There are unknown unknowns

Saying associated with the US invasion of Iraq

Rumsfeld during a Pentagon news briefing in February 2002

"There are unknown unknowns" is a phrase from a response United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave to a question at a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) news briefing on February 12, 2002, about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups.[1] Rumsfeld stated:

> Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.[1]

The statement became the subject of much commentary. In The Decision Book (2013), author Mikael Krogerus [de] refers to it as the "Rumsfeld matrix".[2] The statement also features in a 2013 documentary film, The Unknown Known, directed by Errol Morris.[3]

Known unknowns refers to "risks you are aware of, such as canceled flights",[4] whereas unknown unknowns are risks that come from situations that are so unexpected that they would not be considered.

## Origins

[edit]

Rumsfeld's statement brought attention to the concepts of known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns, but these were in common use in US defense procurement by the late 1960s. In a 1968 study sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, Hudson Drake from North American Rockwell argued that defence contractors had to solve both known unknowns and "unanticipated unknowns".[5] Also in 1968, Lt. Gen. William B. Bunker noted that when developing complex weapons systems "there are two kinds of technical problems: there are the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns."[6] The usage was common enough for an industry shorthand to have developed where unknown-unknowns were referred to as "unk-unks".[7]

The term was commonly used inside NASA.[8] Rumsfeld cited NASA administrator William Graham in his memoir; he wrote that he had first heard "a variant of the phrase" from Graham when they served together on the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States during the late 1990s.[9] Rumsfeld had previously publicly used the terms himself, stating in a 2000 speech that "There are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns. Effective intelligence work must consider them all."[10]

The terms "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns" are often used in project management and strategic planning[11] circles.

Contemporary usage is largely consistent with the earliest known usages. For example, the term was used in evidence given to the British Columbia Royal Commission of Inquiry into Uranium Mining in 1979:

> Site conditions always pose unknowns, or uncertainties, which may become known during construction or operation to the detriment of the facility and possibly lead to damage of the environment or endanger public health and safety. The risk posed by unknowns is somewhat dependent on the nature of the unknown relative to past experience. This has led me to classify unknowns into one of the following two types:

> 1\. known unknowns (expected or foreseeable conditions), which can be reasonably anticipated but not quantified based on past experience as exemplified by case histories (in Appendix A) and

> 2\. Unknown unknowns (unexpected or unforeseeable conditions), which pose a potentially greater risk simply because they cannot be anticipated based on past experience or investigation.

> Known unknowns result from recognized but poorly understood phenomena. On the other hand, unknown unknowns are phenomena which cannot be expected because there has been no prior experience or theoretical basis for expecting the phenomena.[12]

The term also appeared in a 1982 New Yorker article on the aerospace industry, which cites the example of metal fatigue, the cause of crashes in de Havilland Comet airliners in the 1950s.[13]

## Reaction

[edit]

Canadian columnist Mark Steyn called it "in fact a brilliant distillation of quite a complex matter".[14] Australian economist and blogger John Quiggin wrote: "Although the language may be tortured, the basic point is both valid and important."[15]

Psychoanalytic philosopher Slavoj Žižek says that beyond these three categories there is a fourth, the unknown known, that which one intentionally refuses to acknowledge that one knows: "If Rumsfeld thinks that the main dangers in the confrontation with Iraq were the 'unknown unknowns', that is, the threats from Saddam whose nature we cannot even suspect, then the Abu Ghraib scandal shows that the main dangers lie in the 'unknown knowns'—the disavowed beliefs, suppositions and obscene practices we pretend not to know about, even though they form the background of our public values."[16]

German sociologists Christopher Daase and Oliver Kessler agreed that the cognitive frame for political practice may be determined by the relationship between "what we know, what we do not know, what we cannot know", but stated that Rumsfeld left out "what we do not like to know".[17]

The event has been used in multiple books to discuss risk assessment.[3][18]

