View source for 2003 invasion of Iraq

{{Short description|United States–led military invasion}}
{{redirect|Invasion of Iraq|the American-led invasion in 1991|Gulf War|the conflict triggered by this international invasion in 2003|Iraq War|other uses|Invasion of Iraq (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = 2003 invasion of Iraq
| partof            = the [[War on terror]] and the [[Iraq War]]<ref name="GlobalKansas">{{cite news |title= President Discusses Global War on Terror at Kansas State University |publisher= White House |date= 23 January 2006 |url= https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060123-4.html |access-date= 29 October 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111028200751/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060123-4.html |archive-date= 28 October 2011 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref>
| image             = {{Multiple image
| perrow            = 2/2/2
| total_width       = 320
| border=infobox
| image1= U.S. Marines with Iraqi POWs - March 21, 2003.jpg
| image2= Iraqi Sandstorm.jpg
| image3= US soldiers watch Iraqi paramilitary headquarter's burn Samawah, Iraq April 2003.jpg
| image4= SaddamStatue.jpg
| footer_align = center
| footer = '''Clockwise from top-left''':<br />American troops from the [[2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment]], escort Iraqi prisoners of war to a holding area in the desert; American convoy of [[Humvee]]s in northern Iraq during a sandstorm; Iraqi civilians cheer as American soldiers [[Saddam Hussein statue destruction|topple Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square]]; American troops from the [[2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment]], watch an Iraqi paramilitary's headquarters burn in [[Samawah]]
}}
| date              = 20 March 2003&nbsp;– 1 May 2003<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1= 3|day1= 20|year1= 2003|month2= 5|day2= 1|year2= 2003}})
| place             = [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]], [[Kuwait]] and [[Persian Gulf]]{{efn|The conflict occasionally spilled over into Kuwait due to the Iraqi military firing missiles across the international border to attack American and Kuwaiti targets.<ref>{{cite web |title=CNN.com – U.S.: Patriots down Iraqi missiles – Mar. 20, 2003 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/20/sprj.irq.kuwait.rockets/index.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Missile hits Kuwait City mall |date=March 28, 2003 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/28/sprj.irq.war.main/index.html |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq launches Scud missiles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/20/iraq6 |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=The Guardian |date=20 March 2003 }}</ref>|name=b|group=}}
| result            = Coalition victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|United States}}<br/>{{flag|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{flag|Australia}}<br/>{{flag|Poland}}<br/>{{flagicon|Kurdistan}} [[Kurdistan Region]]{{blist
| {{flagicon image|Flag of the KDP.svg}} [[Kurdistan Democratic Party|KDP]]
| {{flagicon image|Flag of PUK.svg}} [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]]}}
{{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Iraqi National Congress flag (2003).svg}} [[Iraqi National Congress]]}}{{blist
| {{flagicon image|FIF flag.svg}} [[Free Iraqi Forces]]<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42859-2003Apr6.html |title= U.S. Airlifts Iraqi Exile Force For Duties Near Nasiriyah |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= 7 April 2003 |access-date= 13 September 2009 |first= Bradley |last= Graham |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070808031321/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42859-2003Apr6.html |archive-date= 8 August 2007 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="USNewsandworldreport"/>}}
| combatant2        = {{plainlist}}
* {{flag|Ba'athist Iraq|1991|name=Iraq}}
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran.svg}} [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran|MEK]]<ref>{{cite book|title=The A to Z of Middle Eastern Intelligence|url=https://archive.org/details/tozmiddleeastern00kaha|url-access=limited|isbn=978-0-8108-7070-3|author1=Ephraim Kahana |author2=Muhammad Suwaed |year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/tozmiddleeastern00kaha/page/n252 208]|quote=Coalition aircraft bombed MEK bases during Operation Iraqi Freedom, forcing MEK forces to surrender in May 2003.}}</ref>
{{endplainlist}}
| commander1        = {{ubli|{{flagicon|United States}} [[George W. Bush]]|{{flagicon|United States}} [[Dick Cheney]]|{{flagicon|United States}} [[Donald Rumsfeld]]|{{flagicon|United States}} [[Colin Powell]]|{{flagicon|United States}} [[Tommy Franks]]|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Tony Blair]]|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Geoff Hoon]]|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Brian Burridge]]|{{flagicon|Australia}} [[John Howard]]}}
| commander2        = {{ubli|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Saddam Hussein]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Qusay Hussein]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Uday Hussein]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Abid Hamid Mahmud]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Ra'ad al-Hamdani]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Taha Yassin Ramadan]]|{{flagicon|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} [[Tariq Aziz]]}}
| strength1         = '''Total:<br />589,799'''<hr>
{{ubli|{{flagdeco|United States|1960}} 466,985 personnel<ref name="carter2005">{{cite web |title=Iraq: Summary of U.S. Forces |date=28 November 2005 |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31763.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511071715/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31763.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=19 July 2009 |first=Linwood B. |last=Carter  }}</ref>|{{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} 50,000 troops|{{flagdeco|Australia}} 2,000 troops|{{flagdeco|Poland}} 194 special forces<ref name="PolishSpecialForces"/>|{{flagdeco|Iraqi Kurdistan}} 70,000 troops<ref name="MajPeltier"/>|{{flagicon image|Iraqi National Congress flag (2003).svg}} 620 troops}}
| strength2         = '''Total:<br />1,311,000'''<hr>
{{ubli|{{flagdeco|Ba'athist Iraq|1991}} '''[[Iraqi Armed Forces]]''': 538,000 active |650,000 reserves<ref>{{cite web |author=Anthony H. Cordesman |date=28 June 2002 |title=If We Fight Iraq: Iraq and The Conventional Military Balance |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies |url=http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspectives/csis-military_balance-062802.pdf |access-date= 18 July 2011 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110807072316/http://www.iraqwatch.org/perspectives/csis-military_balance-062802.pdf |archive-date= 7 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author= Toby Dodge |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/16/iraq |title= Iraqi army is tougher than US believes |work= The Guardian |date= 16 November 2002 |access-date= 10 November 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170305032828/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/16/iraq |archive-date= 5 March 2017 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref> |4,000 tanks<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ricks |first1=Thomas E. |title=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59420-103-5 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s-uIICROyYC |language=en}}</ref>|3,700 APCs and IFVs|2,300 artillery pieces|300 combat aircraft<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/iraq-iraqs-prewar-military-capabilities|title=IRAQ: Iraq's Prewar Military Capabilities|website=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=14 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181214164158/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/iraq-iraqs-prewar-military-capabilities|archive-date=14 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>|[[File:Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg|20px]] [[Special Republican Guard (Iraq)|SRG]]: 12,000| [[File:Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg|20px]] [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|RG]]: 75,000|[[File:Fedayeen Saddam SSI.svg|20px]] [[Fedayeen Saddam]]: 30,000|[[Arab]] volunteers: 6,000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/foreign-irregulars-in-iraq-the-next-jihad|title=Foreign Irregulars in Iraq|website=Washington Institute|date=10 April 2003|access-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403161600/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/foreign-irregulars-in-iraq-the-next-jihad|archive-date=3 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
| casualties1       = {{blist
|196+ killed
|551+ wounded}}<hr>{{blist
|'''Coalition:'''{{blist
|172 killed<ref>[http://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/ByMonth.aspx "Iraq Coalition Casualties: Fatalities by Year and Month"]. ''iCasualties.org''. {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160206184540/http://icasualties.org/Iraq/ByMonth.aspx |date= 6 February 2016 }}. {{Retrieved |access-date=1 November 2009}}</ref>{{blist
|{{flagicon|United States}} 139
|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} 33}}
|{{flagicon|United States}} 551 wounded<ref>[http://icasualties.org/Iraq/USCasualtiesByState.aspx "Iraq Coalition Casualties: U.S. Wounded Totals"]. ''iCasualties.org''. {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111224184502/http://icasualties.org/Iraq/USCasualtiesByState.aspx |date= 24 December 2011 }}</ref>}}
|'''Peshmerga:'''<br />24+ killed<ref name="fsu">Michael G. Lortz. [http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11142005-144616/unrestricted/003Manuscript.pdf "Willing to face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces – the Peshmerga – from the Ottoman Empire to Present-Day Iraq"]. {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191132/http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11142005-144616/unrestricted/003Manuscript.pdf |date= 29 October 2013 }}. p. 67.</ref>}}
| casualties2       = {{blist
|11,000–45,000 killed
|Unknown wounded}}<hr>
*11,000 (4,895–6,370 observed and reported) (Project on Defense Alternatives study)<ref name="pda">{{cite web|url= http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8.html |title= The Wages of War: Iraqi Combatant and Noncombatant Fatalities in the 2003 Conflict |publisher= Commonwealth Institute of Cambridge |access-date= 13 September 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090902070831/http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8.html|archive-date= 2 September 2009 |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8ap1.html#10.%20Karbala,%20Karbala%20gap,%20and%20north%20to%20Baghdad |title= Wages of War – Appendix 1. Survey of reported Iraqi combatant fatalities in the 2003 war |publisher= Commonwealth Institute of Cambridge |access-date= 13 September 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090902092036/http://www.comw.org/pda/0310rm8ap1.html|archive-date= 2 September 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*13,500–45,000 (extrapolated from fatality rates of units serving around Baghdad)<ref>[[Jonathan Steele (journalist)|Steele, Jonathan]] (28 May 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/usa/story/0,12271,965235,00.html "Body counts"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''.</ref>
| casualties3       = Estimated [[Casualties of the Iraq War#Iraqi invasion casualties|Iraqi civilian fatalities]]:{{ubl
|7,400 (''Iraq Body Count'')<ref name="IBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/year-four/ |title=Year Four: Simply the worst |website=Iraq Body Count |date=18 March 2007 |access-date=23 April 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305042732/http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/numbers/year-four/ |archive-date=2025-03-05}}</ref>
|3,200–4,300 (Project on Defense Alternatives study)<ref name="pda" />}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Iraq War}}
{{Campaignbox Persian Gulf Wars}}
{{Campaignbox Kurdish–Iraqi conflict}}
}}
{{Saddam Hussein series}}
The '''2003 invasion of Iraq'''{{efn|It was codenamed '''Operation Iraqi Freedom''' (OIF) by the United States,<ref name=OIF-name>{{cite web|accessdate=July 19, 2025 |url=https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/conflictCasualties/oif |title=Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)|work=Conflict Casualties|publisher=Defense Conflict Analysis System, Office of the Secretary of Defense}}</ref> while Iraqi officials named it the '''Decisive War''' ({{langx|ar|معركة الحواسم}}).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ow8oDwAAQBAJ&q=%22toward+the+decisive+war%22&pg=PT498|title=Wars of Modern Babylon: A History of the Iraqi Army from 1921 to 2003 |first=Pesach |last=Malovany |date=21 July 2017 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=9780813169453 |via=Google Books}}</ref>|name=a|group=}} was the first stage of the [[Iraq War]]. The invasion began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month,<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Recent Conflicts |date=29 November 2022 |publisher=Congressional Research Service |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21405.pdf |access-date=4 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328222039/http://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21405.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> including 26 days of major combat operations, in which a [[Coalition of the willing (Iraq War)|U.S.-led combined force]] of troops from the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], and [[Poland]] invaded the [[Ba'athist Iraq|Republic of Iraq]]. Twenty-two days after the first day of the invasion, the capital city of [[Baghdad]] was captured by coalition forces on 9 April after the six-day-long [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)|Battle of Baghdad]]. This early stage of the war formally ended on 1 May when U.S. president [[George W. Bush]] declared the "end of major combat operations" in his [[Mission Accomplished speech]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Political Circus: 'Mission Accomplished' finds a home |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/18/political.circus/index.html |access-date=24 February 2022 |work=CNN |language=en}}</ref> after which the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] (CPA) was established as the first of several successive transitional governments leading up to the first [[January 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election|Iraqi parliamentary election]] in January 2005. U.S. military forces later remained in Iraq until [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|their withdrawal]] in 2011.<ref name="gen">{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Michael |last2=Trainor |first2=Bernard |title=The Generals' War: The Inside Story of the Conflict in the Gulf |url=https://archive.org/details/generalswarinsid00gord |url-access=registration |date=1 March 1995 |publisher=Little Brown & Co |location=New York}}</ref>

The coalition sent 160,000 troops into Iraq during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 1 May.<ref name=":1" /> About 73% or 130,000 soldiers were American, with about 45,000 British soldiers (25%), 2,000 Australian soldiers (1%), and about 200 Polish [[JW GROM]] commandos (0.1%). [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|Thirty-six other countries]] were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops assembled in [[Kuwait]] by 18 February.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/18/sprj.irq.deployment/index.html |title=U.S. has 100,000 troops in Kuwait |publisher=CNN |date=18 February 2003 |access-date= 29 October 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121108211421/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/18/sprj.irq.deployment/index.html |archive-date= 8 November 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The coalition forces also received support from the [[Peshmerga]] in [[Iraqi Kurdistan]].

According to U.S. president George W. Bush and UK prime minister [[Tony Blair]], the coalition aimed "to disarm Iraq of [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]] [WMDs], to end [[Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations|Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism]], and to free the Iraqi people", even though the UN inspection team led by [[Hans Blix]] had declared it had found no evidence of the existence of WMDs just before the start of the invasion.<ref name="beginning1" /><ref>{{cite web|title=UN inspectors found no evidence of prohibited weapons programmes as of 18 March withdrawal, Hans Blix tells Security Council |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2003/sc7777.doc.htm|access-date=2022-02-15|publisher=United Nations}}</ref> Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the [[September 11 attacks]], on the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda.<ref name="GSN-MEI, Saddam connection">{{cite journal|title= US Hardliners search for a Saddam connection |journal=Gulf States Newsletter's Middle East Insider|date=September 2001|issue= 9|url= http://www.gsn-online.com/us-hardliners-search-for-a-saddam-connection-911|access-date= 7 March 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130516163248/http://www.gsn-online.com/us-hardliners-search-for-a-saddam-connection-911|archive-date= 16 May 2013|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Oz |last=Hassan |year=2012 |title=Constructing America's Freedom Agenda for the Middle East |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415603102}}</ref> According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-23.html |title= President Bush Meets with Prime Minister Blair |publisher=The White House |date=31 January 2003 |access-date= 13 September 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110312120342/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030131-23.html |archive-date= 12 March 2011 |url-status= live |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

In a January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to such a war.<ref name="CBSnews-20030124">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-talk-first-fight-later/ |first=Bootie |last=Cosgrove-Mather |title=Poll: Talk First, Fight Later |work=CBS News |date=24 January 2003 |access-date=23 April 2007}}</ref> The invasion was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Germany]], and [[New Zealand]].{{efn|An exception was [[Denmark]], where even the popular opinion supported the invasion and Denmark as a member of the coalition{{Citation needed|reason= No mention of Denmark in the source|date=September 2025}}.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/actual/ael2/bulletin.gb.asp?liste=20030211.gb.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512001853/https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/actual/ael2/bulletin.gb.asp?liste=20030211.gb.html |archive-date=2011-05-12 |title=Joint Declaration by Russia, Germany and France on Iraq |publisher=[[Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France)|Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs]] |location=France |date=10 February 2003}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/751538 |title=NZ praised for 'steering clear of Iraq war' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515154445/http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/751538 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |work=The Dominion Post |via=[[Stuff.co.nz]] |date=7 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first= Julian |last= Beltrame |title= Canada to Stay out of Iraq War |magazine= Maclean's |date= 31 March 2003 |access-date= 19 January 2009 |url= http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012457 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080518123104/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012457 |archive-date= 18 May 2008 }}</ref> Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading that country was not justified in the context of [[UNMOVIC]]'s 12 February 2003 report. About 5,000 largely unusable [[Chemical weapon|chemical warheads]], shells or aviation bombs were discovered during the Iraq War, but these had been built and abandoned earlier in [[Saddam Hussein]]'s rule before the 1991 [[Gulf War]]. The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support the government's invasion rationale.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoar |first1=Jennifer |title=Weapons Found In Iraq Old, Unusable |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weapons-found-in-iraq-old-unusable/ |work=CBS News |date=23 June 2006 |access-date=14 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401114104/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/weapons-found-in-iraq-old-unusable/ |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref name="secret-wmds">{{cite news |last1=Chivers |first1=C. J. |title=The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=14 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107220645/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Banner&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1 |archive-date=7 January 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2004, [[Kofi Annan]], [[United Nations Secretary-General]] at the time, called the invasion illegal under international law and said it was a breach of the [[UN Charter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq|title=Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan|first1=Ewen|last1=MacAskill|first2=Julian|last2=Borger|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=15 September 2004|access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide [[protests against the Iraq War]], including a rally of three million people in [[Rome]], which the [[Guinness World Records]] listed as the largest-ever [[anti-war]] rally.<ref name="Guinness">{{cite web |title=Largest Anti-War Rally |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=54365 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040904214302/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=54365 |archive-date=4 September 2004 |access-date=11 January 2007 |publisher=Guinness World Records}}</ref> According to the French academic [[Dominique Reynié]], between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq War.<ref name="Socialist Worker J3 to A12">{{cite news|first= Alex |last= Callinicos |title= Anti-war protests do make a difference |url= http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=6067 |work= [[Socialist Worker]] |date= 19 March 2005 |access-date= 9 December 2015 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060321084247/http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=6067 |archive-date= 21 March 2006 }}</ref>

The invasion was preceded by an [[airstrike]] on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 20 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into [[Basra Governorate]] from their massing point close to the [[Iraq–Kuwait border|Iraqi–Kuwaiti border]]. While [[special forces]] launched an amphibious assault from the [[Persian Gulf]] to secure [[Basra]] and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the [[Battle of Nasiriyah]] on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi [[command and control]] threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March, the [[173rd Airborne Brigade]] was [[Operation Northern Delay|airdropped]] near the northern city of [[Kirkuk]], where they joined forces with [[Kurds|Kurdish]] rebels and fought several actions against the [[Iraqi Army]], to secure the northern part of the country.

The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and were met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and the coalition occupied Baghdad on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi Army, including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack on and capture of [[Tikrit]] on 15 April. [[Iraqi president]] Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations: this ended the invasion period and began the period of [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)|military occupation]]. Saddam Hussein [[Capture of Saddam Hussein|was captured by U.S. forces]] on 13 December.

==Prelude to the invasion==
[[File:Anthony C. Zinni speech following Operation Desert Fox.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Gen. [[Anthony Zinni|Anthony C. Zinni]] briefs reporters at [[The Pentagon]] following [[1998 bombing of Iraq|Operation Desert Fox]], 21 December 1998]]{{Main|Prelude to the Iraq War}}

=== Pre-9/11 ===
Hostilities of the [[Gulf War]] were suspended on 28 February 1991, with a cease-fire negotiated between the UN coalition and Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/timeline/content/1991/april.html|title=Gulf War Timeline|year=2001|publisher=CNN|access-date=22 December 2008 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20050428175318/http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/timeline/content/1991/april.html |archive-date =28 April 2005}}</ref> The U.S. and its allies tried to keep Saddam in check with military actions such as [[Operation Southern Watch]], which was conducted by Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of the [[32nd parallel north|32nd Parallel]] (extended to the [[33rd parallel north|33rd Parallel]] in 1996) as well as using economic sanctions. It was revealed that a [[biological weapons]] (BW) program in Iraq had begun in the early 1980s with help from the U.S. and Europe who were unaware of Iraq's intentions, in violation of the [[Biological Weapons Convention]] (BWC) of 1972.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 20, 2002 |title=A U.S. Gift to Iraq: Deadly Viruses |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2002/nf20020920_3025.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117141303/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2002/nf20020920_3025.htm |archive-date=January 17, 2010 |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=[[Businessweek]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=October 1, 2002 |title=Iraq got seeds for bioweapons from U.S. |work=[[Baltimore Sun]] |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.bioweapons01oct01,0,4635016.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines |access-date=2006-06-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130014156/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.bioweapons01oct01%2C0%2C4635016.story?coll=bal-home-headlines |archive-date=November 30, 2005 }}</ref> Details of the BW program—along with a chemical weapons program—surfaced after the Gulf War (1990–91) following investigations conducted by the [[United Nations Special Commission]] (UNSCOM) which had been charged with the post-war disarmament of Saddam's Iraq. The investigation concluded that the program had not continued after the war. The U.S. and its allies then maintained a policy of "[[containment]]" towards Iraq. This policy involved numerous [[Iraq sanctions|economic sanctions]] by the [[UN Security Council]]; the enforcement of [[Iraqi no-fly zones]] declared by the U.S. and the UK to protect the [[Kurds]] in Iraqi Kurdistan and [[Shia]]s in the south from aerial attacks by the Iraqi government; and ongoing inspections. Iraqi military helicopters and planes regularly contested the no-fly zones.<ref name="CNN-20060525">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9901/04/iraq.no.fly/|title=Iraq tests no-fly zone|date=4 January 1999|publisher=CNN|access-date=25 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910094243/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9901/04/iraq.no.fly/|archive-date=10 September 2006|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CNN-20021128">{{cite news|url=https://cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/11/28/sproject.irq.nofly.zone/index.html|title=Coalition planes hit Iraq sites in no-fly zone|date=28 November 2002|publisher=CNN|access-date=25 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040811021410/http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/11/28/sproject.irq.nofly.zone/index.html|archive-date=11 August 2004|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:WeaponsInspector.JPG|thumb|A UN weapons inspector in Iraq, 2002.]]
In October 1998, removing the Iraqi government became official [[U.S. foreign policy]] with enactment of the [[Iraq Liberation Act]]. Enacted following the expulsion of [[UN weapons inspectors]] the preceding August (after some had been accused of spying for the U.S.), the act provided $97&nbsp;million for Iraqi "democratic opposition organizations" to "establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.4655.ENR: |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080711034008/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105%3AH.R.4655.ENR%3A |archive-date=11 July 2008 |title=Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=25 May 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This legislation contrasted with the terms set out in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 687]], which focused on weapons and weapons programs and made no mention of regime change.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0687.htm |title=RESOLUTION 687 (1991) |access-date=25 May 2006 |date=8 April 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523015627/https://fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0687.htm |archive-date=23 May 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> One month after the passage of the Iraq Liberation Act, the U.S. and UK launched a bombardment campaign of Iraq called [[Operation Desert Fox]]. The campaign's express rationale was to hamper Saddam Hussein's government's ability to produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, but U.S. intelligence personnel also hoped it would help weaken Saddam's grip on power.<ref>{{cite news |first=Arkin |last=William |title=The Difference Was in the Details |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 January 1999 |page=B1 |url=https://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/irqtar.htm |access-date=23 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060909055202/http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/irqtar.htm |archive-date=9 September 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:F-16s Southern Watch.jpg|thumb|Two US [[F-16 Fighting Falcon]]s prepare to depart [[Prince Sultan Air Base]] in Saudi Arabia for a patrol as part of Operation Southern Watch, 2000.]]
With the election of George W. Bush as president in [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]], the U.S. moved towards a more aggressive policy toward Iraq. The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party's]] campaign platform in the 2000 election called for "full implementation" of the Iraq Liberation Act as "a starting point" in a plan to "remove" Saddam.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/features/platform.00/|title=REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 2000|publisher=CNN|access-date=25 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060421063832/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/features/platform.00/|archive-date=21 April 2006}}</ref> After leaving the [[George W. Bush administration]], Treasury Secretary [[Paul O'Neill (businessman)|Paul O'Neill]] said that an attack on Iraq had been planned since Bush's inauguration and that the first [[United States National Security Council]] meeting involved discussion of an invasion. O'Neill later backtracked, saying that these discussions were part of a continuation of foreign policy first put into place by the [[Clinton administration]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/13/oneill.bush/|title=O'Neill: 'Frenzy' distorted war plans account|date=14 January 2004|publisher=CNN|access-date=26 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815123731/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/13/oneill.bush/|archive-date=15 August 2006|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the Bush administration's stated interest in invading Iraq, little formal movement towards an invasion occurred until the [[11 September attacks]].

=== 9/11 and immediate response ===
{{Main|Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations}}

{{See also|September 11 attacks|Office of Special Plans|Iraqi National Congress}}

On the morning of 11 September 2001, the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda [[September 11 attacks|executed four coordinated attacks against the United States]] utilizing hijacked commercial jet airliners to crash into major symbols of American [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|economic]] and [[The Pentagon|military]] power. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, while more than 6,000 were injured. [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) intercept data available by midday of the 11th pointed to [[al-Qaeda]]'s culpability in the attacks.<ref name=":2" />

By mid-afternoon however, Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]] ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans for attacking Iraq.<ref name=":2">Richard Aldrich, 'An extra copy for Mr Philby,' in ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'', 19 February 2010 pp.7–8, p.7</ref> According to aides who were with him in the [[National Military Command Center]] on that day, Rumsfeld asked for: "Best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H." – meaning [[Saddam Hussein]] – "at same time. Not only UBL" ([[Osama bin Laden]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plans-for-iraq-attack-began-on-9-11/|title=Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11|work=CBS News|date=4 September 2002|access-date=26 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525035205/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml|archive-date=25 May 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to the [[9/11 Commission Report]], "Rumsfeld later explained that at the time, he had been considering either one of them, or perhaps someone else, as the responsible party."<ref name="National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 2004" />

On the evening of 12 September, President Bush ordered White House counter-terrorism coordinator [[Richard A. Clarke]] to investigate possible Iraqi involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Shocked by the sophistication of the attacks, Bush wondered whether a state sponsor was involved. Clarke's office issued a memo on 18 September that noted wide ideological gaps between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and that only weak anecdotal evidence linked the two.<ref name="National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 2004">{{cite book |last=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |url=https://archive.org/details/911commissionrep00nati |title=The 9/11 Commission Report |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2004 |isbn=0-393-32671-3 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|334}} Similarly, a 21 September [[President's Daily Brief]] (prepared at Bush's request) indicated that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks and there was "scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda." The PDB wrote off the few contacts that existed between Saddam's government and al-Qaeda as attempts to monitor the group, not work with it.<ref name="waas">{{cite web |title=Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept from Hill Panel - Murray Waas - NationalJournal.com |url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/key-bush-intelligence-briefing-kept-from-hill-panel-20051122 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710231520/http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/key-bush-intelligence-briefing-kept-from-hill-panel-20051122 |archive-date=10 July 2012 |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=www.nationaljournal.com}}</ref>

However, Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld expressed skepticism toward's the CIA's intelligence. They questioned whether the CIA were competent enough to produce accurate information as the agency underestimated threats and failed to accurately predict events such as the [[Iranian Revolution]], the [[Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait|Iraqi invasion of Kuwait]], and the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]]. They instead preferred outside analysis, of which information was supplied by the [[Iraqi National Congress]] as well as unvetted pieces of intelligence.<ref name="Frontline: The Dark Side,">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/ "Frontline: The Dark Side,"] PBS, aired June 20, 2006</ref> This information alleged that a highly secretive relationship existed between Saddam and [[al-Qaeda]] from 1992, specifically through a series of meetings reportedly involving the [[Iraqi Intelligence Service]] (IIS).<ref name="Frontline: The Dark Side,"/> The rationale for invading Iraq as a response to 9/11 has been widely questioned, as there was no cooperation between [[Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda]].<ref>Smith, Jeffrey R. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502263.html "Hussein's Prewar Ties To Al-Qaeda Discounted"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070411103726/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502263.html|date=11 April 2007}}. ''The Washington Post'', Friday, 6 April 2007; Page A01. Retrieved 23 April 2007.</ref>

On 20 September 2001, Bush addressed a [[joint session of Congress]] (telecast live to the world), and announced his new "[[war on terror]]". This announcement was accompanied by the doctrine of "pre-emptive" military action, later termed the [[Bush Doctrine]]. On 21 November, Bush spoke with Rumsfeld and instructed him to conduct a confidential review of [[U.S. Central Command OPLAN 1003-98|OPLAN 1003]], the war plan for invading Iraq. Rumsfeld met with General [[Tommy Franks]], the commander of [[US Central Command]], on 27 November to go over the plans. A record of the meeting includes the question "How start?", listing multiple possible justifications for a US–Iraq War.<ref>{{cite news |author=Michael Isikoff |date=16 March 2013 |title='Building momentum for regime change': Rumsfeld's secret memos |url=http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/16/building-momentum-for-regime-change-rumsfelds-secret-memos/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322001534/http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/16/building-momentum-for-regime-change-rumsfelds-secret-memos/ |archive-date=22 March 2013 |access-date=31 March 2013 |publisher=[[MSNBC]]}}</ref> Some Bush advisers favored an immediate invasion of Iraq, while others advocated building an international coalition and obtaining United Nations authorization.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gause |first=F. Gregory III |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/international-relations-of-the-persian-gulf/8EBF94318CEA36DA9E07B37CE3269DAA |title=The International Relations of the Persian Gulf |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-511-81826-4 |location=Cambridge |page=196 |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511818264.007}}</ref> Bush eventually decided to seek UN authorization, while still reserving the option of invading without it.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/etc/cron.html "Chronology of the Bush Doctrine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822204037/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/etc/cron.html |date=22 August 2017 }}. ''[[Frontline (U.S. TV series)|Frontline.org]]''. Retrieved 23 April 2007.</ref>

