The Iraq war began on March 20, 2003, to rid Iraq of a dictator and eliminate his weapons of mass destruction. The images remain fresh even as the memories fade - the blinding flash of "shock and awe" bombing, the square-jawed confidence of an American president leading his people into war, the cowering prisoner trembling on the ground in the face of a small piece of American power.
(FILE - A volunteer puts flowers next to a cross at the Arlington West Iraq war memorial display on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, Calif. on Saturday May 27, 2006. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera, File))