September 23: Gallup poll shows majority of Iraqis expect better life in 5 years. Around two-thirds of Baghdad residents state the Iraqi dictator's removal was worth the hardships they've been forced to endure.
October
October 2: David Kay's Iraq Survey Group report finds little evidence of WMD in Iraq, although the regime did intend to develop more weapons with additional capabilities. Such plans and programs appear to have been dormant, the existence of these though were concealed from UNSCOM during the inspections that began in 2002. Weapons inspectors in Iraq did find a clandestine "network of biological laboratories" and a deadly strain of botulinum. The US-sponsored search for WMD has so far cost $300 million and is projected to cost around $600 million more.[citation needed]
November 2: In the heaviest single loss for the coalition troops up to that time, two US Chinook helicopters are fired on by two surface-to-air missiles and one crashes near Fallujah and on its way to Baghdad airport; 16 soldiers are killed and 20 wounded.[8][9]
November 15: The Governing Council unveils an accelerated timetable for transferring the country to Iraqi control.
November 22: 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shoot down incident: An Airbus A-300 freighter belonging to German courier firm DHL is forced to make an emergency landing with a wing fire and all three hydraulics lost. Using differential engine thrust to land the aircraft, after being struck by a portable shoulder-fired SA-14 missile.
April 26: The Iraq Interim Governing Council announce a new flag for post-Saddam Iraq. This creates much controversy, in part because of the similarity of color and design with the flag of Israel, and difference with other Arab nation flags. The flag is not adopted.
May
May 17: Ezzedine Salim, head of the Iraqi Governing Council, killed in a suicide attack.
June 28: At 10:26 am, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority formally transferred sovereignty of Iraqi territory to the Iraqi interim government, two days ahead of schedule. L. Paul Bremer departed the country two hours later.
June 30: Saddam Hussein and eleven high ex-governmental figures are put under the Iraqi Interim Government's authority.
February 28: 2005 Al Hillah bombing: In the deadliest single blast up to that time, a car bomb kills 127 in Hillah; the identity of the bomber as a Jordanian caused a diplomatic row between Iraq and Jordan.
August 15: Unable to find a consensus between the main political leaders, the Parliament postpones for a week the transmission of the draft constitution to its members.
August 22: The constitution's draft is presented to the Iraqi Parliament.
August 28: The constitution is presented to parliament.
December 14 - U.S. President George W. Bush says that the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was the result of faulty intelligence, and accepts responsibility for that decision. He maintains that his decision was still justified.
April 24: Hamdania incident. Marines allegedly abduct an Iraqi civilian from a house, kill him, and place components and spent AK-47 cartridges near his body to make it appear he was planting an IED.
November 7 - The United States midterm elections removed the Republican Party from control of both chambers of the United States Congress. The failings in the Iraq War were cited as one of the main causes of the Republicans' defeat, even though the Bush administration had attempted to distance itself from its earlier "stay the course" rhetoric.[19]
November 19: Ammar al-Saffar, Deputy Health Minister, becomes the highest-ranking Iraqi to be kidnapped.
August 14: 2007 Yazidi communities bombings. In the most deadly insurgent strikes to date, four bombings in Kahtaniya and Jazeera, in northern Iraq, strike Yazidi communities, killing 796 people and injuring more than 1,500.
The U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, which stipulates that U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, is approved and ratified by the Iraqi Parliament.
A total of 191 Iraqis were killed in violence during January, the lowest monthly toll since the US-led invasion of March 2003.[20] Sixteen U.S. troops died in Iraq during this month.[21]
August 18: American combat operations in Iraq end as its last combat brigade departs for Kuwait.[25]
September
September 30: 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment conducted a Transition of Authority with 3rd BDE, 3rd ID and assumed responsibility for the five northern Provinces of United States Division-South under MG Vincent Brooks and the 1st Infantry Division.[26]
Report to the President of the United States: March 31, 2005. Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. c. 2005. ISBN0160724767. OCLC449221385.