General [[David Petraeus]] recalled in an interview his experience during the time before the invasion, stating that "When we were getting ready for what became the invasion of Iraq, the prevailing wisdom was that we were going to have a long, hard fight to Baghdad, and it was really going to be hard to take Baghdad. The road to deployment, which was a very compressed road for the 101st Airborne Division, started with a seminar on military operations in urban terrain, because that was viewed as the decisive event in the takedown of the regime in Iraq — that and finding and destroying the weapons of mass destruction."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petraeus |first=David |date=September 14, 2017 |title=Reflections on Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan |url=https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/2031326/reflections-on-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan/ |website=ndupress.ndu.edu}}</ref>

===Political preparations for war===
{{main|Preparations for the 2003 invasion of Iraq}}
[[File:Bush 2002 UNGA.jpg|thumb|[[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.]]
[[File:Chirac Bush Blair Berlusconi.jpg|thumb|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.]]
While there had been some earlier talk of action against Iraq, the Bush administration waited until September 2002 to call for action, with White House Chief of Staff [[Andrew Card]] saying, "From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/12/schneider.iraq/ |title=Marketing Iraq: Why now? |author=William Schneider |access-date=4 September 2006 |publisher=CNN |date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507171618/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/12/schneider.iraq/ |archive-date=7 May 2005 }}</ref> Bush began formally making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in his 12 September 2002 address to the [[United Nations General Assembly]].<ref>George W. Bush, [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020912-1.html "President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902071830/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020912-1.html |date=2 September 2017 }} Remarks by the President in Address to the United Nations General Assembly, New York City", official transcript, press release, [[The White House]], 12 September 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2007.</ref> Benjamin Netanyahu testified before US Congress on September 12, 2002 with an expert testimony, encouraging America to invade Iraq and stating that there is "no question" that Saddam is working on WMDs.<ref name="cspan2">{{cite web |title=User Clip: Netanyahu says 'no question' Saddam working on nuclear weapons {{!}} Video {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-committee/user-clip-netanyahu-says-no-question-saddam-working-on-nuclear-weapons/4927483 |website=www.c-span.org |access-date=12 January 2025 |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="cspan1">{{cite web |title=User Clip: Netanyahu's Expert Testimony on Iraq in 2002 {{!}} Video {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/clip/house-committee/user-clip-netanyahus-expert-testimony-on-iraq-in-2002/4529120 |website=www.c-span.org |access-date=12 January 2025 |language=en-us}}</ref>

The United Kingdom agreed with the U.S. actions, while France and Germany were critical of plans to invade Iraq, arguing instead for continued diplomacy and weapons inspections. After considerable debate, the UN Security Council adopted a compromise resolution, [[UN Security Council Resolution 1441]], which authorized the resumption of weapons inspections and promised "serious consequences" for non-compliance. Security Council members France and Russia made clear that they did not consider these consequences to include the use of force to overthrow the Iraqi government.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2364203.stm "France threatens rival UN Iraq draft"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308081555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2364203.stm |date=8 March 2008 }}. [[BBC News]], 26 October 2002. Retrieved 23 April 2007</ref> Both the U.S. ambassador to the UN, [[John Negroponte]], and the UK ambassador, [[Jeremy Greenstock]], publicly confirmed this reading of the resolution, assuring that Resolution 1441 provided no "automaticity" or "hidden triggers" for an invasion without further consultation of the Security Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwhira3.html|title=U.S. Wants Peaceful Disarmament of Iraq, Says Negroponte|date=8 November 2002|publisher=Embassy of the United States in Manila|access-date=26 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103230014/http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwhira3.html |archive-date=3 January 2006}}</ref>

Resolution 1441 gave Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" and set up inspections by the [[United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission]] (UNMOVIC) and the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA). Saddam accepted the resolution on 13 November and inspectors returned to Iraq under the direction of UNMOVIC chairman [[Hans Blix]] and IAEA Director-General [[Mohamed ElBaradei]]. As of February 2003, the IAEA "found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq"; the IAEA concluded that certain items which could have been used in nuclear enrichment centrifuges, such as aluminum tubes, were in fact intended for other uses.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statements of the Director General|url=http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2003/ebsp2003n006.shtml|publisher=IAEA|date=6 March 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903185204/http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2003/ebsp2003n006.shtml|archive-date=3 September 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> UNMOVIC "did not find evidence of the continuation or resumption of programs of weapons of mass destruction" or significant quantities of proscribed items. UNMOVIC did supervise the destruction of a small number of empty chemical rocket warheads, 50&nbsp;liters of mustard gas that had been declared by Iraq and sealed by UNSCOM in 1998, and laboratory quantities of a mustard gas precursor, along with about 50 Al-Samoud missiles of a design that Iraq stated did not exceed the permitted 150&nbsp;km range, but which had traveled up to 183&nbsp;km in tests. Shortly before the invasion, UNMOVIC stated that it would take "months" to verify Iraqi compliance with resolution 1441.<ref>{{Citation|author=Blix, Hans|title=Thirteenth quarterly report of the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in accordance with paragraph 12 of Security council resolution 1284 (1999)|publisher=UNMOVIC|date=13 May 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Selected Security Council Briefings|url=http://www.unmovic.org/|publisher=UNMOVIC|access-date=7 September 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020928160417/http://www.unmovic.org/|archive-date=28 September 2002 |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,895882,00.html Hans Blix's briefing to the security council]. Retrieved 30 January 2008.</ref>

In October 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the [[Iraq Resolution]], which authorized the President to "use any means necessary" against Iraq. Americans polled in January 2003 widely favored further diplomacy over an invasion. Later that year, however, Americans began to agree with Bush's plan. The U.S. government engaged in an elaborate [[Public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq|domestic public relations campaign]] to market the war to its citizens. Americans overwhelmingly believed Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction: 85% said so, even though the inspectors had not uncovered those weapons. Of those who thought Iraq had weapons sequestered somewhere, about half responded that said weapons would not be found in combat. By February 2003, 64% of Americans supported taking military action to remove Saddam from power.<ref name = "CBSnews-20030124"/>
[[File:London anti-war protest banners.jpg|thumb|upright|Anti war protest in London, 2002]]
[[File:Raised Fist at antiwar demo.jpg|thumb|upright|60,000–200,000 protesters of various ages demonstrated in San Francisco, 15 February 2003]]
In the [[2003 State of the Union address]], President Bush said "we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs".<ref>[[s:George W. Bush's Third State of the Union Address]]</ref> On 5 February 2003, U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] addressed the [[United Nations General Assembly]], continuing U.S. efforts to gain UN authorization for an invasion. His [[Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council|presentation to the UN Security Council]] contained a computer-generated image of a "mobile biological weapons laboratory". However, this information was based on claims of [[Curveball (informant)|Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball"]], an Iraqi emigrant living in Germany who later admitted that his claims had been false.

Powell also presented false assertions alleging [[Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations|Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda]]. As a follow-up to Powell's presentation, the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Japan, and Spain proposed a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but Canada, France, and Germany, together with Russia, strongly urged continued diplomacy. Facing a losing vote as well as a likely veto from France and Russia, the US, UK, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Australia eventually withdrew their resolution.<ref>{{cite news |title=US, Britain and Spain Abandon Resolution |url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/armtwist/2003/0317usbritspain.htm |agency=Associated Press |date=17 March 2003 |access-date=6 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060802194357/http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/armtwist/2003/0317usbritspain.htm |archive-date=2 August 2006 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/06/sprj.irq.main/index.html |title=Bush: Iraq is playing 'willful charade' |publisher=CNN |date=7 March 2003 |access-date=6 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226024913/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/06/sprj.irq.main/index.html |archive-date=26 December 2004 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Opposition to the invasion coalesced in the worldwide [[15 February 2003 anti-war protest]] that attracted between six and ten million people in more than 800 cities, the largest such protest in human history according to the [[Guinness Book of World Records]].{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}<ref name="Guinness"/>

[[File:Bush, Barroso, Blair, Aznar at Azores.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[José Manuel Durão Barroso]], [[Tony Blair]], [[George W. Bush]], and [[José María Aznar]] on 16 March 2003 at the [[Azores Summit]]]]
On 16 March 2003, Spanish Prime Minister [[José María Aznar]], UK Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]], President of the United States [[George W. Bush]], and Prime Minister of Portugal [[José Manuel Durão Barroso]] as host met in [[Azores Summit|the Azores]] to discuss the invasion of Iraq and Spain's potential involvement in the war, as well as the beginning of the invasion. This encounter was extremely controversial in Spain, even now remaining a very sensitive point for the Aznar government.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1760526/0/foto-azores/aznar/guerra-irak/|title=Azores: el día que Aznar puso a España al frente de la invasión de Irak por unas armas inexistentes|date=16 March 2013|website=20minutos.es – Últimas Noticias|access-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403174812/https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1760526/0/foto-azores/aznar/guerra-irak/|archive-date=3 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Almost a year later, [[Madrid]] suffered the [[2004 Madrid train bombings|worst terrorist attack]] in Europe since the [[Lockerbie bombing]], motivated by Spain's decision to participate in the Iraq war, prompting some Spaniards to accuse the Prime Minister of being responsible.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2004/04/15/actualidad/1081980002_850215.html|title=Bin Laden: "El 11-M es el castigo a España por sus acciones en Irak, Afganistán y Palestina"|date=15 April 2004|access-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403210116/https://elpais.com/internacional/2004/04/15/actualidad/1081980002_850215.html|archive-date=3 April 2019|url-status=live|newspaper=El País}}</ref>
[[File:Prewar-meeting.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. President George W. Bush meets with his top advisors on 19 March 2003 just before the invasion]]
In March 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Australia, Spain, Denmark, and Italy began [[preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq|preparing for the invasion of Iraq]], with a host of [[public relations preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq|public relations]] and military moves. In his 17 March 2003 address to the nation, Bush demanded that Saddam and his two sons, [[Uday Hussein|Uday]] and [[Qusay Hussein|Qusay]], surrender and leave Iraq, giving them a 48-hour deadline.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html|title=President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours|date=17 March 2003|publisher=[[White House Office of the Press Secretary]]|access-date=28 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506075201/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html|archive-date=6 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

The UK [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] held a debate on going to war on 18 March 2003 where the [[British Parliamentary approval for the invasion of Iraq|government motion was approved 412 to 149]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030318/debtext/30318-47.htm |journal=Hansard |date=18 March 2003 |volume=401 |issue=365 |title=Division No. 117 (Iraq) |publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123101047/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030318/debtext/30318-47.htm |archive-date=23 November 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The vote was a key moment in the history of the [[Premiership of Tony Blair|Blair administration]], as the number of government MPs who rebelled against the vote was the greatest since the repeal of the [[Corn Laws]] in 1846. Three government ministers resigned in protest at the war, [[John Denham (politician)|John Denham]], [[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath]], and the then Leader of the House of Commons [[Robin Cook]]. In a passionate speech to the House of Commons after his resignation, he said, "What has come to trouble me is the suspicion that if the 'hanging chads' of Florida had gone the other way and Al Gore had been elected, we would not now be about to commit British troops to action in Iraq." During the debate, it was stated that the [[Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith|Attorney General]] had advised that the war was legal under previous UN Resolutions.

==Attempts to avoid war==
{{main|Failed Iraqi peace initiatives}}

In December 2002, a representative of the head of Iraqi Intelligence, the General [[Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti]], contacted former [[Central Intelligence Agency]] Counterterrorism Department head [[Vincent Cannistraro]] stating that Saddam "knew there was a campaign to link him to 11 September and prove he had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)." Cannistraro further added that "the Iraqis were prepared to satisfy these concerns. I reported the conversation to senior levels of the state department and I was told to stand aside and they would handle it." Cannistraro stated that the offers made were all "killed" by the George W. Bush administration because they allowed Saddam to remain in power, an outcome viewed as unacceptable. It has been suggested that Saddam Hussein was prepared to go into exile if allowed to keep US$1&nbsp;billion.<ref name="WaPo">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-bush-spain-idUSL2683831120070926 |title=Bush thought Saddam was prepared to flee: report |author=Jason Webb |agency=Reuters |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=26 September 2007 |access-date=27 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610042137/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/09/26/us-iraq-bush-spain-idUSL2683831120070926 |archive-date=10 June 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Egyptian president [[Hosni Mubarak]]'s national security advisor, [[Osama El-Baz]], sent a message to the [[U.S. State Department]] that the Iraqis wanted to discuss the accusations that the country had weapons of mass destruction and ties with Al-Qaeda. Iraq also attempted to reach the U.S. through the Syrian, French, German, and Russian intelligence services.

In January 2003, [[Lebanese-American]] Imad Hage met with Michael Maloof of the [[U.S. Department of Defense]]'s [[Office of Special Plans]]. Hage, a resident of [[Beirut]], had been recruited by the department to assist in the [[war on terror]]. He reported that Mohammed Nassif, a close aide to Syrian president [[Bashar al-Assad]], had expressed frustrations about the difficulties of Syria contacting the United States, and had attempted to use him as an intermediary. Maloof arranged for Hage to meet with civilian [[Richard Perle]], then head of the [[Defense Policy Board]].<ref name="transcripts.cnn.com">{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0311/06/i_ins.01.html |publisher=CNN |title=Could War Have Been Avoided |access-date=1 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629034635/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0311/06/i_ins.01.html|archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/world/a-region-inflamed-back-channels-us-opens-firearms-charge-against-iraq-us-contact.html?pagewanted=1 |work=The New York Times |title=A REGION INFLAMED: BACK CHANNELS; U.S. Opens Firearms Charge Against Iraq-U.S. Contact |first1=James |last1=Risen |first2=Eric |last2=Lichtblau |date=11 December 2003 |access-date=29 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905175846/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/world/a-region-inflamed-back-channels-us-opens-firearms-charge-against-iraq-us-contact.html?pagewanted=1 |archive-date=5 September 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

In January 2003, Hage met with the chief of Iraqi intelligence's foreign operations, Hassan al-Obeidi. Obeidi told Hage that Baghdad did not understand why they were targeted and that they had no WMDs. He then made the offer for Washington to send in 2000 FBI agents to confirm this. He additionally offered petroleum concessions but stopped short of having Saddam give up power, instead suggesting that elections could be held in two years. Later, Obeidi suggested that Hage travel to Baghdad for talks; he accepted.<ref name="transcripts.cnn.com" />

Later that month, Hage met with General Habbush and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister [[Tariq Aziz]]. He was offered top priority to U.S. firms in oil and mining rights, UN-supervised elections, U.S. inspections (with up to 5,000 inspectors), to have al-Qaeda agent [[Abdul Rahman Yasin]] (in Iraqi custody since 1994) handed over as a sign of good faith, and to give "full support for any U.S. plan" in the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]]. They also wished to meet with high-ranking U.S. officials. On 19 February, Hage faxed Maloof his report of the trip. Maloof reports having brought the proposal to Jaymie Duran. [[The Pentagon]] denies that either Wolfowitz or Rumsfeld, Duran's bosses, were aware of the plan.<ref name="transcripts.cnn.com" />

On 21 February, Maloof informed Duran in an email that [[Richard Perle]] wished to meet with Hage and the Iraqis if the Pentagon would clear it. Duran responded "Mike, working this. Keep this close hold." On 7 March, Perle met with Hage in Knightsbridge, and stated that he wanted to pursue the matter further with people in Washington (both have acknowledged the meeting). A few days later, he informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told ''[[The Times]]'', "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad.′"<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/world/struggle-for-iraq-diplomacy-iraq-said-have-tried-reach-last-minute-deal-avert.html |title=THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: DIPLOMACY; Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War |author=James Risen |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 2003 |access-date=22 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915040815/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/world/struggle-for-iraq-diplomacy-iraq-said-have-tried-reach-last-minute-deal-avert.html |archive-date=15 September 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

==Casus belli and rationale==
{{Main|Rationale for the Iraq War}}

According to [[General Tommy Franks]], the objectives of the invasion were, "First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture, and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government."<ref>{{cite web |last=Sale |first=Michelle |url=http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/missions-accomplished |title=Missions Accomplished? |work=The New York Times |date=11 April 2003 |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630004014/http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/missions-accomplished/ |archive-date=30 June 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Throughout 2002, the Bush administration insisted that removing Saddam from power to restore international peace and security was a major goal. The principal stated justifications for this policy of "regime change" were that Iraq's [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|continuing production of weapons of mass destruction]] and [[Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda link allegations|known ties to terrorist organizations]], as well as Iraq's continued violations of UN Security Council resolutions, amounted to a threat to the U.S. and the world community.

George W. Bush, speaking in October 2002, said that "The stated policy of the United States is regime change. ... However, if Saddam were to meet all the conditions of the United Nations, the conditions that I have described very clearly in terms that everybody can understand, that in itself will signal the regime has changed."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-10-2002_pg4_1 |author=Bob Kemper |title=Saddam can keep rule if he complies: Bush |work=Daily Times |date=23 October 2002 |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040825024139/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-10-2002_pg4_1 |archive-date=25 August 2004 }}</ref> Citing reports from certain intelligence sources, Bush stated on 6 March 2003 that he believed that Saddam was not complying with [[UN Resolution 1441]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030306-8.html|title=News Release|publisher=White House|access-date=1 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708202824/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030306-8.html|archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Weapons of mass destruction===

The main allegations were: that Saddam possessed or was attempting to produce [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]], which Saddam Hussein had used in places such as [[Halabja]],<ref name="die">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/16/newsid_4304000/4304853.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY; 1988: Thousands die in Halabja gas attack |work=BBC News |date=16 March 1988 |access-date=15 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331034232/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/16/newsid_4304000/4304853.stm |archive-date=31 March 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6991512.ece |title=Halabja, the massacre the West tried to ignore – Times Online |archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20100128200211/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6991512.ece |archive-date=28 January 2010 }}</ref> possessed, and made efforts to acquire, particularly considering two previous attacks on Baghdad nuclear weapons production facilities by both Iran and Israel which were alleged to have postponed weapons development progress; and, further, that he had ties to terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda.

[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|[[Colin Powell]] holding a model vial of [[anthrax]] during a presentation to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003 (still photograph captured from a video clip, The White House/CNN)]]

{{Wikisource|Colin Powell's February 5, 2003 address to The United Nations Security Council}}
The Bush administration's overall rationale for the invasion of Iraq was presented in detail by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the [[United Nations Security Council]] on 5 February 2003. In summary, he stated,
{{blockquote|We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression ... given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take the risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond? The United States will not and cannot run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a post–September 11 world.<ref name="CNNtranscript">[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html "Transcript of Powell's U.N. Presentation:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208074448/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html |date=8 February 2007 }}... a Transcript of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's Presentation to the U.N. Security Council on the U.S. Case Against Iraq". ''[[CNN News|cnn.com]]'', 6 February 2003. Retrieved 24 May 2007. (Part 5 on "Iraq's Biological Weapons Program" inc. still photo of Powell with sample anthrax vial from Powell's presentation of 5 February 2003.) Cf.[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030205-1.v.html Press release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711150635/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030205-1.v.html |date=11 July 2017 }} and [[The White House]] video clip of full presentation, 5 February 2003. Retrieved 24 May 2007.</ref>}}

In September 2002, [[Tony Blair]] stated, in an answer to a parliamentary question, that "Regime change in Iraq would be a wonderful thing. That is not the purpose of our action; our purpose is to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction..."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020924/debtext/20924-05.htm|title=Tony Blair: Answer to Parliamentary Question|work=Hansard|access-date=1 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629085841/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020924/debtext/20924-05.htm|archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> In November of that year, Blair further stated that, "So far as our objective, it is disarmament, not regime change – that is our objective. Now I happen to believe the regime of Saddam is a very brutal and repressive regime, I think it does enormous damage to the Iraqi people ... so I have got no doubt Saddam is very bad for Iraq, but on the other hand I have got no doubt either that the purpose of our challenge from the United Nations is the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, it is not regime change."<ref>{{cite web|title=PM gives interview to Radio Monte Carlo |url=http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page1299.asp |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020622220253/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page1299.asp |archive-date=22 June 2002 }}</ref>

At a press conference on 31 January 2003, Bush again reiterated that the single trigger for the invasion would be Iraq's failure to disarm, "Saddam Hussein must understand that if he does not disarm, for the sake of peace, we, along with others, will go disarm Saddam Hussein."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/01/31/sprj.irq.bush.blair.topics/|title=Bush, Blair: Time running out for Saddam|publisher=CNN|date=31 January 2003|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114081424/http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/01/31/sprj.irq.bush.blair.topics/|archive-date=14 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> As late as 25 February 2003, it was still the official line that the only cause of invasion would be a failure to disarm. As Blair made clear in a statement to the House of Commons, "I detest his regime. But even now he can save it by complying with the UN's demand. Even now, we are prepared to go the extra step to achieve disarmament peacefully."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3088.asp |title=Tony Blair: Parliamentary Statement |work=Hansard |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040213200626/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page3088.asp |archive-date=13 February 2004 }}</ref>

In September 2002, the Bush administration said attempts by Iraq to acquire thousands of high-strength [[Iraqi aluminum tubes|aluminum tubes]] pointed to a clandestine program to make [[enriched uranium]] for nuclear bombs. Powell, in his address to the UN Security Council just before the war, referred to the aluminum tubes. A report released by the [[Institute for Science and International Security]] in 2002, however, reported that it was highly unlikely that the tubes could be used to enrich uranium. Powell later admitted he had presented an inaccurate case to the United Nations on Iraqi weapons, based on sourcing that was wrong and in some cases "deliberately misleading."<ref>[http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100301212154/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36348-2002Sep18 "Evidence on Iraq Challenged,"] Joby Warrick, ''The Washington Post'', 19 September 2002</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/transcripts/powelltext_020503.html Colin Powell's speech to the UN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040113022550/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/transcripts/powelltext_020503.html |date=13 January 2004 }}, 5 February 2003</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4992558 Meet the Press], NBC, 16 May 2004</ref>

The Bush administration asserted that the Saddam government had sought to purchase [[Niger uranium forgeries|yellowcake uranium from Niger]].<ref>Lichtblau, Eric. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/politics/18niger.html?ex=1295240400&en=e12e8081c771c1c0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss 2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017063114/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/politics/18niger.html?ex=1295240400&en=e12e8081c771c1c0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |date=17 October 2015 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 18 January 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2007.</ref> On 7 March 2003, the U.S. submitted intelligence documents as evidence to the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]. These documents were dismissed by the IAEA as forgeries, with the concurrence in that judgment of outside experts. At the time, a US official stated that the evidence was submitted to the IAEA without knowledge of its provenance and characterized any mistakes as "more likely due to incompetence not malice".

Since the invasion, the U.S. government statements concerning Iraqi weapons programs and links to al-Qaeda have been discredited,<ref name="auto1">{{cite news|author=Marquis, Christopher|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/09/politics/09POWE.html?ex=1388984400&en=6bb5457574b8ec1d&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND|title=Powell Admits No Hard Proof in Linking Iraq to Al Qaeda|work=The New York Times|date=9 January 2004|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109145936/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/09/politics/09POWE.html?ex=1388984400&en=6bb5457574b8ec1d&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND|archive-date=9 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> though chemical weapons were found in Iraq during the occupation period.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chivers |first=C.J. |date=14 October 2014 |title=The Secret Casualties of Iraq's Abandoned Chemical Weapons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6TVYqgsp2?url=http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Banner&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1 |archive-date=22 October 2014 |url-status=live  }}<br />{{cite news |last=Ford |first=Dana |date=15 October 2014 |title=Report: United States kept secret its chemical weapons finds in Iraq |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/us/iraq-chemical-weapons/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219072850/https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/us/iraq-chemical-weapons/index.html |archive-date=19 February 2019 |url-status=live  }}<br />{{cite news |last=Schwarz |first=Jon |date=10 April 2015 |title=Twelve Years Later, US Media Still Can't Get Iraqi WMD Story Right |url=https://theintercept.com/2015/04/10/twelve-years-later-u-s-media-still-cant-get-iraqi-wmd-story-right/ |work=[[The Intercept]] |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221060104/https://theintercept.com/2015/04/10/twelve-years-later-u-s-media-still-cant-get-iraqi-wmd-story-right/ |archive-date=21 February 2019 |url-status=live  }}<br />{{cite news |last=Mathis-Lilley |first=Ben |date=15 October 2014 |title=U.S. Covered Up Evidence of Long-Abandoned Chemical Weapons Program in Iraq |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/10/chemical-weapons-iraq-u-s-covered-up-evidence-of-defunct-sarin-mustard-gas-manufacturing.html |work=Slate |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219130045/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/10/chemical-weapons-iraq-u-s-covered-up-evidence-of-defunct-sarin-mustard-gas-manufacturing.html |archive-date=19 February 2019 |url-status=live  }}<br />{{cite news |last=Withnall |first=Adam |date=15 October 2014 |title=Iraq's 'hidden' chemical weapons: US 'covered up' discovery of chemical weapons after 2003 invasion – with many are now in Isis's hands |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/iraqs-hidden-chemical-weapons-us-covered-up-discovery-of-chemical-weapons-after-2003-invasion-and-9795485.html |work=Independent |location=United Kingdom |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219015914/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/iraqs-hidden-chemical-weapons-us-covered-up-discovery-of-chemical-weapons-after-2003-invasion-and-9795485.html |archive-date=19 February 2019 |url-status=live  }}<br />{{cite news |last=Neuman |first=Scott |date=15 October 2014 |title=Pentagon Reportedly Hushed Up Chemical Weapons Finds In Iraq |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/10/15/356360949/pentagon-reportedly-hushed-up-chemical-weapons-finds-in-iraq |publisher=NPR |location=United States |access-date=18 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219020156/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/10/15/356360949/pentagon-reportedly-hushed-up-chemical-weapons-finds-in-iraq |archive-date=19 February 2019 |url-status=live  }}</ref> While the debate of whether Iraq intended to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons in the future remains open, no WMDs have been found in Iraq since the invasion despite comprehensive inspections lasting more than 18 months.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7634313 |title=CIA's final report: No WMD found in Iraq |work=NBC News |date=25 April 2005 |access-date=10 November 2012 }}</ref> In Cairo, on 24 February 2001, Colin Powell had predicted as much, saying, "[Saddam] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbours."<ref>{{cite news|agency=Australian Associated Press|url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/23/1064082978207.html|title=Pilger claims White House knew Saddam was no threat|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=23 September 2003|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206195957/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/23/1064082978207.html|archive-date=6 December 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Connection to terrorists===

Another justification included the alleged connection between the regime of Saddam Hussein and that of terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda that had attacked the United States during the [[September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks]].

