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UStanks baghdad 2003

M1A1 Abrams pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq.

The following is a timeline of major events during the Multinational Force's Occupation of Iraq, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

2003[]

March[]

April[]

May[]

  • May 23 - L. Paul Bremer issues Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2, dissolving the Iraqi army and other entities of the Baathist state.[4]

June[]

  • June 15: The U.S. military begins Operation Desert Scorpion, a series of raids across Iraq intended to find Iraqi resistance and heavy weapons.

July[]

  • July 2: President Bush challenges those attacking US troops to "Bring 'em on!"
  • July 13: The Iraqi Governing Council is established under the authority of the US Coalition Provisional Authority.
  • July 22: Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddam Hussein's sons, are killed in Mosul

August[]

  • August 19: Canal Hotel bombing: Truck bomb at the United Nations headquarters kills the top UN envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and 21 others.
  • August 29: Influential Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim is killed in a car bomb blast as he leaves his mosque after Friday prayers. At least 84 others are killed.

September[]

  • September 3: First post-Saddam government.
  • September 23: Gallup poll shows majority of Iraqis expect better life in 5 years. Around two-thirds of Baghdad residents state the Iraqi dictator's removal was worth the hardships they've been forced to endure.

October[]

  • October 2: David Kay's Iraq Survey Group report finds little evidence of WMD in Iraq, although the regime did intend to develop more weapons with additional capabilities. Such plans and programs appear to have been dormant, the existence of these though were concealed from UNSCOM during the inspections that began in 2002. Weapons inspectors in Iraq did find a clandestine "network of biological laboratories" and a deadly strain of botulinum. The US-sponsored search for WMD has so far cost $300 million and is projected to cost around $600 million more.

November[]

  • November 2: In the heaviest single loss for the coalition troops up to that time, two US Chinook helicopters are fired on by two surface-to-air missiles and one crashes near Fallujah and on its way to Baghdad airport; 16 soldiers are killed and 20 wounded.[5][6]
  • November 12: A suicide truck bomb blows up the Italian headquarters in Nasiriyah, killing 19 Italians (17 of them soldiers) and 14 Iraqis.
  • November 15: The Governing Council unveils an accelerated timetable for transferring the country to Iraqi control.
  • November 22: 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shoot down incident: An Airbus A-300 freighter belonging to German courier firm DHL is forced to make an emergency landing with a wing fire,All 3 hydraulics lost.Using different engine power to land the aircraft, after being struck by a portable shoulder-fired SA-14 missile.
  • November 27: U.S. President George W. Bush makes a stealthy Thanksgiving Day visit to Baghdad (the White House having announced that he would be at home with his family) in an attempt to boost morale among the troops and ordinary Iraqis. Bush is accompanied by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and he is flown in to Baghdad International Airport aboard Air Force One.[7][8][9]
  • November 30: The US military reports killing 46 militants and wounding 18 in clashes in the central city of Samarra. The reports are later called into question as reporters interview residents of the city. Hospital staff only reports eight dead - most or all of them civilians, including an elderly Iranian pilgrim. No bodies of dead guerrillas are found.

December[]

2004[]

January[]

February[]

  • February 21: U.S. permits Red Cross to visit Saddam Hussein for first time since his capture in December.

March[]

  • March 2: Multiple bombings in Baghdad and Karbala at the climax of the Shi'a festival of Aashurah kill nearly 200, the deadliest attacks up to that time.[10]
  • March 8: Provisional Iraqi Constitution signed.

April[]

  • April 4: Beginning of violent clashes between the coalition and followers of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which will end at the end of August 2004.
  • April 18: Spain, led by newly elected José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (Socialist Party) vows to withdraw its troops.
  • April 26: The Iraq Interim Governing Council announce a new flag for post-Saddam Iraq. This creates much controversy, in part because of the similarity of color and design with the flag of Israel, and difference with other Arab nation flags. The flag is not adopted.

