© Yola Monakhov / Panos Pictures..Umm Qasr, Southern IRAQ. 12/04/2003...A British soldier mans the gate to the British military base in Umm Qasr, a port on the Persian Gulf..US and British troops invaded Iraq on 20th March with the aim of overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein. By the 9th April American troops were in central Baghdad and the regime had collapsed ending nearly 25 years of Ba'athist rule.