A report on 2003 invasion of Iraq

Gen. Anthony C. Zinni briefs reporters at The Pentagon following Operation Desert Fox, 21 December 1998
A UN weapons inspector in Iraq, 2002.
Two US F-16 Fighting Falcons prepare to depart Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia for a patrol as part of Operation Southern Watch, 2000.
memo
George W. Bush addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on 12 September 2002 to outline the complaints of the United States government against the Iraqi government.
From left: French President Jacques Chirac, US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi at the G8 Summit at Evian, France. Chirac opposed the invasion; the other three leaders supported it.
Anti war protest in London, 2002
60,000–200,000 protesters of various ages demonstrated in San Francisco, 15 February 2003
José Manuel Durão Barroso, Tony Blair, George W. Bush and José María Aznar on 16 March 2003
U.S. President George W. Bush meets with his top advisors on 19 March 2003 just before the invasion
Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving presentation to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003 (still photograph captured from video clip, The White House/CNN)
President George Bush, surrounded by leaders of the House and Senate, announces the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, 2 October 2002.
President George W. Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office, 19 March 2003, to announce the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Tony Blair (left) and George W. Bush at Camp David in March 2003, during the build-up to the invasion of Iraq
Kurdish areas in Northern Iraq
US Marine M1A1 tank is off-loaded from a US Navy LCAC in Kuwait in February 2003
T-72 Lion of Babylon (Asad Babil)
US invasion: 20–28 March 2003
US invasion: 29 March – 7 April 2003
Routes and major battles fought by invasion force and afterwards
Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) mission briefing aboard USS Constellation (CV-64), 21 March 2003.
Wingtip vortices are visible trailing from an F-15E as it disengages from midair refueling with a KC-10 during Operation Iraqi Freedom
NASA Landsat 7 image of Baghdad, 2 April 2003. The dark streaks are smoke from oil well fires set in an attempt to hinder attacking air forces
A U.S. amphibious fighting vehicle destroyed near Nasiriyah
A U.S. soldier stands guard duty near a burning oil well in the Rumaila oil field, 2 April 2003
Destroyed Iraqi T-72 tank on Highway 9 outside Najaf
British soldiers engage Iraqi Army positions with their 81mm Mortars south of Basra, 26 March 2003.
A T72 Asad Babil abandoned after facing the final U.S. thrust into Baghdad
The northern front during March and April 2003
Aftermath of Battle
Peshmerga, U.S. Special Operations
A squad leader with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC))
The destroyed remains of Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles litter an Iraqi military complex west of Diwaniyah
A combat camera video shows the 1 April 2003 footage of PFC Jessica Lynch on a stretcher during her rescue from Iraq.
U.S. Army M1A1 Abrams tanks and their crews pose for a photo in front of the "Victory Arch" monument at Baghdad's Ceremony Square in November 2003.
An American M1 Abrams tank destroyed in Baghdad
Marines from 1st Battalion 7th Marines enter a palace during the Battle of Baghdad
The April 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square in Baghdad shortly after the capture of the city
USS Abraham Lincoln returning to port carrying its Mission Accomplished banner
The "Coalition of the willing" named by the US State Department in 2003.
Polish GROM troops pose immediately after the port's capture during the Battle of Umm Qasr.
Aircraft of the USAF 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and UK and Australian counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert on 14 April 2003. Aircraft include KC-135 Stratotanker, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-117 Nighthawk, F-16CJ Falcon, British GR-4 Tornado, and Australian F/A-18 Hornet
A study found that in the lead up to the Iraq War, most U.S. sources were overwhelmingly in favor of the invasion.
Poland was part of the "coalition of the willing"
Members of the RAN Clearance Diving Team Three and an Australian Army LCM-8 inspecting camouflaged mines, 21 March 2003.

The first stage of the Iraq War.

- 2003 invasion of Iraq
Gen. Anthony C. Zinni briefs reporters at The Pentagon following Operation Desert Fox, 21 December 1998

211 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Clockwise from top: US troops at Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square

