ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the major trends and transformations in US state building in Iraq from the 2003 regime change war to 2008, when the Obama administration took office. The chapter shows how the rapid dismantling of the Iraqi state did not lead to the establishment of a pro-American, anti-Iranian, democratic state in Iraq or the creation of a new Middle East, as the Bush administration had promised. What emerged was the division of Iraq into three conflicting and competing ethnosectarian enclaves. The chapter details the tragic story of how Iraq and Iraqis suffered as the Bush administration tried different policies to turn Iraq into a US regional ally.
