US INVADERS: Iraq 20 years on
How America's Unsolicited Democracy Failed Iraq
https://rtd.rt.com/films/us-invaders/
Published: 20 March 2023
20 years ago, the US Army and its allies invaded Iraq on the pretext that Baghdad had weapons of mass des…
US INVADERS: Iraq 20 years on
How America's Unsolicited Democracy Failed Iraq
https://rtd.rt.com/films/us-invaders/
Published: 20 March 2023
20 years ago, the US Army and its allies invaded Iraq on the pretext that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction. Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched to disarm Iraq of perceived WMD, and to end Saddam Hussein’s rule. However, Iraq had been found to have no biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. US troops captured Saddam in December 2003, and the war in Iraq dragged on until 2011. An estimated half a million people died in Iraq during that time. More deaths followed after the emergence of the Islamic State in the country – a direct result of the US occupation.
The documentary reflects on the legacy of the US invasion of Iraq through the eyes of medical student Ammar, former refugee Mukhalid, and other ordinary Iraqi citizens. While George Bush proclaimed Iraqis were free, they witnessed a different picture: their country slid into poverty and chronic instability. In the documentary, experts and historians weigh in on why the US intervention didn’t bring democracy, and only intensified internal tensions.
US troops and their allies invaded Iraq on this day 20 years ago, claiming that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction. The US toppled Saddam, but found no weapons of mass destruction. The war dragged on until 2011, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. It also displaced millions of Iraqis and devastated the country’s economy. This documentary explores the legacy of the US invasion of Iraq, as ordinary citizens recall how events unfolded in their homeland following the military intervention.
