How many times has a no-fly zone been used in last 30 years?

OK, My Sweet, this is what I thought, but wanted to double check..

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2003 invasion of Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
This article is about the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For events after May 1, 2003, see Iraq War. For the Mongol invasion of Iraq, see Siege of Baghdad (1258). 2003 invasion of Iraq Part of the Iraq War
U.S. M1A1 Abrams pose for a photo under the "Hands of Victory" monument in Ceremony Square, Baghdad Date March 19, 2003 – May 1, 2003 Location Iraq Result Decisive Coalitionvictory

• Saddam Hussein's Baath Partygovernment toppled
• Occupation of Iraq until the establishment of new Iraqi government
• Continuation of violence in the form of the Iraqi insurgencyand sectarian conflicts

Belligerents

United States
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 Poland

With support from:
INC[1][2][3]
Peshmerga
KDP
PUK

:

• Iraqi army and security and irregular forces (including Fedayeen Saddamparamilitaries and Baath Partymilitias)
• Syrian volunteers[4][5]

With support from:
Ansar al-Islam
Islamic Group of Kurdistan

Commanders and leaders

Strength

265,000

United States: 148,000

• I Marine Expeditionary Force
• 3rd Infantry Div
• 4th Infantry Div
• 101st Airborne Div
• US Spec Ops[7]

 UK: 45,000

• 1st (UK) Armoured Div
• 16th Air Assault Brigade
• 3 Commando Brigade
• UK Special Forces [8]

 Australia: 2,000
 Poland: 183
Peshmerga: 70,000[9]
INC: 620

Over 660,000 + 650,000 reserves

Casualties and losses

172 killed (139 U.S., 33 UK)

+ At least 24 Peshmerga[13]

Estimated

: 30,000 (figure attributed to General Tommy Franks)

7,600–11,000 (4,895–6,370 observed and reported) (Project on Defense Alternatives study)

13,500–45,000 (extrapolated from fatality rates in units serving around Baghdad)[16]

Estimated

:

7,269 (Iraq Body Count)[17]
3,200–4,300 (Project on Defense Alternatives study)[14]

[

]

Iraq War

Timelines
1990-2003 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010
Phases
Invasion – Post-invasion (Insurgency – Civil war)
[show]v · d · e

Battles and operations
of the Iraq War  


Umm Qasr – Al Faw – 1st Basra – Nasiriyah – Raid on Karbala – 1st Najaf – Northern Delay – Viking Hammer – Samawah – 1st Karbala – Al Kut – Hillah – Green Line – Karbala Gap – Baghdad – Debecka Pass – Kani Domlan Ridge – Al Anbar – 1st Ramadan – Red Dawn – Spring 2004 – 1st Fallujah – Sadr City – 1st Ramadi – Husaybah – 2nd Najaf – CIMIC-House – Samarra – 2nd Fallujah – Mosul – Lake Tharthar – Al Qaim – Hit – Haditha – Steel Curtain – Tal Afar – 2nd Ramadi – Together Forward – Diwaniya – 2nd Ramadan – Sinbad – Amarah – Turki – Diyala – Haifa Street – Karbala Raid – 3rd Najaf – Imposing Law – U.K. bases – Black Eagle – Baghdad belts – Baqubah – Donkey Island – Shurta Nasir – Phantom Strike – 2nd Karbala – Phantom Phoenix – 2008 Day of Ashura – Ninawa – Sun – Spring 2008 – 2nd Basra – 2008 Al-Qaeda Offensive – Augurs of Prosperity – Abu Kamal – Palm Grove [show]v · d · e

