Iraq invaded in spring 2001.

Invaded by the US, of course. :)

On January 1st 2001, Iraq is in a state of unstability, the United States governement is able to intervenes in order to "prevent a civil war". The invasion begin in early March.




How would such senario be feasible?

What would the effects of such an earlier invasion of Iraq? Supposing 9/11 still happen, then what?
 
The USA invaded Iraq with a at least slightly possible casus belli - fighting terror, and all countries that supported it. And yet there was huge opposition. In early 2001, nobody even cares about Iraq, let alone wants to invade it.
 
an invasion pre 9/11 is just about possible, but it would need a fair amount of stuff to happen (maybe Hussein is assassinated or something like that, leading to chaos and some form of crackdown by his sons).
 
Any U.S. invasion of Iraq pre-late 2002 would have had less trouble at least early on. In late 2002/early 2003 Saddam had developed plans for the post war insurgency as had Zarqawi.

"We told him that we had lost 40,000 tonnes," Ali recalls. "The gunpowder, anything that burned energetically, could be used as an explosive, so you could consider that part of the missing explosives." If the general was concerned, he concealed it well, especially when Ali informed him that among the looted munitions were 1,000 suicide-bomb belts manufactured at Saddam's orders in February 2003. "There was no reaction. He took the records and didn't say anything."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/07/iraq-weapons-factory-al-qaida-us-failure

1000 suicide bomb vests weren't produced by Saddam for a conventional fight against U.S. forces.

There would be real trouble maintaining support for the war until 911 happened. That said alot of Americans would have come to blame Bush for angering the muslim world and causing 911 if he attacked Iraq before 911... not that alot of Americans didn't come to believe that anyway.
 
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