Iraq War

Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 led to strong international opposition to the Saddam Hussein regime.

A military coalition led by the United States launched the Gulf War in 1991 to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait, following international condemnation of the invasion.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, US President George W. Bush began claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and was supporting terrorist groups, which became a central justification for the invasion of Iraq. However, these claims were later proved false.

In 2003, the United States and its allies invaded Iraq, leading to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime and the subsequent Iraq War, with lasting consequences for the region.

On March 17, 2003, the United States and the United Kingdom issued an ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein demanding that he step down from power and leave Iraq within 48 hours or face war, leading to the start of the Iraq War.

After months of failed diplomatic attempts to engage President Saddam Hussein, President Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 19, 2003. The operation began with massive air strikes and was prematurely declared as accomplished on May 1, 2003.

On March 19, 2003, coalition forces of the U.S. and the UK initiated a military operation against Iraq, involving aerial bombardments and missile strikes on Baghdad. President Bush declared war on Iraqi on television, with Prime Minister Koizumi expressing support for the American action.

On March 20, 2003, a US-led coalition launches a military invasion of Iraq, despite lacking a UN resolution authorizing the action, marking the beginning of a new phase of conflict in the region.

On March 20, 2003, U.S. and allied forces launched an attack on Iraq after Saddam Hussein refused to leave power, marking the beginning of the Iraq War.

On April 9, 2003, US troops enter Baghdad, marking a significant moment in the Iraq War and the eventual downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Coalition forces entered Baghdad, symbolically ending the twenty-four year rule of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

L. Paul Bremer III, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, signs an order disbanding the Iraqi army and intelligence services, leading to the deployment of hundreds of thousands of well-armed men into the streets. This decision, along with an earlier purge of Baathists from the government, has significant and lasting repercussions.

Six soldiers from the British Royal Military Police are killed by a mob in Majar al-Kabir in Southern Iraq.

A suicide bomber driving an explosives-filled cement mixer destroys the U.N. headquarters in Iraq, resulting in the death of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, U.N. special representative to Iraq, and 22 members of his staff. This attack leads to the immediate withdrawal of all nonessential U.N. employees from Iraq.

On December 13, 2003, U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein in a hole on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit. Hussein had been broadcasting pro-insurgency messages since the U.S. invasion, and had evaded several U.S. attempts to kill or capture him.

Acting on tips from the dictator’s bodyguard and family members, U.S. troops find Saddam hiding out in a one-man hole near his boyhood home in Tikrit. The capture is heralded by military officials as a possible turning point, and Washington expresses hope that rising violence will abate.

Saddam Hussein, former President of Iraq, is captured by U.S. forces near his hometown of Tikrit, marking a significant milestone in the Iraq War.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq carries out a series of suicide bombings targeting Shiite Muslim holy sites in Baghdad and Karbala, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people. These attacks exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region. Additionally, in Fallujah, four U.S. contractors are brutally killed, and the graphic footage of their deaths is widely circulated.

The diffusion of images of humiliated Iraqi detainees by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib begins, marking the start of the scandal.

The kidnappers of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg, citing Abu Ghraib, videotape his beheading and post it on a jihadi website. The U.S. government later claims Berg was killed at the hands of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of AQI.

In September 2004, the Battle for Fallujah took place as U.S. Marines conducted a house-to-house search for insurgents in the city. The intense urban combat marked a significant chapter in the Iraq War.

Sergeant Rafael Peralta was a Marine who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, where he shielded his comrades from a grenade blast with his own body.

The famous golden dome of the al Askari Shrine in Samarra, one of the holiest Shia shrines, was destroyed in a bombing widely blamed on Sunni jihadis of AQI. The shrine bombing triggered violence by Shia and Sunni militias that killed more than a 1,000 people.

A triple suicide bombing at the Shia Buratha mosque in Baghdad killed 85 and wounded 160. The attack came amid a post-election political crisis and related sectarian violence.

Al-Zarqawi, the AQI leader linked to bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was killed in a U.S. air strike. He was succeeded by Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

At least 66 people were killed in a car bombing at an outdoor market in the Shia Sadr City area of Baghdad.

Bombs in Sadr City, a Shia enclave of Baghdad, killed 215 Shias, leading to an act of revenge where Shia militiamen burned six Sunnis alive after they left Friday prayers.

Execution of Saddam Hussein.

Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, is executed after a quarter-century of oppressive rule. His execution is controversial due to a widely circulated video showing his abuse by his executioners.

President Bush announces a new strategy for Iraq, involving the commitment of an additional 20,000 troops to bring stability to Baghdad and its surrounding areas.

Four bombings in Kahtaniya and Jazeera, in northern Iraq, target Yazidi communities, resulting in the death of 796 people and injuring more than 1,500.

On March 7, 2010, parliamentary elections were held in Iraq under stringent security by Iraqi forces. Despite dozens of explosions in Baghdad and other cities, voter turnout exceeded 62 percent, although it was lower than the 2005 general elections.

Combat operations in Iraq officially come to an end, marking a significant milestone in the U.S. military presence in the country. This event paves the way for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, following the successful parliamentary elections earlier in the year.

Austin was promoted to General in September 2010, becoming the first African American to command an entire theater of war as the Commanding General of United States Forces - Iraq (USF-I). He oversaw the transition from combat operations to stability operations and was involved in negotiations with the Iraqi Government.

The last U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq on December 18, 2011, officially ending the eight-year American military involvement in Iraq.

The Iraq War officially ended on December 15, 2011, marking the conclusion of the protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011.

In December 2011, the United States completed the withdrawal of all remaining troops from Iraq, marking the end of the US mission in Iraq. This followed the announcement by President Obama in October 2011 that all troops and trainers would leave Iraq by the end of the year.

The United States announced the creation of a broad international coalition to defeat ISIS, with seventy-nine nations and institutions eventually joining it.

On July 6, ISIS carried out a devastating suicide bomb attack in Baghdad, killing 250 people and causing widespread destruction.

On October 28, ISIS fighters resorted to using tens of thousands of men, women, and children as human shields in Mosul, demonstrating the extreme measures taken by ISIS to impede Iraqi troops' advancement.

A U.S. drone strike at the Baghdad airport killed Qassem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Iran’s Quds Force, and Abu-Mahdi al-Muhandis, leader of Kataeb Hezbollah and deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces.