The effectiveness of international law in the Iraqi political crises between 2005-2020

The events following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 proved that Iraq was to suffer various crises, most of which resulted from the struggle for power by multiple factions. These crises have burdened the country with a legacy of internal conflicts and wars. All of this was due to the catastrophic mistakes committed by multiple parties, including the United States. Additionally, the crises allowed politicians to divide the people on an ethnic sectarian basis, which threatened the country's unity more than once, most notably during the sectarian wars in 2006 and the occupation of ISIS to more than two-thirds of the area of Iraq in 2014. After all these events, an important question had to be raised: What is the role of International Law in what is happening and taking place in Iraq, especially since its territories have seen the commission of crimes that have been classified as crimes against humanity. International Law denies them and seeks to prevent their occurrence. In addition to the exposure of civilians to danger, whose protection is closely related to International Humanitarian Law, it is known that International Law was put in place more than 100 years ago, but the extent of its effectiveness depends on the parties committed to its provisions. These provisions are characterized by being general and abstract matter rules that come from international customs and treaties, including the Geneva Convention of 1949 and The Hague Convention of 1899, 1907. This topic has been analyzed in this study through the nature of International Law, its divisions and the extent of its effectiveness, as well as the presentation of the most prominent crises that occurred in Iraq from 2005-2020, and the position of International Law and society regarding the armed crises that pushed Iraq to disaster.