While it never made an explicit connection between Iraq and the 11 September attacks, the George W. Bush administration repeatedly insinuated a link, thereby creating a false impression for the U.S. public. Grand jury testimony from the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]] trials cited numerous direct linkages from the bombers to Baghdad and Department 13 of the Iraqi Intelligence Service in that initial attack marking the second anniversary to vindicate the surrender of Iraqi armed forces in [[Operation Desert Storm]]. The Iraqi National Congress alleged that Saddam was collaborating with al-Qaeda from 1992 via the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS).<ref name="Frontline: The Dark Side,"/> For example, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' has noted that,

{{blockquote|While not explicitly declaring Iraqi culpability in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, administration officials did, at various times, imply a link. In late 2001, Cheney said it was "pretty well confirmed" that attack mastermind Mohamed Atta had met with a senior Iraqi intelligence official. Later, Cheney called Iraq the "geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11."<ref>{{cite news |first=Dana |last=Milbank |title=Bush Defends Assertions of Iraq-Al Qaeda Relationship |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 June 2004 |page=A09 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50679-2004Jun17.html |access-date=22 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516102207/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50679-2004Jun17.html |archive-date=16 May 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

Steven Kull, director of the [[Program on International Policy Attitudes]] (PIPA) at the [[University of Maryland]], observed in March 2003 that "[t]he administration has succeeded in creating a sense that there is some connection [between 11 Sept. and Saddam Hussein]". This was after a ''[[New York Times]]''/[[CBS]] poll showed that 45% of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was "personally involved" in the 11 September atrocities. As ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' observed at the time, while "[s]ources knowledgeable about U.S. intelligence say there is no evidence that Saddam played a role in the 11 Sept. attacks, nor that he has been or is currently aiding Al Qaeda. ... the White House appears to be encouraging this false impression, as it seeks to maintain American support for a possible war against Iraq and demonstrate seriousness of purpose to Saddam's regime." The CSM went on to report that, while polling data collected "right after 11 Sept. 2001" showed that only 3 percent mentioned Iraq or Saddam Hussein, attitudes "had been transformed" by January 2003, with a Knight Ridder poll showing that 44% of Americans believed "most" or "some" of the 11 September hijackers were Iraqi citizens.<ref>{{cite news |first=Linda |last=Feldmann |title=The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=14 March 2003 |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0314/p02s01-woiq.html |access-date=22 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930032450/http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0314/p02s01-woiq.html|archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[BBC]] has also noted that, while President Bush "never directly accused the former Iraqi leader of having a hand in the attacks on New York and Washington", he "repeatedly associated the two in keynote addresses delivered since 11 September", adding that "Senior members of his administration have similarly conflated the two." For instance, the BBC report quotes Colin Powell in February 2003, stating that "We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases. And we know that after September 11, Saddam Hussein's regime gleefully celebrated the terrorist attacks on America." The same BBC report also noted the results of a recent opinion poll, which suggested that "70% of Americans believe the Iraqi leader was personally involved in the attacks."<ref>{{cite news |work=BBC News |title=Bush administration on Iraq 9/11 link |date=18 September 2003 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3119676.stm |access-date=22 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903161802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3119676.stm |archive-date=3 September 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Also in September 2003, ''The Boston Globe'' reported that "Vice President Dick Cheney, anxious to defend the White House foreign policy amid ongoing violence in Iraq, stunned intelligence analysts and even members of his own administration this week by failing to dismiss a widely discredited claim: that Saddam Hussein might have played a role in the 11 Sept. attacks."<ref>{{cite news |first1=Anne E. |last1=Kornblut |first2=Bryan |last2=Bender |title=Cheney link of Iraq, 9/11 challenged |date=16 September 2003 |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/16/cheney_link_of_iraq_911_challenged/ |access-date=21 May 2023 |work=[[The Boston Globe]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181826/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/16/cheney_link_of_iraq_911_challenged/|archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A year later, presidential candidate [[John Kerry]] alleged that Cheney was continuing "to intentionally mislead the American public by drawing a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 in an attempt to make the invasion of Iraq part of the global war on terror."<ref>{{cite news |title=Kerry challenges Bush on Iraq-9/11 connection |publisher=CNN |date=13 September 2004 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/12/kerry.powell.iraq/index.html |access-date=22 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417183626/http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/09/12/kerry.powell.iraq/index.html |archive-date=17 April 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Since the invasion, assertions of operational links between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda have largely been discredited by the intelligence community, and Secretary Powell himself later admitted he had no proof.<ref name="auto1"/>

===Iraqi drones===
In October 2002, a few days before the [[US Senate]] vote on the [[Legality of the Iraq War#United States|Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution]], about 75 senators were told in [[closed session]] that the Iraqi government had the means of delivering [[biological weapon|biological]] and [[chemical weapons]] of mass destruction by [[unmanned aerial vehicle]] (UAV) drones that could be launched from ships off the US' Atlantic coast to attack [[East Coast of the United States|US eastern seaboard cities]]. [[Colin Powell]] suggested in his presentation to the United Nations that UAVs were transported out of Iraq and could be launched against the United States.

In fact, Iraq had no offensive UAV fleet or any capability of putting UAVs on ships.<ref>Senator [[Bill Nelson]] (28 January 2004) [https://fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s012804b.html "New Information on Iraq's Possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420112938/https://fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s012804b.html |date=20 April 2016 }} ''Congressional Record''</ref> Iraq's UAV fleet consisted of less than a handful of outdated Czech training drones.<ref>Lowe, C. (16 December 2003) [http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20030730114304428 "Senator: White House Warned of UAV Attack,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919032805/http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20030730114304428 |date=19 September 2011 }} ''Defense Tech''</ref> At the time, there was a vigorous dispute within the intelligence community whether the CIA's conclusions about Iraq's UAV fleet were accurate. The [[US Air Force]] denied outright that Iraq possessed any offensive UAV capability.<ref>Hammond, J. (14 November 2005) [https://web.archive.org/web/20070128143930/http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/iraq_uavs.htm "The U.S. 'intelligence failure' and Iraq's UAVs"] ''The Yirmeyahu Review''</ref>

===Human rights===

Additional justifications used at various times included Iraqi violation of UN resolutions, the Iraqi government's repression of its citizens, and Iraqi violations of the 1991 cease-fire.<ref name="beginning1">{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030322.html|title=President Discusses Beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031010540/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030322.html|archive-date=31 October 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

As evidence supporting U.S. and British charges about Iraqi Weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism weakened, some supporters of the invasion have increasingly shifted their justification to the [[Human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq|human rights violations of the Saddam government]].<ref>[http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20030730114304428 Senators Slam Shifting Iraq War Justification.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919032805/http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20030730114304428 |date=19 September 2011 }} Islamonline. 30 July 2003.</ref> Leading human rights groups such as [[Human Rights Watch]] have argued, however, that they believe human rights concerns were never a central justification for the invasion, nor do they believe that military intervention was justifiable on humanitarian grounds, most significantly because "the killing in Iraq at the time was not of the exceptional nature that would justify such intervention."<ref>Roth, Ken. [https://hrw.org/wr2k4/3.htm "War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404145739/http://hrw.org/wr2k4/3.htm |date=4 April 2007 }} Human Rights Watch. January 2004. Retrieved 6 April 2007.</ref>

==Legality of invasion==
{{globalize|date=July 2016}}

{{Main|Legality of the Iraq War}}

{{See also|Legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq|Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq|Opposition to the Iraq War}}

[[File:Bush auth jbc.jpg|thumb|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.]]

=== US domestic law ===
The [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002]] was passed by Congress with Republicans voting 98% in favor in the Senate, and 97% in favor in the House. Democrats supported the [[joint resolution]] 58% and 39% in the Senate and House respectively.<ref name="House of Representatives Roll call">{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml |title=107th Congress-2nd Session 455th Roll Call Vote of by members of the House of Representatives |publisher=Clerk.house.gov |date=10 October 2002 |access-date=15 January 2011 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20110105235420/http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml |archive-date= 5 January 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Senate Roll call">{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237 |title=107th Congress-2nd Session 237th Roll Call Vote by members of the Senate |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=15 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115183231/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237|archive-date=15 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> The resolution asserts the authorization by the [[Constitution of the United States]] and the Congress for the President to fight anti-United States terrorism. Citing the [[Iraq Liberation Act of 1998]], the resolution reiterated that it should be the policy of the United States to remove the Saddam Hussein regime and promote a democratic replacement.

The resolution "supported" and "encouraged" diplomatic efforts by President George W. Bush to "strictly enforce through the U.N. Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq" and "obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion, and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." The resolution authorized President Bush to use the [[Armed Forces of the United States]] "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and enforce all relevant [[United Nations Security Council]] Resolutions regarding Iraq."

=== International law ===
The legality of the invasion of Iraq under international law has been challenged since its inception on a number of fronts, and several prominent supporters of the invasion in all the invading states have publicly and privately cast doubt on its legality. It has been argued by US and British governments that the invasion was fully legal because authorization was implied by the [[United Nations Security Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/iraq/decade/sect2.html |title=Saddam Hussein's Defiance of UNSCRs |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=10 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711150828/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/iraq/decade/sect2.html |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref> International legal experts, including the [[International Commission of Jurists]], a group of 31 leading Canadian law professors, and the U.S.-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, have denounced this rationale.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robincmiller.com/ir-legal.htm |title=Links to Opinions of Legality of War Against Iraq |publisher=Robincmiller.com |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331191202/http://www.robincmiller.com/ir-legal.htm |archive-date=31 March 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0321-10.htm |title=Law Groups Say U.S. Invasion Illegal |publisher=Commondreams.org |date=21 March 2003 |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040215193958/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0321-10.htm |archive-date=15 February 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2770&lang=en |title=International Commission of Jurists |publisher=Icj.org |date=18 March 2003 |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030407232423/http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2770&lang=en |archive-date=7 April 2003 }}</ref>

On Thursday 20 November 2003, an article published in ''[[The Guardian]]'' alleged that [[Richard Perle]], a senior member of the administration's [[Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee]], conceded that the invasion was illegal but still justified.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/20/1069027255087.html|title=Invasion right but 'illegal', says US hawk|first=Oliver|last=Burkeman|work=The Age|date=21 November 2003|access-date=26 May 2006|location=Melbourne|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715014401/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/20/1069027255087.html|archive-date=15 July 2006|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1089158,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal |author1=Oliver Burkeman |author2=Julian Borger |date=20 November 2003 |access-date=26 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060508041000/http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0%2C2763%2C1089158%2C00.html |archive-date= 8 May 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The United Nations Security Council has passed nearly 60 resolutions on Iraq and Kuwait since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The most relevant to this issue is Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|678]], passed on 29 November 1990. It authorizes "member states co-operating with the Government of Kuwait ... to use all necessary means" to (1) implement Security Council Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|660]] and other resolutions calling for the end of Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwaiti territory and (2) "restore international peace and security in the area." Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|678]] has not been rescinded or nullified by succeeding resolutions and Iraq was not alleged after 1991 to invade Kuwait or to threaten to do so.

Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441|1441]] was most prominent during the run-up to the war and formed the main backdrop for Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]]'s address to the Security Council one month before the invasion.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html Transcript of Powell's U.N. Presentation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208074448/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html |date=8 February 2007 }}. CNN.</ref> According to an independent commission of inquiry set up by the government of the Netherlands, UN resolution 1441 "cannot reasonably be interpreted (as the Dutch government did) as authorising individual member states to use military force to compel Iraq to comply with the Security Council's resolutions." Accordingly, the Dutch commission concluded that the 2003 invasion violated international law.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|work=The Guardian|date=12 January 2010|title=Iraq Invasion Violated International Law, Dutch Inquiry Finds: Investigation into the Netherlands' Support for 2003 War Finds Military Action was Not Justified under UN Resolutions|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/12/iraq-invasion-violated-interational-law-dutch-inquiry-finds|access-date=18 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221134933/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/12/iraq-invasion-violated-interational-law-dutch-inquiry-finds|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bush announces Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003.jpg|thumb|President George W. Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office, 19 March 2003, to announce the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.]]

At the same time, Bush Administration officials advanced a parallel legal argument using the earlier resolutions, which authorized force in response to Iraq's 1990 [[invasion of Kuwait]]. Under this reasoning, by failing to disarm and submit to weapons inspections, Iraq was in violation of [[U.N. Security Council]] Resolutions 660 and 678, and the U.S. could legally compel Iraq's compliance through military means.

Critics and proponents of the legal rationale based on the U.N. resolutions argue that the legal right to determine how to enforce its resolutions lies with the Security Council alone, not with individual nations and therefore the invasion of Iraq was not legal under international law, and in direct violation of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter.

In February 2006, [[Luis Moreno Ocampo]], the lead prosecutor for the [[International Criminal Court]], reported that he had received 240 separate communications regarding the legality of the war, many of which concerned British participation in the invasion.<ref>Richard Norton-Taylor, [https://www.theguardian.com/print/0,3858,5187283-111289,00.html "International court hears anti-war claims"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 6 May 2005.</ref> In a letter addressed to the complainants, Mr. Moreno Ocampo explained that he could only consider issues related to conduct during the war and not to its underlying legality as a possible crime of aggression because no provision had yet been adopted which "defines the crime and sets out the conditions under which the Court may exercise jurisdiction with respect to it." In a March 2007 interview with ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'', Moreno Ocampo encouraged Iraq to sign up with the court so that it could bring cases related to alleged war crimes.<ref>Chamberlin, Gethin. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/18/nirq118.xml "Court 'can envisage' Blair prosecution"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420163356/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F03%2F18%2Fnirq118.xml |date=20 April 2008 }}. ''The Sunday Telegraph'', 17 March 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2005.</ref>

United States Ohio Congressman [[Dennis Kucinich]] held a press conference on the evening of 24 April 2007, revealing [[US House Resolution 333]] and the three articles of impeachment against Vice President [[Dick Cheney]]. He charged Cheney with manipulating the evidence of Iraq's weapons program, deceiving the public about Iraq's connection to [[al-Qaeda]], and threatening aggression against Iran in violation of the [[United Nations Charter]].

==Military aspects==
===Multilateral support===
{{Further|British involvement in the Iraq War|Australia in the Iraq War|Polish involvement in the Iraq War}}{{See also|Coalition of the willing (Iraq War)}}[[File:Bush and Blair at Camp David.jpg|thumb|[[Tony Blair]] (left) and George W. Bush at [[Camp David]] in March 2003, during the build-up to the invasion of Iraq]]
In November 2002, President George W. Bush, visiting Europe for a [[NATO]] summit, declared that, "should Iraqi President Saddam Hussein choose not to disarm, the United States will lead a coalition of the willing to disarm him."<ref>{{cite news |title=Bush: Join 'coalition of willing' |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/20/prague.bush.nato/ |date=20 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809215353/http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/11/20/prague.bush.nato/ |archive-date=9 August 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Thereafter, the Bush administration briefly used the term ''[[coalition of the willing]]'' to refer to the countries who supported, militarily or verbally, the military action in Iraq and subsequent military presence in [[Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011)|post-invasion Iraq since 2003]]. The original list prepared in March 2003 included 49 members.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coalition Members |publisher=The White House |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030327-10.html |date=27 March 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125233438/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030327-10.html |archive-date=25 January 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Of those 49, only six besides the U.S. contributed troops to the invasion force (the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Spain, Portugal, and Denmark), and 33 provided some number of troops to support the occupation after the invasion was complete. Six members have no military, meaning that they withheld troops completely.

===Invasion force===
A U.S. Central Command, Combined Forces Air Component Commander report, indicated that, as of 30 April 2003, 466,985 U.S. personnel were deployed for the invasion of Iraq. This included;<ref name="carter2005"/>

Ground forces element: 336,797 personnel
* [[U.S. Army]], 233,342
* [[U.S. Army Reserve]], 10,683
* [[Army National Guard]], 8,866
* [[U.S. Marines]], 74,405
* [[USMC Reserve|U.S. Marine Reserve]], 9,501
Air forces element: 64,246 personnel
* [[U.S. Air Force]], 54,955
* [[U.S. Air Force Reserve]], 2,084
* [[Air National Guard]], 7,207
Naval forces element: 63,352 personnel
* [[U.S. Navy]], 61,296, including 681 members of the [[U.S. Coast Guard]]
* [[U.S. Navy Reserve]], 2,056

Approximately 148,000 soldiers from the United States, 50,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers from the special forces unit [[GROM]] were sent to Kuwait for the invasion.<ref name="PolishSpecialForces">Australian Department of Defence (2004). [http://www.defence.gov.au/publications/lessons.pdf ''The War in Iraq. ADF Operations in the Middle East in 2003''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009194711/http://www.defence.gov.au/publications/lessons.pdf |date=9 October 2016 }}. Page 11.</ref> The invasion force was also supported by Iraqi [[Kurd]]ish [[Peshmerga]] fighters, estimated to number upwards of 70,000.<ref name=MajPeltier>{{cite web |url=http://www.jezail.org/03_archive/manuals_monogrms/Surrogate_war_UW.pdf |title=Surrogate Warfare: The Role of U.S. Army Special Forces |author1=Isaac J. Peltier |page=2 |access-date=21 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524131505/http://www.jezail.org/03_archive/manuals_monogrms/Surrogate_war_UW.pdf |archive-date=24 May 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref> In the latter stages of the invasion, 620 troops of the Iraqi National Congress opposition group were deployed to southern Iraq.<ref name=USNewsandworldreport>{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/iraq/articles/fiff030407.htm |title=Deploying the Free Iraqi Forces – U.S. News & World Report |publisher=Usnews.com |date=7 April 2003 |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040204044320/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/iraq/articles/fiff030407.htm |archive-date=4 February 2004 }}</ref>

Canada discreetly [[Canada and the Iraq War|contributed some military resources]] towards the campaign, such as personnel from the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] who crewed American planes on missions in Iraq to train with the platforms, and eleven Canadian aircrew who manned [[Airborne early warning and control|AWACS]] aircraft.<ref>{{cite web|date=3 September 2012|title=Common Ground – Feb 08|url=http://www.commonground.ca/iss/199/cg199_iraq.shtml|access-date=24 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903083506/http://www.commonground.ca/iss/199/cg199_iraq.shtml|archive-date=3 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Defence|first=National|date=11 December 2018|title=Operation IRAQI FREEDOM|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/past-operations/middle-east/iraqi-freedom.html|access-date=24 September 2020|website=aem}}</ref> The [[Canadian Armed Forces]] had ships, planes, and 1,200 [[Royal Canadian Navy]] personnel at the mouth of the [[Persian Gulf]] to help support [[Operation Enduring Freedom]], and a secret U.S. briefing cable noted that despite public promises by Canadian officials that these assets would not be used in support of the war in Iraq, "they will also be available to provide escort services in the Straits and will otherwise be discreetly useful to the military effort."<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Weston|first=Greg|date=15 May 2011|title=WESTON: Canada offered to aid Iraq invasion: WikiLeaks|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/weston-canada-offered-to-aid-iraq-invasion-wikileaks-1.1062501|access-date=24 September 2020|website=CBC News}}</ref> However, the [[Department of National Defence (Canada)|Department of National Defence]] issued an order to naval commanders to not do anything in support of the American-led operation, and it is not known whether this order was ever broken.<ref name=":0" /> [[Eugene Lang (author)|Eugene Lang]], chief of staff to then-defence minister [[John McCallum]], stated that it is "quite possible" that Canadian forces indirectly supported the American operation.<ref name=":0" /> According to Lang, Canada's military strongly advocated to be involved in the Iraqi War instead of the war in Afghanistan, and Canada mainly decided to keep its assets in the Gulf to maintain good relations with America.<ref name=":0" /> After the invasion, Brigadier General [[Walter Natynczyk]], of the [[Canadian Army]], served as Deputy Commanding General of the [[Multi-National Corps – Iraq]], which comprised 35,000 American soldiers in ten brigades spread across Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|title=Governor General announces awarding of Meritorious Service Decorations|url=https://archive.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4653|access-date=24 September 2020|website=archive.gg.ca}}</ref>

Plans to open a second front in the north were severely hampered when Turkey refused the use of its territory for such purposes.<ref>for more information about Turkey's policy during the invasion look, Ali Balci and Murat Yesiltas, "Turkey's New Middle East Policy: The Case of the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Iraq's Neighboring Countries", ''Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies'', XXIX (4), Summer 2006, pp. 18–38</ref> In response to Turkey's decision, the United States dropped several thousand paratroopers from the [[173rd Airborne Brigade]] into northern Iraq, a number significantly less than the 15,000-strong [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]] that the U.S. originally planned to deploy to the northern front.<ref>Ford, Peter. [https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0403/p09s02-woiq.html "A weak northern front could lengthen Iraq War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227235335/http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0403/p09s02-woiq.html |date=27 February 2008 }}. ''Christian Science Monitor'', 3 April 2003. Retrieved 7 May 2003.</ref>

===Defending force===
[[File:T-72-Fort Hood.jpg|thumb|[[T-72]] [[Lion of Babylon (tank)|Lion of Babylon]] (''Asad Babil'')]]

The number of personnel in the [[Iraqi military]] before the war was uncertain, but it was believed to have been poorly equipped.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 March 2003 |title=Saddam's Last Line of Defense |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saddams-last-line-of-defense/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912201215/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/26/iraq/main546241.shtml |archive-date=12 September 2005 |access-date=6 August 2006 |publisher=CBS}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Burgess |first=Mark |date=12 November 2002 |title=CDI Primer: Iraqi Military Effectiveness |url=http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=607 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130093446/http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=607 |archive-date=30 November 2005 |access-date=6 August 2006 |publisher=[[Center for Defense Information]]}}</ref> The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the Iraqi armed forces to number 389,000 ([[Iraqi Army]] 350,000, [[Iraqi Navy]] 2,000, [[Iraqi Air Force]] 20,000 and air defense 17,000), the paramilitary [[Fedayeen Saddam]] 44,000, [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] 80,000 and reserves 650,000.<ref name="mm">{{cite news |last=Windle |first=David |date=29 January 2003 |title=Military muscle |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3325 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060104144544/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3325 |archive-date=4 January 2006 |access-date=6 August 2006 |work=[[New Scientist]]}}</ref>

Another estimate numbers the Army and Republican Guard at between 280,000 and 350,000 and 50,000 to 80,000, respectively,<ref>{{cite report |url=https://media.defense.gov/2023/May/02/2003213280/-1/-1/0/3106%20-%20Network%20Centric%20Warfare%20Case%20Study%20-%20Vol%20III.PDF |title=Network Centric Warfare Case Study |date=2006 |publisher=[[U.S. Army War College]] |volume=III |access-date=8 January 2025}}</ref> and the paramilitary between 20,000 and 40,000.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} There were an estimated thirteen [[infantry]] divisions, ten [[mechanized infantry|mechanized]] and [[Armoured forces|armored]] divisions, as well as some [[special forces]] units. The Iraqi Air Force and Navy played a negligible role in the conflict.

During the invasion, foreign volunteers traveled to Iraq from [[Syria]] and took part in the fighting, usually commanded by the Fedayeen Saddam. It is not known for certain how many foreign fighters fought in Iraq in 2003, however, intelligence officers of the U.S. First Marine Division estimated that 50% of all Iraqi combatants in central Iraq were foreigners.<ref name="Generation1">[[Evan Wright]], ''Generation Kill'', page 249. Berkley Publishing Group, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-399-15193-4}}</ref><ref name="Zucchino1">David Zucchino, ''Thunder Run'', page 189. Grove Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-8021-4179-8}}</ref>

In addition, the Kurdish Islamist militant group [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]] controlled a small section of northern Iraq in an area outside Saddam Hussein's control. Ansar al-Islam had been fighting against secular Kurdish forces since 2001. At the time of the invasion they fielded about 600 to 800 fighters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Peterson |first=Scott |date=16 October 2003 |title=The rise and fall of Ansar al-Islam |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1016/p12s01-woiq.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920145616/http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1016/p12s01-woiq.html |archive-date=20 September 2011 |access-date=29 October 2011 |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref> Ansar al-Islam was led by the Jordanian-born militant [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi]], who would later become an important leader in the [[Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War)|Iraqi insurgency]]. Ansar al-Islam was driven out of Iraq in late March by a joint American-Kurdish force during [[Operation Viking Hammer]].

===Military equipment===
====Depleted uranium====
According to information provided to the [[Dutch Ministry of Defence]] by American forces, it is estimated that more than 300,000 [[depleted uranium]] rounds were fired during the invasion, many in or near populated areas of Iraq, including [[Samawah]], Nasiriyah, and Basra, the vast majority by US forces. In the information, the US forces provided the Dutch Ministry of Defense with the GPS coordinates of the DU rounds, along with a list of targets and numbers fired. Then, the Dutch Ministry of Defence released the data to Dutch peace group Pax under the [[Freedom of Information Act]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Hastings, Deborah |date=12 August 2006 |title=Is an Armament Sickening U.S. Soldiers? |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0812-06.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703032800/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0812-06.htm |archive-date=3 July 2014 |access-date=30 March 2015 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Edwards |first1=Rob |date=19 June 2014 |title=US fired depleted uranium at civilian areas in 2003 Iraq war, report finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/us-depleted-uranium-weapons-civilian-areas-iraq |website=theguardian}}</ref>

====Incendiary weapons====
US forces used white phosphorus and [[Napalm]] as incendiary weapons during the [[Battle of Mosul (2004)|Battle of Mosul]] and [[Second Battle of Fallujah]] in 2004. On the March 2005, [[Field artillery]], a magazine published by the US Army, published reports of the use of white phosphorus in the battle for Fallujah. [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|the British Ministry of Defence]] confirmed the use of [[Mark 77 bomb]] by US forces during the war.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indiscriminate and Especially Injurious Weapons |url=https://archive.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/168-general/37147-war-and-occupation-in-iraq-chapter-3-english.html |website=Global Policy}}</ref>

==== Cluster munitions ====
US-led coalition forces used 61,000 [[cluster munition]]s containing 20 million submunitions during the 1991 Gulf War, and 13,000 cluster munitions containing two million submunitions during the 2003 invasion and subsequent insurgency.<ref name="cluster bombs">{{cite web |date=10 July 2023 |title=Timeline: Use of controversial cluster bombs in past conflicts |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/timeline-use-of-controversial-cluster-bombs-in-past-conflicts |website=aljazeera}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Use of cluster bombs |url=http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/en-gb/cluster-bombs/use-of-cluster-bombs/a-timeline-of-cluster-bomb-use.aspx}}</ref> Thousands of unexploded munitions from the invasion and previous wars, including cluster munitions, mines and other unexploded ordnance, still posed a threat to civilians as of 2022.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Losh |first1=Jack |date=12 February 2022 |title=In Iraq, the Bitter Legacy of War Still Lies Hidden Underground |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/12/iraq-explosives-landmines-war-legacy-of-war-infratructure-economy/ |website=[[Foreign policy]]}}</ref>

===Military preparations===
[[File:Kurdish-inhabited area by CIA (1992).jpg|thumb|[[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] areas in Northern Iraq]]

[[File:US Navy 030215-N-2972R-045 M1A1 tank off-loads from LCAC.jpg|thumb|US Marine M1A1 tank is off-loaded from a US Navy [[Landing Craft, Air Cushioned|LCAC]] in Kuwait in February 2003]]

==== Special operations forces ====
CIA [[Special Activities Division]] (SAD) and MI6 ([[E Squadron]]) paramilitary teams entered Iraq in July 2002 before the 2003 invasion. Once on the ground they prepared for the subsequent arrival of US and British military forces. SAD teams then combined with [[U.S. Army Special Forces]] to organize the [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] [[Peshmerga]]. This joint team combined to defeat [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]], an ally of Al Qaeda, in a battle in the northeast corner of Iraq. A [[chemical warfare|chemical weapons]] facility at Sargat was also captured. Sargat was the only facility of its type discovered in the Iraq war. The U.S. side was carried out by Paramilitary Officers from SAD and the Army's [[10th Special Forces Group]].<ref name="Attack, Bob Woodward 2004">''Plan of Attack'', Bob Woodward, Simon and Schuster, 2004.</ref><ref name="Tucker 2008">{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Mike |url=https://archive.org/details/operationhotelca00tuck |title=Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War inside Iraq |author2=Charles Faddis |publisher=The Lyons Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59921-366-8}}</ref><ref name="charles-faddis-interview">{{cite episode |title=Charles Faddis 'Operation Hotel California' (Lyons Press) |url=http://wamu.org/audio/dr/08/10/r2081007-22101.asx |series=[[The Diane Rehm Show]] |network=[[WAMU]] |airdate=17 October 2008 |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930081326/http://wamu.org/audio/dr/08/10/r2081007-22101.asx |archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref>

SAD teams also conducted high-risk special reconnaissance missions behind Iraqi lines to identify senior leadership targets. These missions led to the initial strikes against Saddam Hussein and his key generals. Although the initial strikes against Saddam were unsuccessful in killing the dictator or his generals, they were successful in effectively ending the ability to command and control Iraqi forces. Other strikes against key generals were successful and significantly degraded the command's ability to react to and maneuver against the U.S.-led invasion force coming from the south.<ref name="Attack, Bob Woodward 2004" /><ref name="charles-faddis-interview" /><ref name="unseen-war">"Behind lines, an unseen war," Faye Bowers, ''The Christian Science Monitor'', April 2003.</ref>

SAD operations officers were also successful in convincing key Iraqi army officers to surrender their units once the fighting started or not to oppose the invasion force.<ref name="Tucker 2008" /> NATO member [[Turkey]] refused to allow its territory to be used for the invasion. As a result, the SAD/SOG and U.S. Army Special Forces joint teams and the Kurdish Peshmerga constituted the entire northern force against government forces during the invasion. Their efforts kept the 5th Corps of the Iraqi army in place to defend against the Kurds rather than moving to contest the coalition force in the south.<ref name="plan">{{cite book |last=Woodward |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Woodward |title=Plan of Attack |title-link=Plan of Attack |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster|Simon & Schuster, Inc]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-5547-9}}</ref> Four of these CIA officers were awarded the [[Intelligence Star]] for their actions.<ref name="Tucker 2008" /><ref name="charles-faddis-interview" />

MI6 conducted [[Operation Mass Appeal]] which was a campaign to plant stories about Iraq's WMDs in the media and boost support for the invasion. MI6 also went on to bribe many of Saddam's closest allies to turn over information and intelligence.

