Thread by @StefSimanowitz

85/. #OTD 20 years ago, Iraq rejected the US ultimatum for Saddam Hussein & his sons to leave the country

The UN was obliged to pull its arms inspector out of the country

A massive military force was amassed around Iraqi borders

The stage was set for war
#IraqInvasion #IraqWar

86/. “As the US prepares to attack Iraq, it is doing so on the basis of a number of allegations against Saddam Hussein that have been challenged - & in some cases disproved - by the UN, European govts & even US intel reports”

#OTD this @washingtonpost story was buried on page 13

87/. #OTD “Operation Shock & Awe” began

The continuous bombing campaign involved around 1,700 air sorties (504 cruise missiles)

Over 7,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the bombing

Many more lives would be lost…
#IraqInvasion #IraqWar #Iraq20YearsOn

88/. In WWI, 10% of all deaths were civilian

In WWII, that number rose to 50%

In the Vietnam War it was 70%

In the #IraqWar, civilians accounted for up to 90% of all deaths

A 2008 ORB poll found that over one million Iraqis had died as a result of the conflict
#Iraq20YearsOn

89/. Millions of Iraqis were displaced & cities reduced to rubble

Basic political institutions & social infrastructure was dismantled

The effects of the thousands of tons of munitions & fatal chemicals wrought ongoing human & environmental devastation in #Iraq.
#Iraq20YearsOn

90/. The 2004 battle for Fallujah saw much of the city razed to the ground & the rubble bulldozed to the banks of the Euphrates River, the city’s source of drinking water

The US military were forced to admit the use of white phosphorus on Iraqi civilians
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar

91/. Fallujah saw an epidemic of birth defects due to depleted uranium

A report to the European Committee on Radiation Risk found Fallujah had “the highest rate of genetic damage in any population every studied”

Now the US Navy is naming a warship USS Fallujah
#Iraq20YearsOn

92/. Across Iraq, the extensive use of depleted uranium is thought to have led to the dramatic spike in cancer (particularly among children), brain tumors, infant mortality, & miscarriages

Hundreds of babies are now born with severe congenital deformities
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar

93/. Twenty years ago, Blair said:

“History will be my judge”

Now, as we mark #Iraq20YearsOn, we can judge for ourselves…& doesn’t look good, Tony

People in the US & UK might say “Not in my name”

But the reality is that it WAS done by our govts, in all of our names
#IraqWar

94/. “The #IraqWar was illegal & immoral. We may have failed to stop the invasion, but by putting ourselves in harm’s way we sent a message to the world"

As the bombing began, Eric Levy - who died last year - was in a Baghdad power station: one of 80 Human Shields who’d stayed

https://twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1549851033190682624

95/. “Coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm” (Bush)

#OTD 20 years ago, Bush & Blair each went on television to address their respective nations & announce that US & UK forces had invaded #Iraq “from air, land & sea”
#Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar

96/. #OTD 20 years ago, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy chief legal adviser at the Foreign Office resigned, stating: “an unlawful use of force on such a scale amounts to the crime of aggression"

The govt removed a key passage of her resignation letter
#Iraq #Iraq20YearsOn #IraqWar

97/. In the 20yrs since the #IraqWar, not a single person responsible for it has been brought to justice

"Our legal, political & media institutions have made a mockery of the idea of accountability" says @AmirAmirani noting that many of the architects of the war “failed upwards”