IRAQ
Fallujah, November 2004: The U.S. military begins in some of heaviest urban combat since Vietnam to recapture the city from insurgents making one of their first major stands against American forces.
Samarra, Feb. 22, 2006: A blast blamed on Sunni insurgents ravages Shiite shrine to begin more than a year of nearly nonstop sectarian bloodshed.
Anbar, late 2006: U.S. forces begin to make alliances with Sunni tribes turning against al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents.
Baghdad area, January 2007: Beginning of the U.S. "surge" of more than 20,000 additional troops.
AFGHANISTAN
Tora Bora, December 2001: U.S. bombers and American-led ground forces stage assault on suspected mountain hideout of Osama bin Laden, who is believed to have slipped over border into Pakistan.
Spin Boldak, early 2003: Resurgent Taliban forces begin offensives.
Southern Afghanistan, July 2006: NATO forces take command of region of Taliban strongholds as battles increase.
Washington, 2009: President Barack Obama weighs calls to increase U.S. troops presence in Afghanistan.