On which date the US launched its invasion of Iraq under the code name "Operation Iraqi Freedom"?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → 19th March 2003
On 19 March 2003, the US launched its invasion of Iraq under the codename ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’.
Note 1: This question is taken from the chapter ‘US Hegemony in World Politics’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27). The NCERT book (2026-27) still says that the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared the US-led invasion of Iraq an illegal act, but not the date of the invasion or its codename.
Note 2: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| – | – | – | 05-06 S2* 10-06 S3* 13-06 S3 14-06 S2* 17-06 S3* 19-06 S3* | – |
* A similar question.
NCERT (2026-27): “UN SECRETARIES-GENERAL … Kofi A. Annan (1997-2006) Ghana; UN official; created the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; declared the US-led invasion of Iraq as an illegal act; established the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council in 2005; awarded the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised), chapter ‘US Hegemony in World Politics’: “THE IRAQ INVASION … On 19 March 2003, the US launched its invasion of Iraq under the codename ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’. More than forty other countries joined in the US-led ‘coalition of the willing’ after the UN refused to give its mandate to the invasion.…” |