conflict in terms of loss of life and economic
damage for both countries. Iraq then invaded
Kuwait in 1990 because of a dispute over oil,
precipitating the next major Gulf War. In 1991,
after an extended campaign of aerial bombing
that destroyed much of Iraq’s infrastructure, an
international coalition of forces led by the United
States expelled Iraq from Kuwait. Thinking they
might be able to overthrow the government, Shiis
in the south and Kurds in the north revolted. The
coalition powers allowed Iraq’s military to quell
the uprisings. However, they forced the govern-
ment to give up its high-grade weapons programs
and stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.
A UN-sponsored embargo was also imposed to
gain Iraq’s compliance, at great cost to ordinary
Iraqis. U.S. and British warplanes enforced no-fly
zones over the northern and southern parts of the
country and periodically bombed Iraqi military
installations during the 1990s.
EArly 21ST-CENTury IrAQ
Saddam Husayn’s Baath dictatorship finally fell in
April 2003 when U.S. and British forces invaded
Iraq on the premises that Iraq was stockpiling
weapons of mass destruction and supporting radi-
cal Islamic terrorism. With the fall of Baghdad,
the army was disbanded, Baath Party members
were dismissed from their jobs, and the occupying
powers created an interim government to rule the
country. It was led by a council composed of rep-
resentatives from different sectors of Iraq’s popula-
tion. The Arab Shia and the Kurds took advantage
of the situation to maximize their political inter-
ests against those of the Arab Sunnis, who had
controlled the country since the days of Ottoman
rule. The Daawa Party and the Supreme Council
for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI; now called
the Supreme Islamic Council) returned from exile
in Iran, while many Shiis turned to the ulama in
Najaf for guidance. Three religious figures became
particularly prominent at this time—Ayatollah Ali
Sistani (b. 1930), a senior Iranian-born cleric; Abd
al-Aziz al-Hakim (b. 1950), head of SCIRI and a
cleric; and Muqtada al-Sadr (b. 1973), a militant
young cleric and member of the widely beloved
Sadr family. The U.S.-led invasion of 2003, there-
fore, helped give Iraq’s Shia a dominant position
in the government. Their position was confirmed
in the January 2005 elections, when a coalition
of Shii parties gained a parliamentary majority,
and the first two prime ministers they appointed
were members of the Daawa Party. Moreover, in
refutation of the previous Baath regime’s secular
outlook, the new Iraqi constitution stipulated that
Islam was the national religion and the basis of the
country’s laws, although freedom of religion was
also recognized.
Since the U.S. and British occupation began
in 2003, many parts of the country have seen
increasing levels of violence. Indeed, some experts
have observed that Iraq has become afflicted with
at least five wars, often overlapping with each
other. These are the war of Iraqi opposition to
U.S. occupation forces and their allies; the war
between government and Baathist militias; the war
of foreign jihadis affiliated with al-qaida against
occupation forces and the Shia (who are seen as
infidels); the war between rival Shii militias; and
the border war between Kurdish guerrillas and
Turkey. Iran is also reported to be involved in
these conflicts by providing support for Shii mili-
tias and Shii blocs in the government. According
to some estimates, more than half a million Iraqis
have lost their lives in this violence, and about
4 million have become reFUgees. Many observ-
ers are pessimistic about the chances for an end
to the violence in the near future. As a solution,
some recommend that the country be partitioned
into three semiautonomous states—Kurdish in
the north, Shii in the south, and Sunni in the
middle.
See also akhbari school; colonialism; gUlF
states; ottoman dynasty; selJUk dynasty; shiism.Further reading: Thabit Abdullah, A Short History of
Iraq: From 636 to the Present (London: Pearson/Long-
man, 2003); Hugh Kennedy, When Baghdad Ruled theIraq 371 J