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 A park catches fire during a US strike on a presidential palace in Baghdad on March 22.
Photo: KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images |
INTERNATIONAL NEWS The Iraq War begins… and ends March 17: President George W Bush gives Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq or face war. March 19: The United States launches Operation Iraqi Freedom. Described as a 'decapitation attack,' the initial air strike of the war targets Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, but Saddam escapes. March 20: After a second round of air strikes on Baghdad, ground troops enter the country into from Kuwait. 'What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and a scope and a scale that has been beyond what we have seen before,' says US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Heavy aerial attacks, meant to instill 'shock and awe' continue on Baghdad and other cities. April 9: US forces advance into central Baghdad, and Kurdish fighters and US forces take control of the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. There is widespread looting in the capital and other cities. May 1: The United States declares an end to major combat operations. Complete coverage: Gulf War II
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