Friday, May 09, 2008

In Depth: Iraq

Five years on, Iraq still a nation at war

Five years after US-led invasion troops swept through Iraq, feared dictator Saddam Hussein is dead and an elected government sits in Baghdad -- but Iraqis remain beset by rampant violence, political stalemate, economic woes and the humiliation of a foreign occupation.

Saddam's regime was toppled in just three weeks in what US President George W. Bush declared as the first bombs dropped on Baghdad in March 2003 was a campaign to disarm Iraq and "free its people."

But fear of Saddam's hated secret police has been replaced by a new terror, with Iraq still being hit on a daily basis by insurgent attacks and Sunni-Shiite violence where victims are counted in scores.

Although the level of violence has dropped over the past few months, the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, says the US and Iraqi governments both recognise the nation's leaders have not made sufficient progress in settling their political differences.
-more-

Five years of war in Iraq

Key milestones since the US-led invasion of Iraq:

2003

March 20: US-led forces bomb and then invade Iraq, where they allege that president Saddam Hussein is building weapons of mass destruction.
April 9: US troops enter Baghdad and Saddam's regime is toppled.
May 1: US President George W. Bush declares "mission accomplished" and the end of major combat.
August 19: A massive bomb in Baghdad kills 22 including United Nations envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
September 3: First post-Saddam government set up.
October 2: Iraq inspection group reports that no weapons of mass destruction have been found -- the original rationale for the war.
December 13: Saddam is captured close to his home town of Tikrit.

2004

April 8: Start of a campaign of kidnapping foreigners. More than 30 hostages are killed.
April 18: Spain announces troops to be pulled out of Iraq, the first such move by a major US ally
April 28: US media show photos of US soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad.
June 28: Transfer of power to the Iraqi government.

2005

January 12: US intelligence officials confirm they have given up searching for weapons of mass destruction.
April 6-7: Kurd Jalal Talabani elected president and Shiite Ibrahim al-Jaafari named prime minister.
October 15: New constitution is adopted by referendum.

2006

February 22: A massive bomb destroys the dome of one of the holiest Shiite Muslim shrines at Samarra, sparking a massive rise in violence between Shiites and Sunnites.
June 7: Al-Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi killed in a US raid. -more-
October 11: New law establishes Iraq as a federal state.
December 30: Saddam is hanged after being convicted of crimes against humanity over the killing of 148 Shiites in the 1980s.

2007

January 10: Bush announces a "surge" of an extra 30,000 US troops.
February 14: Launch of the Baghdad security plan involving 80,000 Iraqi and US troops.
June 24: Saddam's cousin "Chemical Ali" sentenced to death for genocide over the massacre of 182,000 Kurds in 1988.
August 14: More than 400 killed in bombings in villages in northern Iraq populated mostly by Yezidis in the deadliest day of attacks since the invasion.
September 3: British hands over control of Basra to Iraqi forces.
September 13: Bush announces limited withdrawal of troops from July 2008.
October 13-14: Turkish troops shell Kurkish rebel targets aross the border into northern Iraq and later send in ground troops.

2008

January 12: Controversial law allows former Baathists to return to state jobs.
February 29: Turkey pulls troops from northern Iraq after an eight-day offensive against Kurdish rebels
March 12: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a landmark visit to Baghdad

13 killed in Baghdad as Iraq marks Saddam's fall

Fierce clashes and mortar attacks in Baghdad's Shiite bastion of Sadr City killed 13 people on Wednesday as Iraq marked the fifth anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

-More-

13 killed in Baghdad as Iraq marks Saddam's fall

Deadly fighting in Baghdad as Iraq marks Saddam ouster

Baghdad under curfew as Iraq marks Saddam's fall

Thousands rally against Iraq war in New York

Five years on, invading US soldiers still in Iraq

Iraq begins sixth year of chaos, bloodshed

Iraq withdrawal would hand Al-Qaeda victory: McCain

Heavy human cost of Iraq war

At Saddam's tomb, loyalists mourn their lost leader

Iraqis say war failed to win battle for democracy

Russia blames Iraq invasion for 300,000 deaths: ministry