Outcomes and Consequences
The Second Gulf War consisted of two phases. The first was very quick, lasting less than a month and involved the US and its allies bringing about the collapse of the Iraqi government. The US declared it had won the war at this stage. The second phase was much longer and lasted several years. It involved trying to rebuild the country and helping to form a new government but was faced with opposition by violent insurgencies. This was an unintended and unexpected consequence of the war. Over this time deaths of US troops rose dramatically (to more than 3,000 by early 2007) compared to the first phase of the war (about 150). Iraqi casualties were far greater.
The continued attacks on the occupying forces as well as on the leaders of the new government made it very difficult to rebuild Iraq. Although Saddam Hussein's oppressive rule had been brought to an end by the war, it had also created a new chaos and brutality as rival militias violently fought against each other and brought about attacks on US and Iraqi forces. As casualties of the war rose, more Americans began to oppose the war and become critical of President Bush's handling of the occupation of Iraq. World opinion also became more negative towards the war, especially as it was determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction as had originally been claimed by the US. The war had the effect of damaging world opinion of the US, especially following the release of photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison. Eventually all US troops were withdrawn by December 2011.
A more alarming consequence of the Second Gulf War was the formation of ISIS which has been responsible for many atrocities. ISIS was formed out of the Al-Qaeda group which was amongst the insurgencies that fought the coalition and the new Iraqi government after the initial phase of the war. It emerged in 2004 as a small Iraqi affiliate of Al-Qaeda and was revived after 2011 during growing violence in Iraq.
Word Count: 344
The continued attacks on the occupying forces as well as on the leaders of the new government made it very difficult to rebuild Iraq. Although Saddam Hussein's oppressive rule had been brought to an end by the war, it had also created a new chaos and brutality as rival militias violently fought against each other and brought about attacks on US and Iraqi forces. As casualties of the war rose, more Americans began to oppose the war and become critical of President Bush's handling of the occupation of Iraq. World opinion also became more negative towards the war, especially as it was determined that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction as had originally been claimed by the US. The war had the effect of damaging world opinion of the US, especially following the release of photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison. Eventually all US troops were withdrawn by December 2011.
A more alarming consequence of the Second Gulf War was the formation of ISIS which has been responsible for many atrocities. ISIS was formed out of the Al-Qaeda group which was amongst the insurgencies that fought the coalition and the new Iraqi government after the initial phase of the war. It emerged in 2004 as a small Iraqi affiliate of Al-Qaeda and was revived after 2011 during growing violence in Iraq.
Word Count: 344