Iraq War

Sides

Countries today: Iraq

What happened

The United States and Britain said Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction and linked Saddam Hussein's government to terrorism; France, Germany and Russia urged more diplomacy, and a draft UN resolution authorising force was withdrawn. On 20 March 2003 the US, Britain, Australia and Poland began bombing Baghdad and sent ground forces in from Kuwait, while US special forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fought in the north. Baghdad fell on 9 April, ending Saddam's 24-year rule, and he was captured near Tikrit that December. No stockpiles of such weapons were found. An insurgency grew against the occupation and the new Iraqi governments, drawing in Ba'athists, Sunni Islamist groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Shia militias such as the Mahdi Army; after the bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra in 2006, sectarian killing between Sunnis and Shias spread. The US military said Iran armed and trained Shia militias; Iran denied it. A US troop surge in 2007 and local Sunni forces that turned against al-Qaeda were followed by falling violence. Under a 2008 agreement with the Iraqi government, the last US troops left in December 2011.

Outcome: Saddam Hussein's government fell in April 2003 and new Iraqi governments were formed under occupation; the last US troops left in December 2011, while violence inside Iraq continued.

Key events

Leaders

• George W. Bush · President of the United States, 2001–2009 · US-led coalition and the post-2003 Iraqi governments
• Tony Blair · Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1997–2007 · US-led coalition and the post-2003 Iraqi governments
• Tommy Franks · US general who led the 2003 offensive · US-led coalition and the post-2003 Iraqi governments
• David Petraeus · Commander of US-led forces in Iraq, 2007–2008 · US-led coalition and the post-2003 Iraqi governments
• Nouri al-Maliki · Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 · US-led coalition and the post-2003 Iraqi governments
• Saddam Hussein · President of Iraq until April 2003 · Ba'athist Iraq, then the insurgent groups
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi · Leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq until his death in 2006 · Ba'athist Iraq, then the insurgent groups
• Muqtada al-Sadr · Shia cleric who led the Mahdi Army · Ba'athist Iraq, then the insurgent groups

Deaths