According to [[General Tommy Franks]], [[April Fool (spy)|April Fool]], an American officer working [[undercover]] as a diplomat, was approached by an Iraqi [[intelligence agent]]. April Fool then sold the Iraqi false "top secret" invasion plans provided by Franks' team. This deception misled the Iraqi military into deploying major forces in northern and western Iraq in anticipation of attacks by way of Turkey or [[Jordan]], which never took place. This greatly reduced the defensive capacity in the rest of Iraq and facilitated the actual attacks via Kuwait and the [[Persian Gulf]] in the southeast.

==== No-fly zones ====
[[File:Iraq NO FLY ZONES.PNG|thumb]]
Since the 1991 [[Gulf War]], the U.S. and UK had been attacked by Iraqi air defenses while enforcing [[Iraqi no-fly zones]].<ref name="CNN-20060525" /><ref name="CNN-20021128" /> These zones, and the attacks to enforce them, were described as illegal by the former UN Secretary General, [[Boutros Boutros-Ghali]], and the French foreign minister [[Hubert Vedrine]]. Other countries, notably Russia and China, also condemned the zones as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 February 2003 |title=A People Betrayed, John Pilger |url=http://www.znetwork.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=3106 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114173549/http://www.znetwork.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=3106 |archive-date=14 November 2007 |access-date=13 September 2009 |publisher=znetwork.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=7 August 2000 |title=Labour claims its actions are lawful while it bombs Iraq, starves its people and sells arms to corrupt states, John Pilger |url=http://www.johnpilger.com/articles/labour-claims-its-actions-are-lawful-while-it-bombs-iraq-strarves-its-people-and-sells-arms-to-corrupt-states |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115120651/http://www.johnpilger.com/articles/labour-claims-its-actions-are-lawful-while-it-bombs-iraq-strarves-its-people-and-sells-arms-to-corrupt-states |archive-date=15 November 2010 |access-date=13 September 2009 |publisher=Johnpilger.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 February 2001 |title=No-fly zones: The legal position |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1175950.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929234116/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1175950.stm |archive-date=29 September 2009 |access-date=13 September 2009 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In mid-2002, the U.S. began more carefully selecting targets in the southern part of the country to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. A change in enforcement tactics was acknowledged at the time, but it was not made public that this was part of a plan known as [[Operation Southern Focus]].

The amount of [[Aircraft ordnance|ordnance]] dropped on Iraqi positions by coalition aircraft in 2001 and 2002 was less than in 1999 and 2000 which was during the Clinton administration.<ref>{{cite web |author1=House of Commons Department of the Official Report (Hansard) |title=UK Parliamentary transcript |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020206/text/20206w16.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720182138/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020206/text/20206w16.htm |archive-date=20 July 2008 |access-date=13 September 2009 |publisher=Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk}}</ref> However, information obtained by the UK [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] showed that the UK dropped twice as many bombs on Iraq in the second half of 2002 as they did during the whole of 2001. The tonnage of UK bombs dropped increased from 0 in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 7 and 14&nbsp;tons per month in May–August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6&nbsp;tons in September – before the U.S. Congress' 11 October [[Iraq Resolution|authorization of the invasion]].

The 5 September attacks included a 100+ aircraft attack on the main air defense site in western Iraq. According to an editorial in ''[[New Statesman]]'' this was "Located at the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shias, it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected."<ref name="newstatebomb">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=30 May 2005 |title=The war before the war |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200505300013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210040821/http://www.newstatesman.com/200505300013 |archive-date=10 December 2006 |access-date=6 August 2006 |work=New Statesman |location=UK}}</ref>

[[Tommy Franks]], who commanded the invasion of Iraq, has since admitted that the bombing was designed to "degrade" Iraqi air defences in the same way as the air attacks that began the 1991 Gulf War. These "spikes of activity" were, in the words of then British Defence Secretary, [[Geoff Hoon]], designed to 'put pressure on the Iraqi regime' or, as ''[[The Times]]'' reported, to "provoke Saddam Hussein into giving the allies an excuse for war". In this respect, as provocations designed to start a war, leaked British Foreign Office legal advice concluded that such attacks were illegal under international law.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=29 May 2005 |title=RAF bombing raids tried to goad Saddam into war |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article527701.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727015416/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article527701.ece |archive-date=27 July 2008 |access-date=1 September 2008 |work=The Times |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=19 June 2005 |title=British bombing raids were illegal, says Foreign Office – Times Online |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article535045.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070326183855/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article535045.ece |archive-date=26 March 2007 |access-date=1 September 2008 |work=The Times |location=London}}</ref>

Another attempt at provoking the war was mentioned in a leaked memo from a meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair on 31 January 2003 at which Bush allegedly told Blair that "The US was thinking of flying [[Lockheed U-2|U2]] reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mcsmith |first=Andy |date=3 February 2006 |title=Bush 'plotted to lure Saddam into war with fake UN plane' |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article342859.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017153359/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article342859.ece |archive-date=17 October 2007 |access-date=13 September 2009 |work=The Independent |location=London}}</ref> On 17 March 2003, U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave the country, along with his sons Uday and Qusay, or face war.<ref>Address to the Nation on Iraq, [https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/WCPD-2003-03-24/WCPD-2003-03-24-Pg338-2 39 WCPD 338]</ref>

==Invasion==
{{See also|2003 invasion of Iraq order of battle}}
[[File:Iraq War 2003 Map1.PNG|thumb|right|US invasion: 20–28 March 2003]]
[[File:Iraq War 2003 Map2.PNG|thumb|right|US invasion: 29 March – 7 April 2003]]
[[File:Iraq-War-Map.png|thumb|Routes and major battles fought by invasion force and afterwards]]
[[File:US Navy 030321-N-4142G-020 Pilots assigned to Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) listen to a pre-flight brief in one of the squadron ready rooms aboard USS Constellation (CV 64).jpg|thumb|right|[[Carrier Air Wing Two]] (CVW-2) mission briefing aboard {{USS|Constellation|CV-64|3}}, 21 March 2003.]]

===Preceding special forces mission in al-Qa'im===
On the night of 17 March 2003, the majority of B and D squadron [[Special Air Service|British 22nd SAS Regiment]], designated as Task Force 14, crossed the border from Jordan to conduct a ground assault on a suspected chemical munitions site at a water-treatment plant in the city of [[Al-Qa'im (town)|al-Qa'im]]. It had been reported that the site might have been a [[SCUD missile]] launch site or a depot; an SAS officer was quoted by author Mark Nicol as saying "it was a location where missiles had been fired at Israel in the past, and a site of strategic importance for WMD material." The 60 members of D squadron, along with their 'Pinkie' [[Desert Patrol Vehicle]]s (the last time the vehicles were used before their retirement), were flown {{Convert|120|km|mi|abbr=in}} into Iraq in 6 [[Boeing CH-47 Chinook#MH-47D|MH-47Ds]] in 3 waves. Following their insertion, D squadron established a [[Wagon fort|patrol laager]] at a remote location outside al-Qa'im and awaited the arrival of B squadron, who had driven overland from Jordan. Their approach to the plant was compromised, and a firefight developed which ended in one 'pinkie' having to be abandoned and destroyed. Repeated attempts to assault the plant were halted, leading the SAS to call in an air strike which silenced the opposition.<ref>Neville, Leigh, ''The SAS 1983–2014 (Elite)'', Osprey Publishing, 2016, {{ISBN|1472814037}} {{ISBN|978-1472814036}}, p.34, p.36</ref>

===Opening salvo: the Dora Farms strike===
In the early morning of 19 March 2003, U.S. forces abandoned the plan for initial, non-nuclear [[decapitation strike]]s against 55 top Iraqi officials, in light of reports that Saddam Hussein was visiting his sons, [[Uday Hussein|Uday]] and [[Qusay Hussein|Qusay]], at Dora Farms, within the [[Dora (Baghdad)|al-Dora]] farming community on the outskirts of [[Baghdad]].<ref name="PBS-20040226">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/cron/ |title=A chronology of the six-week invasion of Iraq |date=26 February 2004 |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=19 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331235432/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/cron/|archive-date=31 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> At approximately 04:42 Baghdad time,<ref name="cbsnews.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-cia-officer-on-the-strike-that-could-have-averted-iraq-war/ | title=Ex-CIA officer on the strike that could have averted Iraq War | website=[[CBS News]] | date=19 March 2013 }}</ref> two [[F-117 Nighthawk]] [[stealth fighter]]s from the [[8th Fighter Squadron|8th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.af.mil/News/airman/0703/air/ |title=The First Shot |work=Airman Magazine |access-date=18 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517050321/http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0703/air.html |archive-date=17 May 2008 |url-status=live |date=July 2003}}</ref> dropped four enhanced, satellite-guided 2,000-pound [[GBU-27]] '[[Bunker Buster]]s' on the compound. Complementing the aerial bombardment were nearly 40 [[Tomahawk cruise missiles]] fired from several ships, including the {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser}} {{USS|Cowpens|CG-63|6}}, credited with the first to strike,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://home.nps.gov/cowp/learn/historyculture/uss-cowpens.htm |title=USS Cowpens |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=23 April 2013 |work=National Park Service |publisher=United States Department of Interior |access-date=27 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415051529/http://www.nps.gov/cowp/historyculture/uss-cowpens.htm |archive-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=live  }}</ref> {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer}}s {{USS|Donald Cook}} and {{USS|Porter|DDG-78|6}}, as well as two submarines in the [[Red Sea]] and [[Persian Gulf]].<ref name="frantic">{{cite news |url=http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/international/middleeast/12escape.html |title=Iraqi Leader, in Frantic Flight, Eluded U.S. Strikes |date=12 March 2006 |author1=Gordon, Michael R. |author2=Trainor, Bernard E. |work=The New York Times |access-date=19 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224030822/http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/international/middleeast/12escape.html |archive-date=24 February 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

One bomb missed the compound entirely, while the other three impacted the site on the other side of an electrified wall surrounding the main palace building, damaging it and destroying every other structure in the compound.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-saddams-bombed-palace/ |title=At Saddam's Bombed Palace: New Details About The First Strike On Saddam |date=28 May 2003 |work=[[CBS Evening News]] |access-date=19 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129010236/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/28/eveningnews/main555948.shtml |archive-date=29 January 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Saddam Hussein was not present, nor were any members of the Iraqi leadership.<ref name="PBS-20040226"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/etc/script.html|access-date=5 June 2011|title=Transcript: The Invasion of Iraq|website=[[PBS]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026072610/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/etc/script.html|archive-date=26 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Baghdad-area hospitals reported that the attack killed one civilian and injured fourteen others, including four men, nine women and one child.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749942956.html |title=Decapitation attempt was worth a try, George |date=23 March 2003 |author=Wilkinson, Marian |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=9 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805170438/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/21/1047749942956.html |archive-date=5 August 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Later sources indicated that Saddam Hussein had not visited the farm since 1995,<ref name="frantic"/> while others claimed that Saddam ''had'' been at the compound that morning, but had left before the strike, which Bush had ordered delayed until the 48-hour deadline had expired.<ref name="cbsnews.com"/>

===Opening attack===
On 19 March 2003 at 21:00, the first strike of the operation was carried out by members of the [[160th SOAR]]: a flight of [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk#Variants|MH-60L DAPs]] (Direct Action Penetrators) and four 'Black Swarm' flights – each consisting of a pair of [[MD Helicopters MH-6 Little Bird|AH-6M Little Birds]] and a [[FLIR]] equipped MH-6M to identify targets for the AH-6s (each Black swarm flight was assigned a pair of [[A-10B|A-10As]]) engaged Iraqi visual observation posts along the southern and western borders of Iraq. Within seven hours, more than 70 sites were destroyed, effectively depriving the Iraqi military of any early warning of the coming invasion. As the sites were eliminated, the first heliborne [[Special forces|SOF]] teams launched from [[Prince Hassan Air Base|H-5 air base]] in Jordan, including vehicle-mounted patrols from the British and Australian components transported by the [[Boeing CH-47 Chinook#MH-47D|MH-47Ds]] of the 160th SOAR. Ground elements of Task Force Dagger, Task Force 20, Task Force 14, and Task Force 64 breached the sand berms along the Iraqi border with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in the early morning hours and drove into Iraq. Unofficially, the British, Australians, and Task Force 20 had been in Iraq weeks prior.<ref>Neville, Leigh, ''The SAS 1983–2014 (Elite)'', Osprey Publishing, 2016, {{ISBN|1472814037}} {{ISBN|978-1472814036}}, p.34,</ref><ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p. 97</ref>

On 20 March 2003 at approximately 02:30 [[UTC]], at 05:34 local time, explosions were heard in Baghdad. Special operations commandos from the CIA's [[Special Activities Division]] from the Northern Iraq Liaison Element infiltrated throughout Iraq and called in the early air strikes.<ref name="Attack, Bob Woodward 2004"/> At 03:16 UTC, or 10:16&nbsp;pm EST, George W. Bush announced that he had ordered an attack against "selected targets of military importance" in Iraq.<ref>{{cite press release|title=President Bush Addresses the Nation|publisher=Office of the [[White House Press Secretary]]|date=19 March 2003|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529111824/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html|archive-date=29 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Address to the Nation on Iraq, [https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/WCPD-2003-03-24/WCPD-2003-03-24-Pg342-4 39 WCPD 342]</ref> When this word was given, the troops on standby crossed the border into Iraq.

[[File:F-15 wingtip vortices.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Wingtip vortices are visible trailing from an [[F-15E]] as it disengages from midair refueling with a [[KC-10]] during Operation Iraqi Freedom]]

Before the invasion, many observers had expected a longer campaign of aerial bombing before any ground action, taking as examples the 1991 Persian Gulf War or the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|2001 invasion of Afghanistan]]. In practice, U.S. plans envisioned simultaneous air and ground assaults to incapacitate the Iraqi forces quickly which resulted in the [[shock and awe]] military campaign attempting to bypass Iraqi military units and cities in most cases. The assumption was that superior mobility and coordination of coalition forces would allow them to attack the heart of the Iraqi command structure and destroy it in a short time, and that this would minimize civilian deaths and damage to infrastructure. It was expected that the elimination of the leadership would lead to the collapse of the Iraqi Forces and the government, and that much of the population would support the invaders once the government had been weakened. Occupation of cities and attacks on peripheral military units were viewed as undesirable distractions.

Following Turkey's decision to deny any official use of its territory, the coalition was forced to modify the planned simultaneous attack from north and south.<ref>''Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War inside Iraq'', Mike Tucker, Charles Faddis, 2008, The Lyons Press.</ref> Special Operations forces from the CIA and U.S. Army managed to build and lead the Kurdish Peshmerga into an effective force and assault for the North. The primary bases for the invasion were in [[Kuwait]] and other [[Persian Gulf]] states. One result of this was that one of the divisions intended for the invasion was forced to relocate and was unable to take part in the invasion until well into the war. Many observers felt that the coalition devoted sufficient numbers of troops to the invasion, but too many were withdrawn after it ended, and that the failure to occupy cities put them at a major disadvantage in achieving security and order throughout the country when local support failed to meet expectations.

The United States launched its invasion of Iraq as an effective operational continuation of the [[Gulf War|First Gulf War]]. Their main objectives were to destroy the Iraqi army, cripple their ability to fight, and dismantle the Iraqi government.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ricks |first1=Thomas E. |title=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq |date=3 May 2007 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-190230-2 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLWJWJ0qXEAC&q=ricks+fiasco+iraq |language=en}}</ref> However, the Iraqis immediately adapted and began using unconventional tactics. Already on March 22, just two days into the war, the Americans encountered their first taste of the insurgency tactics that would later define the war. Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Broadhead, a platoon sergeant in the Crazy Horse troop of the 3rd Infantry Division's cavalry unit, was in a tank heading towards a bridge in [[Samawah]] on the invasion route. He waved at a group of Iraqis, but instead of waving back, they began attacking the American tanks with AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortars. Because these types of paramilitary forces were well-armed, but indistinguishable from civilians, they would come to pose a significant challenge for U.S. forces throughout Iraq War.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ricks |first1=Thomas E. |title=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq |date=3 May 2007 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-190230-2 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLWJWJ0qXEAC&q=ricks+fiasco+iraq |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Baghdad etm 2003092 lrg.jpg|thumb|upright|[[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]]

The invasion itself was swift, leading to the collapse of the Iraqi government and the [[military of Iraq]] in about three weeks. The oil infrastructure of Iraq was rapidly seized and secured with limited damage in that time. Securing the oil infrastructure was considered of great importance. In the first Gulf War, while retreating from Kuwait, the Iraqi army had [[Kuwaiti oil fires|set many oil wells on fire]] and had dumped oil into the Gulf waters; this was to disguise troop movements and to distract coalition forces. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraqi forces had mined some 400 oil wells around [[Basra]] and the [[Al-Faw peninsula]] with explosives.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markus |first1=William |title=Boots & Coots tames Iraq's oil well fires during war |url=https://www.iadc.org/dcpi/dc-novdec03/Nov3-Boots.pdf |publisher=DRILLING CONTRACTOR |access-date=29 December 2020 |date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/21/sprj.irq.oil.wells/index.html|title=CNN.com – UK: Iraq torches seven oil wells – Mar. 21, 2003|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/History/OilFires.aspx|title=Kuwait Oil Company|date=19 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519003256/http://kockw.com/sites/EN/Pages/Profile/History/OilFires.aspx|archive-date=19 May 2015}}</ref>
Coalition troops launched an air and [[amphibious assault]] on the [[Al-Faw peninsula]] during the closing hours of 19 March to secure the oil fields there; the amphibious assault was supported by warships of the [[Royal Navy]], [[Polish Navy]], and [[Royal Australian Navy]].

In the meantime, Royal Air Force Tornados from 9 and 617 Squadrons attacked the radar defence systems protecting Baghdad, but lost a Tornado on 22 March along with the pilot and navigator (Flight Lieutenant Kevin Main and Flight Lieutenant Dave Williams), shot down by an American Patriot missile as they returned to their air base in Kuwait.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/31/military.iraq|title=Coroner condemns 'glaring failures' that led to US missile killing RAF crew|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305033041/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/oct/31/military.iraq|archive-date=5 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> On 1 April, an F-14 from USS ''Kitty Hawk'' crashed in southern Iraq reportedly due to engine failure,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/f-14.htm|title=f-14|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626124822/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/f-14.htm|archive-date=26 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a S-3B Viking plunged off the deck of the USS ''Constellation'' after a malfunction and an AV-8B Harrier jump jet went into the Gulf while it was trying to land on the USS ''Nassau''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pjsinnam.com/war_on_terror/IF/April_2_F-14_SAR.htm|title=The following was received from a PJ in Operation Iraqi Freedom|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924073741/http://www.pjsinnam.com/war_on_terror/IF/April_2_F-14_SAR.htm|archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref>

The British [[3 Commando Brigade]], with the [[United States Navy]]'s Special Boat Team 22, Task Unit Two,<ref>Gray, J.D., Garn, P.G., ''WARBOATS 55 Years of Naval Special Warfare Combatant Craft History''. Blossom Books. 2019. p. 408-413</ref> as well as the [[United States Marine Corps]]' [[15th Marine Expeditionary Unit]] and the Polish Special Forces unit [[GROM]] attached, attacked the port of [[Umm Qasr]]. There they met with heavy resistance by Iraqi troops. A total of 14 coalition troops and 30–40 Iraqi troops were killed, and 450 Iraqis taken prisoner. The [[British Army]]'s [[16 Air Assault Brigade]] alongside elements of the [[Royal Air Force Regiment]] also secured the oil fields in southern Iraq in places like [[Rumaila Field|Rumaila]] while the Polish commandos captured offshore oil platforms near the port, preventing their destruction. Despite the rapid advance of the invasion forces, some 44 oil wells were destroyed and set ablaze by Iraqi explosives or by incidental fire. However, the wells were quickly capped and the fires put out, preventing the ecological damage and loss of oil production capacity that had occurred at the end of the Gulf War.

In keeping with the rapid advance plan, the [[U.S. 3rd Infantry Division]] moved westward and then northward through the western desert toward Baghdad, while the [[1st Marine Expeditionary Force]] moved along Highway 1 through the center of the country, and [[1 (UK) Armoured Division]] moved northward through the eastern marshland.

During the first week of the war, Iraqi forces fired a [[Scud]] missile at the American Battlefield Update Assessment center in [[Camp Doha]], Kuwait. The missile was intercepted and shot down by a [[Patriot missile]] seconds before hitting the complex. Subsequently, two [[A-10 Warthog]]s attacked the missile launcher.

====Battle of Nasiriyah====
{{Main|Battle of Nasiriyah}}

Initially, the [[1st Marine Division (United States)]] fought through the [[Rumaila oil field]]s, and moved north to [[Nasiriyah]]—a moderate-sized, Shi'ite-dominated city with important strategic significance as a major road junction and its proximity to nearby [[Ali Air Base|Tallil Airfield]]. It was also situated near a number of strategically important bridges over the [[Euphrates River]]. The city was defended by a mix of regular Iraqi army units, Ba'ath loyalists, and Fedayeen from both Iraq and abroad. The United States Army 3rd Infantry Division defeated Iraqi forces entrenched in and around the airfield and bypassed the city to the west.

[[File:AAV-Nsry.jpg|thumb|left|A U.S. amphibious fighting vehicle destroyed near Nasiriyah]]

On 23 March, a convoy from the 3rd Infantry Division, including the female American soldiers [[Jessica Lynch]], [[Shoshana Johnson]], and [[Lori Piestewa]], was ambushed after taking a wrong turn into the city. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed, and seven, including Lynch and Johnson, were captured.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.Army.mil/features/507thMaintCmpy |title=Attack on the 507th Maintenance Company |publisher=[[The United States Army]] |date=17 July 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810130257/http://www.army.mil/features/507thMaintCmpy/ |archive-date=10 August 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=19 July 2009 }}</ref> Piestewa died of wounds shortly after capture, while the remaining five prisoners of war were later rescued. Piestewa, who was from [[Tuba City]], [[Arizona]], and an enrolled member of the [[Hopi]] Tribe, was believed to have been the first [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] woman killed in combat in a foreign war.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/veterans/articles/piestewa-1.html |title=Mom, Hopi, hero: Piestewa an icon |author1=Billy House |author2=Mark Shaffer |work=[[Arizona Republic]] |date=10 April 2003}}</ref> On the same day, U.S. Marines from the [[2nd Marine Division]] entered Nasiriyah in force, facing heavy resistance as they moved to secure two major bridges in the city. Several marines were killed during a firefight with [[Fedayeen]] in the urban fighting. At the Saddam Canal, another 18 marines were killed in heavy fighting with Iraqi soldiers. An [[A-10 Thunderbolt II|Air Force A-10]] was involved in a case of [[friendly fire]] that resulted in the death of six Marines when it accidentally attacked an American amphibious vehicle. Two other vehicles were destroyed when a barrage of RPG and small arms fire killed most of the Marines inside.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/086ykhgk.asp |title=Stopping Blue-on-Blue |work=[[The Weekly Standard|The Daily Standard]] |first=Christian |last=Lowe |date=8 September 2003 |access-date=7 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023022108/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/086ykhgk.asp |archive-date=23 October 2006 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> A Marine from [[Marine Air Control Group 28]] was killed by enemy fire, and two Marine engineers drowned in the Saddam Canal. The bridges were secured and the Second Marine division set up a perimeter around the city.
[[File:US Navy 030402-N-5362A-004 U.S. Army Sgt. Mark Phiffer stands guard duty near a burning oil well in the Rumaylah Oil Fields in Southern Iraq.jpg|thumb|A U.S. soldier stands guard duty near a burning oil well in the [[Rumaila oil field]], 2 April 2003]]
On the evening of 24 March, the [[2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion]], which was attached to [[1st Marine Regiment (United States)|Regimental Combat Team One (RCT-1)]], pushed through Nasiriyah and established a perimeter {{Convert|15|km|mi|abbr=in}} north of the city. Iraqi reinforcements from [[Kut]] launched several counterattacks. The Marines managed to repel them using indirect fire and close air support. The last Iraqi attack was beaten off at dawn. The battalion estimated that 200–300 Iraqi soldiers were killed, without a single U.S. casualty. Nasiriyah was declared secure, but attacks by Iraqi Fedayeen continued. These attacks were uncoordinated, and resulted in firefights that killed many Fedayeen. Because of Nasiriyah's strategic position as a road junction, significant gridlock occurred as U.S. forces moving north converged on the city's surrounding highways.

With the Nasiriyah and Tallil Airfields secured, coalition forces gained an important logistical center in southern Iraq and established FOB/EAF Jalibah, some {{convert|10|mi|km}} outside Nasiriyah. Additional troops and supplies were soon brought through this forward operating base. The [[101st Airborne Division]] continued its attack north in support of the 3rd Infantry Division.

By 28 March, a severe sandstorm slowed the coalition advance as the 3rd Infantry Division halted its northward drive halfway between Najaf and Karbala. Air operations by helicopters, poised to bring reinforcements from the 101st Airborne, were blocked for three days. There was particularly heavy fighting in and around the bridge near the town of Kufl.

====Battle of Najaf====
{{Main|Battle of Najaf (2003)}}

[[File:DestroyedT-72outsidenajaf.jpg|thumb|Destroyed Iraqi [[T-72]] tank on Highway 9 outside [[Najaf]]]]

Another fierce battle was at [[Najaf]], where U.S. airborne and armored units with British air support fought an intense battle with Iraqi Regulars, Republican Guard units, and paramilitary forces. It started with U.S. [[AH-64 Apache]] helicopter gunships setting out on a mission to attack Republican Guard armored units; while flying low the Apaches came under heavy anti-aircraft, small arms, and RPG fire which heavily damaged many helicopters and shot one down, frustrating the attack.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/03/25/2003-03-25_iraqis_bash_choppers__one_u_.html |location=New York |work=Daily News |title=IRAQIS BASH CHOPPERS One U.S. copter downed, crew captured by Saddam's guards |date=25 March 2003 |url-status=dead |access-date=9 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605020114/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/03/25/2003-03-25_iraqis_bash_choppers__one_u_.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> They attacked again successfully on 26 March, this time after a pre-mission artillery barrage and with support from [[F/A-18 Hornet]] jets, with no gunships lost.<ref>"On Point - The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom"</ref>

The 1st Brigade Combat Team's air defense battery supported by a COLT (combat observation
lasing team) and the Brigade Recon Troop moved in to secure the bridge at Al Kifl late on 24 March 03.  When the ADA company was unable to secure the western bank of the bridge the commander called for reinforcements. Col. Grimsley order LTC Marcone Task Force 3-69 Armor to send a quick reaction force to support the ADA company.  LTC Marcone sent B 3-7 Infantry to clear and secure the bridge.  Bravo Company was made up of two infantry platoons with M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and one platoon of M1A2 Abrams tanks.  Bravo 3-7 Infantry secured the bridge and fought for 36 hours through a sandstorm.  During that time the soldiers fought against Iraqi Military and Fedayeen forces.  After 36 hours B co 3-7 Infantry was relieved on 26 March.     {{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The [[101st Airborne Division]] on 29 March, supported by a battalion from the [[1st Armored Division (United States)|1st Armored Division]], attacked Iraqi forces in the southern part of the city, near the [[Imam Ali Shrine|Imam Ali Mosque]] and captured Najaf's airfield.<ref name=valorstudios>{{cite web|url=http://www.valorstudios.com/AnNajaf.htm |title="The Battle for An Najaf" by James Dietz |publisher=Valorstudios.com |access-date=9 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703135456/http://www.valorstudios.com/AnNajaf.htm |archive-date=3 July 2007 }}</ref> Four Americans were killed by a [[suicide bomber]]. On 31 March the 101st made a reconnaissance-in-force into Najaf. On 1 April elements of the [[70th Armor Regiment (United States)|70th Armored Regiment]] launched a "Thunder Run", an armored thrust through Najaf's city center, and, with air support, defeated the Iraqi forces after several days of heavy fighting. The city was secured by 4 April.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

====Battle of Basra====
{{Main|Battle of Basra (2003)}}

[[File:1 RRF engage Iraqi Army positions with their 81mm Mortars. Iraq. 26-03-2003 MOD 45142764.jpg|thumb|British soldiers engage Iraqi Army positions with their 81mm Mortars south of [[Basra]], 26 March 2003.]]
The Iraqi port city of [[Umm Qasr]] was the first British obstacle. A joint Polish-British-American force ran into unexpectedly stiff resistance, and it took several days to clear the Iraqi forces out. Farther north, the [[British 7 Armoured Brigade]] ("The Desert Rats"), fought their way into Iraq's second-largest city, [[Basra]], on 6 April, coming under constant attack by regulars and Fedayeen, while 3rd Battalion, [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|The Parachute Regiment]] cleared the 'old quarter' of the city that was inaccessible to vehicles. Entering Basra was achieved after two weeks of fierce fighting, including a tank battle when the [[Royal Scots Dragoon Guards]] destroyed 14 Iraqi tanks on 27 March. A few members of D Squadron, British SAS, were deployed to southern Iraq to support the coalition advance on Basra. The team conducted forward route reconnaissance and infiltrated the city and brought in strikes on the Ba'athist loyalist leadership.<ref>{{cite book|last=Urban|first=Mark|title=Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq|location=St. Martin's|publisher=Griffin|year=2012|isbn=978-1250006967|page=9}}</ref><ref name="Neville, Leigh 2016">Neville, Leigh, ''The SAS 1983-2014 (Elite)'', Osprey Publishing, 2016, {{ISBN|1472814037}} {{ISBN|978-1472814036}}, p.36,</ref>

Elements of [[1 (UK) Armoured Division]] began to advance north towards U.S. positions around [[Al Amarah]] on 9 April. Pre-existing electrical and water shortages continued throughout the conflict and looting began as Iraqi forces collapsed. While coalition forces began working with local Iraqi Police to enforce order, a joint team composed of [[Royal Engineers]] and the [[Royal Logistic Corps]] of the British Army rapidly set up and repaired dockyard facilities to allow humanitarian aid to begin to arrive from ships arriving in the port city of [[Umm Qasr]].

