Jan. 9, 2003 -- Blix briefs U.N. Security Council on Baghdad's 12,000-page weapons of mass destruction declaration, but says that after six weeks of resumed inspections, "We haven't found any smoking guns." He calls the report "rich in volume but poor in new information about weapons issues and practically devoid of new evidence on such issues."
Jan. 14, 2003 -- Germany says it would call for another U.N. resolution before any military strike on Iraq.
Jan. 16, 2003 -- U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq say they find 11 empty chemical weapons warheads in bunkers.
Jan. 27, 2003 -- Blix and ElBaradei present report to U.N. Security Council. Blix says: "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance ... of the disarmament which was demanded of it," saying significant questions remain about its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction.
Jan. 30, 2003 -- In a letter to the Wall Street Journal and European newspapers, the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic call for Saddam to be disarmed or face the consequences. The move is seen as a boost to the U.S. position.
Jan. 30, 2003 -- Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and British Prime Minister Tony Blair Thursday say they back a second U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq.
Jan. 30, 2003 -- ElBaradei says Iraq not in material breach of U.N. resolutions.
Jan. 30, 2003 -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage tells a Senate panel an al-Qaida member is in Baghdad. Man believed to be Fadel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, also known as Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Jan. 30, 2003 -- Iraq invites Blix and ElBaradei to visit Baghdad before Feb. 14 to find ways to resolve disagreements between the two sides.
Jan. 31, 2003 -- Bush says a second U.N. resolution would be welcome if "it is another signal that it is intent upon disarming Saddam Hussein."
Feb. 2, 2003 -- Saddam, in an interview broadcast Feb. 2 on British television, denies links with al-Qaida and says his country does not possess weapons of mass destruction.
Feb. 5, 2003 -- Secretary of State Colin Powell in a show-and-tell presentation to U.N. Security Council details what he says is Iraq's attempts to hide its weapons of mass destruction and its inks to al-Qaida.
Feb. 6, 2002 -- Turkish parliamentarians authorize the United States to renovate its military bases and ports in the country ahead of a possible war with Iraq.
Feb. 7, 2002 -- Russia says Moscow opposes a second U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorize military action against Iraq.
Feb. 8, 2002 -- Annan warns against a unilateral U.S. attack against Iraq, saying such a measure is "not for any one state."
Feb. 8, 2002 -- Blix and ElBaradei begin talks to press Iraq to accept a much more intrusive look into the country's weapons resources.
Feb 8, 2003 -- Rumsfeld in Germany. Hears of Franco-German plan to prevent military conflict. The plan calls for sending thousands of U.N. troops and hundreds, possibly thousands, more inspectors to enforce U.N. resolutions calling for Iraq's disarmament. Washington dismisses the plan.
Feb. 9, 2003 -- Blix and ElBaradei leave Baghdad, saying talks were "useful" and "substantial," but short of a "breakthrough." They leave without key concessions such as overflight facilities for U-2 aircraft. Bush says Iraq can't be trusted, adding it's time for United Nations to decide if it is "relevant."
Feb. 9, 2003 -- Pope
John Paul II launches Iraq peace effort by sending a senior personal representative to urge Saddam to cooperate fully with the international weapons inspectors.
Feb. 10, 2003 -- Belgium and France veto U.S. request to provide NATO assistance to Turkey in the event of a war against Iraq. They say the move is premature and would undermine efforts to find a peaceful solution to the stand off. The three European states have blocked the U.S. request for three successive weeks. Ankara invokes Article Four of the NATO treaty, which says the alliance will consult "when, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened."
Feb. 10, 2003 -- Greece, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, calls for a Feb. 17 summit of EU leaders to thrash out a united European stance on how to disarm Saddam.
Feb. 10, 2003 -- In a joint appeal, France, Russia and Germany call for greater efforts to disarm Iraq peacefully.
Feb. 11, 2002 -- Powell says new tape by Osama bin Laden links al-Qaida and Iraq. On the tape, a voice can be heard calling Saddam an infidel for his "socialist" beliefs.
Feb. 11, 2002 -- CIA Director George Tenet and FBI Director Robert Mueller say Iraq poses a threat, but non-state actors such as al-Qaida pose a bigger threat to the United States.
Feb. 11, 2002 -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warns the threat of war continues to dampen economic growth. "The intensification of geopolitical risk, makes discerning the economic path ahead especially difficult," he says.
