Whether or not the war began on 20 March 2003 the fact that there was immense hostility between Iraq and the United States between 1991 and 2003 is of direct relevance to this article in a way the Iran Iraq war is not The policy of regime change was established back in 1991 and continued uninterrupted until 2003 A majority of the American public favored invading Iraq as far back as April 1992 The reason there was no invasion under the Clinton administration was merely because of its hypersensitivity to the political consequences of casualties not because there was no desire to get rid of the regime Iraq was bombed continuously between December 1998 and March 2003 More people probably died because of sanctions prior to the war than died in the war itself highlighting the absurdity of not mentioning anything before 2002