After a rapid initial advance, the first major pause occurred near [[Karbala]]. There, U.S. Army elements met resistance from Iraqi troops defending cities and key bridges along the Euphrates River. These forces threatened to interdict supply routes as American forces moved north. Eventually, troops from the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army secured the cities of Najaf and Karbala to prevent any Iraqi counterattacks on the 3rd Infantry Division's lines of communication as the division pressed its advance toward Baghdad.

Eleven British soldiers were killed, while 395–515 Iraqi soldiers, irregulars, and Fedayeen were killed.

The efforts of the British Army facilitated the re-establishment of the rail lines from the port to Baghdad.

===Battle of Karbala===
{{Main|Battle of Karbala (2003)}}

[[File:DerelictAsadBabil.JPEG|thumb|A [[Lion of Babylon (tank)|Lion of Babylon]] tank abandoned after facing the final US thrust into Baghdad]]
The Karbala Gap was a 20–25-mile wide strip of land with the Euphrates River to the east and [[Lake Razazah]] to the west. This strip of land was recognized by Iraqi commanders as a key approach to [[Baghdad]], and was defended by some of the best units of the [[Iraqi Republican Guard]]. The Iraqi high command had originally positioned two [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] divisions blocking the Karbala Gap.<ref name="stripes.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13572&archive=true |title=Battle through, around Karbala Gap likely to be 'hell of a fight' |work=Stars and Stripes |date=1 April 2003 |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030418111708/http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13572&archive=true |archive-date=18 April 2003 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Here these forces suffered heavy coalition air attacks. However, the coalition had since the beginning of March been conducting a strategic deception operation to convince the Iraqis that the U.S. [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division]] would be mounting a major assault into northern Iraq from Turkey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/michael/kelly1.asp#3.%20Across |title=Across the Euphrates |author=Michael Kelly |work=Jewish World Review |date=3 April 2003 |access-date=15 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223093046/http://jewishworldreview.com/michael/kelly1.asp#3.%20Across |archive-date=23 December 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

===Special operations===
[[File:Iraq invasion northern front.gif|thumb|upright|The northern front during March and April 2003]]

====Initial infiltration====
B Squadron, [[Delta Force]] (known as "Wolverines"), accompanied by several Air Force Special Tactics teams, a Delta intelligence and Target Acquisition{{Clarify|date=August 2021}}, several military working dog teams and two Iraqi-American interpreters, was the first US SOF unit to enter western Iraq, crossing the border from [[Arar, Saudi Arabia]] in 15 customized [[Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle|Pinzgauer]] 6x6 Special Operations Vehicles and several armed Toyota Hilux pick up trucks. As part of Task Force 20, their formal role was to conduct selected high-priority [[site exploitation]] on suspected chemical weapon facilities before heading for the Haditha Dam complex. Along the way, Delta supported the seizure of H-3 Air Base and also conducted numerous deception operations to confuse the Iraqis as to the disposition of coalition forces in the west.  From the south, a week before the invasion began, two members of Special Boat Team 22's Delta Detachment and the Commanding Officer of the 539th Assault Squadron Royal Marine Commandos, were infiltrated into southern Iraq by Kuwait intelligence operatives to gather critical intelligence for the upcoming assault on the port of Um Qasr.<ref name="Neville, Leigh p.93">Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.93, p.127-128</ref><ref>Gray, J.D., Garn, P.G., ''WARBOATS 55 Years of Naval Special Warfare Combatant Craft History''. Blossom Books. 2019. p. 411-412</ref>

====Operation Row and Falconer====
On 18 March 2003, B and D Squadrons of the British 22nd SAS Regiment had now infiltrated Iraq in full strength (D Squadron by air and B Squadron by ground) along with 1 Squadron [[Special Air Service Regiment|Australian SASR]] and headed for [[H-2 Air Base|H-2]] and [[H-3 Air Base]]. They set up observation posts and called in airstrikes that defeated the Iraqi defenders. The combined British and Australian Squadrons took H-2 virtually unopposed. H-3 was secured on 25 March with the assistance of members of Delta Force and by Green Beret ODAs from Bravo company, 1st Battalion 5th SFG; a company of Rangers and Royal Marines from [[45 Commando]] flew from Jordan to the bases and the base was handed over to them. The SAS teams moved to the next objective – the intersection of the two main highways linking Baghdad with Syria and Jordan,<ref>Urban, Mark, ''Task Force Black: The Explosive True Story of the Secret Special Forces War in Iraq'', St. Martin's Griffin, 2012, {{ISBN|978-1-250-00696-7}}, p.10</ref><ref>Neville, Leigh, ''Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.118-119</ref> where both squadrons were involved in conducting interdictions of fleeing Iraqi leadership targets heading for Syria.<ref name="Neville, Leigh 2016"/>

Previously, 16 (Air) Troop of D squadron conducted mounted reconnaissance of an Iraqi army facility near the Syrian border, followed by a harassing attack on the site, two other troops had conducted mobile ambushes on Iraqi units in the area, although they themselves were being hunted by a large Fedayeen Saddam unit mounted in [[technical (vehicle)|technicals]].<ref name="Neville, Leigh 2016"/>

In northern Iraq in early March, a small reconnaissance team from M Squadron of the [[British Special Boat Service]] mounted on Honda ATVs inserted into Iraq from Jordan. Its first mission was to conduct reconnaissance of an Iraqi air base at al-Sahara. The team was compromised by an anti-special forces Fedayeen unit and barely escaped thanks to a U.S. F-15E that flew air cover for the team and an RAF Chinook that extracted the team from out under the Fedayeen's "noses". A second larger SBS operation was launched by M Squadron in full strength in a mix of land rovers and ATVs into northern Iraq from H-2 air base, the objective was to locate, make contact and take the surrender of the Iraqi 5th Army Corps somewhere past Tikrit and to survey and mark viable temporary landing zones for follow-on forces. However the Squadron was compromised by a [[goat herder]]; the SBS drove for several days while unknown to them anti-special forces Fedayeen units followed them. At an overnight position near Mosul, the Fedayeen ambushed the Squadron with DShK heavy machine guns and RPGs, the SBS returned fire and began taking fire from a [[T-72]], the Squadron scattered and escaped the well-constructed trap. A number of Land Rovers became bogged down in a nearby wadi, so they mined the vehicles and abandoned them – though several did not detonate and were captured and exhibited on Iraqi television. The SBS was now in three distinct groups: one with several operational Land Rovers was being pursued by the Iraqi hunter force, a second mainly equipped with ATVs was hunkered down and trying to arrange extraction, the third with just 2 operators on an ATV raced for the Syrian border. The first group tried to call in coalition strike aircraft but the aircraft could not identify friendly forces because the SBS were not equipped with infra-red strobes – although their vehicles did have Blue Force Tracker units, they eventually made it to an emergency rendezvous point and were extracted by an RAF Chinook. The second group was also extracted by an RAF Chinook and the third group made it to Syria and was held there until their release was negotiated, there were no SBS casualties.<ref>Neville, Leigh, ''Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.121-123</ref>

====Operation Viking Hammer====
[[File:Operation Viking Hammer 16.jpg|thumb|left|Aftermath of Battle]]
In the early hours of 21 March 2003, as part of [[Operation Viking Hammer]], 64 [[Tomahawk cruise missiles]] struck the [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]] camp and the surrounding sites, the terrorist group – numbering around 700 – had inhabited a valley near [[Halabja]] Iraqi Kurdistan, along with a small [[Kurdistan Islamic Group|Kurdish splinter faction]]; they had prepared a number of defensive positions including anti-aircraft machine guns and maintained a facility, that US intelligence suspected, at which chemical and biological agents may have been developed and stored for future terrorist attacks. Viking Hammer was set to begin on 21 March, however, the ground component of the operation was set back several days owing to the issues around infiltrating most of the 3rd Battalion 10th SFG into Iraq.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.98, p.100</ref> The Islamic Group of Kurdistan surrendered after having suffered 100 men killed in the 21 March strikes.<ref name="Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13">{{cite web|url=http://www.spirit.tau.ac.il/government/robinson1_Ch13.pdf |title=Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214133920/http://www.spirit.tau.ac.il/government/robinson1_Ch13.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2012 }}</ref>

On 28 March 2003, the ground element of Operation Viking Hammer was finally launched with a six-pronged advance, each prong was composed of several ODAs from 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG and upwards of 1,000 Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. The main advance set off towards Sargat – the location of the suspected chemical and biological weapons site; the force was soon pinned down by DShK heavy machine-gun fire from the surrounding hills. A pair of [[US Navy]] [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet|F/A-18s]] responded to an urgent [[Close air support|CAS]] request from the force and dropped two [[Joint Direct Attack Munition|500lb JDAMs]] on the Ansar al-Islam machine gun nests and strafed the positions with 20&nbsp;mm cannon before departing due to being low on fuel. The advance began again only to be halted once more by fire from prepared DShK and PKM machine gun nests, Green Berets from ODA 081 deployed a [[Mk 19 grenade launcher]] from the back of a [[Toyota Tacoma]] and suppressed the gun positions allowing the Peshmerga to assault and wipe out the terrorists. After capturing the town of Gulp, the force continued onto the village of Sargat; the village was heavily defended by fortified fighting positions mounting DShKs and mortars along with several [[BM-21 Grad]]. Unable to call in airstrikes due to the close proximity of the Peshmerga, a Green Beret sergeant used a dismounted [[M2 Browning|M2 HMG]] to suppress the entrenched terrorists, his actions allowed the Peshmerga to bring forward their own 82&nbsp;mm Mortars and Grads which forced the Ansar al-Islam fighters to retreat. Task Force Viking advanced to secure the Daramar Gorge – which was surrounded by caves in the rock walls – the Peshmerga were again engaged by small arms fire and RPGs which it and the ODAs returned fire with heavy weapons, however, it became obvious that they could not advance any further without air support. To dislodge the terrorists, the [[Combat Controllers]] attached to the ODAs vectored in US Navy F/A-18s which dropped six 500&nbsp;lb JDAMs that shut down any further resistance. During the night, four [[AC-130 gunships]] maintained the pressure on the retreating Ansar al-Islam terrorists as they pulled back toward the Iranian border; the next day, Task Force Viking seized the high ground and pushed down through the valley – surrounding and killing small pockets of remnants from Ansar al-Islam. With their objectives completed, the 3rd Battalion and their Peshmerga returned to the green line to assist the push on Kirkuk and Mosul. A specialist [[Site Exploitation|SSE]] team was brought in to document the find at Sargat, the team recovered traces of several chemicals including [[Ricin]] along with stocks of [[CBRN defense|NBC protective suits]], atropine injectors and Arabic manuals on chemical weapons and [[Improvised explosive device|IED]] construction. Estimates of Ansar al-Islam dead number over 300, many of them foreign fighters, while only 22 Peshmerga fighters were killed.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.100-101</ref>

===Special operations in northern Iraq===
[[File:Operation Viking Hammer.jpg|thumb|left|Peshmerga, U.S. Special Operations]]
Also in the North, the [[10th Special Forces Group]] (10th SFG) and CIA paramilitary officers from their [[Special Activities Division]] had the mission of aiding the Kurdish parties, the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]] and the [[Kurdistan Democratic Party]], de facto rulers of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] since 1991, and employing them against the 13 Iraqi Divisions located near Kirkuk and Mosul.<ref>{{cite book|author=Anthony H. Cordesman|title=The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics, and Military Lessons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cU8Kpzu9osC&pg=PA59|year=2003|publisher=CSIS|isbn=978-0-89206-432-8|page=59|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919064133/https://books.google.com/books?id=7cU8Kpzu9osC&pg=PA59|archive-date=19 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Peltier2005"/> Turkey had officially prohibited any coalition troops from using their bases or airspace, so lead elements of the 10th SFG had to make a detour infiltration; their flight was supposed to take four hours but instead took ten.<ref name="Peltier2005">{{cite web |url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA436109 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707001729/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA436109 |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 July 2013 |title=Surrogate Warfare: The Role of U.S. Army SpecialForces |last1=Peltier |first1=Issac J. |date=26 May 2005 |website=School of Advanced Military Studies |publisher=United States Army Command and General Staff College |access-date=18 March 2015 }}</ref> On 22 March 2003, the majority of 2nd and 3rd Battalions 10th SFG, from Task Force Viking flew from their forward staging area in [[Constanta]], Romania to a location near [[Irbil]] aboard six [[MC-130H Combat Talon II|MC-130H Combat Talons]]. Several were engaged by Iraqi air defences on the flight into northern Iraq (one was sufficiently damaged enough that it was forced to make an emergency landing at Incirlik Air Base). The initial lift had deployed 19 Green Beret ODAs and four ODBs into Northern Iraq.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p. 97-98</ref> Hours after the first of such flights, Turkey did allow the use of its air space and the rest of the 10th SFG infiltrated in. The preliminary mission was to destroy the base of the Kurdish terrorist group [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]], believed to be linked to al-Qaeda. Concurrent and follow-on missions involved attacking and fixing Iraqi forces in the north, thus preventing their deployment to the southern front and the main effort of the invasion.<ref name="Peltier2005"/> Eventually Task Force Viking would number 51 ODAs and ODBs alongside some 60,000 Kurdish Peshmerga militia of the [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]] (PUK).<ref>Neville, Leigh, ''Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.98</ref>

On 26 March 2003, the [[173rd Airborne Brigade]] augmented the invasion's northern front by parachuting into northern Iraq onto Bashur Airfield, controlled at the time by elements of 10th SFG and Kurdish peshmerga. The fall of Kirkuk on 10 April 2003 to the 10th SFG, CIA Paramilitary Teams and Kurdish peshmerga precipitated the 173rd's planned assault, preventing the unit's involvement in combat against Iraqi forces during the invasion.<ref name="10thSFGand173rdAbnBde">{{cite book|author1=Gregory Fontenot|author2=E. J. Degen|author3=David Tohn|title=On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7x8U4t-oJvcC&pg=PA222|year=2004|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-59114-279-9|pages=222–232|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918233344/https://books.google.com/books?id=7x8U4t-oJvcC&pg=PA222|archive-date=18 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the Battle of Haditha Dam, Delta Force handed the dam over to the Rangers and headed north to conduct ambushes along the highway above Tikrit, tying up Iraqi forces in the region and attempting to capture fleeing high-value targets trying to escape to Syria.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.128-130</ref>

On 2 April, Delta was engaged by half a dozen armed technicals from the same anti-special forces Fedayeen that had previously fought the SBS. Two Delta operators were wounded (one serious); the squadron requested an urgent aeromedical evacuation and immediate close-air support as a company of truck-borne Iraqi reinforcements arrived. Two MH-60K Blackhawks carrying a para jumper medical team and two MH-60L DAPs of the 160th SOAR responded and engaged the Iraqis, which allowed the Delta operators to move their casualties to an emergency HLZ and they were medevaced to H-1 escorted by a pair of A-10As, however [[Master Sergeant]] George Fernandez died. The DAPs stayed on station and continued to engage the Iraqis, destroying a truck carrying a mortar and several infantry squads, while Delta snipers killed Iraqi infantryman firing on the DAPs, another pair of A-10As arrived and dropped airburst 500&nbsp;lb bombs within 20m of Delta positions and killed a large number of Iraqi infantry gathering in a wadi. The DAPs spotted several Iraqi units and engaged them until they were dangerously low on fuel.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.93, p.130</ref>

Task Force Viking launched an operation to seize the town of [[Ain Sifni]]. The town was strategically important because it straddles the main highway into [[Mosul]]. Once the town fell, it would be clear for the coalition to advance on Mosul. ODAs from the 3rd and 10th SFG called in airstrikes on the Iraqi garrisons in and around the town, causing many of the Iraqi conscripts to flee. By 5 April 2003, there appeared to be only two Iraqi platoons left in the town. On 6 April, ODAs 051, 055, and 056 assaulted the town – ODAs 055 and 056 provided fire support along with Peshmerga heavy weapons teams, while ODA 51 made the actual assault on the town. As ODA 51 cautiously advanced on the village, it came under intense fire – the two platoons of Iraqis turned out to be closer to battalion strength and equipped with heavy weapons like 82&nbsp;mm mortars, anti-aircraft guns, and an artillery piece. After 4 hours of F/A-18 airstrikes and constant heavy weapons fire from ODA 055 and 056, the assault force entered Ain Sifni; soon afterward, Iraqi infantry counterattacked, supported by several mortars, attempting to retake the town, but it was beaten back by ODA 51 and the Kurds.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.102</ref>

On 6 April 2003, ODA 391 and ODA 392 from the 3rd SFG and ODA 044 from 10th SFG with about 150 Kurdish fighters were the main force involved in the [[Battle of Debecka Pass]].<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.102-105</ref>

On 9 April, nine ODAs from FOB 103 encircled [[Kirkuk]] after fierce fighting to capture the ridges overlooking the approaches to the city. The earlier capture of the nearby city of [[Tuz Khormato|Tuz]] had largely broken the will of the Iraqi Army and only the Fedayeen remained in Kirkuk. The first ODA units entered the city the next day; a week later the 173rd Airborne took over responsibility for the city. After some minor skirmishes the Fedayeen fled.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.105</ref> Staging out of MSS Grizzly, Delta mounted operations to interdict Ba'ath Party HVTs on Highway 1 (Highway 2 and 4 in western Iraq had been secured by British SAS and Australian SAS teams), on 9 April, the combined team seized an airfield near Tikrit.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.93, p.130-131</ref>

The successful occupation of Kirkuk came after approximately two weeks of fighting that included the Battle of the Green Line (the unofficial border of the Kurdish autonomous zone) and the subsequent Battle of Kani Domlan Ridge (the ridgeline running northwest to southeast of Kirkuk), the latter fought exclusively by 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG and Kurdish peshmerga against the Iraqi [[1st Corps (Iraq)|1st Corps]]. The 173rd Brigade would eventually take responsibility for Kirkuk days later, becoming involved in the counterinsurgency fight and remain there until redeploying a year later.<ref name="10thSFGand173rdAbnBde" />

On 11 April an advanced element from FOB 102 numbering no more than 30 Green Berets advanced into Mosul. The advance had followed several days of heavy airstrikes on three Iraqi divisions defending Mosul. On 13 April, 3rd Battalion 3rd SFG and a battalion from the [[10th Mountain Division]] were ordered to Mosul to relieve the 10th SFG and their Peshmerga allies.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.102, p.105</ref> Further reinforcing operations in Northern Iraq, the [[26th Marine Expeditionary Unit]] (Special Operations Capable), serving as Landing Force Sixth Fleet, deployed in April to Erbil and subsequently Mosul via Marine [[KC-130]] flights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.26thmeu.marines.mil/About/History.aspx |title=26th MEU History |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, United States Marine Corps |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320232030/http://www.26thmeu.marines.mil/About/History.aspx |archive-date=20 March 2015 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The 26 MEU (SOC) maintained security of the Mosul airfield and surrounding area until relief by the 101st Airborne Division.<ref>{{cite book|title=After Saddam: Prewar Planning and the Occupation of Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWgP_DiGKRUC&pg=PA85|year=2008|publisher=Rand Corporation|isbn=978-0-8330-4458-7|page=85|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918234547/https://books.google.com/books?id=nWgP_DiGKRUC&pg=PA85|archive-date=18 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Special operations in southern Iraq====
[[File:030323-M-3692W-014 Sgt. Jeff Seabaugh, a squad leader with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC)), moves his Marines to their objective during a mission in the Iraq War.jpg|thumb|left|A squad leader with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (15th MEU (SOC))]]On 21 March, ODA 554 of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion [[5th SFG]] crossed the border with the United States Marines to support the seizure of the Rumaylah oil fields which was later secured by UK forces; half the team later drove to the outskirts of Basra and successfully picked up four Iraqi oil industry technicians who had been recruited by the CIA to assist in safeguarding the oil fields from destruction. They later rejoined the other half of the team and fought roving bands of Fedayeen. The ODAs next mission was to work with a CIA-recruited Sheikh and assist British forces in identifying targets around Basra. The ODA soon established an informant network, they eventually assisted the British in rounding up some 170 Fedayeen in the city; they were eventually replaced by members of G Squadron 22nd SAS Regiment.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.116</ref>

====Battle of Haditha Dam====
The [[Battle of Haditha Dam]] occurred on 24 March 2003, Rangers from [[3rd Ranger Battalion (United States)|3rd Battalion]], [[75th Ranger Regiment]], conducted a combat parachute drop onto [[H-1 Air Base]], securing the site as a staging area for operations in the west. Delta Force recce operators drove through Iraqi lines around the [[Haditha Dam]] on customised ATVs, marking targets for coalition airstrikes resulting in the eventual destruction of a large number of Iraqi armoured vehicles and anti aircraft systems. Delta's reconnaissance of the dam indicated that a larger force would be needed to seize it, so a request was made and approved for a second Delta squadron from Fort Bragg to be dispatched with a further Ranger battalion, along with M1A1 Abrams tanks from C Company, 2nd Battalion [[70th Armor Regiment|70th Armor]]. C-17 flew the company from Tallil to H-1 and then to MSS (Mission Support Site) Grizzly – a desert strip established by Delta Force located between Haditha and Tikrit; C Squadron, Delta Force was flown directly to MSS Grizzly.<ref name="Neville, Leigh p.93"/>

On 1 April, C squadron, Delta Force and 3/75th Ranger Regiment conducted a night-time ground assault in their [[Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle|Pinzgauers]] and GMVs against the Haditha Dam complex. Three platoons of Rangers seized the dams' administrative buildings with little initial opposition, while a pair of AH-6M Six Guns orbited overhead. After daybreak, a Ranger sniper shot and killed 3 Iraqis carrying RPGs on the western side of the dam and Rangers on the eastern side engaged a truck carrying infantry, which led to an hour-long contract. South of the dam, another Ranger platoon was securing the dam's power station and electricity transformer against sabotage, another platoon was occupied establishing blocking positions on the main road into the dam complex. The blocking positions came under the sporadic mortar fire, resulting in the AH-6Ms flying multiple gun runs to silence the mortar positions, another mortar team, firing from a small island was engaged and silenced by a Ranger Javelin team. For five days, Iraqi forces continued to harass the Rangers at the dam, principally with episodic artillery and mortar fire along with several infantry counterattacks against the blocking positions; the [[HIMARS]] rocket system saw its first combat deployment at the dam – firing counter-battery missions, 3 Rangers were killed on 3 April by a [[VBIED]] at the blocking positions, the car was driven by a pregnant Iraqi woman acting distressed and asking for water. Rangers captured an Iraqi forward observer dressed as a civilian after sinking his kayak with .50cal fire, the observer had maps of the Rangers positions.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.93, p.128-130</ref>

====Objective Beaver====
Intelligence indicated that chemical and biological weapons stocks may have been located at a complex known as al Qadisiyah Research Centre along the shore of the [[Lake Qadisiyah|al Qadisiyah reservoir]] among government and residential buildings, on the evening of 26 March, a [[DEVGRU]] assault element supported by B Company, [[2nd Ranger Battalion (United States)|2nd Battalion]], 75th Ranger Regiment assaulted the complex (codenamed Objective Beaver). While the first of four MH-60Ks inserted the Rangers into their blocking positions, it was engaged by small arms fire from a nearby building, an AH-6M spotted the muzzle flashes and fired a 2.75-inch rocket into the location silencing the small arms fire, the second MH-60K was also struck by small arms fire but its door gunner suppressed it. A-10As engaged nearby electricity transformers successfully blacking out the area, but it resulted in a series of explosions and a resulting fire at the stations that dramatically lit the sky – pinpointing the orbiting helicopters for enemy gunmen. Small arms fire increased as the final two MH-60Ks inserted their blocking teams, one Ranger was wounded, the two pairs of AH-6Ms and MH-60L DAPs supporting the mission continued to suppress targets as the four MH-47Es carrying the DEVGRU main assault force inserted under heavy enemy small arms fire while DEVGRU sniper teams aboard a pair of MH-6Ms engaged numerous gunmen and vehicles, one Nightstalker crew was wounded as the MH-47Es lifted off. The SEALs conducted a hasty SSE while the Ranger blocking positions received and returned fire, the AH-6Ms and the aerial snipers continued to engage enemy gunmen while the DAPs pushed further out to ensure no reinforcements approached – engaging and destroying numerous Fedayeen armed technicals. The SSE took longer than expected owing to the size and maze-like structure of the building, the mission completed after 45 minutes, later tests of the material recovered by DEVGRU showed no evidence of chemical or biological weapons at the Objective Beaver.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.133-134</ref>

====Operations in western Iraq====
Bravo and Charlie companies of 1st Battalion [[5th SFG]] crossed the Kuwait border at H-Hour with ODA 531 using breaching demolition charges to clear a path through the sand berms. Charlie company's seven ODAs in 35 vehicles took the southeastern operation box of the western desert heading towards the towns of [[Nukhayb|Nukyab]], Habbariya and Mudyasis, ODA's 534 and 532 split off to head for the area surrounding Nukyab searching for mobile Scud-B TEL launch sites.  ODA 532 also inserted a mobile weather station that provided planners with vital real time weather updates of the battle space. Bravo company set out for the central town of [[Ar Rutba]] and [[H-3 Air Base]] with six ODAs and a support ODB (Operational Detachment Bravo). ODAs 523 and 524 searched a suspected Scud-B storage facility while ODAs 521 and 525 were tasked with clearing several abandoned airfields, with no sign of Scud launchers, ODA 525 deployed a Special Reconnaissance team to conduct pattern of life surveillance on the town of Ar Rutba. A two-man team called in a pair of nearby F-16C Fighting Falcons to destroy an Iraqi Army radio direction-finding facility they had identified. A second reconnaissance team from ODA 525 deployed to cover the two highways leading to Ar Rutbah, however as the team was compromised by roving Bedouins who informed the Iraqi Army garrison at Ar Rutbah of the teams presence and location, armed Iraqi technicals crewed by the Fedayeen drove out to search for them, so the Green Berets mounted their GMVs, left their hide and found a position to ambush the Fedayeen, under the weight of fire the Fedayeen retreated. ODA 525 attempted to link up with the two-man reconnaissance team and extract it to safety but large numbers of Iraqi vehicles began driving out of the town to them, the ODAs called in immediate air support. While waiting, the reconnaissance team and Target Acquisition Marines fired on the Fedayeen leaders with their suppressed MK12 sniper rifle and contacted ODA 521 (who were clearing suspects east of the town) and they reinforced ODA 525. Within minutes, F-16Cs arrived and engaged the Fedayeen vehicles, another Fedayeen convoy attempted to outflank ODA 525 but ran into the guns of ODA 524, after 4 hours of constant and punishing airstrikes on the encircling Fedayeen, eight GMVs of ODA 521 and 525 managed to extract the exposed reconnaissance team under the cover of a B-1B strategic bomber, the vehicles withdrew to ODB 520s staging area south of Ar Rutbah. Over 100 Fedayeen fighters were killed and four armed technicals were destroyed. To the west ODA 523 reinforced ODA 524, but ran into a pair of armed technicals on the highway, both were destroyed by the GMVs, the Green Berets ceased fire when a civilian station wagon full of Iraqi children drove into the middle of the firefight. ODA 522 also identified two Fedayeen armed technicals proceeding down the highway toward ODA 523, they set an ambush for them, destroying the vehicles and killing 15 Fedayeen.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.108-111</ref>

