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 - U.S. Army soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division are seated aboard a C-17 aircraft at Baghdad International Airport en route back to the United States on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. The soldiers, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., are headed home after nine months in Iraq as part of the U.S. drawdown of forces. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File))
