| Yyyy-mm-dd | Event | USA Admin |
|---|
| 1908 | Oil is discovered in Iran. | T Roosevelt |
| 1914-11- | British forces arrive in Basra to secure the Iranian oilfields against the Turks and their German allies. | W Wilson |
| 1916 | The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement carves up the Levant between Britain and France. | W Wilson |
| 1917-03- | Sir Stanley Maude leads British troops into Baghdad. He is dubbed "the Liberator" by the British. | W Wilson |
| 1919-05-12 | Winston Churchill writes, "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes." | W Wilson |
| 1920-04- | The San Remo Peace Conference of Allied Powers endorses Sykes-Picot: a British mandate in Palestine, Transjordan, and Mesopotamia (renamed Iraq, created out of the Ottoman provinces of Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul) and French control of Syria and Lebanon. | W Wilson |
| 1920-06- | In response to an armed uprising against British occupation, the RAF drops 97 tons of bombs and fires 183,861 rounds. Nine British soldiers are killed; 9,000 Iraqis die. Lt. Col. Gerald Leachman says, "The only way to deal with the tribes is wholesale slaughter." | W Wilson |
| 1920-08-. 22 | TE. Lawrence, writing in the Sunday Times, "The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information..."
| W Wilson |
| 1921-08-. 23 | After a British-orchestrated election, King Faisal is installed with 96 percent of the vote. His first official act is to cede military and economic control back to the British. | |
| 1922-09- 11 | Churchill writes to Lloyd George, "At present we are paying eight millions a year for the privilege of living on an ungrateful volcano out of which we are in no circumstances to get anything worth having." | |
| 1925 | British forces drop poison gas on the Kurdish town of Sulaimaniyo. | |
| 1932-10-. 3 | Iraq gains independence. | H Hoover |
| 1934 | The first of seven military coups over the next five years occurs. | FD Roosevelt |
| 1945 | Iraq becomes a founding member of the Arab League. | FD Roosevelt |
| 1948 | Iraq joins other Arab countries in an abortive war against Israel. | HS Truman |
| 1953-10-. 7 | Failed Ba'athist coup attempt. 78 Ba'athists are tried, but Saddam Hussein escapes to Syria and then Egypt. | DD Eisenhower |
| 1955-02-. 24 | Iraq signs the Baghdad Pact with Britain, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey to provide British-supported mutual defense. The Pan-Arabism movement begins to develop as a reaction to these Western ties.14 | DD Eisenhower |
| 1956-03-12 | In response to the Baghdad Pact, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt sign a mutual defense agreement against Israel. | DD Eisenhower |
| 1958-07-14 | The army launches a coup against the Hashemite monarchy. King Faisal II is killed and the statue of Stanley "the Liberator" Maude is torn down. | DD Eisenhower |
| 1959-03-24 | Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact. | DD Eisenhower |
| 1961-06- | Kuwait declares independence from Britain and Iraqi ruler Qasim calls for "the return of Kuwait to the Iraqi homeland." | JF Kennedy |
| 1963-02-. 08 | Ba'ath Party takes power. | JF Kennedy |
| 1963-02-. 11 | The U.S. grants official recognition to the Ba'ath government. | JF Kennedy |
| 1972-03-9 | Iraq signs a 15-year treaty of "friendship and cooperation" with the USSR. | RM Nixon |
| 1976 | Iraq buys a nuclear reactor from France. | GR Ford |
| 1979 -07-16 | Saddam Hussein becomes president. | J Carter |
| 1980-09-. | Iraq invades Iran. | J Carter |
| 1981-06-8 | Israel bombs Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor. | RW Regan |
| 1982-02- | Over congressional objectiohs, the Reagan administration removes Iraq from its list of terrorist countries. | RW Regan |
| 1982-1988 | The United States Defense Intelligence Agency provides Iraq with information on Iranian deployments, battle plans, and bomb-damage assessments. | RW Regan |
| 1983 | Reagan secretly allows Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Italy to transfer U.S. weapons to Iraq. | RW Regan |
| 1983 -11-. 26 | A National Security Directive says that the U.S. will do "whatever is necessary and legal" to prevent Iraq from losing the Iran-Iraq War. | RW Regan |
| 1983 Dec. 19-20 | President Reagan dispatches Donald Rumsfeld to Baghdad with a handwritten letter for Saddam Hussein and a message that the U.S. is prepared to resume diplomatic relations. | RW Regan |
