Quick questions on US withdrawal from Iraq 2011: HSC Modern History Conflict in the Gulf

Barack Obama had opposed the Iraq war from October 2002 ("a dumb war") and made withdrawal a central campaign promise. His 27 February 2009 address at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base laid out the plan:

The Iraq the US left in December 2011 was a fragile state.

Three key provisions:

Maliki's Shia-dominated government had marginalised Sunni Arab political participation. Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was charged with terrorism on 19 December 2011, the day after the US withdrawal; he fled to Turkey. The Sons of Iraq were not integrated into the army as promised.

Maliki replaced competent professional officers with loyalists. The Iraqi army that would face the Islamic State in 2014 was nominally large but corruption-riddled and incompetent.

Iran had been the silent winner of the 2003 war. The Maliki government included parties with deep Iranian ties.

The Kurdish Regional Government in the north exercised effective sovereignty.

Iraqi oil production had recovered to 2.7 million barrels per day by late 2011 (above 2002 levels).

Source A is an extract from the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement, Article 24 on the withdrawal of US forces. Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain the terms of the US withdrawal from Iraq. [5 marks]

Evaluate the extent to which the US withdrawal in 2011 left Iraq stable. [25 marks]

Compare the views of Emma Sky and Toby Dodge on the legacy of the American intervention in Iraq. [10 marks]