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Iraq-Kuwait War
The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf War. -
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United States Invasions of Iraq
This timeline reflects the start of Operation Desert Shield/Storm through President Obama's official declaration that the war with Iraq was over. -
Reasons for Iraq invasion of Kuwait
In 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling, although Iraqi sources indicated Saddam Hussein’s decision to attack Kuwait was made only a few months before the actual invasion. There were several reasons for the Iraqi move, including Iraq's inability to pay more than $80 billion that had been borrowed to finance the Iran-Iraq war and Kuwaiti overproduction of petroleum which kept profits down for Iraq. -
Operation Desert Shield
In the last months of 1990, the United States participated in the defense of Saudi Arabia in a deployment known as Operation Desert Shield. Over 500,000 American troops were placed in Saudi Arabia in case of an Iraqi attack on the Saudis. The U.S. further sought multilateral support in the United Nations Security Council. The UN condemned Iraq and helped form a coalition to fight Saddam militarily. -
Operation Desert Storm
U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 stipulated that if Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 a U.S.-led coalition was authorized to drive them out. Early in the morning of January 17, Baghdad time, the U.S.-led coalition launched air attacks against Iraqi targets. On February 24, coalition ground forces begin their attack. On February 27, Kuwait City was declared liberated. US ground forces were well inside Iraq when a halt in the war occurred -
Creation of No Fly Zones over Iraq
The Iraqi no-fly zones were a set of two separate no-fly zones (NFZs), and were established and patrolled by the United States, United Kingdom, and France after the Gulf War of 1991 to protect the Kurds in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south. Iraqi aircraft were forbidden from flying inside the zones. -
Iraq Food for Oil Program
The Oil-for-Food Program, established by the United Nations in 1995 was established with the stated intent to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military capabilities. The program was terminated in 2003 after widespread claims of corruption. -
Operation Desert Fox
The December 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets by the United States and United Kingdom. The justification for the strikes was Iraq's failure to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions as well as their interference with U.N. inspectors. The main targets of the bombing included weapons research and development installations, air defense systems, supply depots, and the command headquarters of the Republican Guard. -
United Nations Mandated Weapons Inspections
The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission was created through the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1284 of 17 December 1999. It was a final response to Iraqi noncompliance. Since the end of the Gulf War Iraq had been required to allow random inspections focused on the identification and destruction of weapons of mass destruction but had routinely blocked or non-complied with the U.N. inspections. -
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom was an armed conflict in Iraq that consisted of two phases. The first was an invasion of Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom, and assisted by smaller forces from several other countries, starting on 20 March 2003. The second phase was the establishment of an independent, democratic Iraq and to put down an insurgency whose goal was to prevent the creation of an independent government. The invasion was sparked by the belief that Iraq had WMD. -
Operation Red Dawn - The Capture of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
Operation Red Dawn was an American military operation conducted in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that led to the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. President Saddam Hussein was discovered hiding in a “spider hole” dug 8 ft. under the ground by US Special Forces. He put up no resistance. -
Saddam Hussein discovered in a "spider hole."
Here is an image of the structure Saddam Hussein was hiding in when he was captured by US Special Forces. -
Abu Graib Prisoner Abuse Scandal
Abu Ghraib, a sprawling penal compound west of Baghdad, was notorious within Iraq as a place where torture and executions were commonplace. It became notorious throughout the world in 2004 after photographs were made public of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners there. The images of Iraqi detainees being beaten and sexually humiliated at the prison became a touchstone for Arab and Muslim rage against the USA in the spring of 2004, and a potent recruiting tool for insurgents -
New Iraqi Government is Formed
The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. It was recognized by the U.S., the United Nations, the Arab League and several other countries as being the sovereign government of Iraq. The U.S. retained significant de facto power in the country coinciding with the US military presence. -
Saddam Hussein's Trial and Execution
The execution of Saddam Hussein took place on Saturday 30 December 2006. Saddam was sentenced to death by hanging, after being found guilty and convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the murder of 148 Iraqi Shi'ite in the town of Dujail in 1982, in retaliation for an assassination attempt against him. The Iraqi government released an official videotape of his execution, showing him being led to the gallows, and ending after his head was in the hangman's noose. -
President Obama Announces a Formal Eend to Operation Iraqi Freedom
President Barack Obama announced that virtually all U.S. troops will come home from Iraq by the end of the year at which point he can declare an end to America's long and costly war in that Middle Eastern nation. "After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," Obama said. Of the 39,000 troops in Iraq, about 150, a negligible force, will remain to assist in arms sales. The rest will be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011.