Iraq War

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Clockwise from top: US troops at Uday and Qusay Hussein's hideout; insurgents in northern Iraq; the toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Firdos Square
A UN weapons inspector in Iraq, 2002
Excerpt from Donald Rumsfeld memo dated 27 November 2001
United States Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a model vial of anthrax while giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council
From the left: French President Jacques Chirac, US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Chirac was against the invasion, the other three leaders were in favor.
Anti-war protest in London, September 2002. Organised by the British Stop the War Coalition, up to 400,000 took part in the protest.
Destroyed remains of Iraqi tanks near Al Qadisiyah
US Marines escort captured enemy prisoners to a holding area in the desert of Iraq on 21 March 2003.
US soldiers at the Hands of Victory monument in Baghdad
Iraqi tank on Highway 27 destroyed in April 2003
Map of the invasion routes and major operations/battles of the Iraq War through 2007
US Marines from 1st Battalion 7th Marines enter a palace during the Fall of Baghdad.
A Marine Corps M1 Abrams tank patrols Baghdad after its fall in 2003.
Humvee struck by an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq on 29 September 2004. Staff Sgt. Michael F. Barrett, a military policeman in Marine Wing Support Squadron 373, was severely injured in the attack.
Polish GROM forces in sea operations during the Iraq War
Marines from D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion guard detainees prior to loading them into their vehicle.
Occupation zones in Iraq as of September 2003
Saddam Hussein being pulled from his hideaway in Operation Red Dawn, 13 December 2003
Coalition Provisional Authority director L. Paul Bremer signs over sovereignty to the appointed Iraqi Interim Government, 28 June 2004.
US troops fire mortars.
A USMC M198 artillery piece firing outside Fallujah in October 2004
Convention center for Council of Representatives of Iraq
US Marines from 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines clear a house in Al Anbar Governorate.
Nouri al-Maliki meets with George W. Bush, June 2006
President George W. Bush announces the new strategy on Iraq from the White House Library, 10 January 2007.
US soldiers take cover during a firefight with insurgents in the Al Doura section of Baghdad, 7 March 2007.
A graph of US troop fatalities in Iraq March 2003 – July 2010, the orange and blue months are the period of the troop surge and its aftermath.
Iraqi army battalion trains for urban operations
3D map of southern Turkey and northern Iraq
An Iraqi soldier and vehicles from the 42nd Brigade, 11th Iraqi Army Division during a firefight with armed militiamen in the Sadr City district of Baghdad 17 April 2008
General David Petraeus in testimony before Congress on 8 April 2008
An Iraqi Army unit prepares to board a Task Force Baghdad UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for a counterinsurgency mission in Baghdad in 2007.
Street fighting in Mosul in January 2008
Aerial view of the Green Zone, Baghdad International Airport, and the contiguous Victory Base Complex in Baghdad
Election map showing the largest list in every governorate
US Navy and Coast Guard personnel stand guard aboard the Al Basrah Oil Terminal in July 2009.
Iraqi commandos training under the supervision of soldiers from the US 82nd Airborne in December 2010
Alabama Army National Guard MP, MSG Schur, during a joint community policing patrol in Basra, 3 April 2010
M1 Abrams tanks in Iraqi service, January 2011
US Army soldier on the roof of an Iraqi police station in Haqlaniyah, July 2011
US and Kuwaiti troops closing the gate between Kuwait and Iraq on 18 December 2011
June 2015 military situation:
Wounded US personnel flown from Iraq to Ramstein, Germany, for medical treatment (February 2007)
Marines unload a wounded comrade from an Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for medical treatment at Al Qaim.
A city street in Ramadi heavily damaged by the fighting in 2006
A memorial in North Carolina in December 2007; US casualty count can be seen in the background.
Child killed by a car bomb in Kirkuk, July 2011
This photograph from Abu Ghraib released in 2006 shows a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners.
Car bombing was a frequently used tactic by insurgents in Iraq.
Protesters on 19 March 2005, in London, where over 150,000 marched
A woman pleads with an Iraqi army soldier from 2nd Company, 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division to let a suspected insurgent free during a raid near Tafaria, Iraq.
The U.S. army testing the harmful radiation fragments on the ground in Basra, Iraq.
The water pollution from chemcial spill

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 that began with the invasion of Iraq by the United States–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.

Clockwise from top: USAF F-15Es, F-16s, and an F-15C flying over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; British troops from the Staffordshire Regiment in Operation Granby; camera view from a Lockheed AC-130; the Highway of Death; M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle

Gulf War

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Armed campaign waged by a United States-led coalition of 35 countries against Iraq in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

Armed campaign waged by a United States-led coalition of 35 countries against Iraq in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.

