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Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn Fast Facts

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Updated 1747 GMT (0147 HKT) March 8, 2018

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U.S. Marines in northern Kuwait gear up after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border on March 20, 2003. It has been more than 10 years since the American-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Look back at 100 moments from the war and the legacy it left behind.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
U.S. Marines in northern Kuwait gear up after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border on March 20, 2003. It has been more than 10 years since the American-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. Look back at 100 moments from the war and the legacy it left behind.
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A pedestrian looks at front-page headlines on display outside the future site of the Newseum in Washington on March 20, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A pedestrian looks at front-page headlines on display outside the future site of the Newseum in Washington on March 20, 2003.
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Smoke and flames rise from the riverside presidential palace compound in Baghdad after a massive airstrike on March 21, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Smoke and flames rise from the riverside presidential palace compound in Baghdad after a massive airstrike on March 21, 2003.
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President George W. Bush meets with his war council in the Situation Room of the White House on March 21, 2003. Clockwise from foreground: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director George Tenet, Chief of Staff Andy Card, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers were present.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
President George W. Bush meets with his war council in the Situation Room of the White House on March 21, 2003. Clockwise from foreground: National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director George Tenet, Chief of Staff Andy Card, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers were present.
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A U.S. Marine from Task Force Tarawa engages Iraqi forces from an armored assault vehicle on March 23, 2003, in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A U.S. Marine from Task Force Tarawa engages Iraqi forces from an armored assault vehicle on March 23, 2003, in the southern city of Nasiriyah.
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Marines walk single-file through the desolate landscape in Nasiriyah on March 26, 2003. As night falls on the city, the troops are on alert for a counterattack.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Marines walk single-file through the desolate landscape in Nasiriyah on March 26, 2003. As night falls on the city, the troops are on alert for a counterattack.
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A night-vision image shows U.S. military personnel carrying Pfc. Jessica Lynch off a helicopter on April 1, 2003, at an undisclosed location in Iraq. She had been missing since March 23, when she and members of her unit were ambushed by Iraqi forces.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A night-vision image shows U.S. military personnel carrying Pfc. Jessica Lynch off a helicopter on April 1, 2003, at an undisclosed location in Iraq. She had been missing since March 23, when she and members of her unit were ambushed by Iraqi forces.
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Members of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, storm Diyala Bridge in Baghdad on April 7, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Members of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, storm Diyala Bridge in Baghdad on April 7, 2003.
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Marines pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein, a symbolic finale to the fall of Baghdad, on April 9, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Marines pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein, a symbolic finale to the fall of Baghdad, on April 9, 2003.
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Iraqis flee Baghdad on April 11, 2003, as the capital city descended into chaos with widespread looting and lawlessness.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqis flee Baghdad on April 11, 2003, as the capital city descended into chaos with widespread looting and lawlessness.
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Marines hold a memorial service for friends killed in a battle weeks earlier on April 13, 2003, near Al-Kut, Iraq.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Marines hold a memorial service for friends killed in a battle weeks earlier on April 13, 2003, near Al-Kut, Iraq.
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Iraqi National Museum Deputy Director Mushin Hasan sits among destroyed artifacts on April 13, 2003, in Bagdhad. The museum was severely looted.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi National Museum Deputy Director Mushin Hasan sits among destroyed artifacts on April 13, 2003, in Bagdhad. The museum was severely looted.
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Iraqi men push the head of a statue of Saddam Hussein after its destruction on April 18, 2003, in Baghdad.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi men push the head of a statue of Saddam Hussein after its destruction on April 18, 2003, in Baghdad.
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Dressed in a flight suit, President Bush meets pilots and crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln who were returning to the United States on May 1, 2003, after being deployed in the Gulf region.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Dressed in a flight suit, President Bush meets pilots and crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln who were returning to the United States on May 1, 2003, after being deployed in the Gulf region.
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Sailors applaud as President Bush addresses the nation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. Standing beneath a banner that read "Mission Accomplished," the president declared major fighting over in Iraq and called it a victory in the ongoing war on terrorism.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Sailors applaud as President Bush addresses the nation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. Standing beneath a banner that read "Mission Accomplished," the president declared major fighting over in Iraq and called it a victory in the ongoing war on terrorism.
