The War for Iraq

Yet the situation soon began to unravel. Although some Iraqis welcomed the outsiders as liberators from Hussein’s brutal regime, others resented their presence. The troops were in constant danger of attacks—including suicide bombings and roadside bombs—from insurgent groups. When the U.S. disbanded Hussein’s army, many thousands of Iraqi soldiers joined the insurgents. 

Without Hussein’s strict control to impose order, Iraq’s two main religious sects, Sunni and Shia Muslims, struggled for power. As they fought each other, ordinary Iraqis were caught in a swirl of violence. The U.S. found itself in a struggle that would last years. About 4,500 Americans, 120,000 Iraqi civilians, and tens of thousands of insurgents would be killed by the time most U.S. troops left in 2011. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found—and no links between Hussein and Al Qaeda were discovered. Today, Americans continue to fiercely debate whether the invasion was a mistake.

The conflict in Iraq was rooted in long-simmering tensions in the Middle East. When Hussein attacked Iran in 1980, the U.S. aided him—as both countries were enemies with that country, Iraq’s neighbor. 

But then in 1990, Hussein invaded another neighbor, Kuwait, in part to avoid paying billions of dollars of war debt to that oil-rich country. Fearing a larger conflict in the Persian Gulf region—where more than half of the world’s oil comes from—the U.S. built a coalition of nations to push Hussein back. Operation Desert Storm, often called the First Gulf War, was launched in January 1991. The U.S. and its allies quickly forced Iraq to retreat.

Yet the coalition left Hussein in power—and he continued to be a menace. In the early 1990s, he brutally put down uprisings by Iraqis against his rule, including with armed helicopters. In response, the U.S. and its allies established no-fly zones over Iraq, enabling them to prevent such attacks. Hussein’s use of poison gas against Iraqi rebels and civilians also led to worries that he had more dangerous weapons.

In October 2002, Congress authorized President Bush to take action against Hussein. Operation Iraqi Freedom—the Second Gulf War—began the following March.

Anne Garrels was there when it happened. A correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), she reported from Iraq for eight years. Millions of Americans became familiar with her voice as she filed stories from the battleground.

Garrels was present during some of the war’s best-known incidents. On the day U.S. Marines reached Baghdad, they pulled down a statue of Hussein with a crane. Many news outlets reported that the action had been started by crowds of cheering Iraqis. Garrels, however, accurately reported that most locals were too shocked or frightened to act—and that Iraqis had very mixed feelings about the arriving troops.

Eighth-grader Alanna Maendel interviewed Garrels, a family friend, for the grand-prize-winning entry in our 2021 Eyewitness to History contest. Alanna’s interview captures the toll that being a war reporter took on Garrels. She also notes Garrels’s belief that the U.S. didn’t know what it was getting into as it occupied a foreign country and changed its government. As many experts have noted, the consequences of the Iraq War will continue long into the future.

Alanna Maendel: When did you first start reporting in Iraq?
Anne Garrels: I first started working in Iraq in 2002 when it became clear the Bush administration wanted to go to war and topple Saddam Hussein.

AM: Given that Iraq was under no-fly zones, how did you get in and out of the country?
AG: I mostly traveled by land through Jordan, although it was rather dangerous.

AM: How did you get your reports out of Iraq?
AG: It was very difficult. It was before cell phones [were common] and [we were] without regular phone connections. I had to use a satellite phone. It looked like a laptop with three panels as an antenna aimed at a satellite. I had to hide it from the Iraqi authorities.

AM: Were the Iraqi people wary of you as an American, and did being a woman have any advantage?
AG: Under Saddam Hussein, most people were scared of having any foreign contact, so they were extremely wary of Americans. But some quietly helped me. For a while after the American invasion, Iraqi people were free to talk either for or against the United States. But the pressure on them grew from armed groups, so as the months went on, they were once again scared to speak out. Being a woman was a distinct advantage. I could speak to officials but could also go into family houses where my male colleagues were banned. I could talk to the women. My colleagues could not, so they missed half the population.

AM: What was one of the most significant events you covered during the war?
AG: The toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein was right outside my hotel in Firdos Square. Telling the truth was really important for me. It was widely reported that Iraqi citizens had done this. Actually, all they had done was throw their shoes* as a sign of rage. There were not enough of them to pull it down. Most people were too scared to participate. U.S. troops finally removed the statue. My editors at NPR questioned whether or not this report should be aired because other newscasts said Iraqi people had pulled the statue down. This was not the case, and eventually I was proven right.

*Throwing a shoe at someone is a well-known form of protest in some parts of the world, including Iraq.

AM: Were you ever caught in the midst of fighting?
AG: Yes, several times. Every day we would go out into the street to see where the U.S. had bombed. When I was embedded with the Marines for the siege of Fallujah,** we crawled through the streets while under fire. I survived. Not everyone did. A Marine next to me was shot.

AM: Looking back, were you in Iraq too long?
AG: I definitely was in Iraq much too long. After the invasion and a trip home, I was not sure I would return. [While reporting] I got to the point where I could not sleep and had trouble facing another day. What drove me to keep going back was that I wanted to know how everything would turn out. 

AM: Describe what you learned from being in such a war-torn country.
AG: I learned about myself. I also learned that we as a nation do not pay attention to history. [I don’t think we should] have gone into Iraq the way we did. [I believe] the U.S. was not prepared to be an occupying force in the absence of any government [there].

**The siege of Fallujah in late 2004 is considered the war’s bloodiest battle.

Editor’s Note: Anne Garrels worked as an NPR correspondent for 23 years. Although she is retired from the field, she continues to contribute commentary to the network’s news programs. 

Hussein was finally captured in December 2003. He was later tried by an Iraqi court and executed in 2006.

In 2005, with U.S. support, Iraq had its first successful elections. But the country has continued to suffer from waves of political instability and violence. In 2011, the U.S. withdrew most of its troops. Yet the rise of a terrorist group called the Islamic State, or ISIS, caused the U.S. to send forces back in 2014. While ISIS has since been largely defeated, the approximately 2,500 American service members who remain in Iraq continue to be a target of attacks.

Says Alanna: “From interviewing Anne Garrels, I learned how Saddam Hussein ruled over people’s lives, making sure nobody spoke against him. Nobody had a right to speak freely when he was in power. I also learned how harsh war is on the civilians living in a country under attack.” 

Note: This is an edited version of Alanna’s interview.