Operation Iron Harvest

This is a list of known Coalition military operations of the Iraq War. As of July 2007, there were over 500 known named operations attributed to the ongoing conflict in Iraq. This is not a complete list, but it continues to grow as more operations occur or are identified.

Operations are initially listed alphabetically. These tables have a sort function built into them allowing the reader to sort by any column in ascending or descending order. To sort, select the icon that looks like a sideways hourglass in the column header of the column you want to sort by.

Though the initial war lasted for only 21 days the coalition soon found themselves fighting insurgent forces more and more often. Additionally, with the increasing use of guerilla tactics, suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices, just walking down the street became extremely dangerous. Upon completion of the initial conflict the coalition troops began counterinsurgency, humanitarian, security and various other types of operations in order to stabilize the country and make it safe for the Iraqi people. From the end of the initial war until the present day, these are the types of operations that coalition troops continue to complete in efforts to eliminate the insurgency and anti-coalition forces.

During the early occupation, a number of widely cited humanitarian, tactical, and political errors by coalition planners, particularly the United States and United Kingdom led to a growing armed resistance, usually called the "Iraqi insurgency" (referred to by the mainstream media and coalition governments). The anti-occupation/anti-coalition forces are believed to be predominantly, but not exclusively, Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arabs, plus some foreign Arab and Muslim fighters, some of the latter tied to al-Qaeda. Several minor coalition members have pulled out of Iraq; this has been widely considered a political success for the anti-occupation forces.

Despite this, there was a reduction in violence throughout Iraq in the start of 2004 due to reorganization within the insurgent forces. During this time the tactics used by coalition forces were studied and the insurgency began to plan a new strategy. The calm did not last long however and once the insurgency had regained its footing attacks resumed and increased. Throughout the remainder of 2004 and continuing into the present day, the insurgency has employed bombings as their primary means of combating the coalition forces. This has led to hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police killed in addition to the coalition forces they were fighting. Many were killed in a series of massive bombings at mosques and shrines throughout Iraq. The bombings indicated that as the relevance of Saddam Hussein and his followers was diminishing, radical Islamists, both foreign and Iraqi was increasing to take their place. An organized Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming clear. The Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets and to seize control from the Iraqi security forces. The southern and central portions of Iraq began to erupt in urban guerilla combat as coalition forces attempted to keep control and prepared for a counteroffensive.

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