British Defense Policy and the War in Iraq 2003-2009

The article examines the salient aspects of the Labor Government's defense policy and the war in Iraq 2003-2009. Defense policy is the process that leads to the creation of those military capabilities deemed vital to protect the population and interests of the nation state. Discrete military operations in Iraq in 1998, Kosovo in 1999, and Sierra Leone and Macedonia in 2000, seemed to support the main tenets of the SDR. The first real challenge was posed, however, by al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The war in Iraq in 2003 provided a major test for the capabilities produced by the SDR and, to a lesser extent, the SDR-NC. On paper, at least, if not in reality, the crisis that emerged in 2002 provided proof that the nature of the threat articulated in the New Chapter existed.