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February--
"In Iraq a dictator is building and hiding
weapons
that could enable him to dominate the Middle East and intimidate the
civilized world - and we will not allow it " President George W.
Bush
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5--U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell presents the U.N. Security
Council
with satellite photos and other evidence he says shows Iraq continues
to secretly develop weapons of mass destruction in violation of
Resolution 1441.
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14--Hans Blix says Iraq has taken steps to assist U.N. inspections but
the
country refuses to account for chemical and biological agents. His
report disappoints U.S. officials seeking U.N. support for a
confrontation with Saddam Hussein and leaves the door open for further
deliberations at the U.N. Listen to All Things Considered's
coverage of Blix's
report to the Security Council.
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March--
Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix reports
that Iraq has
accelerated its cooperation but says inspectors need more time to
verify Iraq's compliance.
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1--Iraq
meets a U.N. deadline to begin destroying roughly 100 Al Samoud 2
missiles. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix demanded Iraq destroy
the missiles because their range exceeded U.N.-set limits.
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6--In a prime-time news conference, President Bush says he's prepared
to go
to war against Iraq, with or without United Nations or other
international support. Mr. Bush says he believes Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein has no intention of disarming. Listen to a Morning
Edition report on President
Bush's news conference.
7--U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell argues before the U.N. Security
Coucnil that Iraq has not complied with Resolution 1441. Britain
introduces a U.S.-backed amendment to Resolution 1441 setting a March
17 deadline for Iraq to comply or face "serious consequences."
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10--France and Russia -- permanent members of the U.N. Security Council
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vow to veto a U.S.-backed U.N. resolution that in effect authorizes war
in Iraq.
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16--President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar reinforce a March 17 deadline for the U.N.
Security Council to endorse the use of force to compel Iraq's immediate
disarmament. Meeting with the foreign leaders in the Azores for an
emergency summit, Mr. Bush calls it a "moment of truth for the
world." Listen to NPR Special Coverage of the Azores
summit.
17--President Bush gives Saddam Hussein and his sons
48 hours to leave Iraq or face "the full force and might" of the
American military "at a time of our choosing." In a prime-time address
to the nation, Mr. Bush says: "The United Nations Security Council has
not lived up to its responsibilities. So we will rise to ours."
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19--Link
20--Link.
The U.S. launches a pre-dawn missile attack on what President Bush
calls "selected targets of military importance" in Iraq. Hours after
missiles fall on Baghdad, Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi television to
denounce the attacks and rally his people. Listen to President
Bush's statement on the start of the U.S. strikes against Iraq.
21--Link.
The war in Iraq escalates. U.S. and British troops pushing toward
Baghdad from the south seize Umm Qasr, an important Iraqi port city.
Special Operations troops capture two airfields in the west, about 50
miles from the Iraq-Jordan border.
22--Army tanks push towards Baghdad while U.S. and British troops close
in
on Basra, where they meet Iraqi resistance. In Baghdad, Iraqi forces
set fire to oil-filled trenches in an effort to shield the capital city
in smoke. Officials say seven crew members are missing and feared dead
in the collision of two British helicopters over the Persian Gulf.
23--U.S. forces make it within 100 miles of Baghdad but meet heavy
resistance in Najaf and Nasiriyah. Ground fighting resumes in Umm Qasr
as pockets of resistance emerge there. Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based news
network, airs footage from Iraqi sources that appears to show the
bodies of four U.S. soldiers, and five Americans held as prisoners of
war. The Pentagon says the report appears to be genuine.
24--Link.
U.S. forces advance to within 70 miles of Baghdad but are hampered
by
crippling sandstorms. American ground troops arrive in
Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Officials say the two crewmen of an
Apache helicopter shot down near Baghdad are missing. At least 10
American soldiers are reported killed in fighting around the southern
town of Nasiriyah.
25--Link.
U.S. forces consolidate within 60 miles of Baghdad; Iraqi militia
volunteers prepare to defend the capital. The Pentagon says American
troops killed 150 to 200 Iraqis during a battle near Najaf. In Basra,
the British report a possible rebellion against the Iraqi government
may be under way. President Bush asks Congress for $75 billion to pay
for the war.
26--Link.
