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Why did  the "major combat" of the war end so quickly?  
What is the  story of Jessica Lynch and of Saddam's statue?  How did Pat Tillman die?
(Also see Troops/Cost FAQ for details and updates  and Iraq War 2002-03 Timeline

These are more complex questions.  The main part of the war lasted from March 19 to about April 9, 2003,  when Saddam Hussein's statue was taken down in a Baghdad square.   

President Bush called the "major combat" over on May 1 onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.  Pentagon planning helped end the "major combat" of the war and many Iraqi troops deserted. A shorter war probably prevented the Pentagon-predicted disasters such as oil fires and refugees. The costs are still being figured, but at least $50 billion is a safe estimate of the six weeks of major combat.

A detailed chorology of the events of March/April 2003 is presented by the BBC with numerous links. 

Some Republicans blamed early  post-war instability on winning the war so quickly and the fact that so many Iraqi troops deserted and simply went home.  See much more on  post-war costs and troops.

A typical story from the first week of May was entitled "Allies won with few casualties."  With 137 Americans killed, this was 11 fewer than the Persian Gulf War of 1991.  A third of allied deaths, reported the Tribune, "were from accidents, including crashes and weapons discharges." The paper also was pleased the "house to house combat" was avoided. 

Details of the war are vividly described by Todd Purdum in his fall 2003, A Time of Our Choosing.  He details action of Nasariya, Basra, and Baghdad, with a keen sense for history.  See more on Purdum's book.

"When Iraq Went Wrong" (12/5/06, Times examines the early days of the war. From the Columbia School of Journalism, Thomas Edsall re-examines the mistake to disband the Iraqi Army in 2003. For early lessons were not heeded. Those who watched the coverage of March-April 2003 will recall Nasiriya, a Shiite town that rebelled against Saddam during the Persian Gulf war. "It was assumed," writes Edsall, "that as soon as the Americans rolled into town" the citizens would "put flowers in our gun barrels, hold up their babies for us to kiss and give us the keys to the city." But Americans were attacked, and 18 were killed in one day, even being fired on by old men, women, and children, some of whom were "fanatical Sunni Saddam Fedayeen troops." US planes bombed, killing civilians. The lessons that should have been learned are "the limits of military power, the importance of a proper understanding of the complexity of a place and its people, the perils of underestimating an enemy."

In April 2008, Saddam ally al-Kharbit spoke up from Beirut. On April 11, 2003, he recalls the bombing of his family's palace, targeting Saddam. Instead, the US planes killed his older brother, "the very man," reported the Times, "who had led the family negotiations with the CIA to topple" Mr. Hussein. The bombing killed 21 others, including children, and "the fury it aroused has been widely believed to have helped kick-start the insurgency in western Iraq."

For more on violence of fall 2003 and beyond, see "Why are Americans and Iraqis being killed?" FAQ and other updates.

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What is the true story of Private Jessica Lynch?  How did Pat Tillman really die? How was Hussein's statue toppled?

Jessica Lynch was a wounded POW rescued by the U.S. military from an Iraqi hospital.  Aside from these basics, many disagreements follow. There were false reports that she "emptied her weapon" on the enemy attackers.In early September we learned that she became part of a $1 million book deal. In anticipation of the TV special of November 9, Lynch's exclusive interview with Dianne Sawyer included Lynch's concern that she was manipulated and "used" by the military. She also felt her rescue should not have been filmed and that her rescue was exaggerated by the U.S. The new biography, released on Veteran's Day,  broke new ground by claiming that she had been raped by her captors.

Some of the initial exaggerations are explained by The Guardian. She wasn't really rescued "under fire" and she had been treated well at the hospital, given better treatment than many others.  In fact, her "rescue" involved no resistance and was delayed a day to set up the preparations for it to be video taped by the military.

Lynch re-appeared in May 2006, attending her first year in college. Then, in the spring of 2007, she testified before Congress wondering why she had been made into a hero who "emptied her weapon." One response came from the military who said they did not video the rescue and did not order soldiers to do so.

In a related misleading story, Patrick Tillman left a $3.6 million NFL contract to fight in Afghanistan.  When he was killed in Apirl 2004, the country mourned and Tillman was seen as a hero.  We were told that he died bravely, exhorting his troops on against the enemy and dying "in a blaze of fire."  The Pentagon knew that he had not died of enemy fire but killed from about 30 yards away from one of his own men. This reality was kept quiet until well after his heroic funeral and did not tell his family. According to one commentator, he was "made a human recruiting poster, an icon of selfless patriotism."  In April 2004, the Pentagon was also dealing with the Abu Ghraib photos.

Tillman's mother feels "the military let him down."  His father added, "I think they thought they could control it, and they realize that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a hand basket if the truth about his death get out.  They below up their poster boy."  Leonard Pitts sees a pattern in terms of Tillman and Jessica Lynch.  (Tribune, 5/31/05). 

The Tillman controversy continued into the spring of 2006, with Pentagon rebuking a military investigation  The front page Times story of March 5, said a criminal investigation of his death would be opened. 

Pat Tillman was back in the news in October 2006, with criticism directed at the President and the war by his brother. Kevin Tillman wrote, "Somehow, American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground." Pat's birthday was November 6.

Both Tillman and Lynch returned to the front page of the Tribune with their Congressional testimony of April 24, 2007. Lynch criticized the lies around her "female rambo" image. Tillman's brother and mother wanted to know how high up the cover-up went. They feel that the military lied about Tillman's death to prevent bad news aroudn the time that Abu Ghraib scandal was coming to light. Kevin Tillman writes a lengthy piece on "Deliberate Acts of Deceit" in the Guardian. A few weeks later a retired general, Philip Kensigner, was reprimanded for the Tillman case. The next day Rumsfeld testified on Capital Hill, his first public appearance since resigning in the fall of 2006. The former Secretary of Defense denied any coverup. He could not recall when he heard about Tillman's death. General Myers that day told the Senate that he had been told days after Tillman's death that he may have died of friendly fire but didn't pass along the information or inform the family.

Tillman came back in the news in May 2008, with the publication of a book by his mother, Mary Tillman. Interviewed on NPR, she felt her son was "treated as a political tool". Her book is Boots on the Ground By Dark.

Tillman came back in the news yet again in June 2009. The new US commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. McChrystal, acknowledged that the Army had "failed the family" of Tillman. A number of senior officers were punished though I'm not certain what their penalty was. McChrystal was cleared.

Also see "The Good News" for Pentagon Propaganda issues.

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