2003 invasion of Iraq 2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War (also called "Operation Iraqi Freedom"). The invasion phase began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq. This early stage of the war formally ended on 1 May 2003 when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the "End of Major Combat Operations", after which the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as the first of
Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan partners the support to succeed," said Obama. "This is where al-Qaida is trying to regroup, where Isil is trying to expand its presence," he added. "If they succeed, they will attempt more attacks against us." In the middle of June 2017 newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump gave the U.S. military decision making authority over troop numbers for U.S. military operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The new authority includes increasing the current troop level cap beyond the 8,400 U.S. troops authorized as of July 2017. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in June 2017 about the authority to