| 1984-03- | Rumsfeld returns to Baghdad to assure Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz that the administration's criticism of the use of chemical weapons did not signal a change in policy. | RW Regan |
| 1985-06- | A bill to put Iraq back on the supporters of terrorism list is introduced in the House. Under pressure from George Shultz, the bill is dropped and Iraq remains off the list. | RW Regan |
| 1986 -03-21 | U.S. votes against a UN Security Council statement condemning Iraq's use of chemical weapons. | RW Regan |
| 1986-12- | Bob Woodward reports that in 1984 the CIA began giving information to Iraqi intelligence to help "calibrate" poison-gas attacks against Iran. (*86-12) | RW Regan |
| 1986-1989 | Commerce Dept. licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq, including 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax, and approves shipment of weapons-grade botulin and mustard gas components. | RW Regan |
| 1988 -03-16 | Up to 5,000 people die in a poison gas attack on Halabja in northern Iraq. Most sources say the attack was part of a campaign by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds. A 1990 report by the Strategic Studies Institute of the Army War College blames Iranian forces. | RW Regan |
| 1988 -08-. 20 | The Iran-Iraq War ends. One million Iranian lives were lost; 150,000 Iraqi. | RW Regan |
| 1988-08- | Iraq unleashes chemical weapons against Iran. 65,000 Iranians are killed. | RW Regan |
| 1988-09-. | The Commerce Dept. approves the shipment of weapons-grade anthrax and botulinum to Iraq. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy says, "The U.S.-Iraqi relationship is ... important to our long-term objectives." | RW Regan |
| 1989 -03- | The CIA director reports to Congress that Iraq is the largest chemical weapons producer in the world. | GHW Bush |
| 1989 -10-. 21 | A secret cable from James Baker to Tariq Aziz says that Bush's policy "is to work to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Iraq whenever possible." | GHW Bush |
| 1990-07-18--08- 1 | The Bush administration approves $4.8 million in advanced technology sales to Iraq. End-buyers include the Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-07-23 | Reports indicate that 30,000 Iraqi troops have moved to the Kuwait border. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-07-25, | US Ambassador April Glaspie assures Saddam that the U.S. wants "better and deeper relations" and tells him that the U.S. does not take a position on disputes between Arab countries. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-08-. 2 | Iraq invades Kuwait. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-08-. 5 | Bush says that the invasion "will not stand." | GHW Bush |
| 1990-08-. 6 | Bush orders the deployment of U.S. forces to defend Saudi Arabia. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-08-. 8 | Iraq proclaims the annexation of Kuwait. Bush declares, "the sovereign independence of Saudi Arabia is of vital interest to the United States." | GHW Bush |
| 1990-10- | After a Kuwaiti girl testifies that she saw Iraqi soldiers take 15 babies from incubotors and throw them on the floor, Bush begins portraying Saddam as "worse than Hitler" and quotes the girl six times in one month to shame Senate Democrats for supporting "only" sanctions. It is later revealed that the girl is the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador and her testimony was false. | GHW Bush |
| 1990-11-. 29 | The Security Council authorizes "all necessary means" to force Iraq from Kuwait if Iraq does not withdraw by 1991.Jan. 15 | GHW Bush |
| 1991-01-. 12 | Congress authorizes Bush to use "all necessary means" to force Iraqi withdrawal | GHW Bush |
| 1991-01-. 16 | Air strikes begin | GHW Bush |
| 1991-01-. 17 | Iraq launches Scud missile attacks against Israel | GHW Bush |
| 1991-02-. 24 | Coalition forces-39 nations-launch a land, sea, and air offensive. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait underwrite most of the effort; the U.S. pays only 5% of the cost. | GHW Bush |
| 1991-02-. 27 | Kuwait is liberated after a three-day war. | GHW Bush |
| 1991-02-. 28 | Saddam Hussein agrees to a ceasefire. | GHW Bush |
| 1991-04-19, | The UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) is established to monitor Iraqi disarmament | GHW Bush |
| 1991-04-3, | Security Council Resolution 687 formalizes the ceasefire and calls for weapons inspections | GHW Bush |
