The post-invasion period in Iraq, also known as the Occupation of Iraq,[24] foll owed the 2003 invasion of Iraq

by the United States, assisted by the United King dom, which overthrew the Ba'ath Party government of Saddam Hussein. This article covers the period starting 1 May 2003, after United States presiden t George W. Bush officially declared the end of major combat operations. On Augu st 19, 2010, the last U.S. combat troops were reported to have left Iraq, leavin g 50,000 U.S. troops who would be acting in an "advisory" role.[25] Contents [hide] 1 Military occupation 2 Legal status of the coalition presence 3 2003 3.1 Fall of Saddam Hussein's regime 3.2 Insurgency begins 3.3 Saddam captured and elections urged 4 2004 4.1 Spring uprisings 4.2 Transfer of sovereignty 4.3 Offensives and counteroffensives 5 2005 5.1 Iraqi elections and aftermath 5.2 Announcements and renewed fighting 5.3 Constitutional ratification and elections 6 2006 6.1 Al-Askari shrine bombing and Sunni-Shia fighting 6.2 British hand Muthanna province to Iraqis 6.3 Forward Operating Base Courage handed over to Nineveh province government 6.4 British troops leave Camp Abu Naji 6.5 Situation in and around Baghdad 6.6 Violent incidents in other cities 6.7 Al-Qaeda 6.8 Abu Ghraib 6.9 Iraqi government takes control of the 8th Iraqi Army Division 6.10 Anbar province reported as politically "lost" to U. S. and Iraqi government 7 2007 8 2008 8.1 Iraqi forces begin process of arming with advanced US weapon systems 9 2009 10 2010 10.1 Final departure of U.S. combat troops 11 Participating Nations 12 Casualties 13 Iraqi councils and authorities 13.1 Reconstruction 14 Civilian government 14.1 United Nations resolutions 14.2 Elections 14.3 Sovereignty for Iraq 15 Iraqi insurgency 15.1 Guerrilla war 15.2 Sabotage 15.3 Fallujah 15.4 Muqtada al-Sadr 15.5 Hostages 15.6 Fall-out 15.7 Iraq Study Group Report 16 Iraq Coalition members departures 17 American withdrawal 18 U.S. military patrolling 19 U.S. permanent facilities 20 Cultural Dimensions

21 See also 22 References 23 Further reading 24 External links [edit]Military occupation A military occupation was established and run by the Coalition Provisional Autho rity (CPA), which later appointed and granted limited powers to an Iraq Interim Governing Council. Troops for the invasion came primarily from the United States , the United Kingdom and Poland, but twenty-nine other nations also provided som e troops, and there were varying levels of assistance from Japan and other allie d countries. Tens of thousands of private security personnel provided protection of infrastructure, facilities and personnel. Coalition and allied Iraqi forces have been fighting a stronger-than-expected mi litant Iraqi insurgency, and the reconstruction of Iraq has been slow. In mid-20 04, the direct rule of the CPA was ended and a new "sovereign and independent" I nterim Government of Iraq assumed the full responsibility and authority of the s tate. The CPA