09:07Syria: 'Plagued with tragedy twice' - Iraqis in Damascus remember country they left behind, assess impact on Syria following 2003 US-led war
Iraqi nationals currently living in Syria described the memories of their home country before and during the 2003 US-led war, as well as the impact of the conflict on their host nation, as seen in footage from Damascus filmed in the run-up to the 20-year anniversary.
"I left Iraq out of fear for myself and my children,” explained Khaled Butrus Yousef. "Nothing was left in my country but murder, theft, and kidnapping. I was worried about my daughters especially when people told me to watch out for them, so I fled."
The US-led offensive, which began in March, soon saw ground troops reach the capital within a month.
"I certainly won't forget April 9th, 2003," said Aqil. "Over the course of 20 days, people had been displaced. I was in Diyala Governorate, so I went to Baghdad to bring my friends to safe areas away from the shelling."
"Seeing the devastation of the future of coming generations and mine is heartbreaking, as well as the looting," he added.
Some stayed in Iraq after the initial phase of the war. While US President George W Bush gave his famous 'mission accomplished' speech in 2003, troops remained on the ground and the country descended into factional violence, even after the first elections in 2005.
"The Americans had created sectarian disputes by bringing in multi-sect groups," said Tariq Adnan Mousa. ”All this had been orchestrated by the Americans."
"The Us military personnel had killed a whole family and raped their daughter before putting her on fire," he alleged.
While Ruptly is unable to verify the specific claim, US soldiers were subsequently found guilty of the 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family.
US military officials acknowledged that some troops committed abuses, always independent of senior commanders, and claimed that more than 300 criminal investigations were opened over allegations of prisoner mistreatment, and subjected 100 soldiers to court-martial proceedings and administrative punishments.
Many of those who fled to the relative safety of Syria also condemned the impact of US sanctions on the country, imposed after the uprisings and insurgency of 2011 and the start of the ongoing war.
"We’ve been plagued with tragedy twice," Aqil added. "A third of our lives have been lost due to Iraq's economic blockade, and now we are suffering the rest of our lives because of the sanctions in Syria. Iraq and Syria are one country, and we are facing the same crisis twice."
On March 19, 2003, Washington, along with coalition forces, launched a military offensive on Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein under the pretext of disarming Iraq’s presumed weapons of mass destruction, plunging Iraq into bloodshed and chaos, resulting in the violent deaths of around 200,000 civilians, according to the Iraq Body Count project, although there are other estimations that increase or decrease this figure.
This was preceded by a series of developments that eventually led to the US deploying its army on the Arab country. On January 28, George Bush addressed the nation making it clear that that the US military campaign to topple Saddam Hussein was only a matter of time.
The US officially withdrew its troops from Iraq by December 2011, but thousands remained as part of security operations or serving as private military contractors. The aftermath of the intervention in the country triggered widespread violence and was linked to the rise of the Islamic State (IS).
09:07Iraqi nationals currently living in Syria described the memories of their home country before and during the 2003 US-led war, as well as the impact of the conflict on their host nation, as seen in footage from Damascus filmed in the run-up to the 20-year anniversary.
"I left Iraq out of fear for myself and my children,” explained Khaled Butrus Yousef. "Nothing was left in my country but murder, theft, and kidnapping. I was worried about my daughters especially when people told me to watch out for them, so I fled."
The US-led offensive, which began in March, soon saw ground troops reach the capital within a month.
"I certainly won't forget April 9th, 2003," said Aqil. "Over the course of 20 days, people had been displaced. I was in Diyala Governorate, so I went to Baghdad to bring my friends to safe areas away from the shelling."
"Seeing the devastation of the future of coming generations and mine is heartbreaking, as well as the looting," he added.
Some stayed in Iraq after the initial phase of the war. While US President George W Bush gave his famous 'mission accomplished' speech in 2003, troops remained on the ground and the country descended into factional violence, even after the first elections in 2005.
"The Americans had created sectarian disputes by bringing in multi-sect groups," said Tariq Adnan Mousa. ”All this had been orchestrated by the Americans."
"The Us military personnel had killed a whole family and raped their daughter before putting her on fire," he alleged.
While Ruptly is unable to verify the specific claim, US soldiers were subsequently found guilty of the 2006 rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family.
US military officials acknowledged that some troops committed abuses, always independent of senior commanders, and claimed that more than 300 criminal investigations were opened over allegations of prisoner mistreatment, and subjected 100 soldiers to court-martial proceedings and administrative punishments.
Many of those who fled to the relative safety of Syria also condemned the impact of US sanctions on the country, imposed after the uprisings and insurgency of 2011 and the start of the ongoing war.
"We’ve been plagued with tragedy twice," Aqil added. "A third of our lives have been lost due to Iraq's economic blockade, and now we are suffering the rest of our lives because of the sanctions in Syria. Iraq and Syria are one country, and we are facing the same crisis twice."
On March 19, 2003, Washington, along with coalition forces, launched a military offensive on Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein under the pretext of disarming Iraq’s presumed weapons of mass destruction, plunging Iraq into bloodshed and chaos, resulting in the violent deaths of around 200,000 civilians, according to the Iraq Body Count project, although there are other estimations that increase or decrease this figure.
This was preceded by a series of developments that eventually led to the US deploying its army on the Arab country. On January 28, George Bush addressed the nation making it clear that that the US military campaign to topple Saddam Hussein was only a matter of time.
The US officially withdrew its troops from Iraq by December 2011, but thousands remained as part of security operations or serving as private military contractors. The aftermath of the intervention in the country triggered widespread violence and was linked to the rise of the Islamic State (IS).