| 1991-06-23-28 | Iraqi troops fire warning shots to dissuade UNSCOM inspectors. | GHW Bush |
| 1991-08-. 2-8 | UNSCOM conducts its first inspections for biological weapons and learns that Iraq was pursuing biological-weapons capabilities. | GHW Bush |
| 1992-03-8 | New York Times reveals details of a Defense Dept. strategy report drafted by Undersecretary Paul Wolfowitz. The report outlines plans for military intervention in Iraq to assure "access to vital raw material, primarily Persian Gulf oil" and to prevent the proliferation of WMD. Bush repudiates the paper after it becomes public. | GHW Bush |
| 1992-08-. 14 | Defense Secretary Dick Cheney says, "[T]he question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is not very damned many." He affirms that the U.S. was wise not to get "bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq | GHW Bush |
| 1993-01-. | Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM aircraft to make inspections and steps up activity in the southern no-fly zones. The Security Council warns of "serious consequences" and the U.S., UK, and France launch air strikes. Iraq backs down. UNSCOM resumes flights. | WJ Clinton |
| 1993-06-27 | U.S. launches air strikes against Iraqi intelligence in retaliation for an assassination plot against former President Bush | WJ Clinton |
| 1995-07-1 | As a result of UNSCOM findings, Iraq admits to having a biological weapons program but denies having produced any weapons. | WJ Clinton |
| 1996-05-12 | Asked by 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl if the deaths of half a million children as a result of Iraqi sanctions is worth it, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright replies, "...we think the price is worth it." | WJ Clinton |
| 1996-05-20 | Iraq and the UN reach an agreement allowing Iraq to sell $2 billion worth of oil if the profit is used for humanitarian purposes. | WJ Clinton |
| 1996-06- | UNSCOM supervises the destruction of AI-Hakam, Iraq's main biological weapons facility. | WJ Clinton |
| 1997-06-4 | The Security Council renews the Oil-for-Food program. Iraq is permitted to sell $2 billion more worth of oil. | WJ Clinton |
| 1997-11-18 | Iraq's UN representative announces that his country will not continue with Oil-for-Food unless the UN agrees to a firm date for lifting sanctions. | WJ Clinton |
| 1997-11-20 | After a three-week standoff begun when Iraq refused to allow U.S. citizens to serve on inspection teams, Russia brokers an agreement. Inspections resume. | WJ Clinton |
| 1998-01-26 | Project for the New American Century (PNAC) sends Clinton a letter urging him to remove Saddam Hussein. Signatories include Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Bill Kristol. | WJ Clinton |
| 1998-08-5 | Saddam halts co-operation with inspectors to protest sanctions. | WJ Clinton |
| 1998-09- | George Bush and Brent Scrowcroft write, "Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different-and perhaps barren-outcome." | WJ Clinton |
| 1998-11-14 | Clinton aborts air strikes after receiving a last-minute promise from Iraq pledging unconditional co-operation with weapons inspectors | WJ Clinton |
| 1998-12-16 | After Saddam reneges and blocks inspections, the U.S. launches a four-day air campaign. | WJ Clinton |
| 2000-01-26 | The Security Council appoints Hans Blix to lead UNMOVIC, which will replace UNSCOM. | WJ Clinton |
| 2000-08-24 | Tariq Aziz says "Iraq will not cooperate" with UNMOVIC. | WJ Clinton |
| 2000-10-31, | UN approves an Iraqi request to be paid in euros, rather than dollars, in the Oil-for-Food program. | WJ Clinton |
| 2001-01-20 | George W. Bush inaugurated. | GW Bush |
| 2001-02-24 | Secretary of State Colin Powell says, "[Saddam] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction." | GW Bush |
| 2001-08-6 | While on vacation in Crawford, Bush receives a briefing entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Launch Attacks Inside the United States." | GW Bush |
| 2001-09-11 | 19 al-Qaeda hijackers- 15 Saudis, 2 from the United Arab Emirates, 1 Lebanese, 1 Egyptian-seize control of four aircraft, crashing two into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. A fourth crashes in a field in Pennsylvania. 2,976 are killed. | GW Bush |
| 2001-09-12 | Former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke recalls, "By the afternoon on Wednesday, Secretary Rumsfeld was talking about broadening the objectives of our response and 'getting Iraq.'" He said, "There's no decent targets in Afghanistan!" | GW Bush |
