Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

B. BACKGROUND 
Since 2003 the U.S. occupation of Iraq has taken a number of twists and turns, 
which has caused the U.S. military to react to situations on the ground rather than 
pursuing its intended mission of transitioning control to a democratically led Iraqi 
government. The offensive strategy of preemptive strikes began on March 19, 2003 after 
a 48 hour deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave the country had passed. By the next day, 
the U.S. campaign of “shock and awe” had devastated key infrastructure throughout the 
country and in Baghdad in particular. Three weeks later Saddam’s government dissolved 
and the U.S. policy of “regime change,” in place since 1991, was finally achieved.
Ironically, the Bush administration, which had criticized the “Clintonian policy of nation-
building in far-off places with unpronounceable names,” placed little emphasis on 
planning for the post-conflict reconstruction and security that would be needed to achieve 
success after the Baath party had fallen.
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On May 1, 2003 President Bush declared an 
end to combat operations. Even though it was the end of the invasion, it was the 
beginning of an unconventional war, for which the military was not prepared. Unlike 
previous unconventional campaigns such as Vietnam, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo, the 
number of non-state actors staking a claim in Iraq’s future was immense. The United 
States military was faced with a growing insurgency campaign about which it understood 
very little. Since most military commanders deployed to Iraq with the idea of conducting 
conventional combat operations, the military also gave little thought to post-conflict 
reconstruction and the civil-military operations that would be central to it.
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Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield, The Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy, Or Division? 
1st ed. (New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 99-100, 185, 
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/hol053/2003058846.html (accessed July 23, 2007). 

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