Iraq

Historically part of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations placed Iraq under British administration at the end of World War I, artificially creating the nation's borders by combining multiple regions of Ottoman administration into a single country. After achieving independence in 1932, the Republic of Iraq was ruled by a series of military governments, including the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein, which was unseated by Americanled forces in 2003. In April 2006, Hussein was formally charged with genocide and the murder of at least 50,000 Kurds. Iraq and the United States had previously clashed in 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. The United Nations (UN) conducted inspections after the war, despite some resistance from the regime, to try to ensure against the construction of nuclear ...