70 Fun Facts About Iraq War

What nickname was given to the massive air assault that opened the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

Shock and awe was a strategy devised at the US National Defense University to break an enemy's will to fight, not just destroy its forces.

What was the US code name for the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam?

Operation Iraqi Freedom took Baghdad in about three weeks, yet US troops then stayed in Iraq for more than eight years.

Which US general led the 2003 invasion as commander of Central Command?

Tommy Franks had already commanded the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan that drove the Taliban from power.

Which 1998 US law made removing Saddam Hussein's regime official American policy?

The Iraq Liberation Act was signed by Bill Clinton, so regime change in Iraq was US policy years before George W. Bush's invasion.

In his 2002 State of the Union, Bush grouped Iraq with which two other countries in an 'Axis of Evil'?

Iran and North Korea were accused alongside Iraq in Bush's January 2002 speech of seeking weapons of mass destruction.

What did UN Resolution 1441 threaten if Iraq kept violating its obligations?

Serious consequences was vague wording: the US and Britain later said it allowed war, while France said a new UN vote was needed first.

Who chaired UNMOVIC, the UN inspection commission that returned to Iraq in late 2002?

Hans Blix told the Security Council that verifying Iraq's disarmament would take 'not years, nor weeks, but months'; the invasion went ahead within two weeks.

Colin Powell's 5 February 2003 UN presentation relied on an Iraqi defector in Germany with what codename?

Curveball, the defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, admitted in 2011 that he invented his tales of mobile bioweapons trucks to help topple Saddam.

In his final ultimatum before the invasion, President Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to do what?

Leave Iraq: Saddam ignored the deadline, and the war opened with a strike on Dora Farms, a Baghdad retreat where the CIA believed he was staying.

Which Leader of the House of Commons resigned from Britain's cabinet in protest against the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

Robin Cook resigned on the eve of the Commons vote; 139 Labour MPs then rebelled, but the House still approved war by 412 votes to 149.

Which German foreign minister told Rumsfeld in Munich in 2003, 'Excuse me, I am not convinced!'?

Joschka Fischer broke off his German speech to say it to Rumsfeld in English, and Germany refused to join the invasion.

Which Picasso painting's UN tapestry copy was covered with a curtain during Colin Powell's February 2003 case for war?

Guernica, Picasso's image of a bombed Basque town, was hidden behind a blue curtain; UN officials said it was done for the TV cameras.

Which US Army chief of staff told the Senate securing Iraq would take 'several hundred thousand soldiers'?

Eric Shinseki's estimate was called 'wildly off the mark' by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who argued other countries would help shoulder postwar Iraq.

Which former ambassador's op-ed on the Niger uranium claim led to the outing of his CIA-officer wife?

Joseph C. Wilson wrote that he found no sign of a Niger uranium deal, and within days the White House retracted the claim.

Which UN secretary-general said in 2004 that the invasion 'was not in conformity with the UN Charter'?

Kofi Annan told the BBC the invasion was illegal, saying the decision to act should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.

Which Kurdish force did CIA and JSOC teams organize as the northern front of the invasion?

Peshmerga fighters, backed by US special forces, took the oil city of Kirkuk in April 2003 as Iraqi forces collapsed.

Which country's parliament narrowly failed in 2003 to approve letting US troops invade Iraq from its territory?

Turkey's parliament said no despite a US aid offer worth billions, so tanks waiting on ships off its coast had to sail around Arabia to Kuwait.

Which Iraqi port did the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Polish GROM attack in the opening days?

Umm Qasr's defenders held out for several days, and once its waters were cleared of mines the port became the entry point for humanitarian aid.

In the deck of playing cards issued to US troops showing Iraq's most-wanted officials, which card was Saddam Hussein?

Saddam Hussein was the ace of spades; the Defense Intelligence Agency designed the deck so troops would learn wanted faces while passing the time playing cards.

Jessica Lynch was captured after her unit, the 507th Maintenance Company, was ambushed in which battle?

Nasiriyah's hospital is where US special forces later rescued Lynch, but Iraqi doctors there said she had no bullet or stab wounds, contradicting early reports.

What slowed the coalition advance toward Najaf and Karbala in the first weeks of the invasion?

A severe sandstorm halted the 3rd Infantry Division's drive between Najaf and Karbala and stopped troops calling in air cover during fighting.

Which nickname did the media give Iraq's information minister for his briefings as US forces closed in on Baghdad?

Comical Ali, as the media dubbed Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, became a cult figure, with a US fan website, T-shirts and mugs.

In which Baghdad plaza was the giant statue of Saddam pulled down as the city fell?

Firdos Square's statue came down to a Marine recovery vehicle, after a Marine covered Saddam's face with a US flag that was then swapped for an Iraqi one.