As U.S. and British forces push closer to Baghdad, Iraqi units
strike
along a 200-mile stretch of allied supply lines. The most serious
fighting takes place at Najaf and Nasiriyah. A Baghdad marketplace is
bombed, killing as many as 36 civilians. Iraqi officials blame U.S.
missiles, but the Pentagon denies it targeted the area. Arab
journalists in Basra cast doubt on a British military report that
suggested a rebellion against the Iraqi regime was brewing in the city.
27--Link.
Resistance from Iraqi militia continues to slow the advance of
U.S.-led
forces toward Baghdad. Iraq's defense minister says he expects U.S.
forces to encircle the city within five to 10 days. About 1,000 U.S.
soldiers parachute onto an airfield in a Kurdish-controlled area in an
effort to threaten the Iraqi regime from the north. Iraq's health
minister says 350 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the first week of
war. Listen to President
Bush and Prime Minister Blair's news conference on the progress of the
war.
28--Link.
Iraqi officials blame American bombs for an explosion in a crowded
Baghdad market that left more than 50 dead and nearly 50 wounded. More
U.S. paratroopers arrive in northern Iraq as Kurdish fighters seize
positions abandoned by Iraqi paramilitary forces. The Kurds say they're
within 15 miles of the oil city of Kurkuk. Several people are injured
in an explosion near a seaside shopping mall in Kuwait City; an Iraqi
missile is suspected in the incident.
29--Link.
A suicide car bomber kills four U.S. troops in an attack near
Najaf.
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan says the bomber was an Iraqi
army officer and warns that such attacks are now "routine military
policy." In northern Iraq, Iraqi troops consolidate around the oil city
of Kirkuk to protect it from a Kurdish advance. U.S. officials deny
Iraqi resistance is stalling the drive to Baghdad. The British
humanitarian aid ship Sir Galahad arrives in the southern port of Umm
Qasr. Listen
to NPR's coverage of President Bush's weekly radio address.
30--Link.
Fires burn in Baghdad as the U.S.-led bombardment of the city and
nearby Republican Guard positions continues. Inside the city, the
infrastructure begins to degrade as telephones fail and supply
shortages threaten. U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks says the war in Iraq is on
schedule, pointing to the allies' control of southern Iraq's oil fields
and much of western Iraq as campaign successes.
31--Link.
Pentagon officials say they're starting to see a breakdown among
Republican Guard forces outside Baghdad as ground battles and heavy
airstrikes take their toll. About 50 miles south of Baghdad on the
Euphrates River, a U.S. Army division seizes the river town of
Hindiyah. Farther south, Marines struggle to hold bridges over the
Tigris River. Military officials say U.S. soldiers opened fire on a
civilian van after the driver failed to stop as ordered at a checkpoint
near Najaf. At least seven Iraqi civilians are killed in the incident. |
April--
US lists 55 most-wanted members of former
regime in the
form of a deck of cards. Former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz is
taken into custody.
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1--Link.
Allied
forces rescue Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a prisoner of war held at
an Iraqi hospital. Another Iraqi civilian dies in a shooting at a U.S.
military checkpoint. Iraq's information minister, reading a statement
allegedly from Saddam Hussein, calls for a holy war against the
U.S.-led invasion. Iraqi officials say 19 people were killed and more
than 100 wounded in heavy U.S. airstrikes on facilities in Baghdad.
2--Link.
U.S. ground forces set the stage for an assault on Baghdad. The
Army's
3rd Infantry Division is reported to be about 30 miles southwest of the
Iraqi capital. Southeast of Baghdad, U.S. Marines hammer a division of
the Iraqi
Republican Guard and cross the Tigris River.
3--Link.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division attacks Baghdad's
international
airport as American forces move within 12 miles of the Iraqi capital.
Baghdad mysteriously plunges into darkness in the first widespread
power outage since the war began. The U.S. military investigates the
possibility that an American Patriot missile caused the crash of a Navy
F/A-18.
4--Link.
U.S forces secure Baghdad's international airport. Marines close in
on
Baghdad from the southeast, as the Iraqi army continues to take large
losses and thousands more soldiers surrender. Both houses of Congress
pass emergency legislation that gives President Bush more than $75
billion to pay for the initial costs of the war in Iraq and for
anti-terrorism efforts in the United States. American journalist
Michael Kelly, a columnist for The Washington Post and
editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly, dies in a Humvee
accident near Baghdad. Listen
to an April 4, 2003, Pentagon news briefing on the war.
