­ — Days before the bombing begins on March 20, 2003, shopkeepers arrive for work in the textile commercial area of old Baghdad, where a painting of Saddam Hussein greets them.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5119

0

­ — An Iraqi child runs alongside a bus of foreign journalist as they tour bombing sites in Baghdad a day after the invasion began. American soldiers were still far from sight.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5120

1

­ — The ancient walls of the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala, Iraq, are crowded with pilgrims during a four-day religious holiday.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5121

2

­ — Iraqi soldiers take part in an Iraqi Martyrs Day ceremony in Baghdad a month before the war begins. The peacefulness will soon be lost.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CAROLYN COLE / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5122

3

  — Iraqi police officers in combat helmets take part in a war-preparation exercise in Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5123

4

  — Iraqis march through the streets of Baghdad on March 23, 2003, voicing their support for longtime leader Saddam Hussein and their opposition to the impending war.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5124

5

  — A crowd gathers in the background on March 23, 2003, as Iraqi soldiers search the Tigris riverbanks for downed pilots who, according to reports, had ejected from an American military plane over Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5125

6

  — Iraqi fighters set fires along the Tigris riverbank to flush out the American military pilots who had reportedly ejected from their plane. The rumors turned out to be false.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5126

7

­ — Smoke-filled skies loom over an American tank destroyed during a firefight with Iraqis on the south side of Baghdad, where U.S. forces met heavy resistance en route to the airport on April 6, 2003. Fires were set as a defense tactic.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5127

8

­ — Claiming a trophy of war, Iraqi soldiers and civilians climb on top of an American tank destroyed outside Baghdad in April 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5128

9

­ — During a sandstorm, two Iraqi women sit in dismay at the scene of a bombing at a Baghdad shopping area on March 23, 2003. At least 17 were killed and 45 injured.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5129

10

­ — The body of a dead Iraqi lies in a deserted street in central Baghdad in April 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TImes

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5130

11

­­ — An Iraqi woman mourns the death of one of her relatives, who died in the fighting in Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5131

12

­­­ — Bombs fall on government buildings along the Tigris River in the heart of Baghdad, later referred to as the Green Zone.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5132

13

­ — The National Olympic Committee building erupts into flames after looters set it on fire. At most of the ministry and government buildings, looting went on throughout that April day in 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5133

14

­ — Women and children flee their Baghdad neighborhood where multiple car bombs exploded in August 2004.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5134

15

­  — Bombs hit the presidential compound in central Baghdad, filling the night sky with smoke and fire on March 23, 2003, the third night of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TImes

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5135

16

­  — An Iraqi family drives past a site where bombs killed at least 17 people on a major highway north of Baghdad on March 23, 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5136

17

­ — Lance Cpl. Shawn Hicks of Arizona gets a kiss on April 9, 2003, as Iraqis celebrate the arrival of the American troops in central Baghdad and the end of the Saddam HusseinÕs regime.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5137

18

­ — A Marine greets an Iraqi man leading two horses away from the National Olympic Committee grounds where Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, kept his racing stables. Marines from Camp Pendleton took position not far from the Olympic headquarters in Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5138

19

­ — An ornate chair gleams amid the dust and debris of a ruined Sajida Palace, which was hit by several cruise missiles.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5139

20

­ — An image of Saddam Hussein, riddled with bullet holes, is painted over by Salem Yuel on April 6, 2003. Symbols of the leader disappeared quickly throughout Baghdad.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5140

21

­ — Iraqis are detained on Aug. 21, 2004, after a raid by U.S. Marines at a former police station in Kufa, Iraq, a gathering place for Mahdi Army militia. Some of those captured say they were being held hostage by the militia.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5141

22

­­­ — During a street disturbance in central Baghdad in May 19, 2003, an Iraqi man is searched in the back of a bus.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5142

23

­­ — A woman weeps in the hallway of her Baghdad apartment after U.S. soldiers stormed the building in search of gunmen.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5143

24

­­ — U.S. Marines react swiftly to gunfire in Baghdad in August 2004.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5144

25

­­ — An Iraqi family is horrified when they learn of the deaths of three relatives who were shot in Baghdad on April 9, 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5145

26

­­ — Abbas Ali kisses his son Wesam goodbye after a car bomb killed him and at least nine others in July 2004. Wesam, 20, was a member of the newly trained police force.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5146

27

­­ — Bahjat Abil, 28, a civilian wounded in the fighting, lies on bloody sheets as a friend stays by his side in a hospital south of Baghdad in April 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5147

28

­ — Two men mourn the death of a family member after a truck bomb exploded on July 14, 2004.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5148

29

­­ — A Marine keeps an eye out for snipers on a rooftop overlooking the holy Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, Iraq, in August 2004.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5149

30

­ — Army Spc. Victor Felix lifts Sgt. Paul Martinez out of a Bradley tank in August 2004. Martinez was shot by a sniper while on patrol in Najaf's cemetery, for weeks a battleground between Americans and members of the Mahdi Army.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5150

31

­­ — A Marine is covered in camouflage face paint during the battle for Najaf, Iraq.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5151

32

­ — At the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad in April 2003, ropes used to hang prisoners have been cut down.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5152

33

­ — Relatives wait for the bodies of their missing loved ones who were buried in a mass grave outside Hilla, Iraq. More than 2,800 bodies were dug up; they are believed to be victims of executions carried out by members of the Baath Party.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5153

34

­ — Nama Khalef Jarah weeps as he carries the body of his brother, Tahar Jarah, recovered from a mass grave near the town of Hilla in May 2003.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5154

35

­ — In the town of Mussaib, more than 400 bodies recovered from mass graves are brought to the Islamic Youth Center, where families walk among the dead in search of their missing relatives.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5155

36

­ — The tattered shoes of the dead, recovered from mass graves in the area of Mussaib, form a grim pile of evidence.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5156

37

­ — Many of the dead still had their identification cards in their pockets, like Naji Shafi Abu Ali, who had been missing since 1991. His son, Ali cries over the remains of his father.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5157

38

­ — Under the Saddam Hussein regime, some women who committed crimes against the government were considered crazy and sent to the psychiatric hospital, where they lingered for years.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5158

39

­ — With wounds to her neck and face, a woman covers her eyes as she rests.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5159

40

­ — Shiite children pound their chests at the holy shrine in Karbala, Iraq, in July 2004. ItÕs the first occasion Shiites have been allowed to worship freely after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5160

41

­ — Iraqi policemen cry at the doors of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf after they took control back from Mahdi Army militiamen.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5161

42

­ — Marines bow their heads in a moment of silence for two members of their company who were killed during the final battle for control of the holy town of Najaf.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5162

43

­ — A woman wanders through the dirt mounds where thousands of Iraqis were massacred and buried. Their recovery began a healing process that will continue for years to come.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=5163

44