The Iraq War (March 20, 2003 to present), sometimes known as the Second Gulf War,[24] is an ongoing war and occupation that began with the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Part of the rationale for the war offered by the George W. Bush administration at the time of invasion was that Iraq possessed an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction which posed an "urgent threat" [25] to the United States and the world community. The claim that Iraq was in possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction has since been found to be false based on the work of the Iraq Survey Group. (Although, It is very possible that the former Iraqi government smuggled such weapons to Syria or various nations while the U.S. gave Hussein time to go into exile). Other reasons for the invasion offered by U.S. officia...more >>ls have included concerns about terrorism, spreading democracy, the Iraqi government's abuse of its own citizens, and the economic importance of Iraq's oil supply. The war started in March 2003 when a US-led coalition overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and occupied Iraq in an attempt to establish a new governmental regime. However, the coalition was unsuccessful at restoring order to the entire country, leading to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil warfare between Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al Qaeda operations in Iraq.[26][27] Despite this failure to restore order, a growing number of coalition nations have decided to withdraw troops from Iraq.[28] The causes and consequences of the war remain controversial.[29][22][19]