“On March 21 [2003], U.S.-led coalition forces mounted nine hours of ‘shock and awe’ bombing and missile strikes. Then ground forces entered Iraq.” – Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris, Page 211 […]
Category: quotes
3/21/2003
“At 6 am Iraq time on Friday, March 21 [2003], the 1st Marine Division crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border, followed shortly by the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division… He [President Bush] told [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, ‘I would say we have 40 percent of the country easily and 85 percent of the oil fields, and those […]
3/21/2003
“On March 21, 2003–the second day of the war–[National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice and [her deputy Stephen] Hadley gave the president [Bush] and the NSC [National Security Council] a formal briefing on the nine U.S. and coalition war objectives. …One goal was stated as: ‘Iraq is seen to be moving towards democratic institutions and serves […]
3/21/2003
On “Friday, March 21 [2003], missiles and bombs rained down on Baghdad [Iraq] for the start of the ‘shock and awe’ campaign, much of it covered live on CNN.” – Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Page 211 […]
3/21/2003
“By March 21, [2003] it [Coalition forces] had advanced over 100 miles (160 kilometers) into southern Iraq. Other troops landed by sea on the coast south of Baghdad and seized control of important ports and oilfields. The bigger U.S. forces drove in a two-pronged attack toward Baghdad, while the smaller British Army forces advanced toward […]
3/20/2003
At the start of the invasion of Iraq on March 20, 2003, “The American force totaled 241,000, including both combat and support units in the Persian Gulf region as well as the 4th Infantry Division, moored hundreds of miles from Iraq. It was less than half the number [Secretary of State Colin] Powell had sent […]
3/20/2003
“At six P.M. Baghdad time, March 20 [2003]…the U.S. air campaign against Iraq began. Over the next twenty-four hours, American and British warplanes flew a staggering seventeen hundred combat sorties against hundreds of targets inside Iraq. At the same time, U.S. Navy warships and U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers launched 504 cruise missiles, which systematically […]
3/20/2003
On March 20, 2003, “coalition forces led by [Central Command leader] GEN Tommy Franks invaded Iraq. As bombs fell on Baghdad military targets, 170,000 combat troops moved north out of Kuwait. The ground force was comprised of 120,000 American soldiers and Marines, 45,000 Britons, and 5,000 troops from Australia, Poland, and Denmark. This was a […]
3/20/2003
On March 20, 2003, after Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced, Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television. “He spoke contemptuously of ‘the criminal, junior Bush,’ and told his people, ‘Go, use a sword.’ After a series of rambling denunciations of ‘criminal Zionists and those who have agendas,’ he concluded, ‘God is great and let the losers lose. […]
3/20/2003
Regarding Iraqi funds in American banks that had been frozen, on March 20, 2003: “the president [Bush] signed an executive order transferring the $1.7 billion in frozen Iraqi funds to the [U.S.] Treasury Department and stipulating they ‘should be used…[to] assist in the reconstruction of Iraq.’ “ – Dov S. Zakheim, A Vulcan’s Tale, Page 196 […]