Rumsfeld named his 2011 autobiography Known and Unknown: A Memoir. In an author's note at the start of the book, he expressly acknowledges the source of his memoir's title and mentions a few examples of his statement's prominence.[19] The Unknown Known is the title of Errol Morris's 2013 biographical documentary film about Rumsfeld.[20] In it, Rumsfeld initially defines "unknown knowns" as "the things you think you know, that it turns out you did not", and toward the end of the film he defines the term as "things that you know, that you don't know you know".[21]

Rumsfeld's comment earned the 2003 Foot in Mouth Award from the British Plain English Campaign.[22]

## Historical context

[edit]

As alluded to by Rumsfeld in his autobiography,[19]: xv over two millennia ago Socrates considered known unknowns and unknown unknowns.[23][24] Much later, Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica also emphasized the important difference between recognized ignorance and unconscious ignorance.[25]

Rumsfeld's statement closely parallelled a well-known proverb about knowledge:[26][27]: 200

> He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.
>  He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is simple. Teach him.
>  He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him.
>  He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise. Follow him.

This has been widely quoted[28] since the 19th century as (for example) an anonymous Persian,[29][30] Arabic,[31][32] African,[33] Japanese,[34] Oriental[35] or simply an old[36] proverb, or attributed to authors ranging from Confucius[37] to Bruce Lee.[38] The proverb is actually a close translation (with line order reversed) of al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi's medieval epigram about the "four kinds of men", as reported by Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE),[39][40] which was later echoed in poems by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi[41] and Ibn Yamin.[42]

"Unknown unknowns" were occasionally mentioned in the 1950s and 60s. In 1950, it was noted that sociology research was full of "unknown unknowns".[43] In a 1962 commencement address, Nobel laureate biochemist Melvin Calvin discussed how humanity "must grapple not only with the known and the 'known unknown', but also with the vastness of the 'unknown unknown'."[44]

A related 2x2 grid was created in 1955 by two American psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in their development of the Johari window, a "graphic model of interpersonal behaviour"[45] that classifies knowledge about your behavior and motivations in terms of whether you or others are aware of those behaviours or motivations. For example, your motivation might be (un)known by you and (un)known by others. Another similar[46] classification scheme is the conscious competence learning model published in 1960, where a person's knowledge and skills are classified according to how (un)conscious and (in)competent they are.[47]

## Analytical sciences

[edit]

The term "known unknowns" has been applied to the identification of chemical substances using analytical chemistry approaches, specifically mass spectrometry. In many cases, an unknown to an investigator that is detected in an experiment is actually known in the chemical literature, a reference database, or an Internet resource. These types of compounds are termed "known unknowns". The term was originally coined by Little et al.[48] and reported a number of times in the literature since then as a general approach.[49][50][51][52]

## See also

[edit]

* Black swan theory
* Cynefin framework
* Dunning–Kruger effect
* Emic and etic
* Epistemic modal logic
* Four stages of competence
* I know that I know nothing
* Ignoramus et ignorabimus
* Ignotum per ignotius
* Johari window
* Knightian uncertainty
* Known and Unknown: A Memoir
* Outside Context Problem
* Russell's teapot
* Undecidable problem
* The Unknown Known
* Wild card (foresight)
* Argument from ignorance

