FACTBOX: Iraq war, the notable quotes

(Reuters) - Following are notable quotes from before and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

* July 11, 2002 - "Support for Saddam, including within his military organization, will collapse after the first whiff of gunpowder." - Richard Perle, then Pentagon Defense Policy Board chairman.

* September 19, 2002 - "I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons." - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly.

* November 14, 2002 - "The Gulf War in the 1990s lasted five days on the ground. I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks or five months. But it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." - Then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

* January 20, 2003 - "His regime has large, unaccounted for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, including VX, sarin, mustard gas, anthrax, botulism and possibly smallpox. And he has an active program to acquire and develop nuclear weapons." - Rumsfeld.

* March 16, 2003 - "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney to U.S. television network NBC.

* March 20, 2003 - "The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against humanity." - Saddam, on first day of invasion.

* April 10, 2003 - "Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Ceausescu in the pantheon of failed brutal dictators, and the Iraqi people are well on their way to freedom." - Rumsfeld.

* April 11, 2003 - "Stuff happens." - Rumsfeld, asked about rampant lawlessness in Baghdad after U.S. troops captured the capital. "It's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things."

* May 1, 2003 - "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." - U.S. President George W. Bush, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner declaring "Mission Accomplished".

* July 24, 2003 - "Death is not enough. They should have been hung up on poles in a square in Baghdad so all Iraqis could see them. Then they should have died as people ate them alive." - Baghdad businessman Khalil Ali after U.S. forces kill Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay.

* September 14, 2003 - "He (Saddam) had long established ties with al Qaeda." - Cheney to a conservative think-tank.

* October 3, 2003 - "There's no question this guy (Saddam) had invested billions in developing illegal programs of weapons of mass destruction and don't let anybody tell you this was not a significant threat." - Cheney to political fund-raiser in Iowa.

* December 13, 2003 - "My name is Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate." - Saddam to U.S. troops who captured him.

* December 14, 2003 - "We got him," then U.S. governor of Iraq Paul Bremer announcing the capture of Saddam.

* January 30, 2005 - "This is a historic moment for Iraq, a day when Iraqis can hold their heads high because they are challenging the terrorists and starting to write their future with their own hands." - interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.