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A U.S. Marine pulls down a picture of Saddam Hussein at a school in Al-Kut on April 16, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A U.S. Marine pulls down a picture of Saddam Hussein at a school in Al-Kut on April 16, 2003.
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Iraqi men check a list near the remains of bodies excavated from a mass grave on the outskirts of Al Musayyib on May 31, 2003. Locals said they uncovered the remains of hundreds of Shiite Muslims allegedly executed by Saddam Hussein's regime after their uprising following the 1991 Gulf War.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi men check a list near the remains of bodies excavated from a mass grave on the outskirts of Al Musayyib on May 31, 2003. Locals said they uncovered the remains of hundreds of Shiite Muslims allegedly executed by Saddam Hussein's regime after their uprising following the 1991 Gulf War.
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U.S. Army 101st Airborne troops investigate a house where Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in Mosul, Iraq, on July 23, 2003. The house, in an affluent neighborhood, was the scene of a fierce gunbattle.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
U.S. Army 101st Airborne troops investigate a house where Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in Mosul, Iraq, on July 23, 2003. The house, in an affluent neighborhood, was the scene of a fierce gunbattle.
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Army Cpl. Curtis Laymon of the 101st Airborne Rakkasan regiment is reflected in a pool of oil from the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline in Iraq's Ninewa province on October 29, 2003. The pipeline was blown apart by saboteurs two weeks earlier.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Army Cpl. Curtis Laymon of the 101st Airborne Rakkasan regiment is reflected in a pool of oil from the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline in Iraq's Ninewa province on October 29, 2003. The pipeline was blown apart by saboteurs two weeks earlier.
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An Iraqi police lieutenant's stars lie in a puddle of blood after a car bombing that targeted a police station in Baquba on November 22, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
An Iraqi police lieutenant's stars lie in a puddle of blood after a car bombing that targeted a police station in Baquba on November 22, 2003.
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A construction worker removes debris from a destroyed building in Baghdad on December 11, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A construction worker removes debris from a destroyed building in Baghdad on December 11, 2003.
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Saddam Hussein's picture is taken December 14, 2003, after his capture a day earlier. U.S. troops found Hussein hiding near his hometown of Tikrit.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Saddam Hussein's picture is taken December 14, 2003, after his capture a day earlier. U.S. troops found Hussein hiding near his hometown of Tikrit.
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The entrance to the "spider hole" where Saddam Hussein was hiding in Ad Dawr is seen from the inside on December 15, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
The entrance to the "spider hole" where Saddam Hussein was hiding in Ad Dawr is seen from the inside on December 15, 2003.
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A bound Iraqi informer, with his name inked in English across his back, crouches beside soldiers in the 4th Infantry Division after providing outdated information during a morning raid in in Samarra on December 19, 2003.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A bound Iraqi informer, with his name inked in English across his back, crouches beside soldiers in the 4th Infantry Division after providing outdated information during a morning raid in in Samarra on December 19, 2003.
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Eman Mohammed, 7, stands in the Kurdish refugee camp in Kirkuk on January 7, 2004. Since 2003, thousands of internally displaced Kurds have returned to Kirkuk.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Eman Mohammed, 7, stands in the Kurdish refugee camp in Kirkuk on January 7, 2004. Since 2003, thousands of internally displaced Kurds have returned to Kirkuk.
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Laborers work on a hotel in Baghdad on January 15, 2004.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Laborers work on a hotel in Baghdad on January 15, 2004.
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A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oil field outside the northern city of Kirkuk on January 19, 2004. The security of Iraq's oil infrastructure had improved, but exports through the region's main pipeline had yet to resume.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A worker turns a valve at the Shirawa oil field outside the northern city of Kirkuk on January 19, 2004. The security of Iraq's oil infrastructure had improved, but exports through the region's main pipeline had yet to resume.
