✦ History

Iraq War

March 20, 2003 – December 18, 2011

A United States-led coalition invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003 and overthrew the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein, as part of the U.S. war on terror following the September 11 attacks. The invasion was followed by a prolonged insurgency against coalition forces and the new Iraqi government. U.S. combat forces were officially withdrawn in 2011, though the U.S. later re-engaged in Iraq against the Islamic State.

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Battles and events 32

March 20 – May 1, 2003
2003 invasion of Iraq Coalition victory Iraq Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney
March 20, 2003 – December 7, 2011
Anbar campaign (2003–2011) Ceasefire Al Anbar Governorate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, James T. Conway
March 21–25, 2003
Battle of Umm Qasr Coalition victory Battle of Umm Qasr James Dutton, Roman Polko
March 21 – April 6, 2003
Battle of Basra (2003) Coalition victory Battle of Basra (2003)
March 23–29, 2003
Battle of Nasiriyah Coalition victory Battle of Nasiriyah James Dutton
March 23 – April 6, 2003
Battle of Karbala (2003) U.S. victory Battle of Karbala (2003) Ra'ad al-Hamdani, David Petraeus
March 24 – April 4, 2003
Battle of Najaf (2003) Coalition victory Battle of Najaf (2003) William S. Wallace, David Petraeus, Brian Burridge
March 26, 2003
Operation Northern Delay U.S. victory Operation Northern Delay
April 3–12, 2003
Battle of Baghdad (2003) Coalition victory Battle of Baghdad (2003) Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush, Tony Blair
May 1, 2003 – December 18, 2011
Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Inconclusive Iraq George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Tony Blair
December 13, 2003
Capture of Saddam Hussein Ad-Dawr
March 31, 2004
2004 Fallujah ambush
April 4 – May 1, 2004
First Battle of Fallujah Insurgent victory First Battle of Fallujah Jim Mattis, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, James T. Conway
April 4, 2004 – May 11, 2008
Siege of Sadr City Sadr City
April 6–10, 2004
Battle of Ramadi (2004) U.S. victory Ramadi
August 5–27, 2004
Battle of Najaf (2004) Coalition Victory Battle of Najaf (2004) James Dutton, Grzegorz Kaliciak
October 1–3, 2004
Battle of Samarra (2004) Coalition victory Samarra
November 7 – December 23, 2004
Second Battle of Fallujah Coalition victory Second Battle of Fallujah Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
November 8–16, 2004
Battle of Mosul (2004) Coalition victory Mosul Masoud Barzani
August 1–4, 2005
Battle of Haditha U.S. victory
September 1–18, 2005
Battle of Tal Afar (2005) American-Iraqi tactical victory Tal Afar Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
November 22, 2005
Operation Steel Curtain U.S. victory Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
February 22, 2006 – May 15, 2008
Iraqi civil war (2006–2008) Iraqi government and allied victory Jalal Talabani, Nouri al-Maliki, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
June 14 – October 24, 2006
Operation Together Forward Insurgent victory *Continued sectarian violence *Coalition Troop Surge in Baghdad
June 17 – November 15, 2006
Battle of Ramadi (2006) Coalition victory Battle of Ramadi (2006) Abu Omar al-Baghdadi
September 23 – October 22, 2006
Ramadan Offensive (2006) Insurgent victory Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, George W. Casey Jr.
December 1, 2006
Operation Ancient Babylon Italian Operational Success Nasiriyah
January 10, 2007 – July 2008
Iraq War troop surge Escalating the Iraq War by increasing US military intervention to deal with Al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgencies.
January 28–29, 2007
Battle of Najaf (2007) Iraqi and Coalition victory
September 16, 2007
Nisour Square massacre Nisour Square
March 25–31, 2008
Battle of Basra (2008) Basra Nouri al-Maliki
October 26, 2008
2008 Abu Kamal raid Abu Kamal

Key commanders

Iraq 14

Saddam Hussein President of Iraq, Overthrown by the invasion; captured in December 2003 and executed in 2006 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi belligerent leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi belligerent leader Mizban Khadr al-Hadi military commander Ra'ad al-Hamdani military commander Sayf Al-Din Al-Rawi military commander Qusay Hussein Kiricocho military commander Tariq Aziz military commander Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri military commander Ali Hassan al-Majid military commander Uday Hussein military commander Abdul Aziz al-Hakim military commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi military commander Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi military commander

Coalition 32

George W. Bush President of the United States, Ordered the invasion of Iraq Barack Obama belligerent leader Dick Cheney belligerent leader Tony Blair Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Committed British forces to the invasion Nouri al-Maliki belligerent leader Donald Rumsfeld belligerent leader Robert Gates belligerent leader Raymond T. Odierno belligerent leader James Dutton military commander Roman Polko military commander William S. Wallace military commander David Petraeus military commander Brian Burridge military commander Tommy Franks military commander David D. McKiernan military commander Jim Mattis military commander James T. Conway military commander John A. Toolan military commander Grzegorz Kaliciak military commander Gordon Brown belligerent leader David Cameron belligerent leader Ali Khamenei belligerent leader John Howard belligerent leader Ayad Allawi belligerent leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari belligerent leader Silvio Berlusconi belligerent leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen belligerent leader Aleksander Kwaśniewski belligerent leader José María Aznar belligerent leader Colin Powell military commander Jalal Talabani belligerent leader Masoud Barzani belligerent leader

Al-Qaeda 4

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi belligerent leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi belligerent leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi belligerent leader Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri belligerent leader

Iraq and allies 1

Nouri al-Maliki participant

United States 1

Masoud Barzani military commander

United States and allies 1

George W. Casey Jr. military commander