Smoke billows from an explosion in Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s guest palace after it is bombed during a US-led coalition air raid on March 31, 2003. AFP
Smoke billows from an explosion in Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s guest palace after it is bombed during a US-led coalition air raid on March 31, 2003. AFP

2003 - The US war on Iraq

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Updated 19 April 2025
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2003 - The US war on Iraq

2003 - The US war on Iraq

JEDDAH: What shall we call the 2003 US war in Iraq? The Americans had no problem at all in describing it as a liberation. From the Arab perspective, however, it was something completely different.

If you flip through editions of Arab News published in the lead-up to the start of the bombing of Baghdad on the night of March 20, 2003, what strikes you is that many Arabs were opposed to the US war in Iraq because they, correctly, foresaw that the result would be to hand the country to Iran on a platter.

US President George W. Bush was always prejudiced against Saddam Hussein. Bush’s cabinet colleagues and advisers, especially Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle and other neocons in the administration, made no attempt to hide their own pathological dislike of the Iraqi leader.

There were several theories for why Bush despised Saddam so. Some reports suggested the hatred stemmed from Saddam plotting to kill his father, former President George H. W. Bush, during a visit to Kuwait in 1993. Whatever the reasons, Bush Jr.’s advisers took full advantage of the president’s strong dislike and fed it with a variety of stories.

The horrific attacks on US soil by Al-Qaeda on Sept. 11, 2001, gave Bush and his advisers a reason to take out Saddam. He was portrayed as a supporter of Al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, and was therefore tarred with the same brush of Muslim terrorism.

Nobody in the Middle East was taken in by this story, however, because it was well known there that Saddam hated Al-Qaeda more than anything else. As a Baathist, he viewed Islamist terrorists as a great threat to his rule, much more so even than the danger posed by his archenemy, Iran.

How we wrote it




The “High Noon for Cowboy Era” headline, with Bush in a cowboy hat, remains one of the newspaper’s most iconic front pages.

But the post-9/11 atmosphere was such that it was easy to create any narrative as justification for the elimination of any perceived enemy. That is exactly what happened with Saddam. A flimsy case was put together that alleged he was in possession of weapons of mass destruction, based on flawed intelligence.

Colin Powell, Bush’s secretary of state, gave an elaborate speech to the UN, complete with maps and pictures of where the WMDs allegedly were hidden. The wider world was nonetheless unconvinced, and the UN, which had sent its own experts to Iraq on a fruitless search for such weapons, refused to approve Washington’s war.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal raised serious concerns on “Frontline,” an investigative documentary series on the US TV network PBS.

“What’s going to happen to them (Iraqi soldiers and officials), especially since the army was disbanded and the government fired? And who’s going to rule Iraq if you have that?” he asked.

“Saddam Hussein had perhaps 2 million people controlling Iraq. The US and its allies have close to 150,000. How do you make that work?”

Nonetheless, Washington developed and choreographed its plan to attack Iraq. Arab News published many reports at the time about how Saudi authorities advised the US, its closest Western ally, to call for sanctions instead.

Key Dates

  • 1

    US Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council and offers a rationale for war on Iraq: the country’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction.

    Timeline Image Feb. 5, 2003

  • 2

    American aircraft launch a blistering attack on Baghdad. Dubbed “shock and awe,” it knocks out Iraqi anti-missile batteries, aircraft and power installations. The presidential palace is attacked.

    Timeline Image March 20, 2003

  • 3

    US President George W. Bush flies to aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in a Lockheed S-3 Viking aircraft and gives a speech in which he announces the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

    Timeline Image May 1, 2003

  • 4

    Saddam Hussein captured after 9 months in hiding.

    Timeline Image Dec. 13, 2003

  • 5

    Saddam executed after sham trial by the interim Iraqi government. Despite prolonged searches by the US, no WMDs are found in Iraq.

