Events of the year 2003

Posted in History

  • North Korea withdraws from treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons (Jan. 10).
  • In State of the Union address, Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq even without a UN mandate (Jan. 28). (For an account of the U.S. build-up to war in Iraq, see News of the Nation, 2003.)
  • Ariel Sharon elected Israeli prime minister (Jan. 29).  
  • Nine-week general strike in Venezuela calling for President Chavez's resignation ends in defeat (Feb. 2).
  • U.S. Secretary of State Powell presents Iraq war rationale to UN, citing its WMD as imminent threat to world security (Feb. 5).
  • U.S. and Britain launch war against Iraq (March 19). See also Iraq war timeline.
  • Baghdad falls to U.S. troops (April 9). 
  • First Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, sworn in (April 29).
  • U.S.-backed "road map" for peace proposed for Middle East (April 30). Background
  • The U.S. declares official end to combat operations in Iraq (May 1).
  • Terrorists strike in Saudi Arabia, killing 34 at Western compound; Al-Qaeda suspected (May 12).
  • Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi again placed under house arrest by military regime (May 30).
  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discovers Iran's concealed nuclear activities and calls for intensified inspections (June 18).
  • Palestinian militant groups announce ceasefire toward Israel (June 29).
  • Liberia's autocratic president Charles Taylor forced to leave civil-war ravaged country (Aug. 11). Background
  • NATO assumes control of peacekeeping force in Afghanistan (Aug. 11). Background
  • Libya accepts blame for 1988 bombing of flight over Lockerbie, Scotland; agrees to pay $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 victims (Aug. 15).
  • Suicide bombing destroys UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 24, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello (Aug. 19).
  • Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem kills 20 Israelis, including 6 children (Aug. 19).
  • After Israel retaliates for suicide bombing by killing top member of Hamas, militant Palestinian groups formally withdraw from cease-fire in effect since June 29 (Aug. 24).
  • Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigns; "road map" to peace effectively collapses (Sept. 6). Background
  • The Bush administration reverses policy, agreeing to transfer power to an interim Iraqi government in early 2004 (Nov. 14).
  • Suicide bombers attack two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 25 (Nov. 15).
  • Another terrorist attack in Istanbul kills 26 (Nov. 20). Al-Qaeda suspected in both. See suspected al-Qaeda terrorist attacks.
  • Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze resigns after weeks of protests (Nov. 23).
  • Paul Martin succeeds Jean Chretien as Canadian prime minister (Dec. 12).
  • Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops (Dec. 13).
  • Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi announces he will give up weapons program (Dec. 19).
  • Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all 7 astronauts (Feb. 1).
  • Bush signs ten-year, $350-billion tax cut package, the third-largest tax cut in U.S. history (May 28).
  • In one of the most important rulings on the issue of affirmative action in twenty-five years-the Supreme Court decisively upholds the right of affirmative action in higher education (June 23).
  • Investigation into the loss of space shuttle Columbia cites egregious organizational problems at NASA (Aug. 25).
  • Congressional Budget Office predicts federal deficit of $480 billion in 2004 and $5.8 trillion by 2013 (Aug. 26).
  • California governor Gray Davis ousted in recall vote; actor Arnold Schwarzenegger elected in his place (Oct. 7).
  • President Bush signs $87.5 billion emergency package for post-war Iraq reconstruction; this supplements $79 billion approved in April. (Nov. 5).
  • John A. Muhammad, convicted in the 2002 Washington, DC, area shootings, receives death sentence (Nov. 24).
  • President Bush eliminates steel tariffs after WTO says U.S. violated trade laws (Dec. 4)