2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq

2003 U.S. Invasion Of Iraq

Iraq War

Timelines

  • 2003
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2010
  • 2011

Phases

  • Invasion
  • Post-invasion insurgency
  • Civil war
  • Insurgency 2008-2011
    • US withdrawal violence
Battles and operations
of the Iraq War

Invasion (2003)

  • Umm Qasr
  • Al Faw
  • 1st Basra
  • Nasiriyah
  • Raid on Karbala
  • 1st Najaf
  • Northern Delay
  • Viking Hammer
  • Samawah
  • 1st Karbala
  • Al Kut
  • Hillah
  • Green Line
  • Karbala Gap
  • Baghdad
  • Debecka Pass
  • Kani Domlan Ridge

Post-invasion insurgency

  • Al Anbar
  • 1st Ramadan
  • Red Dawn
  • Spring 2004
  • 1st Fallujah
  • Sadr City
  • 1st Ramadi
  • Husaybah
  • 2nd Najaf
  • CIMIC-House
  • Samarra
  • 2nd Fallujah
  • Mosul
  • Lake Tharthar
  • Al Qaim
  • Hit
  • Haditha
  • Steel Curtain
  • Tal Afar
  • 2nd Ramadi
  • Together Forward
  • Diwaniya

Civil War

  • 2nd Ramadan
  • Sinbad
  • Amarah
  • Turki
  • Diyala
  • Haifa Street
  • Karbala Raid
  • 3rd Najaf
  • Imposing Law
  • U.K. bases
  • Black Eagle

Surge (2007)

  • Baghdad belts
  • Baqubah
  • Donkey Island
  • Shurta Nasir
  • Phantom Strike
  • 2nd Karbala
  • Phantom Phoenix

Insurgency (2008-2011)

  • 2008 Day of Ashura
  • Ninawa
  • Spring 2008
  • 2nd Basra
  • 2008 Al-Qaeda Offensive
  • Augurs of Prosperity
  • Abu Kamal

Drawdown

  • Palm Grove
Insurgent attacks of the
Iraq War

indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths
§ indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War
This list only includes major attacks.

2003
1st Baghdad
2nd Baghdad
Najaf
3rd Baghdad
1st Nasiriyah
1st Karbala
2004
Irbil
Ashoura
1st Basra
Mosul
4th Baghdad
5th Baghdad
Karbala-Najaf
1st Baqubah
Kufa
FOB Marez
2005
‡ 1st Al Hillah
‡ Musayyib
6th Baghdad
7th Baghdad
1st Balad
Khanaqin
2006
‡ Karbala-Ramadi
1st Samarra
8th Baghdad
9th Baghdad
‡ 10th Baghdad
2007
11th Baghdad
12th Baghdad
13th Baghdad
14th Baghdad
15th Baghdad
2nd Al Hillah
1st Tal Afar
16th Baghdad
17th Baghdad
2nd & 3rd Karbala
18th Baghdad
Makhmour
Abu Sayda
2nd Samarra
19th Baghdad
Amirli
1st Kirkuk
20th Baghdad
21st Baghdad
§ Qahtaniya
Amarah
2008
22nd Baghdad
2nd Balad
23rd Baghdad
4th Karbala
24th Baghdad
Karmah
2nd Baqubah
Dujail
Balad Ruz
2009
25th Baghdad
26th Baghdad
Baghdad-Muqdadiyah
Taza
27th Baghdad
2nd Kirkuk
2nd Tal Afar
28th Baghdad
29th Baghdad
30th Baghdad
2010
31st Baghdad
32nd Baghdad
3rd Baqubah
33rd Baghdad
34th Baghdad
35th Baghdad
1st Pan-Iraq
36th Baghdad
37th Baghdad
2nd Pan-Iraq
38th Baghdad
39th Baghdad
40th Baghdad
2011
41st Baghdad
3rd Pan-Iraq
Karbala-Baghdad
42nd Baghdad
Tikrit
3rd Al Hillah
3rd Samarra
Al Diwaniyah
Taji
4th Pan-Iraq
43rd Baghdad
4th Karbala
44th Baghdad
2nd Basra
Persian Gulf Wars
  • Iran-Iraq War (Tanker War)
  • Gulf War
  • 1991 uprisings
  • Iraqi no-fly zones conflict
  • Iraq War

The 2003 Invasion of Iraq (19 March – 1 May 2003), was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations. The invasion phase consisted of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraq capital Baghdad by United States forces.

Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The United States supplied the majority of the invading forces, but also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." Former chief counter-terrorism adviser on the National Security Council Richard A. Clarke believes Bush took office with a predetermined plan to invade Iraq. Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.

In a January 2003 CBS poll 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq, however 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada. Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's 12 February 2003 report. On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war.

The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 19 March 2003. The following day coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country.

The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

As of December 2011, the 2003 invasion of Iraq was the most recent armed conflict between standing national armies causing at least 1,000 battle deaths.

Read more about 2003 U.S. Invasion Of Iraq:  Prelude To The Invasion, Attempts To Avoid War, Casus Belli and Rationale, Legality of Invasion, Military Aspects, Invasion, Coalition and Allied Contingent Involvement, Summary of The Invasion, Security, Looting and War Damage, Criticism, Related Phrases

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