The strategic intent of the US Army Special Forces ODAs had been to shut down the main supply routes and deny access around Ar Rutbah and the strategically important H-3 air base, which was defended by a battalion of Iraqi troops and significant numbers of mobile and static anti aircraft guns. On 24 March 2003, the surrounding ODAs supported by Task Force 7 (British [[Special Air Service]]) and Task Force 64 (Australian Special Air Service Regiment) called in constant 24 hours of precision airstrikes on H-3 using SOFLAM target designators, the aerial bombardment forced the Iraqi military vehicles to leave the base and headed towards Baghdad. ODA 521 over watching the highway they were travelling on ambushed the convoy destroying a truck mounted [[ZU-23]], the convoy was thrown into disarray, a sandstorm prevented the ODA calling in airstrikes and the convoy scattered into the desert. Bravo company 5th SFG and the coalition SOF secured the airfield, finding a [[Roland (missile)|Roland surface-to-air missile system]], around 80 assorted anti aircraft cannon guns including [[ZSU-23-4 Shilka]], [[9K32 Strela-2|SA-7 grail handheld SAMs]] and an enormous amount of ammunition. H-3 was established as an Advanced Operating Base for Bravo company, with supplies delivered by C-130s and MH-47Es; ODA 581 vehicle checkpoint managed to capture the Iraqi general in command of H-3 as he was trying to escape in civilian attire, he was secured and flown by an unmarked CIA SAD Air Branch Little Bird on 28 March for further interrogation. Additionally, ODA 523 discovered what may have been chemical weapons samples in a laboratory on the grounds of H-3.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.111-112</ref>

Bravo company turned its attention to Ar Rutbah, signals intercepts by SOT-A (Support Operations Team – Alpha) and an informer network among the Bedouins as well as inhabitants of the town indicated that around 800 Fedayeen remained in the town; Fedayeen patrols from the town were engaged by surrounding Green Berets and captured. ODAs guided precision airstrikes on Fedayeen anti aircraft guns on the outskirts of the town and on top of the airstrikes, they also struck large groups of Fedayeen militia with Javelin missiles. On 9 April, nine ODAs secured the main roads into the town and commenced a day of near continuous final airstrikes from fix-wing aircraft and Apache helicopters. Civilians from the town approached the Green Berets asking them to stop the bombing, the Green Berets struck a deal with the civilians and they entered the town the next day. A B-52 and 2 F-16Cs flew show of force flights over the town as the Green Berets entered, the Fedayeen blended in with the population. Within days, the Green Berets helped the town to elect a mayor and set up markets, get sixty percent of the electricity grid working and repair water supplies. ODA 521 and 525 continued to operate in the region, stopping several trucks carrying foreign fighters, they disarmed them, took their details and warned them not to come back before sending them to Syria; in late May, the teams were replaced by the [[3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment]].<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.113-114</ref>

====Other special operations====
[[File:T-54s, T-55s, Type 59s or Type 69s at Diwaniyah, Iraq.jpg|thumb|The destroyed remains of Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles litter an Iraqi military complex west of [[Diwaniyah]]]]
The 2nd [[Battalion]] of the U.S. [[5th Special Forces Group]], [[United States Army Special Forces]] (Green Berets) conducted reconnaissance in the cities of [[Basra]], [[Karbala]] and various other locations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.groups.sfahq.com/5th/03_04_29_before_war_sf.htm |title=SF in Iraq Long Before War Began |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=U.S. Army Special Forces Groups (Airborne) |access-date=18 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321015110/http://www.groups.sfahq.com/5th/03_04_29_before_war_sf.htm |archive-date=21 March 2015 }}<br />{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=US Special Forces in Iraq Long Before War Began – 2003-04-29 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2003-04-29-32-us-67306707/381196.html |publisher=Voice of America |date=28 April 2003 |access-date=18 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320200358/http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-a-2003-04-29-32-us-67306707/381196.html |archive-date=20 March 2015 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

After Sargat was taken, Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th SFG and CIA paramilitary officers along with their Kurdish allies pushed south towards [[Tikrit]] and the surrounding towns of Northern Iraq.<ref>{{cite book|author=Leigh Neville|title=Special Operations Forces in Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cqi3yVGkDZ8C&pg=PA12|date=1 January 2012|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84908-826-8|pages=12–13|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914235907/https://books.google.com/books?id=Cqi3yVGkDZ8C&pg=PA12|archive-date=14 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Previously, during the Battle of the Green Line, Bravo Company, 3/10 with their Kurdish allies pushed back, destroyed, or routed the 13th Iraqi Infantry Division.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Frank Antenori|author2=Hans Halberstadt|title=Roughneck Nine-One|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rcU3nBOFO4C&pg=PA133|date=24 May 2011|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-54414-0|pages=133–136|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915001924/https://books.google.com/books?id=3rcU3nBOFO4C&pg=PA133|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The same company took Tikrit. Iraq was the largest deployment of the U.S. Special Forces since [[Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Alexander Stillwell|title=Special Forces in Action: Elite Forces Operations, 1991–2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHyIzfpCFycC&pg=PT199|date=1 December 2012|publisher=Amber Books Ltd|isbn=978-1-909160-42-2|page=199|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919045517/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHyIzfpCFycC&pg=PT199|archive-date=19 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

ODA 563 worked in support of the US Marines around [[Al Diwaniyah]] with local Sheikhs and their militias supported by AV-8Bs and F/A-18s; managing to capture the city of Qwam al Hamza. The following day ODA 563, their local Sheikh and his militia and a small Force Recon team captured the bridge leading to Diwaniyah and the militia attacked Iraqi positions over the bridge, forcing the Iraqi army and Fedayeen to flee toward Baghdad while being harassed by Marine Corps aircraft.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.117-118</ref>

====Jessica Lynch rescue====
[[File:JessicaLynch02.jpeg|thumb|A combat camera video shows the 1 April 2003 footage of PFC Jessica Lynch on a stretcher during her rescue from Iraq.]]
[[Private first class]] [[Jessica Lynch]] of the [[507th Maintenance Company]] was seriously injured and captured after her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces during the Battle of Nasiriyah. Initial intelligence that led to her rescue was provided by an informant who approached ODA 553 when it was working in Nasiriyah, the intelligence was passed on and Task Force 20 planned a rescue mission.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} Launching from the recently captured airfield at Tallil, the rescue force consisted of 290 Rangers from [[1st Ranger Battalion (United States)|1st]] and [[2nd Ranger Battalion (United States)|2nd battalion]], 75th Ranger Regiment, around 60 SEALs from [[DEVGRU]] along with [[United States Air Force Pararescue|Pararescue Jumpers]] and [[Combat Controllers]] from the [[24th Special Tactics Squadron]] conventional Marines from Task Force Tarawa then currently fighting through the city and aviators from the Army, Marines and Air Force.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} The plan called for Task Force Tarawa to conduct a deception mission by seizing the bridges across the Euphrates to draw attention away from the hospital Lynch was held at, an airstrike by US Marine AV-8 Harriers would be conducted against one of the bridges to confuse the opposition further and US Marine AH-1W Cobras were tasked to fly over the area to conceal the sound of incoming SOF helicopters. Air cover as provided by an AC-130 Spectre and a Marine EA-6 Prowler to jam any enemy SAM systems that might be present. With the deception mission underway, the SEAL and select Ranger elements would be inserted by MH-60K Blackhawks and four MH-6 Little Birds, supported by four AH-6 attack helicopters and two MH-60L DAPs, the other Rangers would be flown in by Marine CH-46s and CH-53 transport helicopters to establish a cordon around the hospital grounds. The main assault force of SEALs would arrive by a ground convoy of [[Pandur I|AGMS Pandur]] forearmed vehicles and GMV trucks while the hostage rescue element landed directly on the objective in MH-6 Little Birds.<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.131</ref>

At 0100 on 1 April 2003, TF Tarawa commenced their deception mission, CIA elements cut the city's power as the helicopters approached their objective, the AH-6s led the way, behind them the MH-6s dropped off Task Force 20 sniper teams at strategic locations around and on the hospital.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} The DAPs and the AH-6s covered the MH-60Ks as they dropped off assault teams on the hospital roof and another by the front door, the ground assault convoy arrived and the assaulters raced inside and onto the second floor where Lynch was located.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} 13 minutes later, a MH-60K touched down near the hospital entrance with a team of PJs and SOAR medics on board and transported Lynch to Tallil where it rendezvoused with a standby medical flight and then onto Kuwait and finally the United States.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} The hospital was devoid of any Fedayeen,{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} although evidence suggested they were using it as a base; the Ranger blocking teams experienced some sporadic direct fire, the SEALs and the Rangers eventually recovered the remains of eight members of Lynch's unit that had been killed or died of their wounds. Task Force 20 carried out one of the first successful U.S. [[prisoner of war]] rescue missions since [[World War II]].<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.132</ref>

===Fall of Baghdad (April 2003)===
{{Main|Battle of Baghdad (2003)}}

[[File:DerelictAsadBabil.JPEG|thumb|left|A T72 ''Asad Babil'' abandoned after facing the final U.S. thrust into Baghdad]]

Three weeks into the invasion, the Army's [[3rd Infantry Division (United States)|3rd Infantry Division]], with the [[1st Marine Division]] also present, moved into [[Baghdad]].<ref name="forces">{{cite news |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A33016-2003Apr5&notFound=true |title = U.S. Forces Enter the Heart of Baghdad |newspaper = The Washington Post |access-date = 19 November 2006 |first = Alan |last = Sipress |date = 5 April 2003 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180821114627/https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/?pagename=article&contentId=A33016-2003Apr5&notFound=true |archive-date = 21 August 2018 |url-status = dead |df = dmy-all }}</ref> Units of the Iraqi [[Special Republican Guard]] led the defence of the city. The rest of the defenders were a mixture of [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] units, regular army units, [[Fedayeen Saddam]], and non-Iraqi Arab volunteers. Initial plans were for coalition units to surround the city and gradually move in, forcing Iraqi armor and ground units to cluster into a central pocket in the city, and then attack with air and artillery forces.
[[File:UStanks baghdad 2003.JPEG|thumb|U.S. Army [[M1 Abrams#M1A1|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.]]
This plan soon became unnecessary, as an initial engagement of armored units south of the city saw most of the Republican Guard's assets destroyed and routes in the southern outskirts of the city occupied. On 5 April, Task Force [[64th Armor Regiment|1–64 Armor]] of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division executed a raid, later called the "Thunder Run", to test remaining Iraqi defenses, with 29 tanks and 14 Bradley armored fighting vehicles advancing to the [[Baghdad airport]]. They met significant resistance, but were successful in reaching the airport, and eventually secured it after heavy fighting.

[[File:IrakKriegM1A1USA.jpg|thumb|An American M1 Abrams tank destroyed in Baghdad]]

The next day, another brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division attacked downtown Baghdad and occupied one of the palaces of Saddam Hussein in fierce fighting. U.S. Marines also faced heavy shelling from Iraqi artillery as they attempted to cross a river bridge, but the river crossing was successful. The Iraqis managed to inflict some casualties on the U.S. forces near the airport from defensive positions but suffered severe casualties from air bombardment. Within hours of the palace seizure and with television coverage of this spreading through Iraq, U.S. forces ordered Iraqi forces within Baghdad to surrender, or the city would face a full-scale assault. Iraqi government officials had either disappeared or had conceded defeat, and on 9 April 2003, Baghdad was formally occupied by coalition forces. Much of Baghdad remained unsecured however, and fighting continued within the city and its outskirts well into the period of occupation. Saddam had vanished, and his whereabouts were unknown.

[[File:Marines in Saddams palace DM-SD-04-12222.jpg|left|alt=photograph of three Marines entering a partially destroyed stone palace with a mural of Arabic script|thumb|Marines from [[1st Battalion 7th Marines]] enter a palace during the [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)|Battle of Baghdad]]]]

On 10 April, a rumor emerged that Saddam Hussein and his top aides were in a mosque complex in the Al Az'Amiyah District of Baghdad. Three companies of Marines were sent to capture him and came under heavy fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and assault rifles. One Marine was killed and 20 were wounded, but neither Saddam or any of his top aides were found. U.S. forces supported by mortars, artillery, and aircraft continued to attack Iraqi forces still loyal to Saddam Hussein and non-Iraqi Arab volunteers. U.S. aircraft flying in support were met with Iraqi anti-aircraft fire. On 12 April, by late afternoon, all fighting had ceased. A total of 34 American soldiers and 2,320 Iraqi fighters were killed.

[[File:SaddamStatue.jpg|thumb|upright|The April 2003 [[Firdos Square statue destruction|toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue]] in [[Firdos Square]] in Baghdad shortly after the [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)|capture of the city]]]]

Many Iraqis celebrated the downfall of Saddam by vandalizing the many portraits and statues of him together with other pieces of his [[cult of personality]]. One widely publicized event was the dramatic toppling of a large statue of Saddam in Baghdad's [[Firdos Square]]. This attracted considerable media coverage at the time. As the British ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' reported, {{blockquote|For an oppressed people this final act in the fading daylight, the wrenching down of this ghastly symbol of the regime, is their [[Berlin Wall]] moment. Big Moustache has had his day."<ref>Anton Antonowicz, "Toppling Saddam's Statue Is The Final Triumph For These Oppressed People", ''The Mirror'', 10 April 2003.</ref>}}

As Staff Sergeant Brian Plesich reported in ''On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom'',

{{blockquote|The Marine Corps colonel in the area saw the Saddam statue as a target of opportunity and decided that the statue must come down. Since we were right there, we chimed in with some loudspeaker support to let the Iraqis know what it was we were attempting to do...

Somehow along the way, somebody had gotten the idea to put a bunch of Iraqi kids onto the wrecker that was to pull the statue down. While the wrecker was pulling the statue down, there were Iraqi children crawling all over it. Finally they brought the statue down.<ref>Staff Sergeant Brian Plesich, team leader, Tactical Psychological Operations Team 1153, 305th Psychological Operations Company, interview by Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Cahill, 31 May 2003 in {{cite book|title=Col. Gregory Fontenot, Lt. Col. E.J. Degen, and Lt. Col. David Tohn: ''On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom'', Chapter 6 "Regime Collapse"|url=https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/cace/CSI/CSIPubs/OnPointI.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724141051/https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/cace/CSI/CSIPubs/OnPointI.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 July 2020 |date=10 October 2007 |page=338}}</ref>}}

The fall of Baghdad saw the outbreak of regional, sectarian violence throughout the country, as Iraqi tribes and cities began to fight each other over old grudges. The Iraqi cities of [[Al-Kut]] and [[Nasiriyah]] launched attacks on each other immediately following the fall of Baghdad to establish dominance in the new country, and the U.S.-led coalition quickly found themselves embroiled in a potential civil war. U.S.-led coalition forces ordered the cities to cease hostilities immediately, explaining that Baghdad would remain the capital of the new Iraqi government. Nasiriyah responded favorably and quickly backed down; however, Al-Kut placed snipers on the main roadways into town, with orders that invading forces were not to enter the city. After several minor skirmishes, the snipers were removed, but tensions and violence between regional, city, tribal, and familial groups continued.
[[File:Grateful Iraqis welcome American Marines during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.ogg|alt=video of US Marines entering the city|US Marines being welcomed while entering Baghdad in April 2003|right|thumb]]
U.S. General [[Tommy Franks]] assumed control of Iraq as the supreme commander of the coalition occupation forces. Shortly after the sudden collapse of the defense of Baghdad, rumors were circulating in Iraq and elsewhere that there had been a deal struck (a "safqua") wherein the U.S.-led coalition had bribed key members of the Iraqi military elite and/or the Ba'ath party itself to stand down. In May 2003, General Franks retired, and confirmed in an interview with Defense Week that the U.S.-led coalition had paid Iraqi military leaders to defect. The extent of the defections and their effect on the war are unclear.

U.S.-led coalition troops promptly began searching for the key members of Saddam Hussein's government. These individuals were identified by a variety of means, most famously through sets of [[most-wanted Iraqi playing cards]]. Later during the [[military occupation]] period after the invasion, on 22 July 2003 during a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and men from [[Task Force 20]], Saddam Hussein's sons [[Uday Hussein|Uday]] and [[Qusay Hussein|Qusay]], and one of his grandsons were killed in a massive fire-fight. Saddam Hussein himself was captured on 13 December 2003 by the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of [[Task Force 121]] during [[Operation Red Dawn]].

===Other areas===

U.S. special forces had also been involved in the extreme south of Iraq, attempting to occupy key roads to [[Syria]] and air bases. In one case two armored platoons were used to convince Iraqi leadership that an entire armored battalion was entrenched in the west of Iraq.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

On 15 April, U.S. forces took control of [[Tikrit]], the last major outpost in central Iraq, with an attack led by the Marines' [[Task Force Tripoli]]. About a week later the Marines were relieved in place by the Army's 4th Infantry Division.

Coalition aircraft flew over 41,000 sorties,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afhso.af.mil/topics/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=18635 |title=Operation Iraqi Freedom |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=16 October 2014 |website=Air Force Historical Support Division |publisher=United States Air Force |access-date=16 March 2015 |quote=n the first six weeks, coalition air forces flew more than 41,000 sorties and the USAF accounted for more than 24,000 of the total. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313040611/http://www.afhso.af.mil/topics/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=18635 |archive-date=13 March 2015 |url-status=dead  }}<br />{{cite book|author=Benjamin Benjamin Lambeth|title=The Unseen War: Allied Air Power and the Takedown of Saddam Hussein|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_5mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|date=15 October 2013|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=978-1-61251-312-6|page=135}}</ref> of which over 9,000 were tanker sorties.<ref>{{cite book|author=Anthony H. Cordesman|title=The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics, and Military Lessons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cU8Kpzu9osC&pg=PA204|year=2003|publisher=CSIS|isbn=978-0-89206-432-8|page=204}}</ref>

==Aftermath of the invasion==
{{Main|Iraq War}}

After the invasion, several factors contributed to the destabilization of Iraq. On 23 May, [[L. Paul Bremer]] issued [[Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2]], dissolving the Iraqi Army and other entities of the former Ba'athist state. Ba'athists were excluded from the newly formed Iraqi government.<ref>{{cite web |author=L. Paul Bremer |title=Coalition Provisonal Suthority[''sic''] Order Number 2: Dissoulution[''sic''] of Entities |date=23 May 2003 |url=http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20030823_CPAORD_2_Dissolution_of_Entities_with_Annex_A.pdf |access-date=9 December 2008 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040701202042/http://iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20030823_CPAORD_2_Dissolution_of_Entities_with_Annex_A.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2004 }}</ref> The first postwar election was won by the [[United Iraqi Alliance]], an electoral coalition composed of mainly Shi’ite groups, which proceeded to ostracize Sunnis. [[Shia]] militia groups pushed [[Sunnis]] out of several areas, even emptying entire Sunni neighborhoods in [[Baghdad]] during the [[2007 troop surge]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sjursen |first1=Danny |title=I Was Part of the Iraq War Surge. It Was a Disaster. |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/i-was-part-of-the-iraq-war-surge-it-was-an-utter-disaster/ |access-date=9 April 2020 |date=9 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kingsbury |first1=Alex |title=Why the 2007 surge in Iraq actually failed – The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/11/17/why-surge-iraq-actually-failed-and-what-that-means-today/0NaI9JrbtSs1pAZvgzGtaL/story.html |website=Boston Globe}}</ref><ref name="Guardian1">{{cite web |last1=Beaumont |first1=Peter |title=Sects slice up Iraq as US troops 'surge' misfires |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/04/usa.iraq |website=The Guardian |access-date=9 April 2020 |date=4 March 2007}}</ref><ref name="Cole1">{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Juan |title=A Social History of the Surge |url=https://www.juancole.com/2008/07/social-history-of-surge.html |website=Informed Comment |access-date=9 April 2020 |date=24 July 2008}}</ref> The US military established prison camps where disgruntled Iraqis, former Ba'athists and Jihadist met. [[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi]], future leader of the [[Islamic State]], joined [[Al-Qaeda in Iraq]] while detained at [[Camp Bucca]] in 2004. Future leader of [[al-Nusra Front]] and [[Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham]]; and later [[President of Syria]], [[Ahmed al-Sharaa]], which he went under the name of Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who was a member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, was also held there and released in 2008. All these factors contributed to Iraq's 
sectarian violence and the formation and spread of terrorist organizations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stern |first1=Jessica |last2=McBride |first2=Megan |title=Terrorism after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq |url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2013/Terrorism%20after%20the%202003%20Invasion%20of%20Iraq.pdf |publisher=Brown University |access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="Brookings1">{{cite web |last1=Byman |first1=Daniel L. |title=Iraq and the Global War on Terrorism |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/iraq-and-the-global-war-on-terrorism/ |website=Brookings |access-date=9 April 2020 |year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McCoy|first1=Terrence|title=How the Islamic State evolved in an American prison|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/04/how-an-american-prison-helped-ignite-the-islamic-state/|access-date=5 November 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=Soufan>{{cite web|author1=Richard Barrett|title=The Islamic State|url=http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf|website=soufangroup.com|publisher=The Soufan Group|access-date=12 December 2014|date=November 2014|quote=The alliance between members of AQI and ex-Ba’athist was also strengthened by many of them finding themselves thrown together in United States detention centers in Iraq such as Camp Bucca.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713102203/http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf|archive-date=13 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Guardian121114>{{cite news|author1=Martin Chulov|title=Isis: the inside story|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story|access-date=11 December 2014|work=The Guardian|date=11 December 2014|quote=We could never have all got together like this in Baghdad, or anywhere else," he told me. "It would have been impossibly dangerous. Here, we were not only safe, but we were only a few hundred metres away from the entire al-Qaida leadership}}</ref><ref name=TOI20131104>{{cite web| title= Elusive Al-Qaeda leader in Syria stays in shadows| url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/elusive-al-qaeda-leader-in-syria-stays-in-shadows/ |website = The Times of Israel| date = 4 November 2013| access-date = 15 June 2015}}</ref>

===Bush declares "End of major combat operations" (May 2003)===

{{Main|Mission Accomplished speech}}

[[File:USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) Mission Accomplished.jpg|thumb|left|USS ''Abraham Lincoln'' returning to port carrying its ''[[2003 Mission Accomplished Speech|Mission Accomplished]]'' banner]]
On 1 May 2003, Bush landed on the aircraft carrier {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72|6}}, in a [[Lockheed Martin|Lockheed]] [[S-3 Viking]], where he gave [[Mission Accomplished speech|a speech]] announcing the end of major combat operations in the Iraq war. Bush's landing was criticized by opponents as an unnecessarily theatrical and expensive stunt. Clearly visible in the background was a banner stating "Mission Accomplished." The banner, made by [[White House]] staff and supplied by request of the United States Navy,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/ |title=White House pressed on 'mission accomplished' sign |last=Bash |first=Dana |publisher=CNN |date=29 October 2003 |access-date =21 July 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060715123158/http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/|archive-date=15 July 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> was criticized as premature. The White House subsequently released a statement that the sign and Bush's visit referred to the initial invasion of Iraq and disputing the charge of theatrics. The speech itself noted: "We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We are bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/text-of-bush-speech-01-05-2003/ |title=Text of Bush Speech |agency=Associated Press |date=1 May 2003 |access-date=21 July 2006 |work=CBS News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412050435/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/01/iraq/main551946.shtml |archive-date=12 April 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Post-invasion Iraq]] was marked by a long and violent conflict between U.S.-led forces and [[Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War)|Iraqi insurgents]] that entailed a very high [[casualties of the Iraq War|number of casualties]].
{{clear}}

==Coalition and Allied contingent involvement==
[[File:Coalition of the willing.svg|thumb|right|250px|The "[[coalition of the willing]]" named by the [[US State Department]] in 2003.]]
Members of the coalition included Australia: 2,000 invasion, Poland: 200 invasion—2,500 peak, Spain: 1,300 invasion, United Kingdom: 46,000 invasion, United States: 150,000 to 250,000 invasion. Other members of the coalition were Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, [[Dancon/Irak|Denmark]], Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, [[Georgian involvement in the Iraq War|Georgia]], Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, [[Italian involvement in the Iraq War|Italy]], [[Japanese Iraq Reconstruction and Support Group|Japan]], Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, [[Zaytun Division|South Korea]], Tonga, Turkey, Uganda, [[Ukrainian involvement in the Iraq War|Ukraine]], and Uzbekistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://c21.maxwell.af.mil/iraq.htm#willing |title=Operation Iraqi Freedom |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=13 March 2006 |website=Conflict 21 |publisher=United States Air Force |access-date=12 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819113655/http://c21.maxwell.af.mil/iraq.htm#willing |archive-date=19 August 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> BBC News said 15 other countries were "providing assistance, such as over-flight rights, but which do not want to declare support."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2862343.stm|author=Steve Schifferes|title=US names 'coalition of the willing'|work=BBC News|date=18 March 2003|access-date=17 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225062850/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2862343.stm|archive-date=25 February 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

===  Australia ===
[[File:US Navy 030321-N-4655M-028 Coalition Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team members inspect camouflaged mines hidden inside oil barrels on the deck of an Iraqi shipping barge.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[Royal Australian Navy|RAN]] Clearance Diving Team Three and an [[Australian Army]] [[LCM-8]] inspecting camouflaged mines, 21 March 2003.]]
{{main|Australian involvement in the Iraq War}}

Australia contributed approximately 2,000 [[Australian Defence Force]] personnel, including a special forces task group, three warships and 14 [[F/A-18 Hornet]] aircraft.<ref>Dennis et al. (2008), p. 248.</ref> On 16 April 2003, [[Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq#Forces committed|Australian special operations]] forces captured the undefended [[Al Asad air base]] west of Baghdad. The base would later become the second largest coalition facility post-invasion.

=== Poland ===
{{main|Polish involvement in the Iraq War}}

[[File:GROM DN-SD-04-01612.JPEG|thumb|left|Polish [[GROM]] troops immediately after the port's capture during the [[Battle of Umm Qasr]]]]
The [[Battle of Umm Qasr]] was the first military confrontation in the Iraq War, with its objective the capture of the port. Polish [[GROM]] troops supported the amphibious assault on Umm Qasr with the British [[3 Commando Brigade]] of the [[Royal Marines]], and the US [[15th Marine Expeditionary Unit]].<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,920580,00.html Fierce battle around port]," ''The Guardian'', 24 March 2003</ref> After the waterway was de-mined by a Detachment from [[HM-14]] and Naval Special Clearance Team ONE of the U.S. Navy and reopened, Umm Qasr played an important role in the shipment of humanitarian supplies to Iraqi civilians.<ref>"Iraq aid confined to south", ''The Guardian'', 2 April 2003</ref>

===  United Kingdom ===
{{main|British involvement in the Iraq War}}

British troops, in what was codenamed '''Operation''' (or Op) '''TELIC''' participated in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The 1st Armoured Division was deployed to the [[Persian Gulf]] and commanded British forces in the area, securing areas in southern Iraq, including the city of [[Basra]] during the invasion. A total of 46,000 troops of all the British services were committed to the operation at its start, including some 5,000 [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] sailors and 4,000 [[Royal Marines]], 26,000 [[British Army]] soldiers, and 8,100 [[Royal Air Force]] airmen. The British special forces deployment was codenamed '''Operation Row''' and were known as Task Force 7 under Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-West (Task Force Dagger).<ref>Neville, Leigh, '' Special Forces in the War on Terror (General Military)'', Osprey Publishing, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4728-0790-8}}, p.90</ref>

==Summary of the invasion==
[[File:AirForce over Iraq.jpg|thumb|upright|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-16 Fighting Falcon|F-16CJ Falcon]], British [[Panavia Tornado|GR-4 Tornado]], and Australian [[F/A-18 Hornet]]]]

The U.S.-led coalition forces toppled the government and captured the key cities of a large nation in only 26 days. The invasion did require a large army build-up like the 1991 Gulf War, but many did not see combat and many were withdrawn after the invasion ended. This proved to be short-sighted, however, due to the requirement for a much larger force to combat the irregular Iraqi forces in the [[Iraqi insurgency (2003–11)|Iraqi insurgency]]. General [[Eric Shinseki]], U.S. Army Chief of Staff, recommended "several hundred thousand"<ref>Dave Moniz, ''USA Today'', 2 June 2003</ref> troops be used to maintain post-war order, but then Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]]—and especially his deputy, civilian [[Paul Wolfowitz]]—strongly disagreed. [[General Abizaid]] later said General Shinseki had been right.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/americas/15iht-cong.3553734.html |title=Top U.S. general resists calls for pullout from Iraq |work=International Herald Tribune |date=15 November 2006 |first=Brian |last=Knowlton |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919012551/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/americas/15iht-cong.3553734.html |archive-date=19 September 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Iraqi army, armed mainly with older Soviet and Eastern European built equipment,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Thomas C. Bruneau|author2=Florina Cristiana Matei|title=The Routledge Handbook of Civil-Military Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=opJKzPZiADkC&pg=PA139|date=12 November 2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-25320-1|pages=139–140|access-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915004029/https://books.google.com/books?id=opJKzPZiADkC&pg=PA139|archive-date=15 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> was overall ill-equipped in comparison to the American and British forces. Attacks on U.S. [[Main Supply Route|supply routes]] by Fedayeen militiamen were repulsed. The Iraqis' artillery proved largely ineffective, and they were unable to mobilize their air force to attempt a defense. The Iraqi [[T-72]] tanks, the most powerful armored vehicles in the Iraqi army, were both outdated and ill-maintained, and when they were mobilized they were rapidly destroyed, thanks in part to the coalition [[air supremacy]]. The U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Naval Aviation, and British [[Royal Air Force]] operated with impunity throughout the country, pinpointing heavily defended resistance targets and destroying them before ground troops arrived. The [[main battle tank]]s of the U.S. and UK forces, the U.S. [[M1 Abrams]] and British [[Challenger 2]], functioned well in the rapid advance across the country. Despite the many [[Rocket-propelled grenade|RPG]] attacks by irregular Iraqi forces, few U.S. and UK tanks were lost, and no tank crew-members were killed by hostile fire, although nearly 40 M1 Abrams were damaged in the attacks.<ref>"During Operation Iraqi Freedom, as many as 40 Abrams tanks were damaged by RPGs. Most were repaired." ''Battle Tanks: Power in the Field'', Page 33, Enslow Publishers, 2006</ref> The only tank loss sustained by the British Army was a Challenger 2 of the [[Queen's Royal Lancers]] that was hit by another Challenger 2, killing two crew members.