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Defense.gov News Transcript: DoD News Briefing – Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers". United States Department of Defense. February 12, 2002. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016.
2. ^ Krogerus, Mikael (2012). The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking. Roman Tschäppeler, Jenny Piening (1st American ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 86–87\. ISBN 978-0-393-07961-6. OCLC 738350045.
3. ^ a b Girard, John; Girard, JoAnn (June 1, 2009). A Leader's Guide to Knowledge Management: Drawing on the Past to Enhance Future Performance. Business Expert Press. pp. 55–. ISBN 9781606490198. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
4. ^ Biafore, Bonnie (December 14, 2011). "Project Management Fundamentals". Lynda.com. Lynda.com/LinkedIN. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
5. ^ Poole, Walter S. (2013). "Chapter IV – Innovation: Coping with 'Unanticipated Unknowns'". History of Acquisition in the Department of Defence, Volume 2, Adapting to Flexible Response 1960-1968. p. 95.
6. ^ Andrews, Walter (December 7, 1968). "The 'Known Unknowns' And The 'Unknown Unknowns'". Armed Force Journal. 106 (15): 14–15.
7. ^ Meyers, Harald B. (August 1, 1969). "For Lockheed, Everything's Coming Up Unk-Unks". Fortune. Vol. 80, no. 2\. p. 76.
8. ^ "NASA Program Management and Procurement Procedures and Practices: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications of the Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, First Session, June 24, 25, 1981". U.S. Government Printing Office. 1981.
9. ^ Rumsfeld, Donald (2011). Known and Unknown: A Memoir. New York: Penguin Group. p. xiv. ISBN 9781101502495.
10. ^ Rumsfeld, Donald H. (February 8, 2000). Remarks of the Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld Prepared for delivery, Community Forum Series: The New National Security Environment. Nominations Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, First Session, 107th Congress. Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 194–203\. ISBN 978-0-16-069297-0.
11. ^ Courtney, Hugh; Kirkland, Jane; Viguerie, Patrick (November 1997). "Strategy Under Uncertainty". Harvard Business Review. 75 (6): 66–79\. PMID 10174798.
12. ^ "Phase V: Waste Disposal". Statement of Evidence of E. D'Appolonia, D'Appolonia Consulting Engineers, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the British Columbia Royal Commission of Inquiry into Uranium Mining. 1979. ISBN 978-0-7718-8198-5. 0005037606.
13. ^ Newhouse, J. (June 14, 1982), "A reporter at large: a sporty game; 1-betting the company", New Yorker, pp. 48–105.
14. ^ Steyn, Mark (December 9, 2003). "Rummy speaks the truth, not gobbledygook". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
15. ^ Quiggin, John (February 10, 2004). "In Defense of Rumsfeld". johnquiggin.com. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
16. ^ Žižek, Slavoj (May 21, 2004). "What Rumsfeld Doesn't Know That He Knows About Abu Ghraib". In These Times. Retrieved February 23, 2009 - via lacan.com.
17. ^ Daase, Christopher; Kessler, Oliver (December 2007). "Knowns and Unknowns in the 'War on Terror': Uncertainty and the Political Construction of Danger". Security Dialogue. 38 (4): 411–434\. doi:10.1177/0967010607084994. ISSN 0967-0106. S2CID 145253344.
18. ^ Neve, Geert de; Luetchford, Peter (2008). Hidden Hands in the Market: Ethnographies of Fair Trade, Ethical Consumption, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Emerald Group Publishing. pp. 252–. ISBN 9781848550582. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
19. ^ a b Rumsfeld, Donald (2011). Known and Unknown: A Memoir. New York: Penguin Group. p. xiii. ISBN 9781101502495.
20. ^ Scott, A. O. (April 2, 2014). "Not Giving an Inch in a Battle of Wits and Words; Deciphering Donald H. Rumsfeld in 'The Unknown Known'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
21. ^ Morris, Errol (Director) (December 13, 2013). The Unknown Known (Motion picture). Los Angeles, CA: The Weinstein Company.
22. ^ "Rum remark wins Rumsfeld an award". BBC News. December 2, 2003. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
23. ^ Rozell, Daniel J. (2020). Dangerous Science: Science Policy and Risk Analysis for Scientists and Engineers. Ubiquity Press. p. 48\. ISBN 9781911529897.
24. ^ McCarthy, Christine; Carr, David; Bailey, Richard; Barrow, Robin, eds. (March 23, 2010). The SAGE Handbook of Philosophy of Education. p. 304\. ISBN 9781446206973.
25. ^ Nugent, J.B. (1967). "Ignorance". New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
26. ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). "No foot in mouth". In Sumner, Tom (ed.). Untidy: The Blogs on Rumsfeld. Wilsonville, Oregon: William, James & Co. p. 28\. ISBN 9781590280478.
27. ^ Cite error: The named reference `Saravanan2021` was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
28. ^ Bartlett, John (1955). Familiar Quotations: a collection of passages, phrases, and proverbs traced to their sources in ancient and modern literature (13 ed.). Boston: Little, Brown. p. 754.
29. ^ Felleman, Hazel, ed. (1936). The Best Loved Poems of the American People. Garden City, New York: Garden City Books. p. 623.
30. ^ Morgan, Joy Elmer, ed. (1951). The American Citizens Handbook. National Education Association of the United States. p. 371.
31. ^ "A Knowsy Proverb". The Globe. Toronto. December 15, 1885. p. 6. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
32. ^ Burton, Isabel (1893). The Life of Sir Richard F. Burton, K.C.M.G., F.R.G.S. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 548. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
33. ^ Kimbro, Dennis (1993). "September 4: Sesame Street". Daily Motivations for African-American Success. New York: Random House - Fawcett Books. ISBN 9780449223253.
34. ^ "Japanese Proverbs". Presbyterian Standard. Vol. XLVI, no. 53\. Charlotte, N.C. February 6, 1907. p. 21.
35. ^ Hoult, Elizabeth (2006). Learning support : a guide for mature students. Sage Publications. p. 55\. ISBN 9781412902946.
36. ^ Driscoe, Margaret Sutton (December 22, 1894). "The Days We Live In". Harper's Bazaar. Vol. 27, no. 51\. p. 6. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
37. ^ Dixon, Michael (April 16, 1993). "A case of the worst sort of ignorance". Financial Times. London. p. 22. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
38. ^ "Bruce Lee: A Visit to the Grave". Grand Royal Magazine. No. Fall/Winter. Los Angeles. 1993. p. 50. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
39. ^ Al=Ghazali, Muhammad Hamid (June 25, 2013). "الباب السادس في آفات العلم وبيان علامات علماء الآخرة والعلماء السو". كتاب: إحياء علوم الدين کتاب العلم (in Arabic). pp. 87–88.
40. ^ Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamed (2011). Revival of the Religion's Sciences. Translated by al-Sharif, Mohammad Mahdi. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah. p. 115\. ISBN 978-2-7451-5945-8.
41. ^ Axworthy, Michael (2008). A history of Iran : empire of the mind. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-00888-9.
42. ^ Arberry, A.J. (1958). Classical Persian Literature. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 315\. ISBN 9780203985434. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
43. ^ Gordon, William E (July 1950). "The research project: Its educational value and its contribution to social work knowledge". Social Work Journal. 31 (3): 110–116\. JSTOR 23705367.
44. ^ "University Responding to Challenges". UCLA Summer Bruin. June 15, 1962. p. 2.
45. ^ Luft, Joseph (1969). Of human interaction. National Press Book. ISBN 978-0-87484-134-3.
46. ^ Tovstiga, Nicole; Tovstiga, George (2021). "COVID-19: a knowledge and learning perspective". Knowledge Management Research & Practice. 19 (4): 427–432\. doi:10.1080/14778238.2020.1806749.
47. ^ DePhillips, Frank A.; Berliner, William M.; Cribbin, James J. (1960). Management of Training Programs. Homewood, Illinois: Richard C. Erwin, Inc. p. 69.
48. ^ Little, J.L.; Cleven, C.D.; Brown, S.D. (2011). "Identification of "Known Unknowns" utilizing accurate mass data and chemical abstracts service databases". J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 22 (2): 348–359\. Bibcode:2011JASMS..22..348L. doi:10.1007/s13361-010-0034-3. PMID 21472594.
49. ^ Little, James L. (2011). "Identification of "known unknowns" utilizing accurate mass data and ChemSpider". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 23 (1): 179–185\. doi:10.1007/s13361-011-0265-y. PMID 22069037.
50. ^ Stein, S. (2012). "Mass Spectral Reference Libraries: An Ever-Expanding Resource for Chemical Identification". Analytical Chemistry. 84 (17): 7274–7282\. doi:10.1021/ac301205z. PMID 22803687.
51. ^ McEachran, Andrew D.; Sobus, Jon R.; Williams, Antony J. (2016). "Identifying known unknowns using the US EPA's CompTox Chemistry Dashboard". Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 409 (7): 1729–1735\. doi:10.1007/s00216-016-0139-z. PMID 27987027. S2CID 31754962.
52. ^ Schymanski, Emma L.; Williams, Antony J. (2017). "Open Science for Identifying "Known Unknown" Chemicals". Environmental Science and Technology. 51 (10): 5357–5359\. Bibcode:2017EnST...51.5357S. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b01908. PMC 6260822. PMID 28475325.