| 2001-09-13 | 7/me/CNN poll finds that 78 percent think that Saddam was involved with the attacks. | GW Bush |
| 2001-09-20 | PNAC sends Bush a letter: "even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism." | GW Bush |
| 2002-01-29 | Bush identifies Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as an "axis of evil." He vows that the U.S. "will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." | GW Bush |
| 2002-02-13 | Reagan UN ambassador Ken Adelman writes in the Washington Post, "[Demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk." | GW Bush |
| 2002-02-6 | CIA reports "no evidence that Iraq has engaged in terrorist operations against the United States in nearly a decade." | GW Bush |
| 2002-06-2 | Bush says, "Our security will require all Americans...[to] be ready for preemptive action when necessary..." | GW Bush |
| 2002-07-10 | At Richard Perle's request, Laurent Murawiec briefs the Defense Policy Board: "Iraq is the tactical pivot, Saudi Arabia the strategic pivot, Egypt the prize." | GW Bush |
| 2002-08-21 | Rumsfeld says, "[The] president has made no decision to go into war with Iraq." | GW Bush |
| 2002-08-26 | Cheney says, "[T]here is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." Also, "the Middle East expert Fouad Ajami predicts that after liberation, the streets in Basra and Baghdad are 'sure to erupt in joy...'" | GW Bush |
| 2002-08-30 | Gideon Ezra, Israel's Deputy Interior Minister, says, "The more aggressive the attack is, the more it will help Israel against the Palestinians. The understanding would be that what is good to do in Iraq, is also good for here." | GW Bush |
| 2002-09- | The Defense Intelligence Agency reports "no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons." Also, "A substantial amount of Iraq's chemical warfare agents, precursors, munitions, and production equipment were destroyed between 1991 and 1998 ..." | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-12 | Bush addresses the opening of the UN General Assembly, citing a "grave and gathering danger" in Iraq. | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-15 | Economic advisor Larry Lindsey estimates that an invasion would cost $100-200 billion. The White House revises the figure down to $50-$60 billion. Lindsey is fired. | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-16 | Iraq says it will allow, "without conditions," the immediate return of weapons inspectors. | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-17 | Bush issues his National Security Strategy, which calls for a policy of "preemptive" war. | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-26 | After meeting with a congressional delegation about the war resolution, Bush says, "The Iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons. ... The regime is seeking a nuclear bomb, and with fissile material, could build one within a year." | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-27 | Rumsfeld says the Saddam/al-Qaeda link is "bulletproof." | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-7 | Bush tells reporters, "A report came out of ...the IAEA that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need." But when inspectors left in 1998, they reported, "Based on all credible information to date, the IAEA has found no indication of Iraq having achieved its program goal of producing nuclear weapons or of Iraq having retained a physical capability for the production of weapon-usable nuclear material..." | GW Bush |
| 2002-09-8 | Condoleezza Rice tells CNN, "[W]e don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." | GW Bush |
| 2002-10- | State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research reports, "the activities we have detected do not ... add up to a compelling case that Iraq is currently pursuing ... an integrated and comprehensive approach to acquiring nuclear weapons." | GW Bush |
| 2002-10-10 | House votes 296 to 133 to authorize use of force and gives the president authority to take pre-emptive action. | GW Bush |
| 2002-10-11 | Senate approves the Iraq resolution in a 77 to 23 vote. | GW Bush |
| 2002-10-7 | Bush says, "We know that Iraq and al-Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade... We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases." | GW Bush |
| 2002-11-8 | Security Council unanimously approves Resolution 1441, which threatens "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to comply. | GW Bush |