May[]

  • May 17: Ezzedine Salim, head of the Iraqi Governing Council, killed in a suicide attack.
  • May 19: Mukaradeeb killings; US bombs a wedding party, killing 42 people.

June[]

  • June 1: Assuming of functions of the Iraqi Interim Government led by Prime minister Iyad Allawi; Ghazi al-Yawer is designed head of the Iraqi state.
  • June 8: UN Security Council Resolution 1546 on the transfer of sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority to the Iraqi Interim Government.
  • June 21: 2004 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel
  • June 28: At 10:26 AM, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority formally transferred sovereignty of Iraqi territory to the Iraqi interim government, two days ahead of schedule. L. Paul Bremer departed the country two hours later.
  • June 30: Saddam Hussein and eleven high ex-governmental figures are put under the Iraqi Interim Government's authority.

July[]

  • July 20: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines, confirms that hostage Angelo de la Cruz has been freed by his captors after their demands for a one-month-early withdrawal of all 51 Filipino troops from Iraq were met.

August[]

  • August 5–27: Forces loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr resist government authority in Najaf; the fighting is ended with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s help.

September[]

  • September 30: A car bomb strikes an American Humvee handing out candy to children, killing up to 35 children.

October[]

November[]

December[]

2005[]

January[]

  • January 26: 31 US soldiers die in a helicopter crash, deadliest day of the entire postwar period for the US military.
  • January 30: Iraqi legislative election. The Shia United Iraqi Alliance obtained a majority, followed by the Kurdish Alliance; Sunnis largely boycotted.

February[]

  • February 28: 2005 Al Hillah bombing: In the deadliest single blast up to that time, a car bomb kills 127 in Hillah; the identity of the bomber as a Jordanian caused a diplomatic row between Iraq and Jordan.

March[]

  • March 16 First meeting of the transitional National Assembly.

April[]

  • April 6: Election of Kurdish Jalal Talabani as President of Iraq.
  • April 7: Ibrahim al-Jaafari is nominated as Prime minister of Iraq.
  • April 28: The Parliament votes its trust towards the new government.

May[]

  • May 8: Battle of Al Qaim, US aiming to stop the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq.
  • May 15 Formation of the parliamentary commission charged of the draft of the new Constitution.

July[]

August[]

  • August 15: Unable to find a consensus between the main political leaders, the Parliament postpones for a week the transmission of the draft constitution to its members.
  • August 22: The constitution's draft is presented to the Iraqi Parliament.
  • August 28: The constitution is presented to parliament.
  • August 31: 2005 Baghdad bridge stampede: Rumors of a suicide bomber lead to a stampede on the Al-Aaimmah bridge; about 1,000 people die.

September[]

October[]

  • October 15: Iraqi constitutional referendum, 2005: Voters approve Iraq’s new constitution.
  • Oct. 19: Start of Saddam Hussein’s trial.
  • Oct. 24 – The Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton Ishtar hotel in Baghdad are hit by truck bombs; the attacks are captured on film.

November[]

  • Nov. 5: Operation Steel Curtain launched to root out foreign fighters.
  • Nov. 15 - 173 prisoners are found in an Iraqi government bunker in Baghdad, having been starved, beaten and tortured.
  • Nov. 18: Bombings in Khanaqin kill at least 74.
  • Nov. 19: Haditha killings: American soldiers kill 24 people, including 15 noncombatants, in Haditha, after an insurgent attack.
  • Nov. 25: 2005–2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis begins.

December[]

  • December 14 - U.S. President George W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified.
  • December 15 Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

2006[]

February[]

March[]

April[]

  • April 24: Hamdania incident. Marines allegedly abduct an Iraqi civilian from a house, kill him, and place components and spent AK-47 cartridges near his body to make it appear he was planting an IED.

May[]

  • May 20 The new Iraqi government, which succeeds to the Iraqi Transitional Government, begins its functions.

June[]

July[]

August[]

October[]

November[]

  • November 7 - The United States midterm elections removed the Republican Party from control of both chambers of the United States Congress. The failings in the Iraq War were cited as one of the main causes of the Republicans' defeat, even though the Bush administration had attempted to distance itself from its earlier "stay the course" rhetoric.[11]
  • November 19: Ammar al-Saffar, Deputy Health Minister, becomes the highest-ranking Iraqi to be kidnapped.

December[]

  • December 6: The Iraq Study Group releases their final report.
  • December 21: 2006 US raid on Iranian diplomats
  • December 25: Diyala campaign begins.
  • Dec. 30: Execution of Saddam Hussein.

2007[]

January[]

February[]

March[]

April[]

  • April 6: Operation Black Eagle. Fighting between Coalition forces and the Madhi Army.
  • April 18: Bombings across Baghdad kill nearly 200.
  • April 23: 2007 Mosul massacre of Yazidi workers, in revenge for the Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad.

May[]

  • The Iraq oil law (2007) is proposed.

June[]

July[]

August[]

September[]

2008[]

January[]

February[]

March[]

July[]

October[]

November[]

2009[]

January[]

  • January 31: Iraqi governorate elections, 2009
  • A total of 191 Iraqis were killed in violence during January, the lowest monthly toll since the US-led invasion of March 2003.[12] Sixteen U.S. troops died in Iraq in during the month.[13]

May[]

July 25[]

  • Iraqi Kurdistan legislative election, 2009

August[]

October[]

December[]

2010[]

March[]

  • March 7: Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010

August[]

  • August 18: American combat operations in Iraq end as its last combat brigade departs for Kuwait.[16]

September[]

  • September 30: 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment conducted a Transition of Authority with 3rd BDE, 3rd ID and assumed responsibility for the five northern Provinces of United States Division-South under MG Vincent Brooks and the 1st Infantry Division.[17]

References[]

  1. "U.S. launches cruise missiles at Saddam". cnn.com. March 20, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/19/sprj.irq.main/. 
  2. United States Library of Congress;; (August 5, 2011). "Iraq War, 2003 Web Archive". loc.gov. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/lcwa/html/iraq/iraq-overview.html. 
  3. New York Times (April 10, 2003). "The Fall of Baghdad". nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/opinion/the-fall-of-baghdad.html. 
  4. http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20030823_CPAORD_2_Dissolution_of_Entities_with_Annex_A.pdf
  5. "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DWZGY4XS5WOC4CRBAEZSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=3737651. [dead link]
  6. "U.S. helicopter shot down in Iraq". CNN. November 2, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/02/sprj.irq.int.main/index.html. Retrieved April 10, 2010. 
  7. "Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Troops in Baghdad – Fox News". Fox News. October 20, 2011. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104246,00.html. 
  8. "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/11/27/thanksgiving.rdp/index.html. [dead link]
  9. "How Bush was whisked to Iraq". BBC News. November 28, 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3245120.stm. Retrieved April 10, 2010. 
  10. "Iraqis mourn Shia massacre dead". BBC News. March 3, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3527221.stm. Retrieved April 10, 2010. 
  11. Peter Baker (2006-10-24). "Bush's New Tack Steers Clear of 'Stay the Course'". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301053.html. 
  12. At least 26 dead as bombs, shootings shatter Iraq lull. Retrieved on 11 February 2009
  13. U.S. Casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom January 2009. GlobalSecurity.Org, Retrieved on 12 February 2009
  14. U.K. Finishes Withdrawal of Its Last Combat Troops in Iraq
  15. Iraq coalition casualty count
  16. "Last US combat brigade leaves Iraq". Al Jazeera English. 20 August 2012. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/08/201081818840122963.html. Retrieved 21 July 2012. 
  17. "3d Cavalry Regiment Wikipedia". 15 March 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_Armored_Cavalry_Regiment. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 


All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Timeline of the Iraq War and the edit history here.
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