Description

Citing the threat of weapons of mass destruction, a coalition of nations, led by the United States, invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. The stated goal was to destroy the WMDs and overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein. Weapons of mass destruction were never discovered, but Saddam Hussein was eventually captured and tried. He was executed on December 30, 2006. The conflict continued, as an insurgency emerged to oppose coalition forces and the government that developed after the invasion. The war officially ended for the United States on December 18, 2011, when President Barack Obama ordered the withdrawal of the last American forces. A total of 4,700 U.S. and allied deaths occurred during the war. Figures for the Iraqis are controversial and unclear. Some sources put them around 150,000 dead, while others place the figure at over 1,000,000. CNN still had a bureau in Baghdad when the war began. It also participated in the U.S. military embed program, placing crews with active American combat units. It also had unilateral crews staged around the areas of conflict to provide logistics and news coverage. Technically it worked with the Pentagon to produce equipment that would interface with U.S. military vehicles to provide power for equipment during deployment. CNN also used satellite tracking gear that would allow some of its vehicles to transmit live video while driving up to 50 mile per hour during military operations.

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