Just 2½ years after U.S. troops came home and billions of U.S. dollars spent, Iraq is in chaos. There were plenty of warnings. A look at how we got here:
When did the trouble start?
How far back do you want to go?
A.D. 632: The centuries-old split between the Shia and Sunni denominations dates to the death of the prophet Mohammed and a dispute over who should succeed him. Sunnis are the largest branch of Islam. But Shiites outnumber them in Iraq and make up the overwhelming majority of neighboring Iran.
1916: The uneasy borders dividing the Middle East were set during World War I, when the French and English divvied up the lands of the defeated Ottoman Empire with little regard for religious or ethnic differences.
2003: A U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein. Mayhem broke out. Saddam had ruthlessly held the nation together, favoring his fellow Sunnis while wiping out multitudes of Shiites and Kurds.
2011: A return to factional warfare has been feared ever since U.S. troops pulled out after nearly nine years in Iraq. Americans urged Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to craft a government that would share power among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds and heal the national wounds. It didn't work. Sunnis complain they are excluded, imprisoned and abused by Al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government. Kurds have focused on building up their oil-rich autonomous enclave in the north.
2013: The situation in Iraq began deteriorating rapidly. Sunni protesters took to the streets, al-Qaida-inspired militants stepped up their attacks, and fighting from Syria's civil war spilled over the border into Iraq.