Iraq
Motives for Invasion
The U.S. wanted to invade Iraq for two main reasons:
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Remove Saddam Hussein from power.
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Locate any weapons of mass destruction and end the WMD program.
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The U.S. moved its forces into Iraq to accomplish these mission objectives. On March 20, 2003, the invasion started. Operation: Iraqi Freedom was underway.
Operation: Iraqi Freedom
Operation: Iraqi Freedom began with a large-scale bombing of key targets, followed by the formal ground invasion of U.S. troops. The U.S. forces rolled into Baghdad on the 9th of April 2003. The fall of Baghdad signaled the end of Saddam Hussein's reign as the dictator of Iraq. The American forces then began to search for the suspected Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and a Weapons of Mass Destruction production program.
On August 31, 2010, Operation: Iraqi Freedom was drawn to a close. Out of the two main objectives the Americans wanted to accomplish the American forces were able to achieve only one of the two. American forces were able to depose Saddam but were unable to locate any Weapons of Mass Destruction or any trace of a Weapons of Mass Destruction production program.
Operation: New Dawn
On September 1, 2010, Operation: New Dawn replaced Operation: Iraqi Freedom.
Under Operation: Iraqi Freedom U.S. forces were conducting combat operations within Iraq. Operation: New Dawn changed the American forces in Iraq from combat forces to support and sustain forces.
Operation: New Dawn's main mission objective was a strategic re-posturing of American forces in the country. The United States was conducting a draw-down of combat forces and moving those combat forces to Afghanistan.