The Iraqi army suffered from poor [[morale]], even among the elite Republican Guard. Entire units disbanded into the crowds upon the approach of invading troops, or actually sought out U.S. and UK forces to surrender to. Many Iraqi commanding officers were bribed by the CIA or coerced into surrendering. The leadership of the Iraqi army was incompetent – reports state that [[Qusay Hussein]], charged with the defense of Baghdad, dramatically shifted the positions of the two main divisions protecting Baghdad several times in the days before the arrival of U.S. forces, and as a result the units were confused, and further demoralized when U.S. forces attacked. The invasion force did not see the entire Iraqi military thrown against it; U.S. and UK units had orders to move to and seize objective target points rather than seek to engage Iraqi units. This resulted in most regular Iraqi military units emerging from the war without having been engaged, and fully intact, especially in southern Iraq. It is assumed that most units disintegrated to return to their homes.

According to a declassified [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] report, "The largest contributing factor to the complete defeat of Iraq's military forces was the continued interference by Saddam." The report, designed to help U.S. officials understand in hindsight how Saddam and his military commanders prepared for and fought the invasion, paints a picture of an Iraqi government blind to the threat it faced, hampered by Saddam's inept military leadership and deceived by its own propaganda and inability to believe an invasion was imminent without further Iraqi provocation. According to the BBC, the report portrays Saddam Hussein as "chronically out of touch with reality&nbsp;– preoccupied with the prevention of domestic unrest and with the threat posed by Iran."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4843394.stm |title=Russia denies Iraq secrets claim |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2006 |access-date=7 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061223055637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4843394.stm |archive-date=23 December 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Casualties==
{{Main|Casualties of the Iraq War|Humanitarian crises of the Iraq War}}

===Death toll===
Estimates on the number of casualties during the invasion in Iraq vary widely. Estimates on civilian casualties are more variable than those for military personnel. According to [[Iraq Body Count]], a group that relies on press reports, NGO-based reports and official figures to measure civilian casualties, approximately 7,500 civilians were killed during the invasion phase.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iraqbodycount.org/press/pr12.php |title=Iraq Body Count: A Dossier of Civilian Casualties in Iraq, 2003–2005. |access-date=2 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091109215135/http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ |archive-date=9 November 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Project on Defense Alternatives study estimated that 3,200–4,300 civilians died during the invasion.<ref name="pda" />

===War crimes and allegations===
{{See also|International Criminal Court and the 2003 invasion of Iraq}}

Fedayeen Saddam militia, Republican Guard and Iraqi security forces were reported to have executed Iraqi soldiers who tried to surrender on multiple occasions, as well as threatening the families of those who refused to fight.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://warchronicle.com/Exclusive/NatHelms/ThunderingThird.htm |title=ThunderingThird |publisher=Warchronicle.com |access-date=1 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121083623/http://www.warchronicle.com/Exclusive/NatHelms/ThunderingThird.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004595,00.html |title=We Are Slaughtering Them |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |first1=Jim |last1=Lacey |first2=Brian |last2=Bennett |first3=Michael |last3=Ware |first4=Alex |last4=Perry |first5=Simon |last5=Robinson |first6=Sanjay |last6=Gupta |date=7 April 2003 |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130090922/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1004595,00.html |archive-date=30 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0303/28/se.22.html |title=Pentagon Briefing |publisher=CNN |access-date=1 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522061815/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0303/28/se.22.html |archive-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> One such incident was directly observed during the [[Battle of Debecka Pass]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/feature/javelin_warfighters/battle/index.html |title=Raytheon Company: Special Interest Stories: The Battle of Debecka Pass Iraq |publisher=Raytheon.com |access-date=1 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081108024624/http://www.raytheon.com/newsroom/feature/javelin_warfighters/battle/index.html |archive-date=8 November 2008}}</ref>

Many incidents of Fedayeen fighters using [[human shield]]s were reported from various towns in Iraq.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/5.htm#_Toc57442265 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |title=Iraqi use of human shields |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727123719/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/5.htm#_Toc57442265 |archive-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Iraqi Republican Guard units were also reported to be using human shields.<ref name="heritage1"/> Some reports indicate that the Fedayeen used ambulances to deliver messages and transport fighters into combat. On 31 March, Fedayeen in a [[Red Crescent]]-marked ambulance attacked American soldiers outside Nasiriyah, wounding three.<ref name="heritage1"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/5.htm#_Toc57442266 |title=Human Rights Watch Iraqi abuse of Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727123719/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/usa1203/5.htm#_Toc57442266 |archive-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref> During the [[Battle of Basra (2003)|Battle of Basra]], British forces of the [[Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)]] reported that on 28 March, Fedayeen forces opened fire on thousands of civilian refugees fleeing the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/28/iraq.ashleydavies1 |title=Iraqi militia 'fired on fleeing civilians' |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=13 September 2009 |first=Mark |last=Oliver |date=28 March 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826165316/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/mar/28/iraq.ashleydavies1|archive-date=26 August 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/03/28/819229.htm |title=Civilians fired on in Basra: UK |work=ABC News |location=Australia |date=28 March 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123111818/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/03/28/819229.htm |archive-date=23 November 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the ambush of the [[507th Maintenance Company]] during the [[Battle of Nasiriyah]] on 23 March, the bodies of several U.S. soldiers who had been killed in the ambush were shown on Iraqi television. Some of these soldiers had visible gunshot wounds to the head, leading to speculation that they had been executed. Except for Sgt. Donald Walters, no evidence has since surfaced to support this scenario and it is generally accepted that the soldiers were killed in action. Five live prisoners of war were also interviewed on the air, a violation of the [[Third Geneva Convention]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/24/1048354495010.html |title=Iraqi TV shows US dead and POWs |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=24 March 2003 |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112090142/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/24/1048354495010.html |archive-date=12 November 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2003/03/pow_tv.single.html|title=How POW TV violates the Geneva Conventions|work=Slate|access-date=9 September 2015|date=March 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017063114/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2003/03/pow_tv.single.html|archive-date=17 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Sergeant Walters was initially reported to have been killed in the ambush after killing several Fedayeen before running out of ammunition. However, an eyewitness later reported that he had seen Walters being guarded by several Fedayeen in front of a building. Forensics work later found Walters' blood in front of the building and blood spatter suggesting he died from two gunshot wounds to the back at close range. This led the Army to conclude that Walters had been executed after being captured, and he was posthumously awarded the [[Prisoner of War Medal]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite news |author=Mike Mount|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/27/iraq.pow/index.html |title=Status changed for soldier killed in Iraq: Investigation shows POW was murdered |publisher=CNN |date=28 May 2004 |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424201701/http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/27/iraq.pow/index.html |archive-date=24 April 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-05-28-soldier-ambush_x.htm |title=U.S. military: Iraqis captured, murdered soldier in the 507th |work=USA Today |date=28 May 2004 |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325041222/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-05-28-soldier-ambush_x.htm |archive-date=25 March 2009 |url-status=live  }}</ref> It was alleged in the authorized biography of Pfc. [[Jessica Lynch]] that she was raped by her captors after her capture, based on medical reports and the pattern of her injuries, though this is not supported by Ms Lynch.<ref>
{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-11-06-lynch_x.htm|title=Lynch book tells of rape by captors|author=Rick Hampson|work=USA Today|access-date=24 April 2007|date=7 November 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427042218/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-11-06-lynch_x.htm|archive-date=27 April 2007|url-status=live}}
</ref> [[Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief]], who later helped American forces rescue Lynch, stated that he saw an Iraqi Colonel slap Lynch while she was in her hospital bed.<ref name="MohammedStory">{{cite web|date=3 April 2003|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-03-jessica-inside-usat_x.htm|title=Iraqi lawyer's courage leads Marines to Lynch|work=USA Today|access-date=20 April 2015|last=Lynch, David J.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417043034/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-03-jessica-inside-usat_x.htm|archive-date=17 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The staff at the hospital where Lynch was held later denied both stories, saying that Lynch was well cared for.<ref name=Cnn20070410>{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/10/congress.probes/ |title=House panel to probe reports on Tillman, Jessica Lynch |date=10 April 2007 |publisher=CNN |access-date=24 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601215308/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/10/congress.probes/ |archive-date=1 June 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref> While Lynch suffers from [[amnesia]] due to her injuries, Lynch herself has denied any mistreatment while in captivity.

Also on 23 March, a British Army engineering unit made a wrong turn near the town of [[Az Zubayr]], which was still held by Iraqi forces. The unit was ambushed and Sapper Luke Allsopp and Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth became separated from the rest. Both were captured and executed by Iraqi irregular forces. In 2006, a video of Allsopp lying on the ground surrounded by Iraqi irregular forces was discovered.<ref>{{cite news |last=Payne |first=Stewart |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1530205/Soldier-killed-in-convoy-ambush-'was-alive-for-four-hours-surrounded-by-mob'.html |title=Soldier killed in convoy ambush 'was alive for four hours surrounded by mob' |work=The Telegraph |date=30 September 2006 |access-date=13 September 2009 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204002718/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1530205/Soldier-killed-in-convoy-ambush-'was-alive-for-four-hours-surrounded-by-mob'.html |archive-date=4 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the Battle of Nasiriyah, Iraqi irregulars [[perfidy|feigned surrender]] to approach an American unit securing a bridge. After getting close to the soldiers, the Iraqis suddenly opened fire, killing 10 soldiers and wounding 40.<ref name="heritage1">{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Iraq/wm260.cfm|title=Saddam Hussein's Violations of the Geneva Convention|publisher=Heritage Foundation|access-date=13 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926225448/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Iraq/wm260.cfm|archive-date=26 September 2009|url-status=unfit}}</ref> In response, American forces reinforced security procedures for dealing with prisoners of war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfchronicle.us/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/24/MN236623.DTL |archive-url=https://archive.today/20111110184640/http://sfchronicle.us/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/24/MN236623.DTL |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 November 2011 |title=U.S. troops' 'blood is up' over fake surrender |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=24 March 2003 |access-date=13 September 2009 }}</ref>

Marine Sergeant Fernando Padilla-Ramirez was reported missing from his supply unit after an ambush north of Nasiriyah on 28 March. His body was later dragged through the streets of [[Ash-Shatrah]] and hung in the town square, and later taken down and buried by sympathetic locals. The corpse was discovered by U.S. forces on 10 April.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/specials/special45/articles/profiles-part1.html |title=Invasion: Into the breach |work=The Arizona Republic |access-date=1 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=3750 |title=Defenselink News Release: Dod Announces Change In Marine Casualty Status |publisher=Defenselink.mil |access-date=1 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910142414/http://www.defenselink.mil/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=3750|archive-date=10 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[Evan Wright]], ''Generation Kill'', page 228. Berkley Publishing Group, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-399-15193-4}}</ref>

On 20 March 2023, on the 20th anniversary of the invasion, [[Amnesty International]] released a report calling for accountability and reparations for human rights violations perpetrated by the US-led coalition during the invasion and subsequent occupation between 2003 and 2011. They cited violations of international humanitarian law including secret prisons, torture and other cruel treatment of detainees, indiscriminate attacks that killed and injured civilians, and forced disappearances.<ref name="Amnesty">{{cite web |title=Iraq: 20 years since the US-led coalition invaded Iraq, impunity reigns supreme |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/03/iraq-20-years-since-the-us-led-coalition-invaded-iraq-impunity-reigns-supreme/ |website=Amnesty International |date=20 March 2023}}</ref> The report stated that both President Bush<ref>{{cite book |last1=Messerschmidt |first1=James W. |title=Masculinities and Crime |date=6 August 2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1442220386 |edition=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xo0gTQg5oi8C}}</ref> and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld<ref>{{cite web |title=Donald Rumsfeld |url=https://archive.globalpolicy.org/international-justice/rogues-gallery/donald-rumsfeld.html |website=[[Global Policy]]}}</ref> had publicly confessed to involvement in secret detentions and faced no criminal accountability. The report also noted that despite the conclusions of the International Criminal Court in 2020 that British forces had committed war crimes in Iraq, including deliberate killings, rape and torture, no senior British officials have been held criminally accountable.<ref name="Amnesty"/>

==Security, looting and war damage==
Massive [[looting]] took place in the days following the 2003 invasion.<ref>Johnson, I.M. "The impact on libraries and archives in Iraq of war and looting in 2003 – a preliminary assessment of the damage and subsequent reconstruction efforts". ''International Information and Library Review'', 37 (3), 2005, 209–271.</ref> According to U.S. officials, the "reality of the situation on the ground" was that hospitals, water plants, and ministries with vital intelligence needed security more than other sites. There were only enough U.S. troops on the ground to guard a certain number of the many sites that ideally needed protection, and so, apparently, some "hard choices" were made.

It was reported that [[The Iraq Museum]] was among the looted sites.<ref name=":3" /> The director at the time was archaeologist [[Nawala Al-Mutawalli]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2003-06-30 |title=Details of National Museum of Iraq looting emerge |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2003/07/01/details-of-national-museum-of-iraq-looting-emerge |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events |language=en}}</ref> The [[FBI]] was soon called into Iraq to track down the stolen items. It was found that the initial allegations of looting of substantial portions of the collection were heavily exaggerated. Initial reports asserted a near-total looting of the museum, estimated at upwards of 170,000 inventory lots, or about 501,000 pieces. The more recent estimate places the number of stolen pieces at around 15,000, and about 10,000 of them probably were taken in an "inside job" before U.S. troops arrived, according to Bogdanos. Over 5,000 looted items have since been recovered.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |url=http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/040415/oi.shtml |title=Archaeologists review loss of valuable artifacts one year after looting |first=William |last=Harms |publisher=The University of Chicago Chronicle |date=15 April 2004 |access-date=7 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430095329/http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/040415/oi.shtml |archive-date=30 April 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref> An assertion that U.S. forces did not guard the museum because they were guarding the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Interior is disputed by investigator Colonel [[Matthew Bogdanos]] in his 2005 book ''Thieves of Baghdad''. Bogdanos notes that the Ministry of Oil building was bombed, but the museum complex, which took some fire, was not bombed. He also writes that Saddam Hussein's troops set up sniper's nests inside and on top of the museum, and nevertheless U.S. Marines and soldiers stayed close enough to prevent wholesale looting.

"Two great libraries, with priceless ancient collections"—the Awqaf Library (Library of the Ministry of Religious Endowments) and the [[Iraq National Library and Archive|National Library of Iraq and National Centre for Archives]] (the House of Wisdom)—"have been burned," ''The Boston Globe'' reported in 2003, adding that the libraries at the University of Mosul and University of Basra had been looted. András Riedlmayer, a specialist in Islamic architecture at Harvard University,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://library.harvard.edu/staff/andras-riedlmayer|title=András Riedlmayer|website=Harvard Library|access-date=23 March 2020|archive-date=23 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323211408/https://library.harvard.edu/staff/andras-riedlmayer|url-status=dead}}</ref> said the U.S. State Department had asked him for advice before the invasion, and that "everybody warned them that the greatest danger was not from Tomahawk missiles but from looting." Noting that [[Modern history of Iraq|Iraq had been unified only in 1922]] and that relatively little attention had been paid to this local history, [[Keith David Watenpaugh|Keith D. Waterpaugh]], a specialist in Ottoman history, said, "Imagine if we could not go back and read ''The New York Times'' from 1922 on. If we are going to help the Iraqi people build a new nation, we don't do it by letting their past be destroyed."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mehegan |first=David |date=21 April 2003 |title=Reconstruction time again |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-reconstruction-time-aga/171749347/ |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |page=B7 and B11 |quote=The Awqaf Library (Library of the Ministry of Religious En- dowments), which contained 8,500 Islamic manuscript codices (an ancient type of book) in Ara-bic, as well as hundreds of manu-scripts in Persian and Ottoman Turkish. It also contained ancient illuminated Korans. Its oldest work was a scriptural commen-tary by the ninth-century scholar Ibn Qutayba, copied in 1079. The National Library of Iraq and National Centre for Archives, known as the House of Wisdom, comparable to the US Library of Congress. It held 417,000 books, 2,618 periodicals from the late Ottoman era and modern times, and a collection of 4,412 rare books and manuscripts.}}</ref>

More serious for the post-war state of Iraq was the looting of cached weaponry and ordnance which fueled the subsequent insurgency. As many as 250,000&nbsp;tons of explosives were unaccounted for by October 2004.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6323933 |title=Pentagon: Some explosives possibly destroyed |agency=Associated Press |date=29 October 2004 |access-date=7 August 2006}}</ref> Disputes within the [[US Defense Department]] led to delays in the post-invasion assessment and protection of Iraqi nuclear facilities. [[Tuwaitha]], the Iraqi site most scrutinized by UN inspectors since 1991, was left unguarded and was looted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/analysis-of-greenpeace-materia.pdf |title=Video and Other Material and Data acquired by Greenpeace International at and around the Iraq Tuwaitha Nuclear Site During 2003 |first=John H. |last=Large |publisher=Greenpeace |year=2004 |access-date=23 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920074706/http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/analysis-of-greenpeace-materia.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35498-2003Apr24 |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100302084157/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35498-2003Apr24 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 March 2010 |title=U.S. Has Not Inspected Iraqi Nuclear Facility |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Barton |last=Gellman|date=25 April 2003 |page=A14 |access-date=7 August 2006}}</ref>

[[Zainab Bahrani]], professor of Ancient Near Eastern Art History and Archaeology at [[Columbia University]], reported that a helicopter landing pad was constructed in the heart of the ancient city of [[Babylon]], and "removed layers of archeological earth from the site. The daily flights of the helicopters rattle the ancient walls and the winds created by their rotors blast sand against the fragile bricks. When my colleague at the site, Maryam Moussa, and I asked military personnel in charge that the helipad be shut down, the response was that it had to remain open for security reasons, for the safety of the troops."<ref name="Bahrani">{{cite news |title=Days of plunder |url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1293931,00.html |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Zainab |last=Bahrani|date=31 August 2004 |access-date=7 August 2006}}</ref> Bahrani also reported that in the summer of 2004, "the wall of the Temple of Nabu and the roof of the Temple of Ninmah, both sixth century BC, collapsed as a result of the movement of helicopters."<ref name="Bahrani" /> Electrical power is scarce in post-war Iraq, Bahrani reported, and some fragile artifacts, including the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Archive, would not survive the loss of refrigeration.<ref name="Bahrani" />

==Media coverage==
{{Main|Media coverage of the Iraq War}}

===U.S. media coverage===
[[File:Iraq War Media Sources Opinion Percentage.svg|upright=1.5|thumb|A study found that in the lead up to the Iraq War, most U.S. sources were overwhelmingly in favor of the invasion.]]

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was the most widely and closely reported war in military history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/15_mediatwar.shtml |title=Reporters, commentators conduct an in-depth postmortem of Iraq war's media coverage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609211247/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/15_mediatwar.shtml |archive-date=9 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=August 2025|?=yes|reason=2007 source may not account for more recent military history}} Television network coverage was largely pro-war and viewers were six times more likely to see a pro-war source as one who was anti-war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1145|title=Amplifying Officials, Squelching Dissent|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016223032/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1145|archive-date=16 October 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran a number of articles describing Saddam Hussein's attempts to build weapons of mass destruction. The 8 September 2002 article titled "U.S. Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts" would be discredited, leading ''The New York Times'' to issue a public statement admitting it was not as rigorous as it should have been.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html?ex=1400990400&en=94c17fcffad92ca9&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND |title=The Times and Iraq |work=The New York Times |date=26 May 2004 |access-date=29 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608193512/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/26/international/middleeast/26FTE_NOTE.html?ex=1400990400&en=94c17fcffad92ca9&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND |archive-date=8 June 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the start of the war in March 2003, as many as 775 reporters and photographers were traveling as [[embedded journalists]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/15_mediatwar.shtml |title=Reporters, commentators visit Berkeley to conduct in-depth postmortem of Iraq war coverage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609211247/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/15_mediatwar.shtml |archive-date=9 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> These reporters signed contracts with the military that limited what they were allowed to report on.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june03/embed_3-27.html |title=Pros and Cons of Embedded Journalism |website=[[PBS]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704012907/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june03/embed_3-27.html |archive-date=4 July 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> When asked why the military decided to embed journalists with the troops, Lt. Col. Rick Long of the U.S. Marine Corps replied, "Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is [[information warfare]]. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/18_iraqmedia.shtml |title=Postmortem: Iraq war media coverage dazzled but it also obscured |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610000158/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/03/18_iraqmedia.shtml |archive-date=10 June 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, a study released by [[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]] stated the network news disproportionately focused on pro-war sources and left out many [[anti-war]] sources. According to the study, 64% of total sources supported the Iraq War while total anti-war sources made up 10% of the media (only 3% of US sources were anti-war). The study looked only at 6 American news networks after 20 March for three weeks. The study stated that "viewers were more than six times as likely to see a pro-war source as one who was anti-war; with U.S. guests alone, the ratio increases to 25 to 1."<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Steve Rendall |author2=Tara Broughel |year=2003 |title=Amplifying Officials, Squelching Dissent |journal=Extra! |publisher=[[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]] |url=http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1145 |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016223032/http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1145 |archive-date=16 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>

A September 2003 poll revealed that seventy percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks of 9/11.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm |title=Poll: 70% believe Saddam, 9-11 link |work=USA Today |date=6 September 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518142828/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm |archive-date=18 May 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref> 80% of [[Fox News]] viewers were found to hold at least one such belief about the invasion, compared to 23% of [[PBS]] viewers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/international_security_bt/102.php?nid=&id=&pnt=102&lb=brus |title=Misperceptions, the Media and the Iraq War |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928113422/http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/international_security_bt/102.php?nid=&id=&pnt=102&lb=brus |archive-date=28 September 2011 }}</ref> [[Ted Turner]], founder of [[CNN]], charged that [[Rupert Murdoch]] was using Fox News to advocate an invasion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3132.htm|title=Murdoch helped start war on Iraq, says Turner|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223112742/http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3132.htm|archive-date=23 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Critics have argued that this statistic is indicative of misleading coverage by the U.S. media since viewers in other countries were less likely to have these beliefs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1201-13.htm |title=Bush and Iraq: Mass Media, Mass Ignorance |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111073100/http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1201-13.htm |archive-date=11 January 2012 }}</ref> A post-2008 election poll by [[FactCheck.org]] found that 48% of Americans believe Saddam played a role in the 9/11 attacks, the group concluded that "voters, once deceived, tend to stay that way despite all evidence."<ref>[http://www.factcheck.org/specialreports/our_disinformed_electorate.html Our Disinformed Electorate]. By Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Brooks Jackson. [[FactCheck.org]] Published 12 December 2008. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217050615/http://www.factcheck.org/specialreports/our_disinformed_electorate.html |date=17 December 2008 }}</ref>

===Independent media coverage===
[[Independent media]] also played a prominent role in covering the invasion. The [[Indymedia]] network, among many other independent networks including many journalists from the invading countries, provided reports on the Iraq war. In the United States [[Democracy Now]], hosted by [[Amy Goodman]] has been critical of the reasons for the 2003 invasion and the alleged crimes committed by the U.S. authorities in Iraq.

The [[Israeli Military Censor]] have released gag orders to Fresh and Rotter news platforms preventing them releasing any information about events and action related to the invasion.<ref>[https://fas.org/sgp/news/2003/03/is031903.html Censorship instructions – American Attack on Iraq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017063114/http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2003/03/is031903.html |date=17 October 2015 }}, fas.org</ref>

On the other side, among media not opposing to the invasion, ''[[The Economist]]'' stated in an article on the matter that "the normal diplomatic tools—sanctions, persuasion, pressure, UN resolutions—have all been tried, during 12 deadly but failed years" then giving a mild conditional support to the war stating that "if Mr Hussein refuses to disarm, it would be right to go to war".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1592539 |title=Dealing with Saddam Hussein&nbsp;– Why war would be justified |newspaper=The Economist |date=20 February 2003 |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014225926/http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1592539 |archive-date=14 October 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Australian [[war artist]] [[George Gittoes]] collected independent interviews with soldiers while producing his documentary ''[[Soundtrack To War]]''. The war in Iraq provided the first time in history that military on the front lines were able to provide direct, uncensored reportage themselves, thanks to blogging software and the reach of the internet. Dozens of such reporting sites, known as [[Warblog|soldier blogs]] or milblogs, were started during the war. These blogs were more often than not largely pro-war and stated various reasons why the soldiers and Marines felt they were doing the right thing.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1543658,00.html |title=The Secret Letter From Iraq |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=6 October 2006 |access-date=1 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907022521/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1543658%2C00.html |archive-date= 7 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===International media coverage===
International coverage of the war differed from coverage in the U.S. in a number of ways.
The Arab-language news channel [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] and the German satellite channel [[Deutsche Welle]] featured almost twice as much information on the political background of the war.<ref>[http://www.agendasetting.com/newsletter/ICA.pdf International comparison of TV news coverage of Iraq]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229191158/http://www.agendasetting.com/newsletter/ICA.pdf |date=29 February 2012 }}</ref> Al Jazeera also showed scenes of civilian casualties and insurgent attacks rarely seen in the U.S. media.

