Saddam Hussein. The revolt was violently subdued by the Iraqi military with heavy loss of life and much physical damage.
Until the 2003 war, Nasiriyah was home to one of the biggest communities of Mandeans in Iraq.
Iraq War (2003-2010)
In March 2003, Nasiriyah was one of the first major battles of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Phillip Mitchell of the International Institute for Strategic Studies described Nasiriyah's strategic importance to The Guardian: "Nasiriyah is a major administrative headquarters and is also [Iraqi General] Majid's military district headquarters. It is a major strategic crossing point of the Euphrates. For all those reasons Nasiriyah will be well defended, which will slow the Mech down for a while."
On March 23, The U.S. invasion force was ambushed near the city, killing 11 Marines and resulting in Army Private Jessica Lynch and Specialist Shoshana Johnson, becoming prisoners of war during the conflict. Heavy fighting took place between Iraqi forces and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit under the call sign "Task Force Tarawa" of the U.S. Marine Corps between about March 23 and March 29, in which 18 Marines were killed and over 150 were wounded, including a number hit by friendly fire from Air Force A 10 aircraft, but the Iraqi resistance was crushed fairly rapidly thereafter. The town has been relatively calm since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A truck bomb killed 19 Italian soldiers and 11 civilians in November 2003 (see 2003 Nasiriyah bombing), and clashes erupted here in April 2004 during the Mahdi uprising
