Which one of the following statement related to Iraq invasion by US is incorrect?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → The UN had given consent to invade Iraq
Option (1) The US lost over 3000 military personnel in the war — True. The US lost over 3,000 military personnel in the war, while the Iraqi casualties were very much higher.
Option (2) The UN had given consent to invade Iraq — False. The US launched the invasion on 19 March 2003 after the UN refused to give its mandate to it. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General of the time, declared the US-led invasion of Iraq an illegal act.
Option (3) More than forty other countries joined the US led ‘coalition of willing’ — True. More than forty countries joined the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’; many of the newer members of the EU were among them.
Option (4) The invasion was to prevent Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction — True. This was the stated purpose of the invasion. Since no evidence of such weapons has been found in Iraq, it is speculated that the invasion had other objectives, such as controlling Iraqi oilfields and installing a regime friendly to the US.
Note 1: This question is taken from the chapter ‘US Hegemony in World Politics’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27). The NCERT book (2026-27) mentions the invasion only in passing: the newer EU members in the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’, and Kofi Annan, who declared the US-led invasion of Iraq an illegal act.
Note 2: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| – | – | – | 12-06 S3* 16-06 S2* 23-06 S3 | – |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2026-27): “The European Union … Thus, Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair was America’s partner in the Iraq invasion, and many of the EU’s newer members made up the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’ whereas Germany and France opposed American policy.…” NCERT (2026-27): Contemporary World Politics — Chapter 4: International Organisations, box ‘UN Secretaries-General’
NCERT (Pre-rationalised), chapter ‘US Hegemony in World Politics’: “THE IRAQ INVASION … On 19 March 2003, the US launched its invasion of Iraq under the codename ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. More than forty other countries joined in the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’ after the UN refused to give its mandate to the invasion. The ostensible purpose of the invasion was to prevent Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Since no evidence of WMD has been unearthed in Iraq, it is speculated that the invasion was motivated by other objectives, such as controlling Iraqi oilfields and installing a regime friendly to the US. Although the government of Saddam Hussein fell swiftly, the US has not been able to ‘pacify’ Iraq. Instead, a full-fledged insurgency against US occupation was ignited in Iraq. While the US has lost over 3,000 military personnel in the war, Iraqi casualties are very much higher.…” |
