Beginning on 1 April 2003, this film features Coalition Forces’ fight for Saddam Hussein’s capital. The film opens with the fight for Objective PEACH, covers the battles for objectives around the city, and concludes with Soldiers and Marines meeting up in downtown Baghdad. Third Infantry Division's successful seizure of downtown Baghdad in April 2003 essentially signaled the end of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime.
At 50 minutes, this film is filled with current U.S. Army doctrine, virtual terrain, historical footage and photographs, and interviews with the Soldiers who served in first phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Produced by the Army University Press Documentary Team. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
20 March 2003 marked the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom with preemptive airstrikes on Saddam Hussein’s Presidential Palace and military targets followed by approximately 67,700 “boots on the ground” with 15,000 Navy personnel on ships in the region (Belasco). OIF was authorized when Iraq was found to be in breach of U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1441 which “prohibits stockpiling and importing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).”
Iraqi forces were overwhelmed quickly and Baghdad fell a mere five weeks after the invasion began. With the invasion complete, an insurgency and influx of al Qaeda inspired fighters poured into the country which sparked guerilla warfare tactics against U.S. troops and civil war between the Sunni and Shia tribes. On 15 December 2011, “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top U.S. military leaders observed the official end of U.S. Forces Iraq’s mission after nearly nine years of conflict that claimed the lives of nearly 4,500 troops (Torreon).”
After U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) invaded areas of Syria and Iraq causing widespread causalities, destruction of the country’s infrastructure and barbaric practices against citizens. In response to the terrorists group, Operation Inherent Resolve began 17 October 2014.