## External links

[edit]

* "Defense Department Briefing". C-SPAN. February 12, 2002. "
Reporter:37:19 ...Because there are reports that there is no evidence of a direct link between Baghdad and some of these terrorist organizations.
Rumsfeld: Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me..."
* Logan, David C. (March 1, 2009). "Known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns and the propagation of scientific enquiry". Journal of Experimental Botany. 60 (3): 712–4\. doi:10.1093/jxb/erp043. PMID 19269994.

* v
* t
* e

Donald Rumsfeld

13th and 21st US Secretary of Defense (1975-1977, 2001–2006) •

6th White House Chief of Staff (1974-1975) • 9th US Ambassador to NATO (1973-1974) • Counselor to the President (190-1971) •

U.S. Representative from Illinois's 13th district (1963-1969)

Political career|

* Young Turks
* Rumsfeld Commission
* "There are unknown unknowns"
* Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
* Litigation
* Rumsfeld v. Padilla
* Rasul v. Rumsfeld
* Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

Electoral history|

| U.S. Representative|

* 1962
* 1964
* 1966
* 1968

|

Writings|

* Known and Unknown: A Memoir
* Rumsfeld's Rules
* When the Center Held: Gerald Ford and the Rescue of the American Presidency

Legacy|

* The Unknown Known (documentary)
* Vice (2018 film)
* Agathidium rumsfeldi

Related|

* Rumsfeld Doctrine
* Halloween Massacre
* Enhanced interrogation

* v
* t
* e

Iraq War (2003–2011)

Beginning of the Iraqi conflict

Prelude

| Background|

| Pre-1990|

* 17 July Revolution
* Iranian Revolution
* 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge
* Iran–Iraq War
* British / U.S. support for Iraq
* Chemical attacks against Iran
* Anfal campaign
* Iran–Contra affair

|

1990–2003|

* Gulf War
* Invasion of Kuwait
* Nayirah testimony
* Sanctions against Iraq
* No-fly zones
* 1991 uprisings
* UNSCOM
* Arms-to-Iraq affair
* Oil-for-Food Programme
* Investigations
* September 11 attacks
* Aftermath
* War on terror
* 2001 anthrax attacks
* U.S. War in Afghanistan
* Invasion

Rationale|

* WMD claims
* Yellowcake uranium
* Aluminum tubes
* Biological weapons
* Chemical weapons
* "Curveball"
* Mobile weapon labs
* Saddam–al-Qaeda conspiracy theory
* Anthrax claims
* Prague
* Ricin claims
* Oil as a possible rationale

Issues|

* American imperialism
* Bush Doctrine
* Wolfowitz Doctrine
* Colin Powell's UN presentation
* Disarmament crisis
* UNMOVIC
* Failed peace initiatives
* Iraq resolution / UK parliament's support for invasion
* Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
* Legality
* Legitimacy of the invasion
* Media coverage
* Military analyst program
* Rapid response operation
* Saddam's alleged shredder
* Preemptive war
* Saddam Hussein and human rights

Dossiers
and memos|

* Habbush letter
* Downing Street memo
* September Dossier
* Vilnius letter
* Letter of the eight
* Bush–Blair 2003 memo
* February Dossier
* Bush–Aznar memo

Overview

| Key events|

* Invasion (2003)
* Occupation (2003–2011)
* Insurgency
* 2003–06 period
* Anbar campaign
* Fallujah
* Capture of Saddam Hussein
* Interrogation
* Trial
* Execution / Reactions
* 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing
* Civil war (2006–08)
* 2007 U.S. troop surge
* timeline
* U.S. withdrawal
* Status of forces agreement

|

Invasion
(2003)|

* Timeline
* Preparations for invasion
* Multi-National Force
* Battle of Nasiriyah
* Fall of Baghdad
* Battle of Debecka Pass
* Firdos Square statue
* Mission Accomplished speech
* US public opinion

