According to estatelearning, Iraq is located in the Middle East, bordered by Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It is the 57th-largest country in the world with an area of 437 thousand square kilometers. Its capital city is Baghdad and it is home to over 38 million people. Iraq has a varied terrain featuring deserts, mountains and plains as well as two major rivers – the Tigris and Euphrates – which provide irrigation for its agricultural activities. Iraq has a predominantly dry climate with hot summers and cold winters. From its ancient cities to its vibrant culture, Iraq offers tourists a unique experience that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
By a narrow margin, in December 1999, the Security Council decided to resume inspections in Iraq as well as lift the financial sanctions if Baghdad cooperated. Russia, France, China and Malaysia abstained from voting, which was a tough blow to US and UK interests who wanted to send a clear signal to Saddam Hussein. Thus, the resolution could not even gather a majority among the permanent members of the Security Council. Iraq had already stated in advance that it would reject the resolution, stating that it was an attempt by the United States to enforce its will in the Security Council. Iraq also demanded immediate sanctions. The aggravated situation was expressed for a return to past conflicts. To see more information other than history, please visit Abbreviationfinder to learn more about climate, population, government, and economy for the country of Iraq.
Following the deployment of US President George W. Bush in January 2001, the superpower in February launched new acts of war against Iraq. In his speech to the nation on January 29, 2002, Bush stated that Iraq, together with Iran and North Korea, constituted a so-called ” axis of evil”ยป. He also made it clear that Iraq would become the next target after the United States had conquered Afghanistan in the months before. However, the US government was divided on whether the United States should unilaterally go to war with Iraq or should do so in the light of a UN Security Council resolution. In November, after several months of negotiations, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1441, which opened up the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq and at the same time a timetable for their reporting. In December, as required, Iraq handed over 10,000 documents to the UN describing the Iraqi weapons programs. The documents were abducted a few days later from the United Nations headquarters in New York by the United States. The documents contained information on which Western arms manufacturers – including North Americans – had supplied weapons to Iraq.
- Countryaah: Check to see the location of Iraq on the world map. Also covers major mountains, rivers and lakes in Iraq.
In his speech to the nation in January 2003, Bush reiterated allegations against Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction. Accusations that were routinely rejected by not only Iraq but also by the US intelligence CIA throughout 2002. In the UN Security Council, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented “evidence” of Iraq’s cooperation with al-Qaeda and continued possession of weapons of mass destruction. However, evidence was quickly pierced through – among other things. when reporters visited the village in northern Iraq, which was allegedly under the control of an al-Qaeda group to cooperate with Saddam Hussein. The journalists were able to document that the group had never been to the area and that the photos Powell had presented by an al-Qaeda/Saddam bomb factory were a school.
The United States was now putting massive pressure on Security Council members to vote for a resolution to legitimize a war on Iraq, but this too failed. Not even among ordinary members without the right to veto this majority could be rallied, and both China, Russia and France had suggested that they might veto such a resolution to give UN weapons inspectors time to complete their slow-moving work, but however safe ahead. The resistance to war was not simply pronounced in the Security Council. Most of the world’s countries were opposed. Peace demonstrations gathered around the world so many that no similar demonstrations had been seen since the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Even NATO declined for a period to support the US war plans, but was eventually knocked into place. The opposition of the leading superpowers, France and Russia, was both already heavily involved in the oil extraction in Iraq – contracts they would obviously lose following a North American invasion – but also that the United States openly and decisively wanted to act independently across of the world community. At the end of January, the United States therefore asked for political support from selected allies in Europe for its war plans against Iraq. The United States even drafted the text that was subsequently published in several European newspapers, signed by the heads of state of 4 EU countries – including Denmark – and 4 Eastern European countries.