Major insurgent attacks
since the Iraq War  


Bold indicates attacks resulting in over 100 deaths
Purple color indicates the deadliest attack in the Iraq War
2003: 1st Baghdad – 2nd Baghdad – Najaf – 3rd Baghdad – Nasiriyah – 1st Karbala
2004: Irbil – Ashoura – Basra – Mosul – 4th Baghdad – 5th Baghdad – Karbala-Najaf – 1st Baqubah – Kufa – FOB Marez
2005: 1st Al Hillah – Musayyib – 6th Baghdad – 7th Baghdad – 1st Balad – Khanaqin
2006: Karbala-Ramadi – 1st Samarra – 8th Baghdad – 9th Baghdad – 10th Baghdad
2007: 11th Baghdad – 12th Baghdad – 13th Baghdad – 14th Baghdad – 15th Baghdad – 2nd Al Hillah – 1st Tal Afar – 16th Baghdad – 17th Baghdad – 2nd Karbala – 18th Baghdad – 3rd Karbala – Makhmour – Abu Sayda – 2nd Samarra – 19th Baghdad – Amirli – 1st Kirkuk – 20th Baghdad – 21st Baghdad – Qahtaniya – Amarah
2008: 22nd Baghdad – 2nd Balad – 23rd Baghdad – 4th Karbala – 24th Baghdad – Karmah – 2nd Baqubah – Dujail – Balad Ruz
2009: 25th Baghdad – 26th Baghdad – Baghdad-Muqdadiyah – Taza – 27th Baghdad – 2nd Kirkuk – 2nd Tal Afar – 28th Baghdad – 29th Baghdad – 30th Baghdad
2010: 31st Baghdad – 32nd Baghdad – 3rd Baqubah – 33rd Baghdad – 34th Baghdad – 35th Baghdad – 1st Pan-Iraq – 36th Baghdad – 37th Baghdad – 2nd Pan-Iraq – 38th Baghdad – 39th Baghdad – 40th Baghdad
2011: 41st Baghdad – 3rd Pan-Iraq – Karbala-Baghdad – 42nd Baghdad

[

]

Recent wars and conflicts
in the Persian Gulf

Iran-Iraq War – Opera – Gulf War – 1991 uprisings – Provide Comfort – Southern Watch – 1993 cruise missile strikes – Kurdish Civil War – Desert Strike – Northern Watch – Desert Fox – Kurdistan Islamist Conflict – Southern Focus – Iraq War

The 2003 invasion of Iraq (March 19–May 1, 2003), was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War or Operation Iraqi Freedom in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom and smaller contingents from Australiaand Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Husseinin 21 days of major combat operations. This phase (March–April 2003) consisted of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the fall of the Iraq capital Baghdad. This was considered a continuation of the Gulf Warof 1991, prior to which Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait, and after defeat by Coalition Forces had agreed to surrender and/or destroy several types of weapons, including SCUD missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Since the Persian Gulf War in 1991 the U.S. and Britain had been keeping a tight rein on Saddam Hussein, waging an undeclared conflict against Iraq for twelve years. U.S. President Bill Clinton had maintained sanctions and ordered air strikes in the "Iraqi no-fly zones" Operation Desert Fox, in the hope that Saddam would be overthrown by political enemies inside Iraq and had signed into law H.R. 4655, the Iraq Liberation Act.[18] which appropriated funds to Iraqi opposition groups. Four countries participated with troops during the initial invasion phase, which lasted from March 19 to April 9, 2003. These were the United States (148,000), United Kingdom (45,000), Australia (2,000), and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops were assembled in Kuwait by February 18.[19] The United States supplied the majority of the invading forces, but also received support from Kurdish irregulars in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to U.S. President George W. Bushand British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein's alleged support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[20] According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.[21] There also have been charges that the war was waged in order to take oil from Iraq.[22][23][24] In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.[25]

There was increasingly strong pressure among U.S. policy influencers, from the mid-1990s on, that regime change in Iraq was important to the overall goals of U.S. foreign policy. In 2001, within two weeks after the September 11 attacks, Bush ordered that plans for the invasion be drawn up.[26] In a January 2003 CBS poll 64% of U.S. nationals had approved of military action against Iraq, however 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war.[27] The invasion of Iraq was strongly opposed by some traditional U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, New Zealand, and Canada.[28][29][30] Their leaders argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading the country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC's February 12, 2003 report. On February 15, 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq war, including a rally of three million people in Rome, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ever anti-war rally.[31] According to the French academic Dominique Reynié, between January 3 and April 12, 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war.[32]

The invasion was preceded by an air strike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on March 19, 2003. The following day coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Province from their massing point close to the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While the special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on March 23. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On March 26 the 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkukwhere they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi army to secure the northern part of the country.

The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and Baghdad was occupied on April 9. Other operations occurred against pockets of the Iraqi army including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on April 10, and the attack and capture of Tikrit on April 15. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On May 1 an end of major combat operations was declared, ending the invasion period and beginning the military occupation period.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq (March 19–May 1, 2003), was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War or Operation Iraqi Freedom in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom and smaller contingents from Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations. This phase (March–April 2003) consisted of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the fall of the Iraq capital Baghdad. This was considered a continuation of the Gulf War of 1991, prior to which Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait, and after defeat by Coalition Forces had agreed to surrender and/or destroy several types of weapons, including SCUD missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

I have a Strong feeling that we are in this not for a few Days, but the long haul..We are going to end up in all of this..

S G