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
2003 Nasiriyah bombing 2003 the Marines in Nasiriyah were replaced by members of the Carabinieri and Italian army. Italian forces in Iraq were under British command and those in Nasiriyah were some of about 3,000 total Italian servicemembers in the country, including 400 Carabinieri forces. The attack began shortly before 11:00am when a large tanker truck sped towards the entrance of the base. Iraqi troops fired at the truck in a futile attempt to stop the vehicle and at least one of the attackers fired a rifle back. Witnesses said a decoy car had preceded the truck. The tanker slammed into the gate