Restored archive. The original History Commons is no longer online; this is a read-only edition of its timelines. Content is licensed CC BY-NC-SA.

Events Leading Up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

2476 events in this timeline

Open-Content investigative project managed by Derek, KJF, blackmax

This is the home page for the Events Leading Up to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq investigative project, one of several grassroots investigations being hosted on the History Commons website. The data published as part of this investigation has been collected, organized, and published by members of the public who are registered users of this website.

Showing 2051–2100 of 2476

  1. Mid-December, 1990: US War Rhetoric Convinces Iraqis that Talk of Military Actions Just Bluff
  2. Mid-1991: Reports of Patriot Missile System’s Spectacular Success Found to Be False
  3. Mid-2002: Al-Zarqawi Forms Alliance with Kurdish Militant Group in Northern Iraq
  4. Mid-1990s: CIA Sets Up Fronts to Penetrate Nuclear Smuggling Ring Using Unconventional Tactics
  5. (October 2002): CIA Station Chief in Jordan Refuses Order to Engage in Sabotage against Iraqi Vehicles
  6. Summer 2002: CIA Begins Moving Iraqi Operatives into US to Train for Anabasis Plan
  7. September 2002: Anabasis Team Begins Training in Nevada Desert
  8. Late November 2001 or December 2001: CIA Devises Covert Plan ‘Anabasis’ to Provide Pretext for Full-Scale War with Iraq
  9. January 2003: CIA Moves Anabasis Team to Jordan
  10. January 2002: Planners of Covert Operation Against Iraq Told, ‘Be Ready to Turn This Thing On by January 2003’
  11. Late September 2002: Top Republican In House Finds Cheney’s WMD Briefing Unconvincing
  12. Spring 1989: US Attempts to Thwart Iraqi Arming of Lebanese Christians
  13. Spring 2000: Future Bush Adviser: ‘Number One’ Agenda to Overthrow Hussein
  14. Spring 2002: CIA Taking for Granted US Will Invade Iraq; Tenet Is Warned Invasion Will ‘Break the Back’ of Counterterrorism Efforts
  15. Summer 2003: Libby Discloses Classified Information to Author, Authorized by Bush
  16. Summer-Autumn 2001: State Department Official Allegedly Tips Off Nuclear Smuggling Ring about CIA Front Company
  17. Summer 2002: Later Defender of Waterboarding Transferred to Iraqi Issues
  18. Winter 2002: Joseph Wilson Uses Neoconservative Debate Tactics against Opponent
  19. Spring 2002-Late 2002: CIA Paris Station Chief Sends Numerous Reports to Langley Dismissing Niger-Uranium Allegation
  20. Late September 2002: Bush: Hussein’s Policy toward US is ‘F_ck the United States’
  21. Fall 2002: White House Considers Invading Iraq without Congressional Approval
  22. 2002: CIA Intelligence Gathering Operation Indicates That Iraq Has No Weapons of Mass Destruction
  23. (2005-2006): Cheney Accused of Stalling Investigation of White House’s Use of Intelligence before Iraq War
  24. Autumn 1999: Cheney Gives Speech at Institute of Petroleum
  25. Fall 2002: CIA Operation in Athens Frames Iraqi Security Officials in Arms Bust
  26. 2002: CIA Officals Ask Tenet to Warn White House Invasion of Iraq Will Undermine Counterterrorism Efforts
  27. April 2002: CIA Officials Tell Case Officers that Bush Administration Is Set on War with Iraq; Proposes Propaganda Campaign for Europe
  28. Late 2002-Early 2003: CIA Staffers Reportedly Warn Bush That Intel on Iraq Is Weaker Than He Thinks
  29. Late September 2002: CIA Strikes Deal with Iraqi Religious Leader to Exploit High-Level Contacts in Iraqi Government for Intelligence
  30. Early March 2003: CIA Determines There Is No Evidence That Iraq Is Planning to Attack US Mainland with Drones
  31. May 2001: Feith, Perle, and Wolfowitz Discuss Iraq Invasion; Scowcroft Initially Favorable
  32. September 2002: DIA Reports ‘No Reliable Information’ Supporting Claims of Iranian Chemical Weapons
  33. Early 2001: State Department Analyst against War on Iraq Is Sidelined
  34. Mid-December 2003: Newsweek Finds Link between Iraqi National Congress and Cheney
  35. Early January 2003: CIA Report Casts Further Doubt on Allegation that Iraq Trained Al-Qaeda Operatives in ‘Poisons and Gases’
  36. Before September 2002: CIA Shares Wilson Intel on False Iraq-Niger Uranium Deal With Britain; Report Disputed
  37. March, 2001: Perle Says Hussein Has Weapons of Mass Destruction
  38. Mid-September, 2001: Cheney and Rumsfeld Create ‘Cabal’ to Influence Foreign Policy
  39. Mid-November 2002: Wolfowitz Suggests Iraq Similar to Post-WWII France
  40. January 26 or 27, 2003: National Security Council Official Puts Pressure on CIA Official to Include Africa-Uranium Allegation in Powell’s UN Speech
  41. Late January 2002: Bush Officials: ‘Let’s Do’ Iraq in Order to ‘Handle the Iranians From Closer Quarters’
  42. (Late May 2003): Chalabi Says US Presence in Iraq Is ‘Occupation’
  43. Early June 2003: SCIRI Spokesman Says It Will not Participate in Administration Selected by Bremer
  44. Early June 2003: Returned Iraqi Exile Leader Complains Iraqis Have Little Power in Iraq
  45. February 2001: US, German Intelligence Analysts Discuss Curveball’s Veracity
  46. Mid- and Late 2001: Curveball’s Story Begins to Unravel
  47. December 2002: CIA Torn Over Curveball’s Reliability
  48. Late January 2003: Powell Given Curveball’s Information on Iraqi Bioweapons Labs by CIA
  49. 1999: US Intelligence Agencies Hampered by Poor Intelligence on Iraqi WMDs; Vulnerable to Curveball’s Fabrications
  50. February 2002: Bush Orders CIA to Find Evidence of Iraqi WMDs