| 2002-12-19 | Powell declares that Iraq is in "material breach" of UN resolutions. "The Iraqi declaration ... totally fails to meet the resolution's requirements." | GW Bush |
| 2002-12-21 | Bush approves the deployment of troops to the Gulf. He also meets with CIA Director George Tenet and his top deputy. According to Bob Woodward, Bush asks, "This is the best we've got?" Tenet reassures him "it's a slam dunk" case. | GW Bush |
| 2002-12-7 | Iraq submits a 12,000-page declaration on its chemical, biological, and nuclear activities. It claims to have no prohibited weapons. | GW Bush |
| 2003-01-28 | In his State of the Union, Bush claims that Iraq has the materials to produce 25,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, and 500 tons of sarin, mustard, and nerve gas. He also says that Iraq has attempted to purchase uranium from Niger and has thousands of aluminum tubes "suitable for nuclear weapons production." | GW Bush |
| 2003-02-15 | "The World Says No to War" is the largest co-ordinated day of protest in world history with more than 600 cities participating. | GW Bush |
| 2003-02-24 | The U.S., Great Britain, and Spain submit a resolution to the Security Council calling for the authorization of military force. France, Germany, and Russia offer a counter-resolution, stating that inspections should be extended, arguing, "the military option should only be a last resort." | GW Bush |
| 2003-02-25 | Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, former Army Chief of Staff, says, "[Sjomething on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers are probably ... a figure that would be required." Donald Rumsfeld disagrees/The idea that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. forces I think is far from the mark." | GW Bush |
| 2003-02-5 | Powell tells the UN, "They can produce enough dry biological agent in a single month to kill thousands upon thousands of people. ... Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical-weapons agent. ... Every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources..." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-1 | Iraq begins destroying its Al Samoud missiles, judged by inspectors to exceed the range limit. Turkey announces that it will not allow U.S. troops to use its bases to stage an invasion. | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-13 | Perle says, "The predictions of those who opposed this war can be discarded like spent cartridges." That evening, the Cheneys dine with Adelman, Wolfowitz, and Scooter Libby. Woodward reports the dinner conversation, "After Sept. 11, 2001, Cheney said, the president understood what had to be done. He had to do Afghanistan first, sequence the attacks, but after Afghanistan-'soon thereafter'-the president knew he had to do Iraq." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-14 | Only Security Council members Spain and Bulgaria support Britain and the U.S. The U.S. elects not to call for a vote on the resolution. | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-16 | Cheney says on Meet the Press, "[W]e believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-17 | Bush gives Saddam and his sons 48 hours to leave or face war. He claims there is "no doubt the Iraqi regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-19 | The invasion of Iraq begins at 5:30 a.m. local time. | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-2 | Special forces find Pfc. Jessica Lynch in a hospital in Nasiriya. She later says of the dramatic stories of her supposed fight-to-the-death, "I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do" and of her rescue, "I don't think it happened quite like that." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-20 | The United States launches a second round of air strikes against Baghdad. Ground troops cross the southern border. | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-27 | Wolfowitz says "We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-30 | Rumsfeld says of Iraqi WMD, "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad, and east, west, south and north somewhat." | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-7 | Blix reports Iraq has accelerated its co-operation and asks for time to verify compliance. | GW Bush |
| 2003-03-9 | Baghdad falls. Widespread looting begins. Rumsfeld admits, "Freedom's untidy." | GW Bush |
