Iraq Occupation Timeline
August-December 2003
Aug. 29, 2003- A massive car bomb at the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf kills more than eighty, including one of Iraq’s most important Shi’ite leaders, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim.
Sept. 2, 2003- Tens of thousands of mourners turn the funeral service for the murdered Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim into a show of defiance against the U.S.-led occupation.
Sept. 7, 2003- President Bush announces that $87 billion is needed to cover additional military and reconstruction costs in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the largest request presented to the U.S. Congress in history. He argues that Iraq remains a central front in the war on terror.
Sept. 18, 2003- Former UN Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix says he believes Iraq destroyed most of its weapons of mass destruction ten years ago.
Sept. 25, 2003- Aqila al-Hashmi, the most prominent of three women on Iraq’s governing council, dies of wounds sustained in an ambush.
Oct. 3, 2003- A blue-ribbon panel on U.S. public diplomacy releases “Changing Minds, Winning Peace,” areport ordered by the Bush administration. It finds “shocking” levels of distrust toward the United States in Muslim states, adding, "Foreign policy counts.… [M]uch of the resentment toward America stems from real conflicts and displeasure with policies, including those involving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iraq."
Oct. 16, 2003- The UN Security Council unanimously approves the U.S. and UK resolution on Iraq’s reconstruction, which supports an international force in the country under U.S. authority. Several countries originally opposed the resolution, stipulating that the U.S. government should agree to a faster timetable for transferring power to Iraqis. In the end, they voted for the resolution without changes.
Oct. 24, 2003- The Madrid Conference, an international donors’ conference of eighty nations to raise funds for reconstruction of Iraq, yields only $13 billion in addition to the $20 billion pledged by the United States. This amount falls short of the goal of $56 billion, the figure the World Bank and the United Nations estimated Iraq needs in the next four years.
Oct. 26, 2003- Coalition authorities lift a nighttime curfew on Baghdad’s five million residents, which has been in place for six months since the city fell to U.S. forces. The curfew ends in time to accommodate observation of Ramadan.
Oct. 27, 2003- Four coordinated suicide attacks in Baghdad kill 43 and wound more than 200 on the bloodiest day since the fall of Saddam’s government. Targets included the headquarters of the Red Crescent (Islamic Red Cross) and three police stations.
Oct. 31, 2003- With attacks against international aid organizations on the rise, the United Nations announces it is temporarily pulling its staff out of Baghdad while evaluating the security situation.
Nov. 4, 2003- President Bush wins Senate approval for $87.5 billion to continue the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. At the signing ceremony on Nov. 6, he says the legislation commits $87 billion to the U.S. global offensive against terror, with more than $65 billion of it paying for basic military operations, such as air, rail, and sea transportation for U.S. and coalition troops.
Nov. 6, 2003- President Bush gives a major address to the National Endowment for Democracy where he outlines a plan for freedom and democracy in Iraq and the Middle East.
Nov. 11, 2003- The report Continuing Collateral Damage: The health and environmental costs of war on Iraq is issued by the global health organisation Medact, the UK affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The report concludes that 21,700 to 55,000 people died between Mar. 20 and Oct. 20, 2003, adding that health and environmental consequences will be felt for many years to come.
Nov. 12, 2003- U.S. forces in Iraq launch a coordinated operation code-named Iron Hammer, which targets pro-Saddam loyalists. It is the first use of attack aircraft since announcement of the end of major hostilities in May.
Nov. 15, 2003- The Bush administration reverses its policy of calling for adoption of a constitution before elections. Iraqis demand that an elected body write the document, and the U.S. agrees to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government by July 2004. The timetable calls for drafting principles of basic law by Feb. 28, appointment of a broad-based caucus to elect a transition government in June, and dissolution of the U.S.-led Iraqi Governing Council on July 1. The election of a sovereign and independent Iraqi government is scheduled for 2005.
Nov. 20, 2003- An estimated 100,000 people in London protest President Bush’s visit. It is the largest rally there since February 2003, when hundreds of thousands protested against invading Iraq.
Nov. 21, 2003- The UN Oil-for-Food Program ends with all future oil revenues to be placed under the U.S.-controlled Iraq Development Fund. The program is to have an international monitoring board with representatives from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Arab Development Fund.
Nov. 24, 2003- President Bush signs a $401.3 billion defense spending bill that raises salaries for soldiers, extends increases in combat and family separation pay and allows for expanded research on new and modified nuclear warhead capability.
Nov. 27, 2003- President Bush makes a surprise Thanksgiving visit to U.S. troops in Baghdad.
Dec. 5, 2003- James Baker is appointed debt envoy to Iraq. President Bush states,“The future of the Iraqi people should not be mortgaged to the enormous burden of debt incurred to enrich Saddam Hussein's regime. This debt endangers Iraq's long-term prospects for political health and economic prosperity.” The debt is estimated at $95 billion to $153 billion, excluding outstanding reparations claims, which may be as high as $50 billion. Focusing on debt restructuring, the administration refuses to acknowledge the emerging distinction between illegitimate “odious” debt and legitimate debt.
Dec. 9, 2003- Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense, issues a directive that bars France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, China, and Russia from bidding on lucrative contracts for rebuilding Iraq, creating a diplomatic furor.
Dec. 10, 2003- The Iraqi Governing Council formally establishes a war crimes tribunal to try top members of Saddam Hussein’s government. The legal framework draws on Iraqi and international law, including that of Rwanda’s genocide tribunal and the legal code used to create the UN’s International Criminal Court, a body the Bush administration opposes.
Dec. 13, 2003- Iraq’s deposed leader Saddam Hussein is captured by U.S. troops. The former dictator was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit and surrendered without a fight.
Dec. 23, 2003- One of the fiercest U.S. bombardments of Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein takes place, employing Apache attack helicopters, AC-130 Specter gunships, and field artillery. This Christmas mission, which pounded Baghdad neighborhoods, is dubbed Operation Iron Grip.
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