Feb. 14, 2003 -- Saddam bans production or import of weapons of mass destruction. Blix and ElBaradei tell the Security Council no weapons of mass destruction have been found, but large quantities of banned chemical and biological agents remain unaccounted for.
Feb. 15, 2003 -- Massive anti-war rallies rock Europe and the world.
Feb. 16, 2003 -- National security adviser Condoleezza Rice says United States working on a new resolution to disarm Iraq.
Feb. 17, 2003 -- French President Jacques Chirac says Paris would block a new U.N. resolution on Iraq while weapons inspections continue. EU members warn Saddam to disarm or face the threat of war, but say military action is not inevitable and that inspections should continue.
Feb. 18, 2003 -- Spain backs second U.N. resolution that would authorize war if Saddam does not comply. Bush says United Nations faces becoming irrelevant unless it enforces its resolutions to disarm Iraq.
Feb. 19, 2003 -- U.S. Mission to the United Nations says Washington has decided to seek a second resolution on Iraq.
Feb. 21, 2003 -- Blix tells Iraq to destroy its al-Samoud 2 missile for exceeding the Security Council-imposed 93-mile range.
Feb. 24, 2003 - Britain introduces tough, new U.S.-backed draft resolution on Iraq to the U.N. Security Council. Draft repeats earlier warning to Iraq to disarm or face "serious consequences." Simultaneously, France and Russia recommend continuation of weapons inspections.
Feb. 26, 2003 -- Blair suffers setback with nearly 200 members of Parliament voting against his policy on Iraq. Overwhelming number of those votes from his own Labor Party.
Feb. 28, 2003 -- Russia says it will veto a second resolution that authorizes force against Iraq.
March 1, 2003 -- Iraq begins dismantling al-Samoud 2 missiles. Turkish Parliament rejects move to allow U.S. troops access to bases in the country in the event of war with Iraq.
March 5, 2003 -- Blix says Iraq is "taking greater steps" toward disarmament but there are still many "question marks." He added: "If we were given more months, we would welcome it" because it's too soon to "close the door."
March 7, 2003 -- Blix tells Security Council inspections "will not take years, nor weeks, but months." He says, "Even with a proactive Iraqi attitude induced by continued outside pressure it will still take some time to verify." British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw tables an amendment Friday to a U.N. Security Council draft resolution giving Baghdad until March 17 to disarm. The measure says "Iraq will have failed to take the final opportunity" to disarm unless the council determines otherwise by the 17th. Powell shows members of the Security Council what he calls "a catalog of 12 years of abject failure" by Iraq to disarm, saying the 167-page U.N. weapons inspectors' report shows a "damning record of 12 years of lies, deception and failure.
March 12, 2003 -- Britain says Iraq ultimatum in the U.N. draft resolution could be dropped if other Security Council members accept its list of benchmarks, without a deadline, new proposals. The six conditions call on Saddam to: (1) Make a public statement on television admitting that he has hidden weapons of mass destruction and will destroy them; (2) Allow 30 scientists named by the U.N. weapons inspectors to travel abroad with their families to be interviewed; (3) Produce or account for 10,000 liters of missing anthrax;(4) destroy all banned missiles and rocket engines; (5) Explain and hand over the drone reconnaissance plane found by the U.N.; (6) Destroy the mobile biological warfare laboratories he is suspected of having.
March 13, 2003 -- France, Iraq reject British proposals.
March 14, 2003 -- Bush announces he will meet leaders of Britain and Spain in the Azores in a last bid to win U.N. support for military action against Saddam.
March 15, 2003 -- Iraq invites Blix and ElBaradei to the Iraqi capital to discuss remaining questions about its suspected weapons of mass destruction.
March 16, 2003 -- U.N. spokesman says owners of helicopters leased by arms inspectors in Iraq ordered the aircraft to leave because of the threat of war. Owners apparently no longer covered by insurance.
March 17, 2003 -- In the Azores, Bush says "moment of truth for the world" to disarm Saddam. United States, Britain and Spain withdraw their resolution seeking U.N. support for forcible disarmament of Iraq, citing veto threats. Blair hit by first Cabinet resignation -- Robin Cook goes. Bush gives Saddam and his sons 48 hours to leave the nation or face war. Australia commits troops to war.
March 18, 2003 -- Iraq rejects ultimatum.
March 19, 2003 -- Seventeen Iraqi soldiers surrender to the United States, before the formal declaration of war. Bush announces late Wednesday (Thursday In Iraq) war on Iraq has started has begun. Explosions over Baghdad. Saddam says, "God will give us victory."
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