A brief guide to Iraq and its troubles

Since American missiles first hit targets in Baghdad on the 20th March 2003, beginning the campaign to remove its leader Saddam Hussein, a battle has since begun to restore security and civil order.

As the BBC's online news website puts it: "Since US-led coalition forces deposed Saddam in 2003 insurgents have targeted civilians, Iraqi security forces and international agencies. Tensions between Shia and Sunni Muslims have spilled over into brutal sectarian violence, prompting fears of civil war. Coalition and Iraqi troops have faced armed rebellions and guerrilla-style attacks."

The main reason for America's invasion was based on Saddam's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Though inspectors later concluded that Iraq had no WMD stockpiles and yet still the war carries on with thousands of civilians, including children, dying for what some might say is now a war without a cause and without a foreseeable ending.

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