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2003 invasion of Iraq
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2003 invasion of IraqPart of the Iraq War
U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopters from the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) move into Iraq during the opening stages of the 2003 Invasion.
Date March 20, 2003 – May 1, 2003
Location Iraq
Result
- Decisive Coalition victory
- Saddam Hussein's Baath Party government toppled
- Establishment of new government
- Occupation of Iraq
- Continuation of violence in the form of an insurgency and sectarian conflicts
Belligerents
Coalition:
United States
United Kingdom
Australia
Denmark
Poland
Kuwait
KDP
PUK
INC[1][2][3]
Commanders
Tommy Franks Brian Burridge[4]
Massoud Barzani
Jalal Talabani
Nawshirwan Mustafa Ahmad Chalabi
Saddam Hussein Qusay Hussein
Uday Hussein
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Barzan Ibrahim
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Strength
US: 248,000
UK: 45,000
Australia: 2,000
Denmark: 500
Poland: 194
Peshmerga: 70,000[6]
INC: 620
Iraq: 375,000
Casualties and losses
172 killed (139 US, 33 UK)[7]
[8]+ may be more
Unknown Kurdish and INC casualties
30,000 (figure attributed to General Tommy Franks), John Keegan Estimates: several thousand combatant deaths.[9]
7,600–10,800 (4,895–6,370 observed and reported) (Project on Defense Alternatives study)[10][11]
13,500–45,000 (extrapolated from fatality rates in units serving around Baghdad)[12]
Estimated Iraqi civilian fatalities:
7,269 (Iraq Body Count)[13]
3,200–4,300 (Project on Defense Alternatives study)[10]
Invasion – Post-invasion (Insurgency – Civil war) – Battles and operations – Bombings and terrorist attacks
in the Persian Gulf
The 2003 invasion of Iraq (from March 20 to May 1, 2003) was led by the United States, alongside the United Kingdom and smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark and Poland. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 20 to May 1. These were the United States (248,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. The invasion marked the beginning of the current Iraq War. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 US troops were assembled in Kuwait by February 18.[14] The United States supplied the vast majority of the invading forces, but also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to then President of the United States, George W. Bush and then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[15] According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that US and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.[16] Although some remnants of pre-1991 production were found after the end of the war, US government spokespeople confirmed that these were not the weapons for which the US went to war.[17][18] In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.[19]