==Criticism==
{{Main|Criticism of the Iraq War}}

Opponents of the military intervention in Iraq have attacked the decision to invade Iraq along a number of lines, including the human cost of war,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Yamada|first1=Seiji|last2=Fawzi|first2=Mary C. Smith|last3=Maskarinec|first3=Gregory G.|last4=Farmer|first4=Paul E.|s2cid=26895631|year=2006|title=Casualties: narrative and images of the war on Iraq|journal=International Journal of Health Services: Planning, Administration, Evaluation|volume=36|issue=2|pages=401–415|doi=10.2190/6PXW-LQ3B-DWN6-XD97|issn=0020-7314|pmid=16878399}}</ref> calling into question the [[#Rationale|evidence]] used to justify the war, arguing for continued diplomacy, challenging the war's [[#Legality of invasion|legality]], suggesting that the U.S. had other more pressing security priorities, (i.e., [[Afghanistan]] and [[North Korea]]) and predicting that the war would destabilize the Middle East region. In 2010, an independent commission of inquiry set up by the government of the Netherlands, maintained that UN resolution 1441 "cannot reasonably be interpreted (as the Dutch government did) as authorising individual member states to use military force to compel Iraq to comply with the Security Council's resolutions." Accordingly, the Dutch commission concluded that the invasion violated international law.<ref name="auto"/>

===Rationale based on faulty evidence===
The central U.S. justification for launching the war was that Saddam Hussein's alleged development of nuclear and biological weapons and purported ties to al-Qaeda made his regime a "grave and growing"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020912-1.html|title=President's Remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, 12 September 2002|access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026165139/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020912-1.html|archive-date=26 October 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> threat to the United States and the world community.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html |title=Transcript of Powell's U.N. presentation |publisher=CNN |date=6 February 2003 |access-date=6 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208074448/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.transcript/index.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 |url-status=live  }}</ref> During the lead-up to the war and the aftermath of the invasion, critics cast doubt on the evidence supporting this rationale. Concerning Iraq's weapons programs, prominent critics included [[Scott Ritter]], a former U.N. weapons inspector who argued in 2002 that inspections had eliminated the nuclear and chemical weapons programs, and that evidence of their reconstitution would "have been eminently detectable by intelligence services ..." Although it is popularly believed{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} that Saddam Hussein had forced the IAEA weapons inspectors to leave Iraq, they were withdrawn at the request of the US before [[Operation Desert Fox]], the 1998 American bombing campaign. After the build-up of U.S. troops in neighboring states, Saddam welcomed them back and promised complete cooperation with their demands. Experienced IAEA inspection teams were already back in Iraq and had made some interim reports on its search for various forms of WMD.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 March 2003 |title=Mission Possible: Nuclear Weapons Inspections in Iraq |url=http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2003/ebWSJ20030307.shtml |first=Dr. Mohamed |last=ElBaradei |author-link=Mohamed ElBaradei |publisher=[[IAEA]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803153513/http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2003/ebWSJ20030307.shtml |archive-date=3 August 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=19 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=14 February 2003 |title=The Status of Nuclear Inspections in Iraq: 14 February 2003 Update |url=https://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2003/ebsp2003n005.shtml |first=Dr. Mohamed |last=ElBaradei |author-link=Mohamed ElBaradei |publisher=[[IAEA]] |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120191119/http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/statements/2003/ebsp2003n005.shtml |archive-date=20 November 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=Hans |last1=Blix |author-link1=Hans Blix |first2=Dr. Mohamed |last2=ElBaradei |author-link2=Mohamed ElBaradei |title=Transcript of Hans Blix Feb. 9, 2003, press conference |url=http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIraq/pressconf_09022003.pdf |date=9 February 2003 |publisher=[[IAEA]] |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107164040/http://iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/IaeaIraq/pressconf_09022003.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IAEA Media Advisory 2003/1003 |date=10 March 2003 |url=https://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/MediaAdvisory/2003/ma_iraq_1003.shtml |publisher=[[IAEA]] |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223113340/http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/mediaadvisory/2003/ma_iraq_1003.shtml |archive-date=23 December 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=[[The Capital Times]] |title=Media Miss War Dissent in Congress |date=6 February 2003 |url=http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2003/02/06/0302060078.php |page=12A |first=John |last=Nichols |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128021701/http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2003/02/06/0302060078.php |archive-date=28 January 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=19 July 2009 }}</ref> American diplomat [[Joseph C. Wilson]] investigated the contention that Iraq had sought uranium for nuclear weapons in [[Niger uranium forgeries|Niger]] and reported that the contention had no substance.<ref>Pitt, William R. ''War On Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know''. 2002, Context Books, New York. {{ISBN|978-1-893956-38-4}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Joseph C. |title=What I Didn't Find in Africa |work=The New York Times |date=6 July 2003 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0706-02.htm |access-date=17 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607024519/http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0706-02.htm |archive-date=7 June 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Similarly, alleged links between Iraq and al-Qaeda were called into question during the lead-up to the war, and were discredited by a 21 October 2004 report from U.S. Senator [[Carl Levin]], which was later corroborated by an April 2006 report from the Defense Department's inspector general.<ref>Jehl, Douglas. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/intel.php "Pentagon official distorted intelligence, report says"]. ''International Herald Tribune'', 22 October 2004. Retrieved 18 April 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724045615/http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/intel.php |date=24 July 2008 }}</ref> These reports further alleged that Bush Administration officials, particularly former undersecretary of defense [[Douglas J. Feith]], manipulated evidence to support links between al-Qaeda and Iraq.<ref>Pincus, Walter and R. Jeffrey Smith. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802387.html "Official's Key Report on Iraq is Faulted"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802164813/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020802387.html |date=2 August 2017 }}. ''The Washington Post'', Friday, 9 February 2007; Page A01</ref>

During his 2003–2004 interrogation, Saddam asserted that the majority of Iraq's WMD stockpiles had been destroyed in the 1990s by UN inspectors, and the remainder were destroyed unilaterally by Iraq; the illusion of maintaining a WMD program and WMDs was maintained as a deterrent against possible Iranian invasion.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogator-shares-saddams-confessions/4/|title=Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions|website=cbsnews.com|date=24 January 2008 }}</ref> An FBI agent who interrogated Saddam during this time also believes that while Iraq may not have possessed WMDs after the 1990s, Saddam likely intended to restart the WMD program if given the opportunity to do so.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Lack of a U.N. mandate===
One of the main questions in the lead-up to the war was whether the [[United Nations Security Council]] would authorize military intervention in Iraq. It became increasingly clear that U.N. authorization would require significant further weapons inspections. Many criticized their effort as unwise, immoral, and illegal. [[Robin Cook]], then the leader of the [[United Kingdom House of Commons]] and a former foreign secretary, resigned from Tony Blair's cabinet in protest over the UK's decision to invade without the authorization of a U.N. resolution. Cook said at the time that: "In principle I believe it is wrong to embark on military action without broad international support. In practice I believe it is against Britain's interests to create a precedent for unilateral military action."<ref>Tempest, Matthew. [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/17/labour.uk "Cook resigns from cabinet over Iraq"] . ''The Guardian'', 17 March 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2007.</ref>
In addition, senior government legal advisor [[Elizabeth Wilmshurst]] resigned, stating her legal opinion that an invasion would be illegal.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}

[[United Nations Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]] said in an interview with the BBC in September 2004, "[F]rom our point of view and from the Charter point of view [the war] was illegal."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661640.stm|title=Excerpts: Annan interview|date=16 September 2004|work=BBC News|access-date=7 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070301061157/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661640.stm|archive-date=1 March 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> This drew immediate criticism from the United States and was immediately played down.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25685-2004Sep16.html|title=U.S., Allies Dispute Annan on Iraq War|first=Colum|last=Lynch|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=17 September 2004|page=A18|access-date=25 May 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808052057/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25685-2004Sep16.html|archive-date=8 August 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> His annual report to the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] for 2003 included no more than the statement: "Following the end of major hostilities which resulted in the occupation of Iraq..."<ref name="UN_A581">{{UN document |docid=A-58-1 |type=Document |body=General Assembly |session=58 |page=9 |access-date=8 August 2007|date=28 August 2003}}</ref> A similar report from the Security Council was similarly terse in its reference to the event: "Following the cessation of hostilities in Iraq in April 2003 ..."<ref name="UN_A582">{{UN document |docid=A-58-2 |type=Document |body=General Assembly |session=58 |page=20 |access-date=8 August 2007|date=23 September 2003}}</ref> The United Nations Security Council has passed nearly 60 resolutions on Iraq and Kuwait since Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The most relevant to this issue is Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|678]], passed on 29 November 1990. It authorizes "member states co-operating with the Government of Kuwait... to use all necessary means" to (1) implement Security Council Resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 660|660]] and other resolutions calling for the end of Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwaiti territory and (2) "restore international peace and security in the area."

===Military intervention vs diplomatic solution===
{{Wikisource|French address on Iraq at the UN Security Council}}
Criticisms about the evidence used to justify the war notwithstanding, many opponents of military intervention objected, saying that a diplomatic solution would be preferable, and that war should be reserved as a truly last resort. This position was exemplified by French Foreign Minister [[Dominique de Villepin]], who responded to U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]]'s 5 February 2003 presentation to the U.N Security Council by saying that: "Given the choice between military intervention and an inspections regime that is inadequate because of a failure to cooperate on Iraq's part, we must choose the decisive reinforcement of the means of inspections."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.world.reax/ "Nations take sides after Powell's speech"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308161802/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.world.reax/ |date=8 March 2008 }}. CNN, 6 February 2003. Retrieved 17 April 2006.</ref> In response to Donald Rumsfeld's reference to European countries that did not support the invasion of Iraq as 'Old Europe',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/4017033#4017033 |title=Old Europe |publisher=MSNBC |date=22 January 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606002456/http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/4017033#4017033 |archive-date=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dominique de Villepin ended his speech with words that would later come to embody the French-German political, economic, and military alliance throughout the beginning of the 21st century: "This message comes to you today from an old country, France, from a continent like mine, Europe, that has known wars, occupation and barbarity. (...) Faithful to its values, it wishes resolutely to act with all the members of the international community. It believes in our ability to build together a better world."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foreignpolicy.org.tr/documents/villepin_140203_p.htm |title=Statement by Dominique de Villepin to the UNSC |publisher=Foreignpolicy.org.tr |date=14 February 2003 |access-date=5 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224193413/http://foreignpolicy.org.tr/documents/villepin_140203_p.htm |archive-date=24 December 2010 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The direct opposition between diplomatic solution and military intervention involving France and the United States which was personified by Chirac versus Bush and later Powell versus de Villepin, became a milestone in the [[Franco-American relations]]. [[Francophobia|Anti-French propaganda]] exploiting the classic Francophobic clichés immediately ensued in the [[Anti-French sentiment in the United States|United States]] and the United Kingdom. A call for a boycott on French wine was launched in the United States and the ''[[New York Post]]'' covered on the 1944 "Sacrifice" of the [[GIs]] that France had forgotten. It was followed a week later, on 20 February, by the British newspaper ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' publishing a special issue entitled "Chirac is a worm" and including ''ad hominem'' attacks such as "Jacques Chirac has become the shame of Europe".<ref name="ina.fr-20030220">[http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&from=fulltext&full=ankara&num_notice=3&total_notices=12 20 heures le journal : émission du 20 février 2003 (National Audiovisual Institute archives)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116053141/http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&from=fulltext&full=ankara&num_notice=3&total_notices=12|date=16 January 2009}}, French news national edition, France 2 French public channel, 20 February 2003</ref> Actually both newspapers expressed the opinion of their owner, U.S. billionaire [[Rupert Murdoch]], a military intervention supporter and a George W. Bush partisan as argued by [[Roy Greenslade]] in ''[[The Guardian]]'' published on 17 February.<ref name="ina.fr-20030220"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,897015,00.html|title=Their master's voice |author=Roy Greenslade |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=17 February 2003 |access-date=29 March 2010}}</ref>

===Distraction from the war on terrorism and other priorities===
Both supporters and opponents of the Iraq War widely viewed it within the context of a post–[[September 11 attacks|11 September]] world, where the U.S. has sought to make terrorism the defining international security paradigm. Bush often described the Iraq War as a "central front in the [[war on terror]]".<ref>Office of the Press Secretary. [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050628-7.html "President Addresses Nation, Discusses Iraq, War on Terror"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711145020/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/06/20050628-7.html |date=11 July 2017 }}. White House Press Release, 28 June 2005. Retrieved 17 April 2007.</ref> Some critics of the war, particularly within the U.S. military community, argued pointedly against the conflation of Iraq and the war on terror, and criticized Bush for losing focus on the more important objective of fighting al-Qaeda. As Marine Lieutenant General [[Greg Newbold]], the Pentagon's former top operations officer, wrote in a 2006 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat—al-Qaeda."<ref>Newbold, Greg. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1181629,00.html "Why Iraq Was a Mistake".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827215013/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1181629%2C00.html |date=27 August 2013 }} ''Time'', 9 April 2006. Retrieved 16 April 2007.</ref>

Critics within this vein have further argued that containment would have been an effective strategy for the Saddam government, and that the top U.S. priorities in the Middle East should be encouraging a solution to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], working for the moderation of [[Iran]], and solidifying gains made in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]] and Central Asia. In an October 2002 speech, Retired Marine Gen. [[Anthony Zinni]], former head of [[United States Central Command|Central Command]] for U.S. forces in the Middle East and State Department's envoy to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, called Iraq "maybe six or seven," in terms of U.S. Middle East priorities, adding that "the affordability line may be drawn around five."<ref>Boehlert, Eric. [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/10/17/zinni/index.html?pn=1 "I'm not sure which planet they live on"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203194940/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/10/17/zinni/index.html|date=3 February 2009 }}. ''Salon'', 17 October 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2007.</ref> However, while commander of CENTCOM, Zinni held a very different opinion concerning the threat posed by Iraq. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2000, Zinni said: "Iraq remains the most significant near-term threat to U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region. This is primarily due to its large conventional military force, pursuit of WMD, oppressive treatment of Iraqi citizens, refusal to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), persistent threats to enforcement of the No Fly Zones (NFZ), and continued efforts to violate UN Security Council sanctions through oil smuggling."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2000/000229az.pdf |title=Statement of General Anthony C. Zinni, Commander in Chief, US Central Command, before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Armed Services |access-date=13 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902080051/http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2000/000229az.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, it is important to note that Zinni specifically referred to "the Persian Gulf region" in his Senate testimony, which is a significantly smaller region of the world than the "Middle East", which he referred to in 2007.

===Potential to destabilize the region===
Besides arguing that Iraq was not the top strategic priority in the war on terrorism or in the Middle East, critics of the war also suggested that it could potentially destabilize the surrounding region. Prominent among such critics was [[Brent Scowcroft]], who served as [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] to [[George H. W. Bush]]. In a 15 August 2002 ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' editorial entitled "Don't attack [[Saddam]]", Scowcroft wrote that, "Possibly the most dire consequences would be the effect in the region ... there would be an explosion of outrage against us ... the results could well destabilize Arab regimes", and, "could even swell the ranks of the terrorists."<ref>Scowcroft, Brent. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002133 "Don't attack Saddam"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419130010/http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002133 |date=19 April 2010 }}. ''The Wall Street Journal'', 15 August 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2007. By A.k. Singh</ref> In an October 2015 [[CNN]] interview with [[Fareed Zakaria]], former British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] apologized for his 'mistakes' over Iraq War and admitted there were 'elements of truth' to the view that the invasion helped promote the rise of [[ISIS]].<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tony-blair-apologises-for-mistakes-over-iraq-war-and-admits-elements-of-truth-to-view-that-invasion-a6707776.html Tony Blair apologises for 'mistakes' over Iraq War and admits 'elements of truth' to view that invasion helped rise of Isis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722050116/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tony-blair-apologises-for-mistakes-over-iraq-war-and-admits-elements-of-truth-to-view-that-invasion-a6707776.html |date=22 July 2017 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', Richard Osley, 25 October 2015 Retrieved 28 October 2015.</ref> In the opinion of Hayder al-Khoei, Iraq was already "destined for chaos" before 2003.<ref>{{cite news |last=al-Khoei |first=Hayder |title=Iraq was destined for chaos – with or without Britain's intervention |date=6 July 2016|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/06/iraq-war-saddam-monster-chaos-britain-chilcot-report |work= The Guardian |access-date= 18 December 2020}}</ref>

==Public opinion==
In a March 2003 [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] poll, the day after the invasion, 76 percent of Americans supported the military action against Iraq.<ref>{{cite news |title=Seventy-Two Percent of Americans Support War Against Iraq |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-americans-support-war-against-iraq.aspx |work=Gallup |date=24 March 2003 |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723093243/https://news.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-americans-support-war-against-iraq.aspx |archive-date=23 July 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> In a March 2003 [[YouGov]] poll, 54 percent of Britons had approved of military action against Iraq.<ref>{{cite news |title=Surveys reveal how we remember opposing the Iraq war – but at the time we supported it |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/surveys-reveal-how-we-remember-not-supporting-war-in-iraq-but-at-the-time-we-did-support-it-10300854.html |work=The Independent |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=23 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723131052/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/surveys-reveal-how-we-remember-not-supporting-war-in-iraq-but-at-the-time-we-did-support-it-10300854.html |archive-date=23 July 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

By July 2007, opposition to the Iraq war had increased to 62 percent among Americans in a USA Today\Gallup poll.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bush approval lowest ever |last=Page |first=Susan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian-bush-approval-lowest-eve/133484670/ |newspaper=The Californian |date=July 10, 2007 |access-date=October 15, 2023 }}</ref> On the tenth anniversary of the invasion, in March 2013, a Gallup poll found that 53 percent of Americans surveyed believed the Iraq War was a mistake.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/161399/10th-anniversary-iraq-war-mistake.aspx|title=On 10th Anniversary, 53% in U.S. See Iraq War as Mistake|date=18 March 2013|website=Gallup.com}}</ref>

On the 20th anniversary of the invasion, in March 2023, an [[Axios (website)|Axios]]/[[Ipsos]] poll found that 61 percent of Americans surveyed stated that the U.S did not make the right decision by invading Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2023/03/18/iraq-invasion-anniversary-american-poll-bush-mistake|title=20 years on, most Americans say Iraq invasion was the wrong decision
|first=Lawler|last=Dave|date=18 March 2023|website=Axios}}</ref>

==Related phrases==
{{See also|Media coverage of the Iraq War}}
[[File:Wojsko Polskie Irak DF-SD-04-16534.JPEG|thumb|Poland was part of the "coalition of the willing"]]
This campaign featured a variety of new terminology, much of it initially coined by the U.S. government or military. The military official name for the invasion was Operation Iraqi Freedom. Also notable was the usage "[[death squad]]s" to refer to Fedayeen paramilitary forces. Members of the Saddam Hussein government were called by disparaging nicknames – e.g., "Chemical Ali" ([[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]), "Baghdad Bob" or "Comical Ali" ([[Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf]]), and "Mrs. Anthrax" or "Chemical Sally" ([[Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash]]).

Terminology introduced or popularized during the war include:
* "[[Axis of evil]]", originally used by Bush in his [[2002 State of the Union]] speech on 29 January 2002 to refer to the countries of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html |title=The President's State of the Union Address |date=29 January 2002 |access-date=21 July 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502151928/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html |archive-date=2 May 2009 }}</ref>
* "[[Coalition of the willing]]", a term that originated in the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] era (e.g. an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] interview with Clinton dated 8 June 1994), and used by the Bush administration for the countries contributing troops in the invasion, of which the U.S. and UK were the primary members.
* "[[Decapitation strike|Decapitating]] the regime", a euphemism for killing Saddam Hussein.
* "[[Embedded journalist|Embedding]]", United States practice of assigning civilian journalists to U.S. military units.
* "[[Freedom fries]]", a euphemism for [[French fries]] invented to protest the non-participation of France.
* "[[Mother of all bombs]]", a bomb developed and produced to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its name echoed Saddam's phrase "[[Mother of all battles]]" to describe the first [[Gulf War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/03/meet-the-air-force-s-palace-buster.html |title=Meet the Air Force's 'palace buster.' |access-date=21 September 2009 |last=Kaplan |first=Fred |date=13 March 2003 |publisher=MSN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050826002400/http://slate.msn.com/id/2080106/ |archive-date=26 August 2005 }}</ref>
* "[[Old Europe (politics)|Old Europe]]", Rumsfeld's term for European governments not supporting the war: "You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe."
* "[[Regime change]]", a euphemism for overthrowing a government.
* "[[Shock and awe]]", the strategy of reducing an enemy's will to fight through displays of overwhelming force.

Many slogans and terms coined came to be used by Bush's political opponents, or those opposed to the war. For example, in April 2003 [[John Kerry]], the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate in the [[2004 United States Presidential Election|presidential election]], said at a campaign rally: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but we need a regime change in the United States."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23490-2003Apr3 |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100302084152/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23490-2003Apr3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 March 2010 |last=Balz |first=Dan |title=Kerry Angers GOP in Calling For 'Regime Change' in U.S. |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A10|date=3 April 2003 |access-date=21 July 2006}}</ref>

George W. Bush's press secretary [[Ari Fleischer]] talked about "Operation Iraqi liberation" in a 2003 press briefing,<ref name="Fleischer-OIL">{{cite web
|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030324-4.html
|title=Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer 
|last1=Ari
|first1=Fleischer 
|date=2003-03-24
|publisher=The White House
|access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref> and "Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL)" was also used by [[David Rovics]], a popular folk protest singer.

==See also==
{{Portal|2000s|Iraq}}
* [[International reactions to the prelude to the Iraq War]]
* [[Investment in post-invasion Iraq]]
* [[Timeline of the Iraq War]]
* [[Protests against the Iraq War]]
* [[Public opinion in the United States on the invasion of Iraq]]

'''Intrigues:'''
* [[Iraq disarmament crisis]]
* [[United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War]]

'''Lists:'''
* [[List of invasions in the 21st century]]
* [[List of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the Iraq War]]
* [[2003 invasion of Iraq order of battle]]
* [[Operation Telic order of battle]]
'''General:'''
* [[Carter Doctrine]]
* [[Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa]]
* [[Jus ad bellum]]
* [[Petrocurrency]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Works cited==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Allen, Mike and Juliet Eilperin. Monday, 26 August 2002. Page A01 ''[[The Washington Post]]'' ''"Bush Aides Say Iraq War Needs No Hill Vote"''. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
* CNN.com/Inside Politics (2002-10-11). "Senate approves Iraq war resolution". Retrieved 6 June 2005.
* {{cite book|last=Donnelly |first=Thomas |title=Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century. |url=http://newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=[[Project for the New American Century]] |year=2000 |oclc=223661155 |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808162833/http://newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf |archive-date= 8 August 2007 }}
* {{cite magazine|url=https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0704iraq/|title=Finishing the Job in Iraq|last=McCain|first=John|date=April 2004|author-link=John McCain|magazine=[[Air & Space Forces Magazine]]|volume=87|issue=7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520222339/https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0704iraq/|archive-date=20 May 2025|url-status=live|access-date=1 December 2005}}
* Office of U.S. Representative [[Ron Paul]] (2002). "Paul Calls for Congressional Declaration of War with Iraq". Retrieved 6 June 2005.
* {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Nicholas E. |title=Basrah, Baghdad, and Beyond: U.S. Marine Corps in the Second Iraq War |date=1 May 2005 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |isbn=978-1-59114-717-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/basrahbaghdadbey00reyn }}
* {{cite book |last=Ricks |first=Thomas E. |author-link=Thomas E. Ricks (journalist) |title=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq|year=2006|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-59420-103-5|title-link=Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq }}
* {{cite book |last=Woods |first=Kevin M |title=Iraqi Perspectives Project: A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's Senior Leadership |url=http://www.99tarbox.com/Media/ipp.pdf |year=2006 |publisher=[[United States Joint Forces Command]], Joint Center for Operational Analysis |isbn=978-0-9762550-1-7 |access-date=29 October 2011 }}
* Wright, Steven. ''The United States and Persian Gulf Security: The Foundations of the War on Terror''. [[Ithaca Press]]: 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-86372-321-6}}.
* {{cite book |last=Zucchino |first=David |title=Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad |year=2004 |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87113-911-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/thunderrunarmore00zucc }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Petraeus, D., Collins, J., White, N. (2017) Reflections by General David Petraeus, USA (ret.) on the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Vol. 1, pp.&nbsp;150–167)
* Mortenson, Christopher R., and Paul J. Springer. ''Daily Life of U.S. Soldiers from the American Revolution to the Iraq War''. [[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood]], an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2019. 3 vols.
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Stieb, Michael. 2021. ''[http://services.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/american-history-after-1945/regime-change-consensus-iraq-american-politics-1990-2003?format=HB&isbn=9781108838245 The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990–2003]''. Cambridge University Press.
* [http://www.gsn-online.com/The-Gulf-in-2003-GSN-archive "The Gulf in 2003"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131229235921/http://www.gsn-online.com/The-Gulf-in-2003-GSN-archive |date=29 December 2013 }} ''Gulf States Newsletter'', complete 2003 PDF archive
* ''[[The Three Trillion Dollar War]]'' by Nobel Prize laureate [[Joseph Stiglitz]] and Harvard professor [[Linda Bilmes]]
* ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/Shadow_Warriors.html?id=s-yMBH2ofLoC Shadow Warriors: The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs, and the Party of Surrender]'' by Kenneth R. Timmerman. Three Rivers Press. 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-307-35209-5|}} (Paperback edition)
* ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/48597293 Lessons on Political Violence from America's Post–9/11 Wars]'' by Christoph Mikulaschek and Jacob Shapiro (2018). Journal of Conflict Resolution 62(1): p.&nbsp;174–202. {{JSTOR|48597293}}
* Spring 2007 [[Dissent (American magazine)|''Dissent'']], "Exporting Democracy: Lessons from Iraq," a symposium featuring [[Paul Berman]], Mitchell Cohen, [[Seyla Benhabib]] and others.
* ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/Masters_of_Chaos.html?id=eQg4DgAAQBAJ Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces]'' by Linda Robinson (2009) Public Affairs {{ISBN|9780786738151}}
* ''[[Heavy Metal a Tank Company's Battle to Baghdad (book)|Heavy Metal a Tank Company's Battle to Baghdad]]'' by Captain Jason Conroy and Ron Martz
* ''[[Cobra II|Cobra II : The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq]]'' by [[Michael R. Gordon]] and [[Bernard E. Trainor]]
* ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/Iraq_and_the_Evolution_of_American_Strat.html?id=3ClTRWIz Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy]'' by [[Steven Metz]]. {{ISBN|978-1-59797-196-6|}}
* ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Iraq_War.html?id=JD7zY6sv7NkC The Iraq War]'' by Williamson Murray and Robert H. Scales, Jr. (2003) [[Harvard University Press]] {{ISBN|9780674012806}}
* ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Iraq_War.html?id=fx0MYRujFGEC The Iraq War]'' by [[John Keegan]] (2010) [[Random House]] {{ISBN|9781407064383}}
* [[Hans Köchler]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=yITOy6Hua64C The Iraq Crisis and the United Nations. Power Politics vs. the International Rule of Law]'' Studies in International Relations, XXVIII. Vienna: I.P.O., 2004, {{ISBN|978-3-900704-22-3}}, 
* [https://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/iraqbib.html#2war Bibliography: The Second U.S.–Iraq War (2003–)] by Edwin Moise
* {{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=C |year=2011 |title=Learning to redress preemptive deceit: The "Iraq Dossier |journal=SAGE Open |volume=1 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/2158244011427060 |doi-access=free |issn=2158-2440}} Based on analysis submitted to the Iraq Inquiry. See: Jones, Brian (2009) 'Dossier demolished', ''Iraq Digest'' www.iraqinquirydigest.org/?p=5355
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&vote=00237&session=2 H.J.Res. 114] U.S. Senate results to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.
* {{cite web | title=Operation Iraqi Freedom – The Invasion of Iraq | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/invasion/cron/ | work=PBS Frontline | access-date=28 October 2011}} Chronology of invasion.
* [http://www.historycommons.org/project.jsp?project=us_occupation_of_iraq Occupation of Iraq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117161221/http://www.historycommons.org/project.jsp?project=us_occupation_of_iraq |date=17 January 2010 }} Timeline at the History Commons
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2002/conflict_with_iraq/day_by_day_coverage/default.stm War in Iraq: Day by Day Guide]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/ ''Frontline'': "The Dark Side"] PBS documentary on Dick Cheney's remaking of the Executive and infighting leading up to the war in Iraq
* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB207/index.htm 1999 Desert Crossing War Game to Plan Invasion of Iraq and to Unseat Saddam Hussein]
* {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 2003 |title=War in Iraq |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/ |publisher=CNN}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/war-in-iraq.html |title=Military Resources: War in Iraq |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration|date=15 August 2016 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 Invasion Of Iraq}}
[[Category:2003 invasion of Iraq| ]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 2003]]
[[Category:2003 in military history]]
[[Category:March 2003 in Iraq]]
[[Category:April 2003 in Iraq]]
[[Category:May 2003 in Iraq]]
[[Category:War on terror]]
[[Category:George W. Bush administration controversies]]
[[Category:United States involvement in regime change]]
[[Category:Presidency of George W. Bush]]
[[Category:Premiership of Tony Blair]]
[[Category:Invasions of Iraq|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Invasions by Australia|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Invasions by Poland|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Invasions by the United Kingdom|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Invasions by the United States|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Iraq–United States relations]]
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[[Category:Wars involving the United States|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Wars involving Denmark|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Wars involving Australia|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:Wars involving Kurdistan Region (Iraq)|Iraq 2003]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps in the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Campaigns of the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) scandals]]
[[Category:Iraq War]]
[[Category:2003 in Iraq]]
[[Category:War crimes in the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iraq War]]
[[Category:Military operations involving the United States]]
[[Category:American military occupations]]