Tdt: Bilanz of 5 Years Irak - je 20.03.2008 012 UTC

On March 20, 2003, US forces and a so-called "coalition of the willing" invaded Iraq where they alleged that president Saddam Hussein was building and amassing weapons of mass destruction. Less than two months later, US president Bush declared "mission accomplished" and the end of major combat in Iraq. But instead of a quick transition to peace and democracy as the Americans had been hoping for, Iraq spiralled into a wave a sectarian violence that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqis as well as US and other foreign soldiers. It's estimated that more than 2 million Iraqis have fled the country since the invasion took place. Here's a brief look now at Iraq, over the last five years.