Which taunt did President Bush aim at militants attacking US troops in Iraq in July 2003?

Bring 'em on, Bush said; in 2006 he said he regretted the phrase, which he felt had been misinterpreted in parts of the world.

Aboard which aircraft carrier did Bush deliver his 'Mission Accomplished' speech on 1 May 2003?

USS Abraham Lincoln received Bush in a Navy jet, the first sitting president to land on a carrier by plane, though the White House later conceded a helicopter could have made the trip.

Who headed the Coalition Provisional Authority from May 2003 until it dissolved in June 2004?

Paul Bremer handed sovereignty to Iraq's interim government two days earlier than expected, in a surprise, low-key ceremony.

What did CPA Order 1, issued on 16 May 2003, do?

It purged senior Ba'ath Party members from public jobs, and thousands of teachers were dismissed though joining the party had been all but required of them.

A raid by the 101st Airborne on 22 July 2003 killed which two men?

Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay died in a Mosul house after an informant gave them up; troops fired almost a dozen missiles, and Qusay's teenage son was also killed.

Which UN envoy was killed in the August 2003 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad?

Sérgio Vieira de Mello lay trapped in the rubble for hours before he died, and within weeks the UN withdrew most of its 600 staff from Iraq.

What was the code name of the mission that captured Saddam Hussein on 13 December 2003?

Red Dawn's raids on its two target sites came up empty, and it was a follow-up search of the same area that turned up Saddam.

Where was Saddam found hiding when he was captured?

In a spider hole near Tikrit, sealed by a Styrofoam plug under dirt and a rug, Saddam was armed with a pistol but put up no resistance.

Which words did the US administrator in Iraq use to announce Saddam Hussein's capture to reporters in Baghdad?

'Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,' the US administrator told reporters in Baghdad, drawing loud cheers from Iraqis in the audience.

The Abu Ghraib abuse became public in April 2004 via Seymour Hersh and which TV program?

60 Minutes II had held the story for two weeks at the request of the Pentagon and Gen. Richard Myers, citing the danger to troops in Iraq.

What triggered the First Battle of Fallujah in April 2004?

The killing of four Blackwater contractors in an ambush ended with their burned bodies hung from a Euphrates bridge, and a US general vowed, 'We will be back in Fallujah.'

The US military compared the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004 to which Vietnam battle?

Hue City was the yardstick because Fallujah, cleared building by building, saw some of the heaviest urban combat US forces had faced since that 1968 battle.

Who became interim prime minister when the CPA transferred sovereignty in June 2004?

Ayad Allawi, a neurologist who had quit Saddam's ruling party, survived a 1978 attack at his home in England that he blamed on Baghdad.

What did the 2004 Duelfer Report of the Iraq Survey Group conclude?

There was no viable WMD program, the report found, though Saddam had intended to resume making banned weapons once UN sanctions were lifted.

Which Iraqi city's al-Askari Mosque was bombed on 22 February 2006, escalating sectarian violence?

Samarra's shrine lost its famous golden dome, and the same day Shias in Baghdad attacked at least five Sunni mosques in reprisal.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in June 2006 near which city?

Near Baqubah, US forces followed his spiritual adviser to an isolated safe house, and F-16 jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on it.

Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006 after conviction for what crime?

The 1982 Dujail massacre was his reprisal for a failed attempt on his life in the town: 148 Shias were killed, and that case sent him to the gallows.

Who became Iraq's prime minister in 2006 and held the post until 2014?

Nouri al-Maliki had joined the Shia Islamist Dawa party as a student and returned to Iraq from years in exile only after the 2003 invasion.

In his January 2007 address announcing more troops for Iraq, whom did President Bush say bore responsibility for mistakes?

Himself: 'Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me,' Bush said, blaming too few troops to hold cleared Baghdad neighborhoods as he sent over 20,000 more.

Who took command of Multi-National Force – Iraq in February 2007 to run the surge?

David Petraeus later became CIA director, but resigned in 2012 after admitting an extramarital affair with his biographer.

The 'Anbar Awakening' was an alliance of what?

Sunni Arab tribes opposed to al-Qaeda rallied behind Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, who was assassinated on the day Bush's address to the nation hailed Anbar's progress.

Which Shia cleric's August 2007 ceasefire order coincided with the surge's drop in violence?

Muqtada al-Sadr froze his Mahdi Army for up to six months after Shia-on-Shia fighting in the holy city of Karbala killed more than 50 people.

What happened in December 2020 to four US guards convicted over Baghdad's 2007 Nisour Square killings?

They were pardoned by President Trump, though their sentences had ranged from 12 years to life, including for first-degree murder.

What did journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi throw at President Bush in Baghdad in December 2008?

His shoes were destroyed days later by Iraqi and US security services, who examined them to make sure they did not contain explosives.

