Case Study: The Invasion Of Iraq 2003 Flashcards
Who was invoked in the 2003 Iraq war?
-Led by US troops, Britain also sent significant numbers of military personnel (around 40,000) however the US had four times this amount -troops were equipped with a wide range of modern weapons
What happened during the invasion ?
Include the three main elements of the invasion
Allied used ‘shock and awe’ tactics meaning overwhelming firepower to dominate and make rapid progress
- extensive surveillance of the location and nature of Iraqi territory (missiles and defense sites)
- air strikes(a few weeks before the main invasion) against key Iraqi defense, missile and communication sites)
-an armored infantry advance(tanks+personnel carriers) supported by aircraft
How effective were allied weapons ?
Allied weaponry performed well although it was not invulnerable
Challenger 2 tanks made rapid progress and offered excellent protection (only 2 were lost with 1 being friendly fire)
The Americans lost 16 tanks with 35 damaged
However not all infantry was so well protected
How did the warfare shift from invasion to insurgency?
The invasion was rapid and successful in defeating the Iraqi military
However violent attacks on allied troops by anti American insurgents quickly escalated
Much of the violence took the form of Guerrilla or terrorist activities against US and broths troops
Suicide bombs, hit and run gunmen, cat bombs and IEDs were all used
What was the outcome of the Iraq war?
Public opinion on the situation in Iraq was increasing hostile to the continuation of the war
After some success in reducing insurgency and transferring power to a new Iraqi Government British troops withdrew in 2009(US 2010) 179 Brit dead and 4400 US dead