Clockwise from top: USAF F-15Es, F-16s, and an F-15C flying over burning Kuwaiti oil wells; British troops from the Staffordshire Regiment in Operation Granby; camera view from a Lockheed AC-130; the Highway of Death; M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle
Donald Rumsfeld, US special envoy to the Middle East, meets Saddam Hussein on 19–20 December 1983.
Map of Kuwait
Kuwaiti Armed Forces Chieftain main battle tanks
Kuwait Air Force McDonnell Douglas A-4KU Skyhawk ground-attack aircraft
Lion of Babylon main battle tanks, common Iraqi battle tank used in the Gulf War by the Iraqi Army.
An Iraqi Air Force Bell 214ST transport helicopter, after being captured by a US Marine Corps unit at the start of the ground phase of Operation Desert Storm
Kuwaiti Armed Forces M-84 main battle tanks
President Bush visiting American troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day, 1990
American F-15Es parked in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield
US Army soldiers from the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade during the Gulf War
Countries that deployed coalition forces or provided support (On behalf of Afghanistan, 300 Mujaheddin joined the coalition on 11 February 1991. Niger contributed 480 troops to guard shrines in Mecca and Medina on 15 January 1991.)
General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and President George Bush visit US troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day, 1990.
Dick Cheney meets with Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence and Aviation in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to handle the invasion of Kuwait.
Gen. Colin Powell (left), Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., and Paul Wolfowitz (right) listen as Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney addresses reporters regarding the 1991 Gulf War.
The USAF F-117 Nighthawk, one of the key aircraft used in Operation Desert Storm
Aftermath of Amiriyah shelter bombing by U.S. Air Force, which killed at least 408 civilians in Baghdad
An Iraqi T-54A or Type 59 tank lies destroyed after a coalition bombing attack during Operation Desert Storm.
Scud Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) with missile in upright position
Aftermath of an Iraq Armed Forces strike on US barracks
Military operations during Khafji's liberation
Marine Artillery played a huge factor in disrupting Iraqi counterattacks during the 1st Gulf War, February 1991.
Iraqi tanks destroyed by Task Force 1-41 Infantry, February 1991
Soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment pose with a captured Iraqi tank, February 1991
An Iraqi Republican Guard T-55 tank destroyed by Task Force 1–41 Infantry, February 1991
American AH-64 Apache helicopters proved to be very effective weapons during the 1991 Gulf War.
4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Division (FWD) conducts artillery strikes on Iraqi positions during the 1st Gulf War. 4-3 FA was the primary fire support battalion for Task Force 1-41 during the 1st Gulf War, February 1991.
Battery C, 4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Division (FWD) moves into position to conduct fire missions during the Battle of Norfolk, February 1991.
U. S. M1A1 Abrams tanks move out on a mission during Desert Storm in 1991. A Bradley IFV and logistics convoy can be seen in the background.
A M109A2 howitzer belonging to Battery C, 4th Battalion of the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Division (FWD) during the Gulf War, February 1991.
A M60A1 tank with a Track Width Mine Plow, Desert Storm February 1991
British Challenger 1 tanks during the 1st Gulf War. The British Challenger tank was the most efficient tank of the Gulf war suffering no losses while destroying approximately 300 Iraqi tanks during combat operations.
A destroyed Iraqi Army T-55 tank lies among the wreckage of many other Iraqi vehicles, such as trucks, cars and buses, somewhere along the Highway of Death in April 1991.
US M1A1 Abrams tanks from the 3rd Armored Division along the Line of Departure
Two Iraqi T-55 tanks lie abandoned near Kuwait City on 26 February 1991.
The oil fires caused were a result of the scorched earth policy of Iraqi military forces retreating from Kuwait.
Ground troop movements 24–28 February 1991 during Operation Desert Storm
Iraqi T-62 knocked out by 3rd Armored Division fire
Destroyed LAV-25
Aerial view of destroyed Iraqi T-72 tank, BMP-1 and Type 63 armored personnel carriers and trucks on Highway 8 in March 1991
Iraqi 'Saddam' main battle tank destroyed during Operation Desert Storm
Remains of a downed F-16C
A Bradley IFV burns after being hit by Iraqi T-72 fire.
Civilians and coalition military forces wave Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian flags as they celebrate the retreat of Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France, and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm
HMAS Sydney in the Persian Gulf in 1991
Argentine Navy Alouette III helicopter on board, February 1991
Canadian CF-18 Hornets participated in combat during the Gulf War.
French and American soldiers inspecting an Iraqi Type 69 tank destroyed by the French Division Daguet during Operation Desert Storm
One of the Italian tornadoes used in the operation
British Army Challenger 1 main battle tank during Operation Desert Storm
Iraqi Kurds fleeing to Turkey shortly after the war
Sailors from a US Navy honor guard carry Navy pilot Scott Speicher's remains.
Approximate area and major clashes in which DU rounds were used
Destroyed Iraqi civilian and military vehicles on the Highway of Death
An armored bulldozer similar to the ones used in the attack
Oil well fires rage outside Kuwait City in 1991.
USS Missouri launching a Tomahawk missile. The Gulf War was the last conflict in which battleships were deployed in a combat role.
Military personnel examine the remains of a Scud.

