Iraq-US relations since 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq — As US President Donald Trump prepares to host Iraq's new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, here are key dates in relations between their countries since 2003.

Invasion

On March 20, 2003, the US leads an invasion of Iraq after claims that Saddam Hussein's regime is harbouring weapons of mass destruction.

On April 9, US forces take control of Baghdad, where a large statue of Saddam is symbolically toppled by an American tank amid celebrations by a crowd of Iraqis.

US President George W. Bush announces the end of major combat operations on May 1, but says the war against "terrorism" continues.

Civil administrator Paul Bremer announces the dissolution of the Iraqi military, the information ministry and other state security organisations and bars former officials of Saddam's Baath party from holding public sector jobs.

On October 2, a US report says no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.

On December 13, Saddam is captured near Tikrit, north of Baghdad, after nine months on the run. He is hanged three years later.

The broadcast in April 2004 of images of torture and other abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the US-run Abu Ghraib military prison shocks the world.

Power is transferred to an interim government in June.

Insurgency, sectarian conflict

In November 2004, more than 10,000 American and 2,000 Iraqi soldiers attack the flashpoint Sunni city of Fallujah, which had become a symbol of resistance to the foreign presence, after the lynching of four Americans in March.

In February 2006, Al-Qaeda-linked Sunni extremists blow up a Shiite shrine in Samarra, sparking a wave of sectarian killings that leaves tens of thousands dead and lasts until 2008.

In January 2007, Bush announces the deployment of 30,000 more troops, bringing the total number to 165,000, saying the surge was needed to help Iraq's embattled government bring the situation under control.

American soldiers depart

In February 2009, new US president Barack Obama, who had deeply opposed the war in Iraq, says troops will be withdrawn by the end of 2011.

On December 18, 2011, the last American soldiers depart Iraq - a country mired in a severe political crisis.

Between 2003 and 2011, more than 100,000 civilians were killed, according to the Iraq Body Count database. The United States has lost nearly 4,500 troops.

Fighting the jihadists

In January 2014, jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), later known as the Islamic State (IS) group, capture Fallujah and parts of Ramadi city, west of Baghdad.

In June they seize the northern city of Mosul and by the end of 2014 hold one-third of Iraq.

The United States intervenes directly in Iraq for the first time since its forces withdrew in 2011, bombarding jihadist positions which threaten Iraqi Kurdistan and thousands of Christians and Yezidis.

With the help of the US-led coalition, Iraqi forces drive IS from all the country's urban centres in a months-long military campaign.

In December 2017, Iraq declares victory against IS.

Torn between US and Iran

Since 2003, Washington's arch-enemy Iran, which supports factions of the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary forces that played a crucial role against IS, has strengthened its influence and become a major trading partner with Iraq.

On December 31, 2019, thousands of Iraqis attack the US embassy in Baghdad to protest a deadly American bombing against a Hashed faction.

On January 3, 2020, top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and powerful Hashed chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis are killed in an American airstrike in Baghdad.

Iran responds with missile strikes on bases hosting American soldiers in Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament calls on the government to end the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, where 5,000 American troops are stationed.

On April 9, intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who has links in Washington and Tehran, is tasked with forming a government.

In early May he replaces Adel Abdel Mahdi, driven out after unprecedented October street protests which left some 100 dead.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hails the formation of a new government and extends Baghdad's sanctions waiver, allowing it to import Iranian gas.

Iraq-US relations since 2003

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