20 Years Later: Recalling the US Invasion of Iraq
The Iraq War began on March 19, 2003, when U.S. planes and warships based in the Persian Gulf hit targets within Iraq with a barrage of Tomahawk missiles. The next day, the ground phase of the war started when the first of some 160,000 U.S. troops entered Iraq. The invasion was swift and successful. During the first week, Marines encountered heavy resistance near the southern Iraq city of Nasirayah, which the Marines called “the wild west.” By April 9, after a six-day ba...