| 2003-05-1 | Bush declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner. "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September 11,2001, and still goes on." | GW Bush |
| 2003-05-14 | Rumsfeld tells the Senate Defense Subcommittee: "I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons." | GW Bush |
| 2003-05-9 | Wolfowitz admits, "For reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on." | GW Bush |
| 2003-07-13 | Iraq's interim governing council is installed. Paul Bremer is the ultimate authority. | GW Bush |
| 2003-07-22 | Saddam's sons die in a firefight. Referring to Iraqi WMD, Perle admits, "We don't know where to look for them and we never did know where to look for them." | GW Bush |
| 2003-07-9 | Rumsfeld admits the cost of U.S. forces in Iraq runs $3.9 billion a month not including reconstruction- double that previously reported. | GW Bush |
| 2003-08-19 | A truck bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad kills 20, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. | GW Bush |
| 2003-09-17 | Bush says, "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al-Qaeda ties." | GW Bush |
| 2003-09-18 | Bush says, "No, we've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September llth." | GW Bush |
| 2003-09-22 | Perle tells AEI, "[N]ext year at about this time, I expect there will be a really thriving trade in the region, and we will see rapid economic development... And a year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad named after President Bush." | GW Bush |
| 2003-09-7 | Bush asks for an additional $87 billion for the occupation. | GW Bush |
| 2003-10-23-24 | The Madrid Conference falls short of the target of $56 billion needed for Iraqi reconstruction. | GW Bush |
| 2003-12-13 | Saddam is found in a hole near Tikrit. | GW Bush |
| 2004-01-22 | Cheney tells NPR, "There's overwhelming evidence there was a connection between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi government." | GW Bush |
| 2004-02-19 | Iraqi National Congress head Ahmad Chalabi, who received $340,000 per month from the U.S. and whose intelligence built much of the case for war, admits "we are heroes in error." | GW Bush |
| 2004-03-15 | Rumsfeld says of troops having their tours extended, "Come on. People are fungible. You can have them here or there." | GW Bush |
| 2004-03-30 | Photographs of abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison are published in the American media. | GW Bush |
| 2004-03-8 | Iraqi Governing Council signs interim constitution. | GW Bush |
| 2004-06-16 | The 9/11 Commission admits that there is "no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." | GW Bush |
| 2004-06-28 | U.S. returns sovereignty to Iraq. | GW Bush |
| 2004-07-9 | Senate Intelligence Committee releases a report that states "Most of the major key judgments" on Iraq's WMD were "either overstated, or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence report." Also, there was no "established formal relationship" between al-Qaeda and Saddam. | GW Bush |
| 2004-10-6 | The Duelfer Report, the 1500-page product of the Iraq Survey Group, concludes that there were no WMD in Iraq. | GW Bush |
| 2004-11-8 | Assault on Fallujah begins. 500-pound bombs are dropped on "insurgent targets." Rumsfeld says, "Innocent civilians in that city have all the guidance they need as to how they can avoid getting into trouble." Three-quarters of the city is reduced to rubble. | GW Bush |
| 2005-01-12 | The White House acknowledges that the search for WMD in Iraq is officially over. Asked if the war was "worth it" even though no weapons of mass destruction were found, Bush replies, "Oh, absolutely." | GW Bush |
| 2005-01-27 | Clinton tells World Economic Forum, "most of the terrible things Saddam Hussein did in the 1980s he did with the full knowing support of the United States government, because he wasn't Iran." | GW Bush |
| 2005-01-30 | Iraq holds an election. Allawi's secular Shi'ite slate is turned out in favor of Sistani-led Shi'ite clerics. | GW Bush |
| 2005-02-14 | Bush asks Congress for another $81.9 billion to fund the War on Terror. Most is for Iraq. | GW Bush |
| 2005-03-3 | The total of American war dead reaches 1,500. Between 15,000-20,000 are estimated wounded. Reports of Iraqi civilian deaths range from 37,000-100,000. o | GW Bush |
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| (*86-12) Did you ever wonder why US - Iran relations tended to be rocky? Not the sole reason, of course. |
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