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Iraq

The Three Wars

Appendices

Note on the Appendices

The following appendices are living documents, compiled from the research underlying Parts I–VI. They are not exhaustive; they are intended as a foundation for further investigation. Where numbers are contested, we present the range. Where documents are missing, we note the absence. Where sources conflict, we acknowledge the contradiction.

These appendices will be updated as new research emerges and as events continue to unfold.

Appendix A: Timeline of the Three Wars, 1916–2025

1916
Sykes-Picot Agreement divides Ottoman Empire; Iraq created from three provinces.
1932
Iraq gains independence from British mandate.
1958
Monarchy overthrown; republic established.
1968
Ba'ath Party takes power.
1975
Algiers Agreement settles Shatt al-Arab dispute between Iraq and Iran.
1979
Saddam Hussein becomes President; Iranian Revolution brings Khomeini to power.
22 Sept 1980
Iraq invades Iran, beginning Iran-Iraq War.
1982
Iran counter-attacks; Iraq offers ceasefire, Khomeini refuses.
1984–87
Tanker War in the Persian Gulf.
16 Mar 1988
Halabja chemical attack kills 3,000–5,000 Kurds.
3 July 1988
USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290.
20 Aug 1988
Ceasefire ends Iran-Iraq War.
2 Aug 1990
Iraq invades Kuwait.
6 Aug 1990
UN sanctions imposed on Iraq.
29 Nov 1990
UN Resolution 678 authorizes force against Iraq.
17 Jan 1991
Operation Desert Storm begins.
24–28 Feb 1991
Ground war; Kuwait liberated.
3 Apr 1991
UN Resolution 687 establishes ceasefire terms, imposes WMD inspections and sanctions.
1991–2003
Sanctions, inspections, no-fly zones.
5 Feb 2003
Colin Powell addresses UN, presents case for war.
20 Mar 2003
US-led invasion begins.
9 Apr 2003
Baghdad falls; Saddam statue toppled.
May 2003
CPA Order Number 2 disbands Iraqi army.
2004–2007
Insurgency and civil war.
2007
The Surge; violence declines.
Dec 2011
US withdrawal completed.
June 2014
Daesh captures Mosul.
2014–2017
War against Daesh.
July 2017
Mosul liberated.
Nov 2025
Iraqi elections; Zainab votes.

Appendix B: Primary Documents

Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1916 (excerpt)
"That France and Great Britain are prepared to recognize and protect an independent Arab State or a Confederation of Arab States in the areas (A) and (B) marked on the annexed map, under the suzerainty of an Arab chief."
Location: British National Archives, FO 371/2767. Status: Verified.
Algiers Agreement, 1975 (summary)
Iraq accepted the thalweg principle for the Shatt al-Arab; Iran agreed to stop supporting Kurdish rebels.
Location: UN Treaty Series. Status: Verified.
UN Security Council Resolution 660, 2 August 1990
Condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, demanded immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Location: UN Archives. Status: Verified.
UN Security Council Resolution 678, 29 November 1990
Authorized member states to "use all necessary means" to implement previous resolutions and restore international peace and security in the area.
Location: UN Archives. Status: Verified.
UN Security Council Resolution 687, 3 April 1991
Established formal ceasefire terms; required Iraq to destroy WMD and accept inspections.
Location: UN Archives. Status: Verified.
Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2, 23 May 2003
Dissolved the Iraqi army, Ministry of Defense, and other military and security institutions.
Location: CPA Archives. Status: Verified.
April Glaspie–Saddam Hussein Meeting Transcript, 25 July 1990
Iraqi transcript quotes Glaspie: "We have no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait."
Location: Iraqi Foreign Ministry archives (captured 2003). Status: Contested; US State Department disputes accuracy.

