1. Operation Iraqi Freedom
An overview of Iraq
and a soldier's perspective
Christopher Harris

2. Outline
Profile of Iraq
Geography
People
History
My involvement in O.I.F.

3. Geography
Bordered by Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria,
Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
Mountains over 10,000 ft above sea level
in the north, northeast
Desert in the west, southwest
Reedy marshes at sea level in the
southeast

4. Geography
Area: 168,927 sq. km. (size of California)
Arable land: 12%
Coastline: 36 miles
Rainfall
December through April
4 – 7 inches
Temperatures
OVER 120 degrees in July and August
BELOW freezing in January

5. Geography
Major Cities
Baghdad
Capital on the Tigris River
6.5 million people
Basrah
1.3 million people
Mosul
1.8 million people

7. People
Total est. population: 26 million
Literacy rate: 40.4%
Male 56%
Female 25%
Languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Assyrian,
Armenian

8. People (cont.)
Religions
Muslim 97%
Shi’a 65%
Sunni 35%
Christian or other 3%
Ethnic groups
Arab 75%-80%
Kurdish 15%-20%
Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%

10. History
Mesopotamia
Land between the rivers
“Cradle of Civilization”
Ur of Sumer (3,700 yrs)
Babylon, capital of Babylonia (2,200 yrs)
1533 - Ottoman Turks
1914 – British forces take southern Iraq

11. History
October 3rd, 1932 – Independence Day
February 8th, 1963 – Ba’th Party
June, 1979 – Saddam Hussein
September, 1980 – Iran/Iraq War
August 1990 – Kuwait invasion
January 16th, 1991 – Persian Gulf War
March 20th, 2003 – O.I.F.