Occupation
(2003–2011)|

* Occupation of Ramadi
* De-Ba'athification
* 100 Orders
* CPA Order 2
* CPA Order 17
* U.S. military bases
* Blackwater
* Reconstruction
* Development Fund
* Economic reform
* UNAMI
* Al Qa'qaa high explosives
* U.S. kill or capture strategy

| Replacement
governments|

* Coalition Provisional Authority
* Iraqi Governing Council
* Interim Government
* 2005 parliamentary elections
* Transitional Government
* Constitution
* Ratification

|

Participants

| Countries|

* Australia
* Ba'athist Iraq
* Denmark
* El Salvador
* Georgia
* Iran
* Italy
* Japan
* Poland
* South Korea
* Thailand
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* United States

|

Insurgent
groups|

| Sunni
groups|

* Islamic Army in Iraq
* 1920 Revolution Brigades
* Jaish al-Rashideen
* Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance
* Hamas of Iraq
* Jeish Muhammad
* Mujahideen Shura Council
* Islamic State of Iraq
* Al-Qaeda in Iraq
* Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah
* Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
* Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna
* Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan
* Black Banner Organization
* Wakefulness and Holy War
* Abu Theeb's group
* Abu Bakr Al-Salafi Army
* Mujahideen Army

|

Shia
groups|

* Mahdi Army
* Abu Deraa's militia
* Badr Organization
* Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
* Sheibani Network
* Soldiers of Heaven
* Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
* Promised Day Brigade
* Kata'ib Hezbollah

Ba'ath
loyalists|

* Fedayeen Saddam
* Al-Awda
* Popular Army
* Al-Abud Network
* Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order
* Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation

Battles and operations

| Operations|

| 2003|

* Ancient Babylon
* Catalyst
* Desert Scorpion
* Desert Thrust
* Falconer
* Iron Hammer
* Iron Justice
* Ivy Blizzard
* Northern Delay
* Airborne Dragon
* Panther Squeeze
* Peninsula Strike
* Planet X
* Capture of Saddam Hussein (Red Dawn)
* Telic

|

2004|

* Baton Rouge
* Bulldog Mammoth
* Iron Saber
* New Dawn (Al Fajr)
* Phantom Fury
* Phantom Linebacker
* Plymouth Rock
* Vigilant Resolve
* Warrior's Rage

2005|

* Cyclone
* Iron Hammer
* Matador
* New Market
* Spear (Romhe)
* Squeeze Play
* Steel Curtain

2006|

* Al Majid
* Gaugamela
* Iron Triangle
* Sinbad
* Swarmer
* Together Forward

2007|

* Alljah
* Arbead II
* Ardennes
* Black Eagle
* Commando Eagle
* Forsythe Park
* Imposing Law
* Leyte Gulf
* Marne Avalanche
* Marne Torch
* Mawtini
* Phantom Strike
* Phantom Thunder
* Saber Guardian
* Sledgehammer
* Stampede 3
* Tiger Hammer
* Valiant Guardian (Harris Ba'sil)

2008|

* Defeat Al Qaeda in the North
* Augurs of Prosperity
* Phantom Phoenix

2009–2011|

* New Dawn

Battles|

| 2003|

| Invasion|

* Umm Qasr
* Al Faw
* Basra I
* Nasiriyah
* Karbala I
* Haditha Dam
* Najaf I
* Samawah I
* Karbala II
* Al Kut
* Hillah
* Karbala Gap
* Debecka Pass
* Baghdad I

|

* Majar al-Kabir
* Ramadan Offensive

2004|

* Spring fighting
* Karbala City Hall
* Fallujah I
* Siege of Sadr City
* Ramadi I
* Good Friday ambush
* Baghdad International Airport
* Husaybah
* Danny Boy
* Najaf II
* CIMIC House
* Samarra
* Fallujah II
* Mosul

