Iraq War Begins
US-led coalition invaded Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom
March 20, 2003
The Invasion That Divided the World
On March 20, 2003, a U.S.-led coalition launched an invasion of Iraq, beginning what became known as the Iraq War. The invasion began with an air campaign followed immediately by a ground assault from Kuwait across the southern border of Iraq. President George W. Bush argued that Iraq under Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, posed a threat to international security, and had potential ties to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda. The United Kingdom, under Prime Minister Tony Blair, was the most significant partner in the coalition. Other major powers, including France, Germany, and Russia, opposed the invasion and blocked UN Security Council authorization. The war was deeply controversial from its earliest days.
The Fall of Baghdad
The conventional military campaign was rapid. Baghdad fell to coalition forces on April 9, 2003, a moment symbolized worldwide by the toppling of a large statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square. Saddam Hussein himself fled into hiding and was captured in December 2003 near his hometown of Tikrit. He was tried by an Iraqi court and executed in December 2006. The formal declaration of major combat operations being over came when Bush appeared on an aircraft carrier on May 1, 2003, in front of a banner reading "Mission Accomplished." But that declaration proved premature. The fall of the Baathist government was followed by a prolonged and violent insurgency.
The Long Aftermath
No weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, undermining the primary justification for the war. A post-war investigation found that intelligence assessments had been flawed. The insurgency that followed the invasion drew in foreign fighters and eventually gave rise to al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later evolved into ISIS. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia communities caused enormous civilian suffering. U.S. forces largely withdrew by December 2011 under an agreement negotiated with the Iraqi government. Over 4,400 U.S. military personnel died in the conflict, along with hundreds of coalition troops and an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Iraqi civilians. The Iraq War's legacy continues to shape Middle East policy and debates about military intervention.