20th Anniversary of the Iraq War
Today, Australians commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War. The war had its origins in the First Gulf War in 1990-91, when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and were driven out by an international coalition that included Australia. That operation ended at Iraq’s border with Kuwait, and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein remained in power.
After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, a ‘coalition of the willing’, which included Australia, entered Iraq on 20 March 2003 to locate and destroy suspected weapons of mass destruction and sever Iraq’s ties with terrorists.
Australians from all three branches of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) served during the war: first as part of Operation Bastille, the deployment and preparation phase; then Operation Falconer, the offensive operations phase; and Operation Catalyst at the conclusion of the operations phase.
The Australian Army deployed a Special Operations Task Group to the first two of these operations. This included a Special Air Services contingent, commandos, incident response troops, a combat services support group, helicopters, several armoured vehicles, and personal security detachments.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) had ships in the Persian Gulf before the war as part of the international Maritime Interception Force tasked with sanctions enforcement against Iraq and it continued to play a significant role for the remainder of the conflict.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) carried out surveillance operations also in support of the Maritime Interception Force. During offensive operations the RAAF provided close air support to coalition forces; it flew escorts and transport operations, maritime patrols and humanitarian supply missions.
Following the main phase of combat, most of the Australian forces returned home. In 2005, Australia contributed troops to the Al Muthanna Task Group, a battlegroup deployed to Al Muthanna Province in support of Japanese engineers and to provide trainers for the Iraqi military.
Australia had fully withdrawn from Iraq by May 2011 along with all non-US coalition forces. The American military withdraw all its remaining forces on 18 December 2011, ending the Iraq War. Sadly, four Australians lost their lives as a result of their service in Iraq – their names are inscribed on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour.
Some 17,000 Australians have been issued with the Iraq Medal for service with the coalition operations in the war. Twenty years on, we remember their service and recognise their sacrifice and that of their families during a long and difficult conflict.
Image: A soldier of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, in the turret of an Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV), is greeted by a group of local children while on patrol in a residential area of Baghdad; AWM.