Military buildup continued from there, eventually reaching 543,000 troops, twice the number used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Saddam in August 1998, preparing to deliver a speech for the 10th anniversary of the end of the Iran–Iraq War

Saddam Hussein

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Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.

Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.

Saddam in August 1998, preparing to deliver a speech for the 10th anniversary of the end of the Iran–Iraq War
Saddam in August 1998, preparing to deliver a speech for the 10th anniversary of the end of the Iran–Iraq War
Saddam in his youth as a shepherd in his village, near Tikrit
Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party student cell, Cairo, in the period 1959–1963
Promoting women's literacy and education in the 1970s
Saddam in 1974
Saddam talking to Michel Aflaq, the founder of Ba'athist thought, in 1988
Alexei Kosygin (left) and Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr signing the Iraqi–Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Co-Operation in 1972
Propaganda art to glorify Saddam after Iran–Iraq War, 1988.
Saddam Hussein and al-Bakr, de jure president of Iraq alongside Hafez al-Assad of Syria at an Arab Summit in Baghdad in November 1978
Saddam greeting Carlos Cardoen, a Chilean businessman who provided Iraq with weapons during the war in the 1980s
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie meets Saddam for an emergency meeting
Iraqi stamp about the Arab Cooperation Council (ACC), founded 1989 by Saleh of (North) Yemen, king Hussein of Jordan, Saddam Hussein and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt
Saddam in duty uniform
Saddam addresses state television, in January 2001
Saddam Hussein in 1996
Statue of Saddam being toppled in Firdos Square after the invasion
Saddam is discovered and interrogated by American soldiers, December 2003
Saddam Hussein shortly after capture
Hussein after being captured and shaven to confirm his identity
Saddam speaks in court
Saddam Hussein's family, mid-late 1980s
Saddam Hussein's sons Qusay and Uday were killed in a gun battle in Mosul on 22 July 2003.

In 2003, a coalition led by the United States (US) invaded Iraq to depose Saddam.

Official portrait, 2003

George W. Bush

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American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

Official portrait, 2003
George W. Bush with his parents, Barbara and George H. W. Bush, c. undefined 1947
Governor Bush (right) with father, former president George H. W. Bush, and wife, Laura, 1997
2000 electoral vote results
2004 electoral vote results
George W. Bush re-election campaign stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Deficit and debt increases from 2001 to 2009. Gross debt has increased over $500billion each year since the 2003 fiscal year.
President Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act into law, January 8, 2002
President Bush delivering a statement on energy, urging Congress to end offshore oil drill ban, June 18, 2008
President Bush discussing border security with Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff near El Paso, November 2005
President Bush with hurricane victims in Biloxi, September 2, 2005
President Bush announcing his nomination of Alberto Gonzales as the next U.S. Attorney General, November 10, 2004
Countries visited by President George W. Bush during his time in office
President Bush with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Shanghai, October 21, 2001. Russia had cooperated with the U.S. in the war on terror.
President Bush, beside firefighter Bob Beckwith, addressing rescue workers at the World Trade Center site
Countries with major military operations throughout the war on terror launched by Bush, including those launched after his presidency
President Bush and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan in Kabul, March 1, 2006
President Bush, with Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Ryan Philips, after landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln prior to his Mission Accomplished speech, May 1, 2003
Gallup/USA Today Bush public opinion polling from February 2001 to January 2009
Protest against the Iraq War in New London, Connecticut on May 23, 2007
Countries with a U.S. military presence in 2007
Charlie Strong (left), Texas Longhorns head football coach, George W. Bush and Reverend Jesse Jackson hold up a Texas Longhorns football jersey at the LBJ Presidential Library in 2014
Bush eulogizing his father at the National Cathedral, December 5, 2018
George W. Bush and Laura at the inauguration of Joe Biden
George W. Bush Presidential Center, on the campus of Southern Methodist University
Bush on January 20, 2001 in Washington D.C., the day of his first inauguration as President of the United States.
Former President George W. Bush and his wife being escorted to a waiting helicopter by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on January 20, 2009.

In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq which began the Iraq War, claiming that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Presidency of George W. Bush

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George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009.

