-
Invasion of Iraq
The United States and Britain, with a little help from Australia and Poland, invaded Iraq "To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people," starting the Iraq War. -
Period: to
Iraq War
-
Violence erupts again
President Bush declares victory, but violence erupts against American soldiers and Iraqis who support them. Due to lax security, looters manage to steal priceless archaeological relics from the National Museum in Baghdad, and tons of explosives are stolen from an Iraqi weapons facility.The Iraqi Army is disbanded, and members of Saddam’s ruling Baath party are prohibited from participating in the government. -
Hussein Captured
U.S. soldiers found Saddam Hussein hiding in a hole near Tikrit. He went down without a fight. -
No Weapons in Iraq
David A. Kay, who led the search for weapons of mass destruction, said that American agencies failed to find evidence of Iraq posessing illegal weapons. -
Elections
In the first elections in 50 years, Iraqis elect a National Assembly. Most Sunnis refuse to vote, and Shiites win a majority. The “Downing Street Memo” surfaces: reporting on a 2002 meeting, the head of British Intelligence states that President Bush wanted to remove Saddam, and that the Bush administration manipulated the evidence to justify an invasion. Saddam Hussein goes on trial for crimes against humanity. -
President Bush Calls for More Troops
President Bush sends 30,000 additional troops to Iraq. “The surge” aims to suppress the violence and enable rival groups to reach a political reconciliation. Ongoing violence by a group calling itself “al-Qaeda in Iraq” triggers a backlash, known as the Sunni Awakening. Nearly 80,000 former Sunni insurgents turn against Al-Qaeda and support the new government. -
Relationship developing between the two countries.
The Iraqi Parliament and United States agree on a statement that says the U.S. military will have all of their troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. They also agreed on the troops being out of most Iraq cities by the summer of 2009. There is a new relationship developing between the two countries. -
The End
President Obama announces in August that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.
