War you get what we pay for!

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War,^[35] Operation Iraqi Freedom (U.S.),^[36] Operation TELIC (UK),^[37] or the occupation of Iraq,^[38] is an ongoing conflict which began on March 20, 2003 with the United States-led invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition composed of U.S. and UK troops supported by smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland, and other nations.^[39]

The main rationale for the invasion offered by U.S. President George W. Bush and coalition supporters was the allegation that Iraq possessed and was actively developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in violation of a 1991 agreement.^[40][41] U.S. officials argued that Iraq posed an imminent, urgent, and immediate threat to the United States, its people, allies, and interests.^[42][43] The supporting intelligence was widely criticized,^[44] and weapons inspectors found no evidence of WMD.^[45] After the invasion, the Iraq Survey Group concluded that Iraq had ended its WMD programs in 1991 and had none at the time of the invasion, but that they intended to resume production if and when the Iraq sanctions were lifted.^[46] Although some earlier degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned WMD were found, they were not the weapons for which the coalition invaded.^[47] Some U.S. officials claimed Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda had been cooperating,^[48] but no evidence of any collaborative relationship has been found.^[49][50] Other reasons for the invasion stated by officials included concerns over Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers,^[51] Iraqi government human rights abuses,^[52] spreading democracy,^[53] and Iraq's oil reserves.^{[54][55][56][57]}

The invasion led to the quick defeat of the Iraqi military, the flight of President Saddam Hussein, his capture in December, 2003 and his execution in December, 2006. The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and attempted to establish a new democratic government. But shortly after the initial invasion, violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil war between many Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.^[58][59] Estimates of the number of people killed range from over 150,000^[31] to more than 1 million.^[2] The financial cost of the war has been more than £4.5 billion ($9 billion) to the UK,^[60] and over $845 billion to the U.S., with the total cost to the U.S. economy estimated at $3 to 5 trillion.^[61] Member nations of the Coalition began to withdraw their forces as public opinion favoring troop withdrawals increased and as Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for security.^[62][63]

Iraqi (under Saddam Hussein): 375,000+ regular forces.[citation needed] Post-Baathist government, multi-sided conflict: Sunni Insurgents ~70,000[7] Mahdi Army ~60,000[8][9] al Qaeda/others 1,300+[10] PKK: ~4,000	Coalition ~300,000 invasion ~177,000 current Contractors* ~182,000 (118,000 Iraqi, 43,000 Other, 21,000 US)[11][12] Peshmerga 50,000 invasion 180,000 current New Iraqi Army 165,000 Iraqi Police 227,000[13] Awakening Council militias 65,000-80,000[14] Turkish Armed Forces: 10,000
Casualties and losses
Iraqi combatant dead (invasion period): 7,600-10,800[15][16] Insurgents dead (post-Saddam): 16,178-22,007 per these reports. 19,429 per U.S. military (22 September 2007) [17] Detainees: 23,000[18][19] PKK: 412 killed (Turkish government claim)	Iraqi Security Forces (post-Saddam, Coalition allies) Police/military killed: 10,020 See: Casualties of the Iraq War Coalition dead (4,004 US[20], 176 UK, 133 other): 4,313[21][22][23] Coalition missing or captured (US): 4[23] Coalition wounded:29,314 US, ~300 UK[23][24][25] Coalition injured, diseased, or other medical:**28,645 US, 1,155 UK.[23][22][25] Contractors dead (US 242): 1,025[26][27][28] Contractors missing or captured (US 4): 12 Contractors wounded & injured: 10,569[26] Awakening Councils: 400+ killed Turkish Armed Forces: 27 killed
All Iraqi violent deaths, Opinion Research Business. As of August 2007: 1,033,000 (946,000-1,120,000). Causes; gunshots (48%), car bombs (20%), aerial bombing (9%), accidents (6%), another blast/ordnance (6%). [2] ***Total deaths (all excess deaths) Johns Hopkins (Lancet) - As of June 2006: 654,965 (392,979-942,636). 601,027 violent deaths (31% by Coalition, 24% by others, 46% unknown)[29][30] All Iraqi violent deaths. Iraqi Health Ministry casualty survey for the World Health Organization. As of June 2006: 151,000 (104,000 to 223,000).[31][32][33][34]