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Duke
03-14-2011, 01:06 AM
Iraq War Timeline




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William Browning – Sun Mar 13, 3:55 pm ET
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The Iraq War was part of President George W. Bush's war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. While active offensive operations ceased long ago, American troops are still in Iraq to serve as a training and security force to Iraqis.
Here is a timeline of events leading up to and into the Iraq War.
Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorists attacked the United States. In the aftermath of 9/11, President George W. Bush alleged Iraq has been harboring some members of al-Qaida, the group that masterminded the 9/11 attacks from Afghanistan. The United States attacked Afghanistan first for harboring Osama bin Laden but then broadened the scope of the war on the terror by including Iraq.
July 23, 2002: Great Britain warned of U.S. intentions to invade Iraq. In a meeting held seven months before the Iraq War started, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was told President Bush wanted to topple Saddam Hussein. The Washington Post reports Blair's intelligence chief reported to him that "military action was now seen as inevitable." He also alleges intelligence surrounding the facts of the invasion were being fixed.
Feb. 5, 2003: Colin Powell made presentation to U.N. Security Council.Secretary of State Colin Powell made a presentation in front of the United Nations Security Council outlining the need for the United States to go to war with Iraq. Powell used satellite images, intercepted communications and the need to disarm Iraq from having alleged weapons of mass destruction. Before this point, the United States relied on shaky intelligence to justify its invasion.
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March 19, 2003: The Iraq War started. Without direct authority of the United Nations, U.S. armed forces began to pound Iraq with a strategy called "shock and awe." The early aim of the war was to make it impossible for Iraq to function normally and to take out key military installations. The beginning phase of the war ended very quickly.
April 9, 2003: Baghdad fell.Baghdad came under U.S. military control just 24 days into the war when Marines took control of the city. Saddam Hussein was nowhere to be found and many Iraqis stood around in stunned silence while tanks breezed through the city.
May 2, 2003: Mission Accomplished.President George W. Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier stationed near Iraq. He pronounced active military operations in Iraq were a success even though a multiyear insurgency was about to begin. As he gave a speech to sailors, a large banner behind him read "Mission Accomplished."
Dec. 13, 2003: Saddam Hussein captured.Saddam Hussein was finally captured Dec. 13, 2003, on a farm 10 miles from the town of his birth, Tikrit. He faced an Iraqi court and was eventually executed by hanging. Although the Iraq War is not quite over as troops are still stationed there, the major events during the invasion were over in just nine months.
William Browning is a research librarian.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110313/pl_ac/8051138_iraq_war_timeline