George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009.

The 2000 electoral college vote
Outgoing President Bill Clinton and President-elect George W. Bush in the Oval Office on December 19, 2000
Bush appointed John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States
President George W. Bush signs the No Child Left Behind Act.
President George W. Bush discussing Social Security in 2005
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, President Bush and Louisiana Senator David Vitter meet September 2, 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
President George W. Bush outlining his comprehensive immigration reform proposal in a television address.
Vice President Dick Cheney
Cabinet meeting
President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, President Bush, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in June 2003.
President Bush speaks with Vice President Dick Cheney aboard Air Force One, September 11, 2001
Bush with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
Map of the Middle East, including Iraq.
President Bush announces the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, March 2003
President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shake hands in July 2006
President George W. Bush discussing the Israeli–Palestinian issue with various world leaders.
CAFTA-DR established a free trade are between the United States and several countries in Latin America
President Bush announcing his nomination of Alberto Gonzales as the next U.S. Attorney General, November 10, 2004
Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.
Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.
Graph of Bush's approval ratings in Gallup polls
Countries visited by President George W. Bush, 2001–2009: 1 visit 2 visits 3 visits 4 visits 5 visits 6 visits 7 or more visits United States
approve disapprove unsure Gallup/USA Today Bush public opinion polling from February 2001 to January 2009.

In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq, arguing that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Iraqi Ground Forces' insignia

Iraqi Ground Forces

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Ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Iraqi Ground Forces' insignia
Iraqi soldiers in Qaradagh Mountain, western Iran.
Iraqi made Al Kafil-1 Battle Tank
Mountain gun of the Iraqi Army column, 'Dicol', shelling Shirwan-A-Mazin from a hillside at Kani-Ling during the anti-Barzani operations, June 1932.
Three Iraqi Levies ground crews of the RAF, arrive at the docks at Liverpool, UK, 1946. Left to right: Sergeant Macko Shmos, Lance Corporal Adoniyo Odisho and Corporal Yoseph Odisho.
Iraqi army troops led by Taher Abdel Ghafour and with a Humber Armoured Car in the city of Jenin, 1948.
Arab offensive, 15 May – 10 June 1948.
A group of Iraqi soldiers, 1958.
Iraqi Army Panhard AML-60 armored car, 1970s. Iraq ordered about 250 of these vehicles between 1968 and 1976.
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront, 1986. Wafiq Al-Samarrai is center-left.
Iraqi Army EE-9 Cascavel armored car destroyed while buried in the sand north of Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.
Demolished Iraqi vehicles line the Highway of Death on 18 April 1991.
Abandoned Iraqi Army T-72 tanks, 2003.
Modified T-55 tank of the 5th Mechanized Division which saw action in the Battle of Khafji
Iraqi Asad Babil tanks and an M113 APC from the Iraqi Army 9th Mechanized Division pass through a highway checkpoint in Mushahada, Iraq.
Iraqi commandos training under the supervision of soldiers of the US 82nd Airborne.
Iraqi army battalion trains for urban operations
Iraqi special forces wearing masks and armed with M4A1 carbines, March 2020.
Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) training April 2011
An Iraqi Army T-72 tank performs a live-fire training exercise at the Besmaya Gunnery Range, in Besmaya, Baghdad, 28 October 2008.
The 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Division took delivery of 10 armored HMMWVs
A convoy of 1st Motor Transport Regiment, 1st Iraqi Army Division KrAZ-6322

Following the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces in 2003, the Iraqi Army was rebuilt along U.S. lines with enormous amounts of U.S. military assistance at every level.

Ba'athist Iraq

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Ba'athist Iraq, formally the Iraqi Republic until 6 January 1992 and the Republic of Iraq thereafter, covers the national history of Iraq between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

Ba'athist Iraq, formally the Iraqi Republic until 6 January 1992 and the Republic of Iraq thereafter, covers the national history of Iraq between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was de jure leader of Iraq from 1968 to 1979.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war.
Retreating Iraqi forces sabotaged Kuwaiti oil wells, causing massive fires across Kuwait's oil fields.
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (left), the Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Ba'ath, shaking hands with Michel Aflaq, principal founder of Ba'athist thought, in 1968.
Saddam Hussein (right) talking with founder of Ba'athism and Ba'ath Party leader Michel Aflaq in 1988.
Kurdish peshmerga (opposition forces) in northern Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War.
Saddam Hussein (left) talking with Michel Aflaq in 1979.
Alexei Kosygin (left) and Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr signing the Iraqi–Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation in 1972.
GNP per capita in Iraq from 1950 to 2008.
28 February 2003: Iraqi soldiers ride an MT-LB armored vehicle on an Iraqi highway, one month before the start of the Iraq War.
Saddam Hussein and female students. Ba'athism promoted greater participation of women in Iraqi society.
Flag (1963–1991)
Flag (1991–2004)
Coat of arms (1965–1991)
Coat of arms (1991–2004)

In 2003, United States-led coalition forces invaded Iraq, and the Ba'athist Iraqi regime was deposed less than a month later.

