The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq two decades ago brought destruction not only to Iraq, but the Middle East as a whole, said former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. 

In March 2003, the U.S. and its allies launched a war on Iraq without the authorization of the United Nations on the pretext that the Iraqis possessed weapons of mass destruction. The invasion killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions. According to Allawi, the U.S. military has committed a raft of crimes in Iraq and fueled tensions in the region.