What's up with Western Iraq?

Factual Questions
1

What’s up with western iraq? All the war maps I’ve seen (see below) seem to have lots of detail in the east, nothing in the west (west of the Euphrates). Is the land impassable there? Uninhabited? Just uninteresting (b/c it’s not between Kuwait and Baghdad)?

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2003/03/21/international/20030321_iraq_TARGETS_GRAPHIC.html

2

From what I know, most of Western Iraq is desert and is largely uninhabited.

3

Similar to the “Empty Quarter” in southern Saudi Arabia, ain’t nuthin there to speak of.