On 1 May 2003, just six weeks into the US-led war on Iraq, US President George W. Bush delivered a victory speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, announcing the end of major combat operations in Iraq and declaring victory in the war. . The speech was given in front of a large banner that read ‘Mission Accomplished’. Saddam was captured later that year in December and subsequently hanged in 2006.
READ: US Defense Secretary makes unannounced visit to Iraq, 20 years after invasion