5--Link.
Facing fierce Iraqi resistance, U.S. Army troops enter Baghdad from
the
south, but do not cross the Tigris River into the center of the city.
U.S. planes begin flying 24-hour missions over Baghdad in preparation
for a ground attack. U.S. Central Command says U.S.-led troops have
claimed more than 50 percent of Iraqi territory and that Iraqi defenses
have been weakened by days of heavy bombardment. In the southeast,
British forces surround Basra, while in northern Iraq, U.S. troops and
local Kurdish militia advance on Iraqi positions.
6--Link.
U.S. tanks re-enter Baghdad as U.S.-led warplanes continue 24-hour
patrol missions over the Iraqi capital. Thousands of Baghdad's
residents flee the city. British forces stage their largest raid into
Basra, moving into the city with dozens of armored personnel carriers
and setting up checkpoints. The U.S. military investigates reports that
an American warplane bombed a convoy of Kurdish fighters and U.S.
special forces in northern Iraq, killing at least 18 people and
wounding 45 others.
7--Link.
In central Baghdad, U.S. forces surround at least one presidential
palace and move toward the Information Ministry. In southern Iraq,
British troops consolidate their hold on Basra, where they find the
body of "Chemical Ali," an Iraqi general who allegedly ordered poison
gas attacks on Iraqi Kurds in 1988.
8--Link.
U.S.-led forces fan out across Baghdad, meeting heavy resistance.
U.S.
Marines cross the Diala River to take control of Baghdad's Rasheed
Airport. British officials say the southern Iraqi city of Basra is now
under the control of British forces. Basra residents flood the streets
and loot the city. Two journalists are killed and at least four others
injured after U.S. forces fire on their hotel in Baghdad. Pentagon
officials say the hotel was targeted in response to sniper fire.
9--Link.
As U.S.-led forces take control of Baghdad, Iraqi security officials
disappear from the capital city's streets, replaced by looters. Iraqi
civilians cheer on advancing U.S. troops as they celebrate the apparent
end to Saddam Hussein's oppressive 24-year-long rule. Iraqis aided by
U.S. Marines topple a huge statue of Saddam in central Baghdad. Pockets
of resistance are reported in parts of the Iraqi capital, and fighting
continues elsewhere in the country. Follow
NPR's coverage of the fall of Baghdad, April 9, 2003.
10--Link.
One Marine dies and 20 more are wounded in battles on the streets
of
Baghdad. More Marines are injured in a suicide bombing at a U.S.
checkpoint. Crowds fill the streets of the Iraqi capital, some looting,
others cheering on U.S. troops. Facing no resistance from forces loyal
to Saddam Hussein, Kurdish militia and U.S. Special Forces seize the
key northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, one of the country's main
oil-producing areas. Fearing that Turkish Kurds might now rise up
against the government, Turkey threatens to send troops into northern
Iraq.
11--Link.
The northern city of Mosul falls peacefully to Kurdish militia and
U.S.
troops after being abandoned by Iraqi forces. Like other cities in
Iraq, Mosul is overtaken by a wave of looting and near anarchy. In
Baghdad, U.S. Marines seek the help of local Muslim clergymen in
stopping the wave of looting and arson in the Iraqi capital. American
military commanders distribute a list of the 55 "most wanted" leaders
of the fallen Iraqi regime. Listen
to an April 11, 2003, White House news briefing on the war in Iraq.
12--Link.
Baghdad looters continue to comb through official buildings and
empty
Iraq's national museum of priceless antiquities. U.S. officials decline
to adopt much of a security role, but insist that the presence of U.S.
troops is helping to restore order despite apparent chaos in the Iraqi
capital. Lt. Gen. Amer al-Saadi, Saddam Hussein's top scientific
adviser, surrenders to U.S. forces. Al-Saadi insists Iraq has no
weapons of mass destruction. In northern Iraq, Kurdish fighters agree
to withdraw from Kirkuk after working with U.S. forces to secure the
Iraqi oil center.
13--Link.
Seven American prisoners of war are rescued by U.S. Marines heading
north from Baghdad to Tikrit. Medical exams show the POWs are in good
shape, Pentagon officials say. U.S. forces clash with Iraqi troops in
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. As looting and lawlessness
continue in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, U.S. forces call on former
policemen to return to their jobs. In Basra, British forces begin
efforts to restore running water to the city's more than one million
residents, and to re-establish law and order on the streets.
