On March 19, 2003, the United States led an unlawful invasion into Iraq — at the time, the reason given was the search for weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. occupation of Iraq lasted over eight years, until the official withdrawal of troops throughout 2011.
While the number of deaths as a result of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has been difficult to accurately calculate, it is estimated that around 405,000 deaths occurred as a direct result. Most of these deaths were of Iraqi civilians. Hundreds of thousands of others were injured, and over nine million displaced.
