Iraq

　　    Located in the southwestern part of Asia, on the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Syria and Jordan to the west, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south, with the Persian Gulf to the southeast. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers flow through the country from the northwest to the southeast. It has a coastline of 60 kilometers. Except for the mountainous region in the northeast, the climate is tropical desert. Summer temperatures can exceed 50°C, while winter lows are around 0°C. Annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 500 millimeters from south to north, reaching up to 700 millimeters in the northern mountainous areas.

　　    Iraq has a long history, with city-states emerging as early as 4700 BC. The Babylonian Kingdom was established in 2000 BC, and it is regarded as one of the “Four Great Ancient Civilizations.” Starting in 550 BC, it was successively invaded and ruled by the Persians, the Arab Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. In 1920, it became a British “mandate territory.” It declared independence in August 1921 and achieved full independence in 1932.

　　    On July 14, 1958, the Faisal dynasty was overthrown, and the Republic of Iraq was established. In July 1968, the Ba'ath Party came to power through a coup and implemented the principles of Arab “unity, freedom, and socialism.” In 1979, Ba'athist Saddam Hussein became President of Iraq. In 1980, Iraq initiated the eight-year Iran-Iraq War due to border disputes with Iran. In 1990, Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War and led to United Nations sanctions.

　　    In the second half of 2002, the United States claimed that Iraq supported –, developed weapons of mass destruction, and posed a “potential threat” to U.S. interests in the Middle East. The U.S. stated it had conclusive evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and had lost patience with the Iraqi regime’s repeated concealment of facts and deception of the international community. It openly expressed its intent to overthrow the Saddam regime by force and subsequently deployed troops to the Gulf. On March 20, 2003, the Iraq War broke out.

　　    On April 9, U.S. forces captured Baghdad, and the Saddam regime was overthrown. On May 1, U.S. President Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. On the 6th, President Bush appointed former U.S. diplomat L. Paul Bremer as the highest-ranking American civilian administrator in charge of Iraqi affairs, responsible for reconstruction efforts.

　　 Baghdad, Iraq