2005|

* Lake Tharthar
* Abu Ghraib
* Al-Qa'im
* Hit convoy
* Haditha
* Tal Afar

2006|

* Baghdad II
* Ramadi II
* Diwaniya
* Al Rumaythah
* Amarah
* Turki

2007|

* Haifa Street
* Karbala provincial HQ
* Najaf III
* Shurta Nasir
* Basra II
* Baqubah
* Route Bismarck
* Donkey Island
* Karbala III

2008|

* Spring fighting
* Iraqi Day of Ashura
* Nineveh
* Basra III
* Al-Qaeda offensive

2009–2011|

* Palm Grove (2010)

Related events|

* Turkish incursions into northern Iraq
* 2007
* 2008
* Abu Kamal raid

War crimes

| Occupation forces|

| Killings and
massacres|

* During the 2003 invasion
* U.S. killings of journalists
* Fallujah killings
* Killing of Nadhem Abdullah (2003)
* Murder of Muhamad Husain Kadir
* Mukaradeeb wedding party massacre (2004)
* Haifa Street helicopter incident (2005)
* Tal Afar shootings (2005)
* Basra prison incident (2005)
* Haditha massacre (2005)
* Mahmudiyah rape and killings (2006)
* Ishaqi massacre (2006)
* Baghdad detainee killings (2006)
* Hamdania incident (2006)
* Iraqi bodyguard killing (2006)
* Iron Triangle Murders (2006)
* Baghdad airstrike (2007)
* Nisour Square massacre (2007)
* Iraq War Logs (2010)

|

Chemical
weapons|

* Use of white phosphorus by the United States (2004–05)

Torture
and abuse|

* Abu Ghraib prison (2003–06)
* Camp Bucca (2003–09)
* Camp Nama (2003–04)
* Balad Air Base (2003–2011)
* Death of Nagem Hatab (2003)
* Killing of Baha Mousa (2003)
* Death of Abed Hamed Mowhoush (2003)
* Killing of Manadel al-Jamadi (2003)
* Death of Fashad Mohamed (2004)

§ Other killings
and bombings|

| 2003|

* Jordanian embassy
* Canal Hotel
* Imam Ali mosque bombing
* Baghdad October 2003

|

2004|

* Erbil 2004
* Ashura massacre
* Basra 2004
* Mosul 2004
* 2004 church bombings
* Baghdad bombings
* 14 September
* 30 September
* Karbala and Najaf bombings
* Baqubah 2004
* Kufa mosque bombing

2005|

* Al Hillah 2005
* Erbil 2005
* Musayyib bombing
* Baghdad bombings
* August
* September
* Balad 2005
* Khanaqin bombings

2006|

* Karbala and Ramadi
* Al-Askari mosque 2006
* Buratha mosque bombing
* Sadr City bombings
* July
* November
* Hayy Al-Jihad massacre

2007|

* Mustansiriya University
* Baghdad bombings
* 22 January
* 3 February
* 12 February
* 18 February
* 29 March
* 18 April
* 26 July
* 1 August
* Al Hillah 2007
* Tal Afar 2007
* Iraqi Parliament
* 2007 Karbala mosque bombings
* Massacres of Yazidis
* April massacre
* Qahtaniyah bombings
* Makhmour
* Abu Sayda
* Al-Askari mosque 2007
* Al-Khilani mosque bombing
* Amirli bombing
* Kirkuk 2007
* Al Amarah bombings

2008|

* Bagdad bombings
* February
* March
* June
* Balad 2008
* Karbala 2008
* Al-Karmah
* Dujail bombing
* Balad Ruz bombing
* Attacks on Christians in Mosul

2009|

* Bagdad bombings
* March
* 6 April
* June
* August
* October
* December
* Baghdad–Miqdadiyah
* Taza bombing
* Kirkuk 2009
* Tal Afar 2009

2010|

* Nationwide attacks
* 10 May
* 25 August
* Bagdad bombings
* January
* February
* April
* August
* September
* November
* Baqubah 2010
* Baghdad church massacre

2011|

* Nationwide attacks
* January
* August
* Bagdad bombings
* January
* August
* October
* Arba'een bombings
* Tikrit assault
* Al Hillah 2011
* Samarra bombing
* Al Diwaniyah bombing
* Taji bombings
* Karbala 2011
* Basra 2011

