Bush at War
On March 20, 2003 (8 years ago today) the Iraq War began with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force led by troops from the United States.
Prior to the invasion, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom asserted the concern that Iraq was in the process of producing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that this threatened their security and that of their allies in the region. In 2002, the United Nations Security Council had passed Resolution 1441 which called for Iraq to completely cooperate with UN weapon inspectors to verify that it was not in possession of WMD and cruise missiles. The UN monitors were to be given access by Iraq under provisions of the UN resolution, but weapons inspectors found no evidence of such weapons. Iraq refused to cooperate with inspectors in compliance with the UN disarmament requirements. Head weapons inspector Hans Blix advised the UN Security Council that while Iraq's cooperation was not in accordance with the requirements and Iraq's declarations of compliance could not be verified.
In late February 2002, the CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to investigate reports (later found to be forgeries) that Iraq was attempting to purchase yellow-cake uranium from Niger. Wilson returned and informed the CIA that reports of yellow-cake sales to Iraq were "unequivocally wrong." Despite this, some officials in the administration of President George W. Bush continued to allege Iraq's attempts to obtain additional yellow-cake were a justification for military action. In his January 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush declared that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British intelligence sources. (The text of his speech can be found here).
In January 2003, Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said that "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance of the disarmament which was required of it." Among other things, Blix noted that 1,000 tons of chemical agent were unaccounted for, information on Iraq's VX nerve agent program was missing, and that "no convincing evidence" was presented for the destruction of 8,500 litres of anthrax that had been declared.
On February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the UN to present American evidence that Iraq was hiding unconventional weapons. The French government also believed that Saddam had stockpiles of anthrax and botulism toxin, and the ability to produce VX. In March, Blix said progress had been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMD had been found. The U.S., British, and Spanish governments proposed the so-called "eighteenth resolution" to give Iraq a deadline for compliance with previous resolutions enforced by the threat of military action. France, Germany and Canada and non-NATO member Russia were opposed to military intervention in Iraq, due to the high level of risk to the international community's security, and advocated disarmament through diplomatic channels.
A meeting between President. Bush and Tony Blair took place on January 31, 2003, in the White House. Bush and Blair agreed to carry out the invasion regardless of whether WMD were discovered by UN weapons inspectors, according to memos later discovered, though Blair denied this in a statement he made to the British House of Commons. In one of these memos, Bush is paraphrased as saying, "The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin."
At 5:34 a.m. Baghdad time on March 20, 2003 (9:34 p.m., March 19 EST) the military invasion of Iraq began.The invasion, led by U.S. army General Tommy Franks, began under the codename "Operation Iraqi Liberation", later renamed "Operation Iraqi Freedom". The coalition was composed of 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers. The invasion force was also supported by about 70,000 Iraqi Kurdish militia troops.
Following is a YouTube video of President Bush announcing the invasion:
Prior to the invasion, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom asserted the concern that Iraq was in the process of producing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that this threatened their security and that of their allies in the region. In 2002, the United Nations Security Council had passed Resolution 1441 which called for Iraq to completely cooperate with UN weapon inspectors to verify that it was not in possession of WMD and cruise missiles. The UN monitors were to be given access by Iraq under provisions of the UN resolution, but weapons inspectors found no evidence of such weapons. Iraq refused to cooperate with inspectors in compliance with the UN disarmament requirements. Head weapons inspector Hans Blix advised the UN Security Council that while Iraq's cooperation was not in accordance with the requirements and Iraq's declarations of compliance could not be verified.
In late February 2002, the CIA sent former Ambassador Joseph Wilson to investigate reports (later found to be forgeries) that Iraq was attempting to purchase yellow-cake uranium from Niger. Wilson returned and informed the CIA that reports of yellow-cake sales to Iraq were "unequivocally wrong." Despite this, some officials in the administration of President George W. Bush continued to allege Iraq's attempts to obtain additional yellow-cake were a justification for military action. In his January 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush declared that Iraq had sought uranium, citing British intelligence sources. (The text of his speech can be found here).
In January 2003, Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said that "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance of the disarmament which was required of it." Among other things, Blix noted that 1,000 tons of chemical agent were unaccounted for, information on Iraq's VX nerve agent program was missing, and that "no convincing evidence" was presented for the destruction of 8,500 litres of anthrax that had been declared.
On February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared before the UN to present American evidence that Iraq was hiding unconventional weapons. The French government also believed that Saddam had stockpiles of anthrax and botulism toxin, and the ability to produce VX. In March, Blix said progress had been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMD had been found. The U.S., British, and Spanish governments proposed the so-called "eighteenth resolution" to give Iraq a deadline for compliance with previous resolutions enforced by the threat of military action. France, Germany and Canada and non-NATO member Russia were opposed to military intervention in Iraq, due to the high level of risk to the international community's security, and advocated disarmament through diplomatic channels.
A meeting between President. Bush and Tony Blair took place on January 31, 2003, in the White House. Bush and Blair agreed to carry out the invasion regardless of whether WMD were discovered by UN weapons inspectors, according to memos later discovered, though Blair denied this in a statement he made to the British House of Commons. In one of these memos, Bush is paraphrased as saying, "The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin."
At 5:34 a.m. Baghdad time on March 20, 2003 (9:34 p.m., March 19 EST) the military invasion of Iraq began.The invasion, led by U.S. army General Tommy Franks, began under the codename "Operation Iraqi Liberation", later renamed "Operation Iraqi Freedom". The coalition was composed of 248,000 soldiers from the United States, 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers and 194 Polish soldiers. The invasion force was also supported by about 70,000 Iraqi Kurdish militia troops.
Following is a YouTube video of President Bush announcing the invasion: