Executive Summary
| 15 February | Stop the War protests held |
| 24 February | UK/US/Spain table draft second resolution |
| 7 March | Lord Goldsmith's advice on the legality of military action in Iraq;
Dr Blix and Dr ElBaradei report to the Security Council |
| 12 March | Recognition that the second resolution would not secure the support of a majority of the Security Council |
| 13 March | Lord Goldsmith reaches his "better view" that invasion is legal |
| 16 March | Azores Summit |
| 17 March | Last Cabinet meeting before the invasion agrees Parliament should be asked to endorse the use of military action against Iraq |
| 18 March | Parliamentary debate and vote on Iraq |
Night of 19/20 March: invasion of Iraq begins
| 7 April | UK troops enter Basra |
| 16 April | General Franks issues his "Freedom Message to the Iraqi People" |
| 1 May | President Bush declares "Mission Accomplished" |
| 16 May | Coalition Provisional Authority Order No.1 (de‑Ba'athification of Iraqi Society) |
| 22 May | Security Council adopts resolution 1483 |
| 23 May | Coalition Provisional Authority Order No.2 dissolves some Iraqi military and security structures |
| 13 July | Inauguration of the Governing Council |
| 19 August | Bomb attack on UN HQ at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad |
| 23/24 October | Madrid Donors Conference |
| 15 November | Timetable for creation of a transitional Iraqi administration announced |
| 13 December | Capture of Saddam Hussein by US forces |
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