<Ul> <Li> Battle of Kirkuk (2017) </Li> </Ul> <Li> Battle of Kirkuk (2017) </Li> <P> The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War (also called Operation Iraqi Freedom). The invasion phase began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 21 days of major combat operations, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq . This early stage of the war formally ended on 1 May 2003 when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the "end of major combat operations", after which the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as the first of several successive transitional governments leading up to the first Iraqi parliamentary election in January 2005 . U.S. military forces later remained in Iraq until the withdrawal in 2011 . </P> <P> The American - led Coalition sent 177,194 troops into Iraq during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 9 April 2003 . About 130,000 arrived from the USA alone, with about 45,000 British soldiers, 2,000 Australian soldiers, and 194 Polish soldiers . 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath . In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops assembled in Kuwait by 18 February . The coalition forces also received support from the Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan . </P>

In 2003 united states and british forces attacked the nation of