Editing Saddam Hussein (section)

=== Invasion and overthrow ===
The [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|United States-led coalition forces]] initiated the invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003.<ref name="AP News 2023">{{Cite web |date=17 March 2023 |title=Timeline of events: 20 years since U.S.-led invasion of Iraq |url=https://apnews.com/article/iraq-invasion-war-timeline-saddam-hussein-50828061c98e410063753045179bdcfb |access-date=2 November 2024 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref> The Iraqi government and military collapsed within three weeks of the beginning of the invasion.<ref name="AP News 2023" /> By the beginning of April, the coalition forces occupied much of Iraq.<ref name="AP News 2023" /> The resistance of the much-weakened Iraqi Armed Forces either crumbled or shifted to [[guerrilla]] tactics, and it appeared that Saddam had lost control of Iraq.<ref name="AP News 2023" /> He was last seen in a video which purported to show him in the Baghdad suburbs surrounded by supporters.<ref name="AP News 2023" /> When [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)|Baghdad fell to US-led forces]] on 9 April, marked symbolically by the [[Firdos Square statue destruction|toppling of his statue]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=7107 |title=Smashing statues through the ages |newspaper=[[Socialist Worker]] |access-date=13 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326211523/http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=7107 |archive-date=26 March 2010 }}</ref> Saddam was nowhere to be found and his government was completely overthrown.<ref name="AP News 2023" />