Other war crimes|

* Raid on Camp Ashraf (2011)
* Archaeological looting
* Chlorine bombings
* Torture by the Wolf Brigade (2004–2011)

Prosecution|

* United States and the International Criminal Court
* Hague Invasion Act
* Prosecution for the 2003 invasion
* Abtan v. Blackwater
* Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
* Saleh v. Bush
* Taguba Report

§ All attacks listed in this group were either committed by insurgents, or have unknown perpetrators

Impact

| General|

* Casualties
* Iraq Body Count
* Iraq Family Health Survey
* Lancet surveys
* ORB survey
* Damage to Baghdad
* Al-Aimmah Bridge disaster
* Human rights
* Humanitarian crisis
* 2007 cholera outbreak
* Financial cost
* Refugees
* Iraqi Christians
* Mandaeans
* Violence against Iraqi academics

|

Political
controversies|

* Post-invasion WMD conjecture
* Iraq scandal in Finland
* Dixie Chicks comments
* Plame affair
* Hood event
* Death of David Kelly
* Hutton Inquiry
* Kidnapping of Angelo dela Cruz
* 2004 document leak
* Al Jazeera bombing memo
* Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy
* MoveOn.org ad controversy
* Six Days in Fallujah
* Role of Canada
* War resisters

| Investigations|

* Senate Report on WMD Intelligence
* Duelfer Report
* Chilcot Inquiry

|

Reactions|

| Pre-war|

* Pre-war international reactions
* Khuy Voyne!
* Saddam Hussein interview

|

* Views on the invasion
* U.S. public opinion
* Opposition
* Criticism
* United Nations
* Oprah's Anti-war series
* Iraqi map pendant
* Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
* Photo Op
* A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq
* Bush shoe-throwing incident

Protests|

* Halloween 2002
* February 15, 2003
* March 20, 2003
* Bring Them Home Now Tour
* January 20, 2005
* September 24, 2005
* January 27, 2007
* March 17, 2007
* 2007 Port of Tacoma
* September 15, 2007
* March 19, 2008

Aftermath in Iraq|

* The rise of ISIL
* Insurgency (2011–13)
* War in Iraq (2013–17)
* War against ISIL (2014–present)
* U.S.-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)
* Insurgency (2017–present)

Miscellaneous

| Terminology|

* Axis of evil
* Outposts of tyranny
* "Baghdad Bob"
* "Chemical Ali"
* Coalition of the willing
* Dead checking
* Embedded journalism
* Freedom fries
* Friedman Unit
* "Mother of All Bombs"
* "Mrs. Anthrax"
* Old Europe and New Europe
* Regime change
* Shock and awe
* "Sixteen Words"
* "Smoking gun / mushroom cloud"
* Star Spangled Ice Cream
* Strategic reset
* "There are unknown unknowns"
* Triangle of Death
* "Yo, Blair"

| Critical|

* Global arrogance
* Inverted totalitarianism
* "The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time"

|

Memorials|

* Afghan–Iraqi Freedom Memorial (Salem, Oregon)
* Al-Shaheed Monument
* Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial (London)
* Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial
* Old North Memorial Garden
* Saving Iraqi Culture

Lists|

* Assassinations
* Aviation shootdowns and accidents
* Bombings
* Coalition military operations
* Documentaries
* Iraqi security forces fatality reports
* Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
* Private contractor deaths

Timeline|

* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011

Related

* Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
* Chelsea Manning
* CIA black sites
* Efforts to impeach George W. Bush
* "Enhanced interrogation techniques"
* Torture in the United States
* Extraordinary rendition
* Green Zone
* Guantanamo Bay detention camp
* Gulf of Tonkin incident
* Resolution
* Military–industrial complex
* Neoconservatism
* Patriot Act
* Petrodollar warfare theory
* Post-9/11
* Special Relationship
* The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs
* Unilateralism
* Unitary executive theory
* U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East
* WikiLeaks
* Ba'ath Party archives

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