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 and Turkish embassies, International Red Cross, and UN facilities. Before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the future Carabinieri and Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana headquarters was the Nasiriyah Chamber of Commerce, a three-story structure near the Euphrates River. The first U.S. forces to occupy the building were Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, who were later relieved by reservists from the 2nd Battalion 25th Marines. Italy took part in the Iraq War, as part of the Multi-National Force – Iraq, from 15 July 2003 until 1 December 2006, in and around Nasiriyah (see Operation Ancient Babylon). On July 19,