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 behalf of more Afghan units." U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis confirmed on September 18, 2017 that the United States will send over 3,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The extra troops brought the total number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to more than 14,000 and bolstered the Afghan military in its fight against the Taliban, al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan describes the draw down of United States Armed Forces in the Afghanistan war and the plans after its post-2014 presence when most combat