    Timeline Image Dec. 30, 2006

  • 6

    After nearly 9 years of a guerrilla war, the last US soldiers leave Iraq. The estimated cost of the conflict exceeds $800 billion, with 4,500 American and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives lost.

 

Even after Saddam had invaded Kuwait in the early 1990s, and his army was pulverized by the US and Saudi-led liberation forces, Riyadh had gone to great lengths to convince Washington it would be a bad move to remove Saddam from power. Saudi officials knew his demise would lead to chaos in the region and provide Iran with a golden opportunity to run amok.

Sure enough, as things panned out a little over a decade later, the removal of Saddam did indeed lead to horrific atrocities, both in Iraq and the wider region. Al-Qaeda, which had been given a severe drubbing in Afghanistan, bounced back and found an ideal and very fertile breeding ground in post-Saddam Iraq.

Much later, Daesh appeared on the scene. Sensing an opening, Iran stepped in and unleashed a sectarian war. Thousands died. Tehran and its many murderous militias used improvised explosive devices to devastating effect.

As a senior member of staff at Arab News, I was part of the team that would select stories and photos for the front page. Some from that time remain etched in our memories. The front page on March 19, 2003, for example, pictured Bush in a cowboy hat under the headline: “High noon for cowboy era.”

That same front page also reported on King Fahd’s address to the Saudi people on March 18 in which he said: “The Kingdom will under no circumstances take part in the war against Iraq, and its armed forces will not enter an inch of Iraqi territory.”

Baghdad was bombed for the first time the next night, after a 48-hour ultimatum issued by Bush to Saddam expired. There was extensive reporting by Arab News from Kuwait, Jordan, Washington and, of course, Baghdad. Our correspondents on the ground filed their reports to the newsroom in Jeddah. The March 21, 2003, edition carried the headline: “Baghdad set ablaze; palaces, Saddam’s family home targeted in aerial bombardment.”

On the nights that followed, the US unleashed at least 3,000 satellite-guided bombs and cruise missiles upon Iraq. There was not an Iraqi weapon of mass destruction in sight. In the “Letters to the Editor” page of Arab News, readers referred to these elusive WMDs as “weapons of mass deception.”

There was intense and severe criticism in Saudi Arabia of the war, especially because the UN had refused to approve it. In an article in the March 21, 2003, edition, Adnan Jaber, a Jordanian journalist in Saudi Arabia, said the conflict “would increase terrorism rather than reduce it, since political instability would provide a breeding ground for radicalism.”




Iraqis watch the televised execution by hanging of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the “Butcher of Baghdad” captured by US forces in Operation Red Dawn. AFP

His words were profoundly prescient. The very political instability he predicted led many members of Saddam’s army, which the Americans had foolishly disbanded, to join Daesh and Al-Qaeda so that they could strike a blow against the invaders who had ravaged their homeland for no purpose.

There were, as in all wars, moments of dark comic relief. We would gather around TV screens in the newsroom, for example, to listen to Saddam’s information minister, Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf, making ridiculous claims as he addressed the media every day.

According to him, Saddam’s army was on the verge of victory; the reality was exactly the opposite. The much-touted American campaign of “shock and awe” had resulted in the melting away of the Iraqi military, who offered no resistance. It was later revealed that Iraqi soldiers simply gave up their uniforms and chose guerrilla warfare by joining Daesh or Al-Qaeda.

The region continues to suffer the consequences of that war: an increase in terrorism; political instability, and the creation of breeding ground for radicalism. In virtually all ways, the consequences were much worse than the war itself.

Arab News was well placed to report on the war and its after-effects, and is proud to continue the same tradition of dedicated and responsible journalism to this day.

  • Siraj Wahab is managing editor of Arab News. During the invasion of Iraq, he was a senior member of staff, having joined the newspaper in January 1998.


