Three Years in Iraq: A Timeline

MARCH 19, 2003: Bush launches invasion of Iraq

MARCH 30, 2003: Donald Rumsfeld: We know where the WMD are
"We know where [the weapons of mass destruction] are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat." [ABC This Week, 3/30/03]

APRIL 1, 2003: Pfc. Jessica Lynch recovered by U.S. forces. What the Pentagon framed as a heroic rescue was later revealed to have been staged. [Guardian, 5/15/03]

APRIL 9, 2003: Saddam Statue Toppled
The Los Angeles Times later reported that the fall was “stage-managed” by the Army. [LAT, 7/3/04]

APRIL 11, 2003: Donald Rumsfeld: Stuff happens
"Think what’s happened in our cities when we’ve had riots, and problems, and looting. Stuff happens! … Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They’re also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that’s what’s going to happen here." [DoD briefing, 4/11/03]

APRIL 16, 2003: Bush signs $79 billion supplemental spending bill for Iraq [DoD, 4/16/03]

MAY 1, 2003: Mission Accomplished
"[M]y fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. [Bush, 5/1/03]

MAY 9, 2003: Paul Wolfowitz: We agreed on WMD rationale for bureaucratic reasons
"The truth is that, for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy, we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on which was weapons of mass destruction as the core reason" [to go to war]. [Wolfowitz, 5/9/03]

MAY 29, 2003: Bush: We found the WMD
We found the weapons of mass destruction. [Bush, 5/29/03]

JUNE 6, 2003: Rumsfeld blames Iraq problems on “pockets of dead-enders”
"In those regions where pockets of dead-enders are trying to reconstitute, Gen. Franks and his team are rooting them out. In short, the coalition is making good progress." [USA Today, 6/18/03]

JULY 2, 2003: Bring ‘Em On
"There are some who feel like — that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on." [Bush, 7/2/03]

JULY 6, 2003: Joseph Wilson writes op-ed in the New York Times
"It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such [yellowcake] transaction had ever taken place." [NYT, 7/6/03]
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