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11.4.2001
Years of conflict
Iraq and the United States were allies when Iraq was at war with the Islamic-fundamentalist regime in Iran from 1980 to 1988, but the two countries have been in conflict since 1990. Here's a summary of key events:
1990
August
2:
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sends troops into Kuwait. United Nations imposes trade embargo on Iraq.
1991
January 17:
U.S.-led coalition launches devastating air war on Iraq, beginning Operation Desert Storm.
February 23:
Coalition launches huge ground invasion to drive Iraqis out of Kuwait.
February 26:
U.S. and Arab forces retake Kuwait City.
March 2:
Shitte Muslims revolt against Saddam in southern Iraq, later joined by Kurds in the north. (Both rebellions are crushed by Iraqi troops after a month of fighting.)
March 3:
Iraq accepts allied cease-fire terms.
April 17:
Complying with U.N. demands, Iraq begins providing information on outlawed weapons. Later that month, U.S., France and Britain declare a no-fly zone over northern Iraq to protect Kurds.
1992
August 27:
U.S., backed by France and Britain, declare a no-fly zone over southern Iraq to protect Shiite rebels.
1993
June 26:
President Bill Clinton launches strike on Iraqi targets in retaliation for Iraq's role in a plot to kill former President George Bush during a visit to Kuwait.
1996
September 3-4:
U.S. ships and airplanes fire cruise missiles at Iraqi anti-missile sites after Iraq forces ventured into the Kurdish safe haven in northern Iraq.
December 9:
U.N. allows Iraq limited oil sales, under a closely monitored deal, in the first loosening of the 1990 sanctions.
1997
November
13:
Iraq expels six U.S. weapons inspectors. U.N. removes the entire team in response. After U.S. military buildup in the region, Iraq reverses and allows the return of the inspection team.
1998
December 16:
Weapons inspectors withdrawn from Iraq. Four days of U.S.-British air and missile strikes begin, pounding Baghdad.
2000
April 4:
Coalition warplanes target four Iraqi military sites with precision-guided munitions in An Nasiriya, south of Baghdad. Iraq says two people killed in the air raid.
September
22:
French charter becomes first international flight into Baghdad to ignore request from U.N. to wait for clearance, starting flood of flights, with and without approval, from nations attempting to chip away at sanctions.
2001
February 16:
A decade after Operation Desert Storm, the second Bush administration launches an air strike against Iraq, as 24 U.S. and British warplanes attacked 5 Iraqi command and control installations.
(In the last year and half alone, Iraqi air defenses reportedly targeted or fired on coalition aircraft in the zones 798 times, and U.S. aircraft dropped bombs or fired missiles on 51 days.)
May 9:
Two U.S. military commanders overseeing the no-fly zones recommend sharply reducing the number of patrols, citing mounting danger that an allied plane could be shot down.
July 29:
President Bush's national security adviser threatens stepped up military action several days after an Iraqi missile is fired on a U.S. surveillance plane.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times
,
The Seattle Times, and The Denver Post.
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