Arafat sermon will reach world’s Muslims through 35-language translation initiative

Arafat sermon will reach world’s Muslims through 35-language translation initiative
Updated 6 min 6 sec ago
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Arafat sermon will reach world’s Muslims through 35-language translation initiative

Arafat sermon will reach world’s Muslims through 35-language translation initiative
  • Al-Sudais said that transmitting the moderate global message is a cornerstone priority
  • Translation preparations were completed early

RIYADH: The Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque on Thursday launched an initiative to translate this year’s Arafat sermon into 35 languages, reaching approximately five million Muslims worldwide during the 1446 AH Hajj season, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, the president of religious affairs, emphasized the presidency’s dedication to highlight the Kingdom's leadership in serving Islam and Muslims, particularly those visiting the Two Holy Mosques.

Al-Sudais said that transmitting the moderate global message is a cornerstone priority: “At the forefront of our broadcasting principles is spreading the guidance of the Arafat sermon, which contains the foundations of human and civilizational brotherhood and religious tolerance, translated into 35 languages for this year's Hajj.”

Translation preparations were completed early, Al-Sudais said, to project the Kingdom’s moderate message worldwide.

According to SPA, the presidency established an independent committee to create a standardized framework to maximize the sermon’s impact and outcomes.


Mauresmo defends French Open schedule and women’s primetime snub

Mauresmo defends French Open schedule and women’s primetime snub
Updated 25 min 50 sec ago
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Mauresmo defends French Open schedule and women’s primetime snub

Mauresmo defends French Open schedule and women’s primetime snub
  • Ons Jabeur hit out at the same issue last year, and stood by her words this week
  • “The message has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,” said Mauresmo

PARIS: Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said on Friday it was impossible to “tick every box” after repeated criticism of the French Open schedule and the absence of any women’s matches in the primetime night session.

The debate over the lack of women’s ties played in the late slot on Court Philippe Chatrier has rumbled on since the session was first added to the French Open schedule in 2021.

The first six night sessions of this year’s tournament have all involved men’s matches. In fact, no women have played in the evening since Aryna Sabalenka beat Sloane Stephens in the fourth round two years ago.

Second seed Coco Gauff said she believed women’s matches were “worthy” of the occasion, after three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur again took officials to task over the scheduling.

The Tunisian hit out at the same issue last year, and stood by her words this week.

“I hope whoever is making the decision, I don’t think they have daughters, because I don’t think they want to treat their daughters like this,” said Jabeur, who lost in the first round.

Mauresmo, a former world number one who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, said her stance on the matter had not changed — with the night session still consisting of just one match.

“The message has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,” said Mauresmo.

“I’m talking, and we are talking about potential match lengths. Since men’s tennis is played at the best-of-five sets, three sets will be played at a minimum.”

The Australian and US Opens both put on two matches in their night sessions, but start earlier and run the risk of finishing in the early hours of the morning.

“If we have two matches in the night session, it doesn’t work in terms of how late the players are going to finish. That’s my opinion,” said Mauresmo.

“If we start earlier, the stands are going to be empty in most of the first match. So we keep this one match in the evening, it’s not ideal.

“We can’t tick every box because we have many things to take into account when we are doing these choices.”


Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China

Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China
Updated 32 min 4 sec ago
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Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China

Trump signals fresh trade tensions with China
  • The world’s two biggest economies had agreed this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs
  • Trump wrote that: “China… HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US“

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump signaled renewed trade tensions with China on Friday, arguing that Beijing had “violated” a deal to de-escalate tariffs, at a time when both sides appeared deadlocked in negotiations.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were “a bit stalled,” in an interview with broadcaster Fox News.

The world’s two biggest economies had agreed this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days, after talks between top officials in Geneva.

But on Friday, Trump wrote that: “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” without providing further details.

Asked about the post on CNBC, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer took aim at Beijing for continuing to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals.”

He added that the United States’ trade deficit with China “continues to be enormous,” and that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing’s behavior.

On Thursday, Bessent suggested that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could get involved in the situation.