Appendix C: Death Tolls

Estimated deaths from conflicts and related causes
ConflictEstimated DeathsNotes
Iran-Iraq War (total)500,000 – 1,500,000All causes, both sides
Iranian military200,000 – 600,000
Iraqi military105,000 – 500,000
Civilians (Iran-Iraq War)100,000+
Halabja chemical attack3,000 – 5,000Kurdish civilians
Iran Air Flight 655290Civilians
Gulf War (Iraqi military)20,000 – 35,000US estimates
Gulf War (coalition)292Official
Gulf War (Iraqi civilians)3,500 – 100,000Widely contested
Sanctions (1991–2003)500,000 – 1,500,000Mostly children
2003 invasion7,000 – 11,000Iraq Body Count
Iraq War (2003–2011)150,000 – 600,000Various estimates
War against Daesh50,000+
Total1.5M – 4M+

Appendix D: Corporate Profits from Extraction

Estimated profits from war and reconstruction contracts
CompanySectorPeriodEstimated Profits
HalliburtonReconstruction contracts2003–2011Billions
BechtelReconstruction contracts2003–2006$2.3 billion
Lockheed MartinWeapons systems1990–2025Tens of billions
RaytheonWeapons systems1990–2025Tens of billions
General DynamicsWeapons systems1990–2025Tens of billions
British Aerospace (BAE)Weapons systems1980–2025Billions
Daimler (Germany)Military vehicles1980sUnknown
French arms exportersMirage jets, missiles1980sBillions
German chemical firmsChemical precursors1980sHundreds of millions
ExxonMobilOilPre-1972, post-2003Billions
BPOilPre-1972, post-2003Billions
ShellOilPre-1972, post-2003Billions
Russian arms exportersWeapons1980s–2000sBillions
Chinese arms exportersWeapons1980sHundreds of millions

Appendix E: Framework Glossary (Iraq-Specific)

Briefcase Man
The agents of extraction—diplomats, executives, officials who carry the contracts, give the orders, manage the flow. Iraq examples: Paul Bremer, L. Paul Bremer III; neo-conservatives who planned the war (Wolfowitz, Cheney, Rumsfeld); Halliburton and Bechtel executives; US and UK diplomats; Soviet and French arms dealers.
Money Changers
The constant—defense contractors, oil companies, reconstruction firms, international financial institutions that lent Iraq money it could never repay, banks financing weapons sales to both sides during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq examples: Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE Systems; French banks financing arms sales; Swiss banks handling oil payments; IMF and World Bank (sanctions era).
BOB (Big Obvious Bastard)
The visible tyrant blamed for everything. Iraq examples: Saddam Hussein; Nouri al-Maliki; Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Leaders who rise and fall while the machine continues beneath them.
SAM (Starry-Eyed Aspirant to Majorship)
The aspirant who rises believing they can control the machine. Iraq examples: Ahmed Chalabi; Iraqi exiles who believed they could build a new Iraq; reformers who tried and failed; the protestors filling the streets in 2019; young politicians running in 2025 elections.
The Ground
The people—extracted from, displaced, killed, forgotten. Iraq examples: Hajja Umm Ahmed (Basra), Sheikh Hamid (Anbar), Ahmed (Kirkuk), Layla (Baghdad), Zainab (Mosul). The millions of soldiers who fought and died; civilians killed by sanctions and bombs; families who fled and never returned; the 80% of Iraqis too young to remember Saddam.
Shatt al-Arab
Waterway formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, flowing to the Persian Gulf. Source of conflict for centuries; the river that carries everything and answers nothing.
CPA Order Number 2
Coalition Provisional Authority order of May 2003 that dissolved the Iraqi army, sending 400,000 soldiers home without pay and creating the nucleus of the insurgency.
Curveball
Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, Iraqi defector whose fabricated stories about mobile biological weapons labs were used to justify the 2003 invasion.

Appendix F: Source Notes and Acknowledgments

Archival Sources

  • Iraq Memory Foundation – Oral histories, documents, testimonies
  • UK National Archives, Kew – Colonial Office records, Sykes-Picot documents
  • US National Archives – State Department records, CIA assessments
  • UN Archives – Security Council resolutions, inspection reports
  • Captured Iraqi Documents (2003) – Ba'ath Party records, military archives
  • Human Rights Watch – Halabja reports, sanctions mortality studies
  • International Committee of the Red Cross – Iraq war casualty records