What name did the US military mission in Iraq take on 1 September 2010?

New Dawn marked US troops' reduced role: the last combat brigade had already left, though about 50,000 troops stayed on to train and advise Iraqi forces.

Talks on keeping US troops in Iraq after 2011 broke down over what issue?

Immunity from prosecution was refused by Iraq's government, so virtually all US troops left, the last crossing into Kuwait on 18 December 2011.

Which 2016 British report found the UK joined the Iraq invasion before peaceful options had been exhausted?

The Chilcot Report also found the invasion's consequences were underestimated despite explicit warnings, and judged planning for Iraq after Saddam 'wholly inadequate'.

Which leader wrote 'I will be with you, whatever' in a private 2002 note to President Bush on Iraq?

Tony Blair's note stayed secret until 2016, when Britain's Iraq inquiry released it over the objections of the Cabinet Office.

Which Nobel-winning economist co-wrote the 2008 bestseller 'The Three Trillion Dollar War' about the Iraq War's cost?

Joseph Stiglitz wrote it with Harvard's Linda Bilmes, adding costs the official figures left out, such as lifetime healthcare for returning veterans.

Lori Piestewa, killed in Iraq in 2003, was the first US servicewoman of what heritage to die in combat on foreign soil?

Native American soldier Lori Piestewa, a Hopi, was killed after her supply convoy took a wrong turn and drove into an ambush.

Which medical journal published a 2006 survey estimating about 655,000 excess Iraqi deaths since the invasion?

The Lancet's survey was dismissed by President Bush, who said he did not consider the report credible.

Which group's fighters seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in June 2014?

The Islamic State declared a caliphate a few weeks after taking Mosul and named its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph.

Which US–UK bombing campaign of December 1998 aimed to hamper Iraq's weapons programs?

Operation Desert Fox was launched within hours of chief UN inspector Richard Butler reporting that Iraq was still obstructing weapons inspections.

In a 2002 speech, which politician said he opposed not all wars but 'a dumb war' in Iraq?

Barack Obama later touted that early stance against the war as a key difference from Hillary Clinton in their 2008 battle for the Democratic nomination.

Which South African leader said of President Bush in 2003, 'All that he wants is Iraqi oil'?

Nelson Mandela also accused the US of 'unspeakable atrocities', citing its dropping of atomic bombs on Japan in World War II.

Which phrase did Donald Rumsfeld use in April 2003 to shrug off the looting that swept Iraq after Saddam's fall?

Stuff happens, Rumsfeld said, arguing that 'freedom's untidy' and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes.

The battle for Baghdad began three days after the 3rd Infantry Division under Buford Blount secured what?

The international airport bore Saddam's name until US troops took it in a night assault and, within a day, renamed it Baghdad International.

Which British royal's planned 2007 tour of Iraq with his army unit was called off because of threats against him?

Prince Harry was 'very disappointed', his spokesperson said, after the army chief judged the threats put him and those around him at unacceptable risk.

What was the British code name for the 2003 invasion of Iraq?

Operation Telic got its name from a Ministry of Defence computer picking from an approved word list, so that it would carry no political message.

Which retired US general led the US office running postwar Iraq for about a month before being replaced in 2003?

Jay Garner recalled Rumsfeld phoning to praise his 'great job' and, in the same call, telling him the president had picked a new envoy for Iraq.

In which Iraqi town did US Marines kill about two dozen civilians, including women and children, in November 2005?

Haditha's killings sent no Marine to jail: of eight charged, only the squad leader was convicted, and his sentence was a demotion to private.

Which Iraq War film made Kathryn Bigelow the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director?

The Hurt Locker also beat Avatar, directed by Bigelow's former husband James Cameron, for Best Picture.

Which incendiary weapon did the Pentagon admit US forces used in the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004?

White phosphorus use as a weapon had been denied by US ambassadors before the Pentagon admitted using it to drive fighters out of dug-in positions.

In 2003, President Bush made a secret flight to Baghdad to share which holiday meal with US troops?

Thanksgiving dinner with Bush came as a surprise to the troops, as he joked that he was 'just looking for a warm meal somewhere'.

What was the leading cause of casualties among US and coalition troops in Iraq?

Roadside bombs, known to the military as IEDs, stayed the leading cause of casualties despite a Pentagon task force set up in 2003 to defeat them.

Which two men co-chaired the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that reported in December 2006?

James Baker and Lee Hamilton lost panel member Robert Gates a month before their report, when Bush named him to replace Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.

Coordinated suicide blasts in northern Iraq in August 2007, among the Iraq War's deadliest attacks, targeted which religious minority?

Yazidis were buried when four vehicle bombs flattened their clay-built houses, and rescuers dug through the rubble for survivors.