On March 21, 2003, the United States attacked Iraq in hopes of eliminating its leader, Saddam Hussein. In addition, the American leaders believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction it might use against the United States. Saddam was quickly overthrown, but the weapons turned out not to exist. As of the end of 2009, U.S. troops were still fighting in the country. During that time, nearly five thousand U.S. soliders had been killed, along with around a hundred thousand Iraqis. Author Mara Miller explains the course of this long, controversial conflict and looks at efforts to bring it to an end.