19 March 2003: Iraq War Begins
On March 19, 2003, President George W. Bush addressed the nation to announce that American and coalition forces had begun military operations against Iraq, launching what would become one of the most controversial wars in U.S. history.
“My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger,” Bush declared from the Oval Office.
The invasion, codenamed Operation Iraqi Freedom, followed months of diplomatic wrangling at the United Nations. The Bush administration argued that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and maintained ties to terrorist organizations—claims that would later prove unfounded or greatly exaggerated.
Initial military operations proceeded with stunning speed. Coalition forces crossed into Iraq from Kuwait, while cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs struck Baghdad in a campaign dubbed “shock and awe.” Within three weeks, Baghdad fell.
But the swift conventional victory gave way to a grinding insurgency. No weapons of mass destruction were found. The occupation sparked sectarian violence that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and over 4,400 American service members.
The Iraq War reshaped American foreign policy and sparked debates about preemptive war that continue to this day.
