Ten Years After Baghdad’s Fall, a Look Back at the Iraq War

Watch a video synopsis of the Iraq war. Edited by Justin Scuiletti. (Warning: Some video footage is graphic.)

On March 17, 2003, President George W. Bush addressed the nation:

“All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing.”

When Saddam didn’t comply, the United States bombed and then invaded Baghdad. Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun.

Iraqis cheered as a statue of Saddam Hussein toppled to the ground, 10 years ago Tuesday. On board the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln 22 days later, President Bush declared a successful U.S. mission in Iraq.

U.S. Marines pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. Photo by Mirrorpix/Getty Images.

The toppled statue was replaced by one depicting an Iraqi family holding a crescent moon and sun as seen in this August 2010 file photo by Larisa Epatko/PBS NewsHour. (See more photos on Flickr.)

But before the final combat troop withdrawal on Aug. 19, 2010, officially ending Operation Iraqi Freedom almost seven and a half years after it had begun, the United States and Iraq would see highs and lows in a conflict that would continue to be the subject of debate to this day.

Related Resources:

• New York Times reporter and author Michael Gordon and Washington Post editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran reflect on the Iraq war 10 years later on the March 19 NewsHour.
• Freelance photographers, who covered the early stages of the Iraq war, put their photos on exhibit in a San Francisco museum.
• Share your thoughts on the lessons learned from the Iraq war.
• View the NewsHour’s series of reports from Iraq leading up to the August 2010 withdrawal of U.S. combat forces.

NewsHour forward planning editor George Griffin contributed to this report. See all of our World coverage.

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