The fall of Baghdad, 16 years later



[ad_1]

On 9 April 2003, Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, was officially occupied by US-led coalition forces, officially marking the fall of Saddam Hussein. One of the main goals was to eliminate the weapons of mbad destruction from Iraq – but none was found.

On March 19, more than 175,000 American, British, Australian and Polish troops invaded Iraq as part of the Iraqi Freedom operation, as the Western powers called it. The United States alone represents 130,000 members of the offensive force.

Soldiers from 36 other countries joined them later.

According to US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the key objectives was to get rid of Iraqi weapons of mbad destruction – but none was subsequently found.

In early April, US-led coalition forces took control of Baghdad International Airport and then launched an badault on the capital.

On April 9, 2003, Baghdad was officially occupied by coalition forces, but fighting continued in the city some time later.

The United States declared the victory on April 14, but it is May 1 that Bush, under the banner "Mission Accomplished", put an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

[ad_2]
Source link