Global universities seek to lure US-bound students amid Trump crackdown

Global universities seek to lure US-bound students amid Trump crackdown
Updated 38 min 27 sec ago
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Global universities seek to lure US-bound students amid Trump crackdown

Global universities seek to lure US-bound students amid Trump crackdown
  • Osaka University is offering tuition fee waivers, research grants and help with travel arrangements for students and researchers at US institutions
  • Students from Britain and the European Union are also now more hesitant to apply to US universities

TOKYO/BEIJING/LONDON: Universities around the world are seeking to offer refuge for students impacted by US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on academic institutions, targeting top talent and a slice of the billions of dollars in academic revenue in the United States.

Osaka University, one of the top ranked in Japan, is offering tuition fee waivers, research grants and help with travel arrangements for students and researchers at US institutions who want to transfer.

Japan’s Kyoto University and Tokyo University are also considering similar schemes, while Hong Kong has instructed its universities to attract top talent from the United States. China’s Xi’an Jiaotong University has appealed for students at Harvard, singled out in Trump’s crackdown, promising “streamlined” admissions and “comprehensive” support.

Trump’s administration has enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, curbed visas for foreign students — especially those from China — and plans to hike taxes on elite schools.

Trump alleges top US universities are cradles of anti-American movements. In a dramatic escalation, his administration last week revoked Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students, a move later blocked by a federal judge.

Masaru Ishii, dean of the graduate school of medicine at Osaka University, described the impact on US universities as “a loss for all of humanity.”

Japan aims to ramp up its number of foreign students to 400,000 over the next decade, from around 337,000 currently.

Jessica Turner, CEO of Quacquarelli Symonds, a London-based analytics firm that ranks universities globally, said other leading universities around the world were trying to attract students unsure of going to the United States.

Germany, France and Ireland are emerging as particularly attractive alternatives in Europe, she said, while in the Asia-Pacific, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China are rising in profile.

SWITCHING SCHOOLS
Chinese students have been particularly targeted in Trump’s crackdown, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday pledging to “aggressively” crack down on their visas.

More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of US colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for US technology companies.

International students — 54 percent of them from India and China — contributed more than $50 billion to the US economy in 2023, according to the US Department of Commerce.

Trump’s crackdown comes at a critical period in the international student application process, as many young people prepare to travel to the US in August to find accommodation and settle in before term starts.

Dai, 25, a Chinese student based in Chengdu, had planned to head to the US to complete her master’s but is now seriously considering taking up an offer in Britain instead.

“The various policies (by the US government) were a slap in my face,” she said, requesting to be identified only by her surname for privacy reasons. “I’m thinking about my mental health and it’s possible that I indeed change schools.”

Students from Britain and the European Union are also now more hesitant to apply to US universities, said Tom Moon, deputy head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, which helps students in their university applications.

He said many international students currently enrolled at US universities were now contacting the consultancy to discuss transfer options to Canada, the UK and Europe.

According to a survey the consultancy ran earlier this week, 54 percent of its clients said they were now “less likely” to enrol at an American university than they were at the start of the year.

There has been an uptick in applications to British universities from prospective students in the US, said Universities UK, an organization that promotes British institutions. It cautioned, however, that it was too early to say whether that translates into more students enrolling.

REPUTATIONAL EFFECTS
Ella Ricketts, an 18-year-old first year student at Harvard from Canada, said she receives a generous aid package paid for by the school’s donors and is concerned that she won’t be able to afford other options if forced to transfer.

“Around the time I was applying to schools, the only university across the Atlantic I considered was Oxford... However, I realized that I would not be able to afford the international tuition and there was no sufficient scholarship or financial aid available,” she said.

If Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students is revoked, she would most likely apply to the University of Toronto, she said.

Analytics firm QS said overall visits to its ‘Study in America’ online guide have declined by 17.6 percent in the last year — with interest from India alone down over 50 percent.

“Measurable impacts on enrolment typically emerge within six to 18 months. Reputational effects, however, often linger far longer, particularly where visa uncertainty and shifting work rights play into perceptions of risk versus return,” said QS’ Turner.

That reputational risk, and the ensuing brain drain, could be even more damaging for US institutions than the immediate economic hit from students leaving.

“If America turns these brilliant and talented students away, they will find other places to work and study,” said Caleb Thompson, a 20-year-old US student at Harvard, who lives with eight international scholars.


Israel’s Gaza war producing ‘staggering’ carbon footprint

Israel’s Gaza war producing ‘staggering’ carbon footprint
Updated 44 min 37 sec ago
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Israel’s Gaza war producing ‘staggering’ carbon footprint

Israel’s Gaza war producing ‘staggering’ carbon footprint
  • Emissions from military activity, reconstruction more than annual footprint of 100 countries: Study
  • Analyst: ‘Sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel’s genocidal campaign’

LONDON: The emissions caused by Israel’s war on Gaza as well as estimated reconstruction costs are greater than the annual footprint of 100 individual countries, new research has found.

The war caused more carbon emissions than the annual combined total of Costa Rica and Estonia in its first 15 months.

The research, published by the Social Science Research Network, was shared exclusively with The Guardian.

Destroying, clearing and rebuilding the Gaza Strip could produce 31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), researchers from the UK and US found.

There is no obligation for states to record military emissions to the UN’s climate body, with researchers warning that the lack of accountability could lead to an underreporting of the global carbon footprint.

The study’s data, which also includes estimates of emissions relating to Hamas and Hezbollah activity, highlights the asymmetry between each side.

Hamas’s use of bunker fuel and rockets accounted for about 3,000 tCO2e, just 0.2 percent of the conflict’s total carbon footprint.

Israel’s use of weapons, equipment, tanks and ordnance produced 50 percent of emissions, the study found.

Researchers also included estimated emissions from Yemen’s Houthi militia, which has traded strikes with Israel over the course of the war. Iran and Israel’s tit-for-tat attacks, and the war in southern Lebanon, were also recorded.

All military activity arising from the Gaza war produced the equivalent, in emissions, of charging 2.6 billion smartphones or running 84 gas power plants for a year.

The figure includes the tC02e estimate — 557,359 — of the pre-war construction of Hamas’s tunnel network and Israel’s “iron wall” barrier surrounding Gaza. The findings could eventually help calculate claims for reparations, The Guardian reported.

More than 99 percent of the tCO2e generated between Oct. 7, 2023, and the temporary ceasefire in January this year was attributed to Israeli bombardment and the invasion of Gaza.

US involvement in the emissions was also highlighted by researchers. They found that almost 30 percent of greenhouse gases generated in the same period came from regular resupply flights carrying military equipment to Israel from American stockpiles in Europe.

Israel’s destruction of Gaza has produced an estimated 60 million tonnes of toxic rubble that requires clearing, producing what researchers warned would be the biggest emissions toll of the conflict.

Removing debris, rebuilding 436,000 destroyed apartments, roads, 700 schools, mosques and administrative sites will produce an estimated 29.4 million tCO2e.

Zena Agha, analyst for Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka, said: “This report is a staggering and sobering reminder of the ecological and environmental cost of Israel’s genocidal campaign … But this is also the US, UK and EU’s war, all of which have provided seemingly limitless military resources to enable Israel to devastate the most densely populated place on the planet.

“This brings home the destabilizing (regional) impact of the Israeli settler state and its inseparability from the western military-industrial complex.”

In producing the report, researchers used open-source information, media articles and data from independent groups, including UN agencies.

Hadeel Ikhmais, head of the climate change office at the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority, said: “Wars not only kill people but also release toxic chemicals, destroy infrastructure, pollute soil, air and water resources and accelerate climate and environmental disasters.

“War also destroys climate adaptation and hinders environmental management. Not counting carbon emissions is a black hole in accountability that allows governments to get away from their environmental crimes.”