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2003 invasion of Iraq facts for kids

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2003 invasion of Iraq
Part of the Iraq War
U.S. Marines with Iraqi POWs - March 21, 2003.jpg
Iraqi Sandstorm.jpg
US soldiers watch Iraqi paramilitary headquarter's burn Samawah, Iraq April 2003.jpg
Flag on Saddam Firdos Square Statues face 2003-04-09.jpg

From left to right: Marines of the U.S. 1st Marine Regiment escort Iraqi prisoners of war; a convoy of U.S. military vehicles in a sandstorm; U.S. soldiers watch an enemy building in Baghdad burn; Iraqi civilians cheer as a statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled.
Date 20 March – 1 May 2003
(1 month, 1 week and 4 days)
Location
Iraq
Result

Coalition operational success

  • Iraqi Ba'athist government deposed
  • Occupation of Iraq until 2011
  • New Iraqi government established
  • Beginning of the Iraq War
Belligerents

Coalition forces:
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 Poland


With military support from:
Iraqi National Congress
Peshmerga

  • KDP
  • PUK

 Iraq

MEK (until ceasefire in 2003)


Ansar al-Islam
Commanders and leaders

United States George W. Bush
United States Dick Cheney
United States Donald Rumsfeld
United States Tommy Franks
United Kingdom Tony Blair
United Kingdom Brian Burridge
Australia John Howard
Australia Peter Cosgrove
Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski

Masoud Barzani
Babakir Zebari
Jalal Talabani
Kosrat Rasul Ali
Ahmed Chalabi
Iraq Saddam Hussein
Iraq Qusay Hussein
Iraq Uday Hussein
Iraq Abid Hamid Mahmud
Iraq Ali Hassan al-Majid
Iraq Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti
Iraq Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Iraq Ra'ad al-Hamdani
Iraq Taha Yassin Ramadan
Iraq Tariq Aziz
Muqtada AlSadr
Strength

 United States: 466,985 personnel
 United Kingdom: 45,000 troops

 Australia: 2,000 troops
 Poland: 194 Special Forces

Kurdistan Region Peshmerga: 70,000

Iraqi National Congress: 620

Coat of arms (emblem) of Iraq 1991-2004.svg Iraqi Armed Forces: 538,000 active
650,000 reserves
2,000 tanks
3,700 APCs and IFVs
2,300 artillery pieces
300 combat aircraft
Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg Special Iraqi Republican Guard: 12,000
Iraqi Republican Guard Symbol.svg Iraqi Republican Guard: 70,000–75,000
Fedayeen Saddam SSI.svg Fedayeen Saddam: 30,000
Arab volunteers: 6,000


Shia Al Mahdi Army: 1600–2800
Casualties and losses

Coalition: 214 killed
606 wounded (U.S.)
Peshmerga:
24+ killed

Total:
238 dead, 1,000+ wounded

Estimated Iraqi combatant fatalities: 30,000 (figure attributed to General Tommy Franks)


7,600–11,000 (4,895–6,370 observed and reported) (Project on Defense Alternatives study)


13,500–45,000 (extrapolated from fatality rates in units serving around Baghdad)
Total: 7,600–8,000 killed

Estimated Iraqi civilian fatalities:
7,269 (Iraq Body Count)

3,200–4,300 (Project on Defense Alternatives study)
SaddamStatue
The famous statue of Saddam Hussein being knocked down by US forces

The 2003 invasion of Iraq (March 20, 2003 - May 1, 2003) was the war fought by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and some other countries against Iraq, to end the rule of Saddam Hussein. The main reason that the war started was because the British and American Governments believed that Iraq had dangerous weapons of mass destruction (such as chemical or nuclear weapons) that could be used against other countries. This turned out after the invasion to not be true.

Another reason for the start of the war was that many people thought that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the leaders of al-Qaeda, was hiding in Iraq after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Though Saddam Hussein was not involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks, many people accused him of giving al-Qaeda a safe place to hide from the United States. The war was extremely controversial and led to a lot of negative feeling towards British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the American President, George W. Bush.

4,734 Nato soldiers were killed in Iraq war including 4,416 U.S. servicemen, 179 UK servicemen and 139 Other NATO soldiers. 31,882 U.S. servicemen and over 3,600 UK servicemen were wounded in Iraq. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians who were not soldiers were also killed.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Invasión de Irak de 2003 para niños

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