 170,000 in 2007 | | 2014–2017 | The Islamic State seizes Mosul and a third of the country; the U.S. returns under [[Operation Inherent Resolve]] | | 2017–2025 | ISIS defeated territorially; Iran-aligned militias absorbed into the state as the [[Iraqi PMF]] | | 2026 | New government; the Iran war spills over; U.S. forces leave | ## 2026 **A new government.** After parliamentary elections in November 2025, the Shia-led blocs took six months to agree. **Ali al-Zaidi** was sworn in as prime minister on **May 14, 2026**, with only 14 ministers confirmed and the interior and defense ministries still vacant. **The Iran war.** Since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran on February 28, 2026 (see [[Iran War 2026 Timeline]]), U.S. bases in the Kurdistan Region have come under repeated attack; Kurdish officials count more than 1,000 drone and ballistic-missile strikes on the region. Drones launched from Maysan province struck Saudi Arabia's [[East-West Crude Oil Pipeline]] on September 10, 2026, and Riyadh shut it the next day; Baghdad dismissed the local operations commander and closed three border crossings with Iran. **The withdrawal.** Under a 2024 agreement to wind down the anti-ISIS coalition, U.S. forces completed their pullout on **September 30, 2026**, leaving last from Erbil. Al-Zaidi called it "a new phase defined by Iraq's sovereignty." Washington keeps only "targeted training and intelligence support." A Kataib Hezbollah official greeted the departure with a warning that any government that fails the people "will be overthrown by all means," a reminder of who holds the guns once the Americans are gone. Iraq remains OPEC's second-largest oil producer, which is why what happens to its militias and its border with Iran matters to oil prices well beyond the region. ## Why it appears in this vault - [[Iraq War]] and [[Iraq Surge]]: the invasion and occupation, the vault's central case of manufactured consent - [[Iraq WMD Intelligence Failure]]: how the case was built - [[Islamic State]]: what the occupation's collapse produced - [[Iraqi PMF]]: the Iran-backed militia network inside the Iraqi state - [[East-West Crude Oil Pipeline]]: the September 2026 Maysan drone strikes ## See Also - [[Iraqi History Hub]] · [[War on Terror]] · [[World History Hub]] - [[Iran]] · [[Saudi Arabia]] · [[Kurds]] · [[Brett McGurk]] · [[Paul Bremer]]