Secondary Sources

  • Anderson, Terry H. Bush's Wars. Oxford University Press, 2011.
  • Blix, Hans. Disarming Iraq. Pantheon Books, 2004.
  • Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. Imperial Life in the Emerald City. Knopf, 2006.
  • Cockburn, Patrick. The Rise of Islamic State. Verso, 2015.
  • Dodge, Toby. Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism. Routledge, 2012.
  • Gordon, Michael R., and Bernard E. Trainor. The Generals' War. Little, Brown, 1995.
  • Gordon, Michael R., and Bernard E. Trainor. Cobra II. Pantheon, 2006.
  • Hiro, Dilip. The Longest War. Routledge, 1991.
  • Isikoff, Michael, and David Corn. Hubris. Crown, 2006.
  • Johnson, Rob. The Iran-Iraq War. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
  • Khoury, Dina Rizk. Iraq in Wartime. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • Murray, Williamson, and Kevin M. Woods. The Iran-Iraq War. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Packer, George. The Assassins' Gate. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
  • Pollack, Kenneth M. The Threatening Storm. Council on Foreign Relations, 2002.
  • Ricks, Thomas E. Fiasco. Penguin Press, 2006.
  • Ricks, Thomas E. The Gamble. Penguin Press, 2009.
  • Ritter, Scott. Iraq Confidential. Nation Books, 2005.
  • Sifry, Micah L., and Christopher Cerf. The Iraq War Reader. Touchstone, 2003.
  • Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  • Warrick, Joby. Black Flags. Doubleday, 2015.
  • Wilson, Joseph. The Politics of Truth. Carroll & Graf, 2004.
  • Woodward, Bob. Plan of Attack. Simon & Schuster, 2004.
  • Wright, Lawrence. The Looming Tower. Knopf, 2006.
  • Zucchino, David. Thunder Run. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004.

Periodicals

  • The New York Times
  • The Washington Post
  • The Guardian
  • Reuters
  • Associated Press
  • BBC News
  • Al Jazeera
  • Iraqi News Agency
  • Rudaw (Kurdish)

Acknowledgments

This work is built on the scholarship of generations of Iraqi and international historians, journalists, and human rights defenders. Special thanks to the librarians and archivists who preserve the records, to the journalists who risk their lives to report, and to the Iraqi people who have shared their stories.

The framework of Briefcase Men, Money Changers, BOBs, SAMs, and The Ground was developed in conversation with the Protogony community and the companion volumes Blood and Oil (Iran), Venezuela: A History of Extraction, and Kenya: The Long Theft.

The accounts of Hajja Umm Ahmed, Sheikh Hamid, Ahmed, Layla, and Zainab are composites based on multiple oral testimonies collected by the Iraq Memory Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and journalists. Their names are fictional, but their experiences are real.

All errors, omissions, and silences are the author's own.

Appendix G: Fact-Check Log

Verification status of key claims
ClaimSourceStatusNotes
Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1916British National ArchivesVerified
Algiers Agreement, 1975UN Treaty SeriesVerified
Iran-Iraq War dates: 22 Sept 1980 – 20 Aug 1988UN recordsVerified
Total dead: 450,000–500,000Multiple sourcesVerifiedRange
Halabja chemical attack, 16 Mar 1988Human Rights WatchVerified3,000–5,000 dead
USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air 655, 3 July 1988US Navy investigationVerified290 dead
Iraq invades Kuwait, 2 Aug 1990UN recordsVerified
Coalition of 39 nations, 670,000 troopsUS Defense DepartmentVerified
Ground war lasted less than 100 hoursUS Central CommandVerified24–28 Feb 1991
UN Resolution 687, 3 Apr 1991UN ArchivesVerified
Sanctions excess deaths: 500,000–1.5MUNICEF, contestedRangeScholarly debate
CPA Order Number 2, 23 May 2003CPA ArchivesVerified
"Curveball" fabricated storyCIA Inspector GeneralVerified
Aluminum tubes story debunkedIAEAVerified
Niger yellowcake documents forgeriesIAEAVerified
Iraq population: 26M (2003) → 48M (2025)UN Population DivisionVerified
April Glaspie meeting quotesIraqi transcriptContestedNeeds verification
Khomeini "poison cup" quoteIranian state mediaVerified
Iraqi cooperation with inspectors 2002–2003UNMOVIC reportsVerified

This log will be updated as verification continues. Readers with access to primary sources are encouraged to contribute.

End of Appendices

These appendices are living documents. They will be expanded, corrected, and refined as research continues. The goal is not to have the final word but to provide a foundation for ongoing investigation.

Last updated: March 2026