“Shock and awe” – U.S.-led Iraq War

TURKEY
SYRIA
IRAQ
IRAN
KUWAIT
SAUDI ARABIA
Badush
Mosul
Irbil
Kirkuk
Tikrit
Fallujah
Ramadi
Baghdad
Basra

Kurds
ShiiteArab
Sunni Arab
Yazidi
Desert

Areas of control (2023)

Mar 20, 2003: Invasion launched. U.S. President George W. Bush (above top) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (above) base invasion on flawed claims that Saddam Hussein (below) has weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)

Apr 9: American troops storm Baghdad and topple Saddam

Dec: Forces capture Saddam near Tikrit

Apr 2004: Accounts of abuse and torture by U.S. military and CIA of prisoners held in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad spark international outrage

Apr-Aug 2004: Clashes emerge between U.S.-led coalition forces and followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (below), who demands that foreign troops leave Iraq

Oct: U.S. arms inspector David Kay (above) reports no WMDs exist in Iraq. Conclusion undermines justification for invasion

Jan 2005: Shiite and Kurdish parties take most seats in new parliament, Sunnis boycott election

May 2006: Shiite politician Nouri al-Maliki elected as Prime Minister

Dec 30: Saddam is executed by hanging

Jan 2007: President Bush orders surge of 30,000 U.S. troops – peaking at 170,300

Apr 2008: Poll by Pew Research Center shows 57 percent of Americans believe decision to invade was wrong

Nov: Barack Obama wins U.S. presidential election on pledge to withdraw troops

Jan 2009: President Bush presents Blair with Presidential Medal of Freedom – highest honour awarded to civilians

Jul: Iraq Inquiry, led by Sir John Chilcot, examines UK’s role in war

Dec 2010: Al-Maliki – supported by al-Sadr – wins second term as prime minister

Dec 2011: U.S. troops leave Iraq, handing over responsibility for internal security to Iraqi Army and police

2014: Rise of Islamic State (IS) from Al Qaeda affiliates. IS battles to form caliphates based in Syria. IS takes over Mosul, Fallujah, Tikrit and Ramadi. U.S. troops return at invitation of Baghdad government

Jun: At least 670 mainly Shiite inmates at Badush Central Prison massacred by IS

Jul 2016: Long-awaited official report into UK’s role calls for former Prime Minister to be held accountable. Blair committed to join U.S.-led invasion in memo dated Jul 28, 2002

2019-2020: Battle against IS mostly ends. Anti-government protests mount against rampant corruption

Jan 2020: U.S. President Donald Trump orders drone strike near Baghdad airport to assassinate General Qassim Soleimani – head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force

Oct 2022: Parliament chooses Kurdish leader Abdul Latif Rashid as president. Shiite prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani pledges to fight corruption and improve living standards

Mar 2023: About 2,500 U.S. troops remain scattered around country, mainly in Baghdad, Irbil and Al Tanf

Sources: Associated Press, Pew Research Center, Reuters, Watson Institute, Brown University Pictures: Getty Images, Al Iraqia TV © GRAPHIC NEWS