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Baghdad

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Capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo.

Capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo.

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An 1808 picture of Baghdad from the print collection in Travels in Asia and Africa, etc. (ed. J. P. Berjew, British Library)
An 1468 painting of Floods in Baghdad by Shirwan
The Round city of Baghdad between 767 and 912 AD
Baghdad Museum is a local history museum. It features 70 scenes from different periods using lifesize models presenting Baghdad life
Courtyard of Mustansiriya madrasa, established by Al-Mustansir in 1227
Khan Murjan, built in the 14th century as a caravanserai
Al Khulafa mosque retains an Abbasid-era minaret
Zumurrud Khatun Tomb in Baghdad (built in 1202 AD)
Conquest of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258 CE
Central Asian Turko-Mongol conqueror Timur sacked the city and spared almost no one
The Shabandar Café in Baghdad, 1923
Manadotory Iraq, 1921
Three Iraqi Levies, who volunteered in 1946 for service as ground crew with the Royal Air Force, look over the side of the ORBITA as it pulls into the docks at Liverpool. Left to right, they are: Sergeant Macko Shmos, Lance Corporal Adoniyo Odisho and Corporal Yoseph Odisho.
Freedom Monument, Tahrir square in Downtown Baghdad
View of downtown Baghdad, March 2017
Baghdad as seen from the International Space Station
Al-Ma'mun's Telecommunication Center in downtown Baghdad
The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra performing in July 2007
The National Ballet performing in 2007
Chaldean Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows
The Baghdad Convention Center
Qushla Square
Madina Stadium
Al-Shaab Stadium
Baghdad Eyalet in 1609 CE.
Baghdad Vilayet in 1900 CE.
Souk in Baghdad, 1876 CE.
Kadhimiya Mosque
Armenian Orthodox Church of Baghdad
Saray Mosque
Khilani Mosque
Baghdadi Museum
Iraq National Museum
Al Zawra'a Park
Al Salam Palace
Al Faw Palace
Abu Nawas Street

The city has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Iraq War, which began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and lasted until 2011, and the subsequent insurgency and renewed war that lasted until 2017, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts.

Blair in 2010

Tony Blair

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British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.

British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.

Blair in 2010
Blair meeting with Spanish prime minister Felipe González at Moncloa Palace in 1996
Blair with US president Bill Clinton in Italy, 1999
Blair addressing a crowd in Armagh, 1998
Blair and US president George W. Bush shake hands after their press conference in the East Room of the White House, 2004
Blair in Poland, 2007
Blair at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2005
NHS spending 1948/49 to 2014/15
Jacques Chirac, George W. Bush, Blair and Silvio Berlusconi during the G8 Summit in Évian, 2003
Blair meets with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in 2005
Blair meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2003
Gordon Brown (pictured in 2004) was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Blair. Together, they made a pact that Brown would succeed Blair as prime minister.
Former rebel leader Hashim Thaçi and Blair with the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo in 2010
Blair with Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Groysman in Ukraine, 2018
Blair and Henry Kissinger at the Munich Security Conference in 2014
Blair with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo at the US Department of State in Washington, D.C., 2019
Blair with his wife, Cherie Booth, touring the recreated Amber Room during a visit to the Catherine Palace in Russia, 2003
Blair presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2009
Blair in Kosovo meeting children named after him, 2010

During the War on Terror, he supported the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration and ensured that the British Armed Forces participated in the War in Afghanistan from 2001, and more controversially the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

A USMC Assault Amphibious Vehicle destroyed at Nasiriyah, Iraq, in a maintenance area. 11 April 2003.

Battle of Nasiriyah

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A USMC Assault Amphibious Vehicle destroyed at Nasiriyah, Iraq, in a maintenance area. 11 April 2003.
Iraqi Type 69-QM tank destroyed near Nasiriyah hospital

The Battle of Nasiriyah was fought between the US 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, aided by the British military, and Iraqi forces from 23 March to 2 April 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq.