When the World Trade Centers were destroyed on September 11, 2001, the world saw images of unprecedented terror, devastation and horror. Following the attacks, differences between the United States and the nation of Iraq, led by dictator Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist party, reached a boiling point. Since Saddam Hussein refused to allow the United Nations to inspect suspected chemical weapons laboratories in Iraq, the United States and a group of countries, including the United States, Britain and Poland ( called the Coalition), decided that the best course of action in order to preserve international security was to invade and stop it. The Iraq War lasted eight long years and was considered a military success by the Coalition. Coalition troops suffered only 4,185 casualties, while the Iraqi insurgency lost approximately 36,000 insurgents killed and many more wounded. However, after the coalition withdrew from Iraq in 2011, cracks began to form in the system the coalition had left behind. Although it would appear that the Coalition won the war militarily, from an administrative and tactical perspective the war was far from a success (Encyclopedia Britannica). The coalition invasion of Iraq after the September 11 attacks failed, not because of the service of the soldiers who fought valiantly, but because of the failure of the coalition to establish a new government that balanced the power between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, their respect for human rights. violations during the campaign, and the Coalition had no exit strategy and lacked preventive measures against the rise of terrorist groups, such as ISIS. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay One of the main reasons why the Iraq War was a failure, in an administrative and logistical sense, was the inability of the Coalition to establish a balanced government between the major religious demographics of Sunni and Shia Islam. Since the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, there has been intense conflict between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. At the time of Muhammad's death, there was a succession crisis, in addition to the rapid growth of religion in the region. “Some thought a new leader should be chosen by consensus; others believed that only the prophet's descendants should become caliph. The title was passed to a trusted aide, Abu Bakr, although some believed it should have gone to Ali, the prophet's cousin and son-in-law. Ali eventually became caliph after the assassination of Abu Bakr's two successors” (Harney). When Ali's son attempted to assume the title after his father's assassination, he was martyred by forces belonging to the current caliph or ruler who usurped his father's throne. People who believed that Ali and his descendants were the true leaders of the Muslim people called themselves Shiites, or followers of Ali. Sunnis, who constitute the majority of the Islamic world, follow the line of caliphs established since the death of Muhammad and have a strong dislike for Shiites (Harney). The religious demographics of Iraq are as follows: 65% Shia Islam, 30% Sunni Islam, with the remaining 5% made up of religious minorities (Mohamed). The US government, however, failed to fully understand the long-standing animosity between the two factions and established an entirely Shia government. While the Iraqi government is still subject to Shiite technical law, many Sunnis have joined the insurgencies againstgovernment. Several coalition soldiers told stories of Shiite government soldiers massacring Sunni civilians in gruesome ways. Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Dwight Chrvala, an Iraq War veteran, says he had to interrupt an event in the Iraqi camp in which the Iraqi government's Shiite soldiers were brutally attacking Sunni civilians. He said: “They cut off the hands of all the men of military age in the village whom they rounded up. They took rebars and beat them to death. We were told not to intervene in many of these cultural conflicts between Iraqis. This sort of thing happened much more frequently than one might expect” (Chrvala). Incidents like these have fueled growing resentment and hatred toward the Shiite government, particularly among many powerful Sunni-majority countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, willing to help fund a Sunni insurgency and destroy the Shiite government. If the Coalition had considered trying to maintain equal representation, the large Sunni minority would not have rebelled and been the cause of all the major problems facing the country today. But unfortunately, the government structures put in place by the US-led coalition are currently failing and the northern part of the country is trying to secede. There are strong insurgencies in the south that the government cannot defeat. By installing an exclusively Shiite government and entirely excluding the significant minority, the war became a futile effort for democracy in Iraq. Another major problem that caused the failure of the Iraq War was the failure to prevent human rights violations by Coalition forces. and Iraqi Shiite forces. These abuses were seriously dangerous for the stability of the region, as they had the effect of creating more insurgents. LTC Chrvala explained, “When someone you know is beaten, maimed, or killed, you are much more likely to want to take up arms and kill those responsible” (Chrvala). The human rights violations that took place during the Iraq War, perpetrated primarily by those who were there to help the Iraqis, were more than enough to provoke such an insurgency. The scandal at Abu Ghraib (prison for insurgent detainees in Iraq) created violent and burning animosity towards Coalition troops on Iraqi soil. Iraqi detainees were beaten, horribly mutilated, forced to eat their own feces and dragged naked. Several inmates died and court-martial charges were brought against prison administrators. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and when the abuses were witnessed by the entire world, many joined the insurrections to fight against those who would commit such horrific atrocities against defenseless prisoners. (Hersh). Another horrific example of human rights violation that has had a significant impact is the Haditha massacre. In 2005, a squad of U.S. Marines killed twenty-four unarmed civilians. They told authorities they were under intense combat stress before the massacre began and believed the victims were armed. There was intense outcry from locals because the civilians killed were well known in the region, and when the world saw the horrific images of innocent families being slaughtered, global anger rose. After no real charges were brought against the Marines, anger grew further and the insurgent membership increased significantly (CNN). Coupled with incidents like.