20 years of occupant costs; How much did the United States spend in Iraq?
The United States has incurred significant political and military costs over the past twenty years during its four-year intervention in Iraq.
Iraq has always been of strategic geopolitical importance to the United States. The most important strategies and goals of US foreign policy towards this country can be seen in the developments of the last twenty years. From 2001 to 2021, the United States has been trying to pursue its influence and presence in Iraq under the guise of “crisis-building” to cover various goals. This report covers the most important periods of this American presence and influence and its political, financial and economic costs.
Iraq; Axis of Evil and the Subject of Interference (2003-2001)
The longing for US intervention in Iraq dates back to the previous regime, Saddam Hussein. For American politicians, Saddam has always been seen as a threat to Western allies and allied regimes in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime. That is why US President Bill Clinton between 2001 and 1993 imposed new economic sanctions alongside military sanctions on Iraq and declared the country’s airspace a no-fly zone. Although in the past two decades it has not been possible to pursue harsh sanctions and anti-human rights policies in the United States as much as it is now, the outspoken criticism of the elites and the international community has cost Washington dearly.
Another costly step for Clinton during this period was the signing of the Iraq Liberation Bill; Where the famous American tactic of “regime change” is used. The then US government described the goal as “Iraq’s return to the international family” and the world called it the beginning of American intervention. The Americans at the time used the existence of a nuclear facility in Iraq as a pretext for a vicious cycle of intervention. The period began with Operation Desert Fox and the destruction of Saddam’s weapons factories, and continued with various internal uprisings aimed at overthrowing the Ba’athist regime. The death toll from the US-led Tomahawk Bijam-109 cruise missile airstrike was a result of Washington’s decision.