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A boy stands at the scene of a car bombing in front of the Shaheen Hotel in Baghdad on January 28, 2004.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
A boy stands at the scene of a car bombing in front of the Shaheen Hotel in Baghdad on January 28, 2004.
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Mourners carry coffins in Karbala on March 3, 2004. A day after a series of bombs killed dozens and injured hundreds during the Ashura ceremony in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Shiite Muslims began burying their dead.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Mourners carry coffins in Karbala on March 3, 2004. A day after a series of bombs killed dozens and injured hundreds during the Ashura ceremony in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Shiite Muslims began burying their dead.
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Iraqi insurgents wave their national flag as they celebrate in front of a burning U.S. military tanker they hit with rocket-propelled grenade on April 9, 2004. The attack took place on the road from Baghdad to Fallujah.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi insurgents wave their national flag as they celebrate in front of a burning U.S. military tanker they hit with rocket-propelled grenade on April 9, 2004. The attack took place on the road from Baghdad to Fallujah.
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Photographs depicting detainee abuse inside Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of U.S. troops were released in late April 2004. The fallout was immediate, and the images gave anti-war protesters ammunition to rally people to their cause.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Photographs depicting detainee abuse inside Abu Ghraib prison at the hands of U.S. troops were released in late April 2004. The fallout was immediate, and the images gave anti-war protesters ammunition to rally people to their cause.
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Iraqis look at rows of graves at an overflowing cemetery built in a soccer arena in Fallujah on May 3, 2004.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqis look at rows of graves at an overflowing cemetery built in a soccer arena in Fallujah on May 3, 2004.
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At home in Baghdad with his new prosthetic leg, Ahsan Hameed, 20, sits while his aunt looks it over on July 17, 2004. He lost his left leg above the knee to a stray bullet in April.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
At home in Baghdad with his new prosthetic leg, Ahsan Hameed, 20, sits while his aunt looks it over on July 17, 2004. He lost his left leg above the knee to a stray bullet in April.
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Construction workers weld beams at the Ministry of Transportation building in Baghdad on July 21, 2004. The building was being rebuilt after it was gutted by a fire.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Construction workers weld beams at the Ministry of Transportation building in Baghdad on July 21, 2004. The building was being rebuilt after it was gutted by a fire.
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Iraqi national guardsman Ridha Abdulkarim lies in a hospital bed after a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint in Baquba on August 3, 2004. The bomb killed six guardsmen and wounded six others, Iraqi authorities said.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi national guardsman Ridha Abdulkarim lies in a hospital bed after a car bomb detonated at a checkpoint in Baquba on August 3, 2004. The bomb killed six guardsmen and wounded six others, Iraqi authorities said.
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Shiite militia members prepare to fire during clashes with U.S. forces in Najaf on August 7, 2004. It was the third day of continuous fighting in the holy city.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Shiite militia members prepare to fire during clashes with U.S. forces in Najaf on August 7, 2004. It was the third day of continuous fighting in the holy city.
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An Iraqi militia member injured in a U.S. airstrike in Najaf is assisted by one of his comrades on August 24, 2004. They were walking past the shrine of Imam Ali to make their way to a militia hospital.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
An Iraqi militia member injured in a U.S. airstrike in Najaf is assisted by one of his comrades on August 24, 2004. They were walking past the shrine of Imam Ali to make their way to a militia hospital.
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Iraqi Shiite faithful gather in Najaf on August 27, 2004, to mark the end of a battle. Rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms in a peace deal brokered by Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Iraqi Shiite faithful gather in Najaf on August 27, 2004, to mark the end of a battle. Rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to lay down their arms in a peace deal brokered by Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
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Anti-war protesters in New York carry mock coffins draped with U.S. flags on August 29, 2004. Thousands took part in demonstrations outside Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Anti-war protesters in New York carry mock coffins draped with U.S. flags on August 29, 2004. Thousands took part in demonstrations outside Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
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Members of the Iraqi Intervention Forces listen to last-minute instructions before heading out with U.S. troops to begin a major offensive on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on November 8, 2004.
Photos: 100 moments from the Iraq War
Members of the Iraqi Intervention Forces listen to last-minute instructions before heading out with U.S. troops to beg