14--Link.
Facing sporadic clashes with Iraqi troops, U.S. Marines drive to
the
center of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. In Baghdad, Iraqi
policemen volunteer to participate in joint patrols with U.S. soldiers
to control the looting and lawlessness that has followed the fall of
Saddam's regime. The Bush administration says Syria is harboring Iraqi
leaders and demands that Damascus cooperate in capturing them.
Secretary of State Colin Powell says the White House will consider
diplomatic, economic and other measures against Syria.
15--With the fall of Tikrit, the Pentagon declares an end to major
fighting
in Iraq and begins withdrawing troops, warships and aircraft from the
Gulf region. The Bush administration turns up the pressure on Syria,
accusing Iraq's neighbor of sponsoring terrorists and granting entry to
members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Talks begin between select members
of Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities and U.S. officials
looking to establish a post-Saddam interim government.
16--Gen. Tommy Franks visits Baghdad for the first time, as the U.S.
military's focus turns to restoring order in postwar Iraq.
Anti-American protests erupt in Mosul. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld says the United States may seek peacekeeping assistance from
other nations to maintain order in Iraq. U.S. forces say they will
temporarily replace Iraq's currency, the de-valued dinar, with the U.S.
dollar.
17--U.S. forces in Baghdad capture one of Saddam Hussein's
half-brothers,
who once headed Iraq's secret police. President Bush calls on the U.N.
Security Council to lift sanctions imposed on Iraq following the 1991
Gulf War. The Bush administration says the war in Iraq has cost $20
billion and is likely to cost another $20 billion over the next five
months.
18--Frustration with the U.S. occupation of Baghdad leads thousands of
Shia
Muslims attending services at the mosque to take to the streets in
protest. Images of a man appearing to be Saddam Hussein on the streets
of Baghdad are broadcast on Abu Dhabi television. U.S. officials say
they are studying the authenticity of the images, which are dated April
9, the same day U.S. forces took control of Baghdad.
19--Hikmat al-Azzawi, the former Iraqi finance minister and deputy
prime
minister, is captured by Iraqi police and handed over to U.S. Marines.
A cache of hidden cash is discovered in the walls of one of Saddam
Hussein's palaces. U.S. officials say they are investigating the
origins of the cash and its purpose.
20--Saddam Hussein's last surviving son-in-law, Jamal Mustafa Abdallah
Sultan al-Tikriti, returns to Iraq from Syria and turns himself in to
the Iraqi National Congress. Al-Tikriti, the former deputy head of the
Tribal Affairs office in Saddam's ousted regime, is No. 40 on the U.S.
list of 55 most wanted regime leaders. Some semblance of order returns
to Basra as Iraqi police patrol the streets, shops reopen and
electricity comes back.
21--Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaydi, a former Iraqi prime minister who
reportedly played a key role in suppressing the 1991 Shiite Muslim
uprising, is arrested in Iraq. Al-Zubaydi is No. 18 on the U.S. list of
55 most wanted Iraqi regime leaders. Retired U.S. Gen. Jay Garner sets
up office in Baghdad as Iraq's new civil administrator. Huge crowds of
Iraqi Shia Muslims make a pilgrimage to Karbala as part of one of Shia
Islam's holiest celebrations -- banned for decades by Saddam Hussein.
Some Shiite leaders urge the crowds to demonstrate against the United
States.
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May--
UN Security Council backs US-led administration in
Iraq
and lifts economic sanctions. US administrator abolishes Baath Party
and institutions of former regime.
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June
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13--Lifting
of most US economic sanctions against Iraq
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July--
US-appointed Governing Council meets for first
time.
Commander of US forces says his troops face low-intensity
guerrilla-style war. Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay killed in gun battle
in Mosul.
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August--
Deadly bomb attacks on Jordanian embassy
and UN HQ in
Baghdad. Saddam's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, or Chemical Ali,
captured. Car bomb in Najaf kills 125 including Shia leader Ayatollah
Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim.
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September
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12--Commercial
Law in pre-war Iraq
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October
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Assessment
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November
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21--Program uspporting US reconstruction contractors: Press
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December
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19--Iraq Small
Business Finance Facility, International Finance Corporation
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