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When did major combat operations against Saddam Hussein’s government end?
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Iraq War
U.S. soldiers in Sāmarrāʾ, Iraq.
U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations in the Iraq War on May 1, 2003.1
While this declaration marked the conclusion of the initial invasion phase that forced Saddam Hussein’s regime from power, the conflict continued for several years as a counterinsurgency effort. The U.S. military mission in Iraq did not formally end until a ceremony held in Baghdad on December 15, 2011, shortly before the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.2134