The war, which has been called the Second Persian Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, began on March 20, 2003. Although President George W. Bush proclaimed the end of the war aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, declaring the “mission accomplished,” the war was still being waged five years later and with no end in sight.
The United States has been increasingly involved in military actions in the Middle East, including an ongoing invasion of Iraq. U.S. Army humvees are seen here at a military camp in Iraq.