Modern Conflicts: Iraq War

Deborah Ellis interviews more than 20 young Iraqi refugees. The children speak for themselves, with little editorial comment, and their stories are frank, harrowing, and often reveal a surprising resilience in surviving the consequences of a war in which they played no part.

Mesopotamian civilizations produced much of the world's earliest writing, science, mathematics, legal systems and philosophy. The Republic of Iraq was established in 1919 and granted independence in 1932. Iraq's history took a new turn with the US-led invasion in 2003.

Describes Iraq's geography, wildlife, history, government, economy, people, religion, and culture.

Collection of material from the author's blog revealing a young person's life in Iraq before the current conflict.

Chronicles nineteen-year-old Thura's life in Baghdad during the 2003 Iraqi war and its aftermath.

Discusses the causes of the 2003 Iraq war, explaining the origins of Iraq, the reasons for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the 1991 Gulf War and subsequent U.N. efforts to disarm Iraq, and the U.S. desire to remove Saddam Hussein from power

On March 21, 2003, the United States attacked Iraq in hopes of eliminating its leader, Saddam Hussein. In addition, the American leaders believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction it might use against the United States. Saddam was quickly overthrown, but the weapons turned out not to exist. As of the end of 2009, U.S. troops were still fighting in the country. During that time, nearly five thousand U.S. soldiers had been killed, along with around a hundred thousand Iraqis. Author Mara Miller explains the course of this long, controversial conflict and looks at efforts to bring it to an end.