Iraq

=__Iraq __=


 * The Essential Guide to Iraq**

The Republic of Iraq is in the Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait with a size of 437,072 sq km. Iraq borders Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. The population is 28,945,657 people, while 74.1 % of Iraqi's over the age of 15 can read and write. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Turkoman (a Turkish dialect), Assyrian, and Armenian. Parliamentary democracy is the government type in Iraq, while it has a Capitalist economic system. There are many different races/cultures in Iraq such as Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5%. Besides races and cultures, 97% of Iraqi's are Muslim (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%). There natural resources are natural gas, oil, phosphate, salt, steel, stone, and gypsum. Iraq's main exports are crude oil 84%, crude materials excluding fuels 8%, food and live animals 5%, and there main imports are food, medicine, manufactures The major trading partners to Iraq are the US, Italy, South Korea, Syria, Turkey (2007). 


 * Historical Timeline in the Twentieth Century**

//__1918-__End of Ottoman rule __1914-1932-__British Troops Occupy Baghdad during WWI, and remain there after war

__1932-__Iraq declared Independent from Britain

__1958-__A revolution led by a group of army officers ended the British monarchy, which declared Iraq to be a republic

__1960's-1970's-__Kurdish rebellion to achieve self-government(collapsed in 1975)

__1979-__Saddam Hussein becomes Iraq's president

__1980-1988-__Iraq invaded Iran, starting a war with neither sides winning

__1990-__Iraq invades Kuwait, claiming it to be part of there territory since 1871

__1991__-Kuwait invasion leads to Persian Gulf War, forcing groups of Nations to push Iraq out of Kuwait, which was done in less then two months

__2003-__The United States and Great Britain invade Iraq

__December 2003-__Saddam Hussein is captured, after going into hiding//


 * The Nation at Present

//Leadership://** Currently the chief of state or President is Jalal Talabani, since 6 April 2005. The Vice Presidents are Adil Abd al-Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashimi, since 22 April 2006. The Prime Minister of Iraq is Nuri al-Maliki, since 20 May 2006, while the Deputy Prime Ministers is Barham Salih, since 20 May 2006 and Rafi al-Issawi, since 19 July 2008. The Council of Representatives, consisting of 275 members elected by a closed-list, proportional representation system elects the Presidency Council which consists of the President and Vice Presidents, and approve the prime minister and the two deputy prime ministers. President Jalal Talabani is the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan whose ideology is social democracy, while the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is a conservative.

Today in Iraq there is a war going on. The war started on March 20, 2003, when the U.S. launched an air attack against Baghdad. Since then the fighting in Iraq has continued. The U.S. government claimed the war was intended to overthrow Saddam Hussein and to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (W.M.D.). President Bush argued that the September 11th attacks demonstrated the vulnerability of the U.S. and that this vulnerability, combined with the possible W.M.D.and Iraq's hatred for the U.S., proves that disarming Iraq was a priority.The war collapsed the government and forced fora new election,which caused violence. In December 2005, Iraqi's elected a permanentCouncil of Representatives to replace the National Assembly. Also the fighting has killed many Iraqi's, mostly civilians. The international community had respnoded towards the war with mixed opinons. Some believe that the war shouldnt of happened and isonly for the gain of the invaders. Others believe that stability is a must in Iraq, and we should do all that we can do to create stability and peace.
 * //Current Issues://**

The countries that are allies to Iraq are the U.S. and Britain due to the fact that there armies are stationed there to create stability, Other allied countries to Iraq could be countries willing to trade with them, such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, etc. Iraq's international reputation is that of having a socially backwards fundamentalist-islamic government wrought with generations of war. Also the fact that Iraq is currently going through a war decreases the possible good reputation Iraq could have due to the fact that they produce a lot of oil and can trade with the various resources they own. Its global image is that of a poverty-wridden, corrupt war mongering nation filled with terrorists, but those are just global stereotypes.
 * //Foreign Relations://**