Iraq War: A Look Back (SLIDESHOW)

President Obama today announced his plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq by August 2010 and declared that the US has "begun the work of ending this war," reports the New York Times.

Nearly six years after American troops crossed the border into Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, Mr. Obama said "renewed cause for hope" produced by improved security would allow Americans to begin disentangling militarily and turn the country over to the Iraqis themselves.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can," the president told thousands of Marines stationed here. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

To mark the beginning of the end, the Huffington Post has compiled a slideshow of the most significant moments from the war. It has been a long war. It is a long slideshow. And now, six years since the U.S. invasion, the end is in sight.

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President Bush, seen in this image from television, addresses the nation from the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, March 19, 2003. Bush said U.S. forces launched a strike against targets of military opportunity in Iraq, describing the action as the opening salvo in an operation to disarm Iraq and to free its people. (AP)

Comments

[dashboard]

Thanks GWB and Dick C, we are much safer today and justify that to the 4250 dead soldiers an hundreds of thousand dead Iraqi's. Isn't victory sweet.....­.not.

[MissingAmerica]

So many disturbing images like the poor woman mourning the senseless death of her son or the infamous Bush "Mission Accomplished" fiasco. The one that really tears at my heart is the prisoner chained at the ankle, hooded and balancing on two boxes. It's obvious from the length of the chain that if he falls (which could happen since he could become disoriented under that hood) the cuff will eat into his flesh. I find it really upsetting when I think that it is an American administration, not a terrorist organization, that is doing this inhumane thing! It's obvious that Bush and Cheney turned us into a terrorist nation. At a time when we had an opportunity to show the world how calm and forgiving this nation could be, something which would have endeared us to the world, these warmongers made enemies of us all. It is time for them to be prosecuted for their war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[rmwarnick]

This is typical of other Iraq slide shows on the Web. Abu Ghraib is included but... Nothing about Najaf, Fallujah, Sadr City, Basra, Mosul. Nothing about Haditha. No dead bodies. No blood. Oh what a lovely war... as far as the media will show us.

[RJII]

that made me sooooo sad and ashamed. a little sick too.

[Kristen777]

I'm with you. I really do want to cry seeing these images. I went to Europe a few years back and their news coverage of the war is far less sanitized than ours. The images of all the emaciated unadoptable Iraqi orphans haunts me.

[HC4BO]

O-Bomb-A ?

That was Quick ...

Only problem is we would NOT have had "o-Bomb-a" if only O-DUMB-A had NOT been elected 8 years ago ...

[KatDawgATL]

I know, right?

[OYea]

This article should be re-titled.­.. AMERICA'S DISGRACE!

[VOTER]

Exactly what I was about to post.

[wordvarc]

A look back?

We're still in the middle of w's debaucles.

[Eyeswideopen1]

Nope, time has been warped and it's now all Obamas fault that we aren't out yet.

[LeeCalif]

"Let me say this as plainly as I can," the president told thousands of Marines stationed here. "By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."

..........­..........­uh, oh, except for 50,000 of you.

That will be our RESIDUAL force.

[dashboard]

Your blaming the wrong guy for this mess....

[outnow]

I watched the History Channel's two-hour presentation about the KKK and read Russ Baker's "Family of Secrets - the Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces that put it into the White House, and what their Influence means for America".

War has been the Bush Family business based on an anti-democratic faction of America. Even Woodrow Wilson enjoyed the epic film about the "glorius clan" - the KKK. He signed the 1913 Federal Reserve Act and took us to war in Europe, setting the stage for WW II.

No matter who occupies the White House, Democrat or Republican, these same forces control the the nation. Oil and finance intregues behind the scenes control even our concept of the historical events that range from the assassignation of JFK, to Watergate, Iraq/Gate, Iran/Contra right down to the current war in Iraq and the financial meltdown.

Healing the nation begins with bringing those persons and firms to justice who have lied us into wars, tortured, and wiretapped, while profiting from their so--called public service.

[joebaggadonuts]

Amen.

[Krootie]

Instead of redundant photos of the war - show us the $$$$, the maimed, bodies of theirs and ours. Remind Americans the TRUE cost of war.

[obamagal]

Ditto.

[alanearth]

George Bush should be executed for war crimes, murder and torture.

[fumes]

second

[moonbay]

Jessica Lynch did not have to be rescued, she was released. The turkey was plastic. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin laden were enemies, not friends; and though not a good guy, S.H. had nothing to do with 9/11. The U.S. gov't promised the Nat'l Museum director that they would protect the museum, they didn't. Mission was not accomplished. Torture is illegal and we did torture, with sanction from the top. Bush admin. favorites Blackwater, are war criminals. Bush friends and insiders are the first to refuse to appear before congress, upon supoena. They lied, while our kids died.

[BaileyWo]

Obama was a constitutional law professor. The thing that struck me about LBJ was that, once it turned into a desperate situation, a cause for division in the country and despite nearly the whole country, most of Congress and all of his advisers being against the Vietnam War, President L.B.J. was determined to stay till the bitter end. The President.

Nixon was that way. Reagan was in Latin America doing his (and Bush's) Contra thang, against the law and the wishes of Congress. George Bush and Dick Cheney lied us into war with Iraq and then refused to come out. The President.

Somebody tell me what happened to democracy in this country?

[LuckyLeif]

As a father of a Marine who served two tours and came home with a Purple Heart, a young man who lost friends, I'm outraged the way some people in this country treat our military.

http://allanerickson.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/democracy-in-iraq-what-happened-to-fiasco/

[sticksnstones]

And I'm equally outraged the way our federal government has treated our service members and veterans. After scanning your comment archives, I feel it necessary to remind you that John McCain opposed the recently passed Veterans Education Act. In fact, he didn't even show up for a vote on this important bill. Additionally, between January 1 and November 4, 2008, he advocated for direct military action against no less than six countries besides the two, Afghanistan and Iraq, in which we were and are occupying.

I believe that the best way we can all show support of our military is to make damned sure its members are not put in harms way unnecessarily by any administration ill advised and unprepared to prosecute a war or to develop a winnable strategy.

I applaud your son's service and wholeheartedly support him. However, I firmly believe your son deserved a better Commander-in Chief and Secretary of Defense, just as us Vietnam vets deserved better in our time than LBJ, Nixon, MacNamera, Laird, and particularly Kissinger were duty-bound to deliver. But we played the hand we were dealt, just as your son did, and we played that hand bravely and with courage just as I'm sure your son did. Odd thing about bullets : They don't ask about party affiliation.

[outnow]

I support troops when they are on a just mission and do not support war crimes such as Abu Graib and My Lai. The binary logic blows my mind. Do you support cops with in-custody hangings and unjustified officer-involved shootings? I thought not.

War gets ugly real fast. I would point out that the GOP does not support veterans' benefits and our fighting men and women suffer more when they return home with head trauma and no jobs.

Is lying us into war supporting the troops? The term is a meaningless bumper sticker concept. Nobody should die for lies and greed of certain corrupt politicians. The worse thing is the lack of accountability for starting the unjustifesd war such as in Vietman. How about the Philipines? Was that justified for Teddy Roosevelt? No, he wanted to be a big man because he was very frail as a child. 20,000 Philipinos died.

[BaileyWo]

Sir, we never had any bid'ness being in Iraq. True Grit is refusing to go to war when it is unjust or illegal to do so. Getting shot or killed does not make one a hero. What makes one a hero is when he answers to a Higher Power....s­ir.

[LuckyLeif]

Obviously you've not done your homework. Read and grow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution

[tcagle]

I'm George Bush, and I approve of this series of fiascos.