Seven Years in Iraq: An Iraq War Timeline

Source: time.com

March 2003 Shock and Awe

By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekMirrorpix / Getty

Fires rage in Baghdad as U.S.-led coalition forces attack the city

“The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities.” —President Bush, addressing the nation soon after the bombing of Baghdad had begun on March 19

On March 19 at 9:34 p.m. — two days after demanding that Saddam Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay surrender and leave Iraq within 48 hour — the U.S.-led coalition begins bombing Baghdad. Strikes are first made against “targets of opportunity” on the outskirts of Baghdad. In his address to the nation at 10:16 p.m. e.s.t., President Bush outlines the purpose of invading Iraq: “to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger.” On March 20th at 7:57 A.M., the first confirmed skirmish between American and Iraqi forces takes place. By 4:00 p.m. that day, there are at least 7 raids on Baghdad.

April 2003 Baghdad Falls
By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekRobert Nickelsberg / Getty

Iraqi civilians and U.S. Marines topple a statue of Saddam in Baghdad

“Touch me, touch me, tell me that this is real, tell me that the nightmare is really over.” —an unidentified Iraqi man, tears running down his face, as quoted in The New York Times

After encountering little serious resistance, U.S. forces roll into central Baghdad and take control of Iraq’s capital city. On April 9th, Marines pull down a giant statue of Saddam in Firdos Square amidst celebrating Iraqis. After an initial period of relative calm, lawlessness quickly spreads. Looting becomes rampant, and countless objects are taken from Iraq’s national museum, which housed artifacts up to 10,000 years old.

May 2003 Victory Lap
By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekBrooks Kraft / Corbis for TIME

President Bush arrives aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

“Mission Accomplished” —Banner behind President Bush on the USS Abraham Lincoln

Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat of a Navy S-3B Viking, President Bush lands May 1 on the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier stationed off the coast of San Diego. Dressed in a flight suit, he gives a nationally televised victory speech from the carrier’s flight deck and declares that, “major combat operations in Iraq have ended.”

June 2003 Dead Enders
By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekYuri Kozyrev for TIME

An Iraqi tribal chief brandishes a handgun.

“In those regions where pockets of dead-enders are trying to reconstitute, Gen. (Tommy) Franks and his team are rooting them out…In short, the coalition is making good progress.” —Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, at a June 18 Pentagon press conference

Over 50 American troops have been killed since major combat operations were declared over on May 1. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld blames continued problems in Iraq on the last remnants of Saddam’s Baathist regime, claiming that the level of violence is not different from everyday crime in a major U.S. city. Months later, British military officials estimate there are 40,000 to 50,000 insurgent fighters in the country. An Iraqi intelligence director puts the number at 200,000 insurgents, larger than the U.S. military in Iraq.

July 2003 Tough Talk
By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekStan Honda / AFP / Getty

Television cameramen film the corpses of Uday (right) and Qusay, sons of Saddam

“There are some who feel like the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on.” —President Bush, at a July 3 White House press conference

In response to a journalist’s question about getting France, Germany and Russia to help deal with the rising number of deadly attacks on U.S. forces, President Bush says other countries are welcome to lend their support, but that the U.S. troops are capable of securing the situation. To critics who think the U.S. will leave Iraq prematurely if the attacks continue, Bush claims “they don’t understand what they’re talking about.” Three weeks later, Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay are killed in a battle with U.S. forces in Mosul. To help convince skeptical Iraqis that the despised brothers are really dead, the U.S. allows photographs and videotapes of their bodies to be released.

August 2003 United in Grief
By Jesse Singal, Christine Lim and M.J. StepheyFriday, Mar. 19, 2010

dekStephanie Sinclair / Corbis

A U.S. soldier stands among the ruins of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad

“Nothing can excuse this act of unprovoked and murderous violence against men and women who went to Iraq… to help the Iraqi people.” —UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan

On August 1