“When the fighting [that took place in the Iraqi town of Hayy around April 1, 2003] was over, the locals told the Marines that the Fedayeen [paramilitary fighters] were mostly foreigners, and they had retreated to a suspected camp at Muwaffaqiyah, a few miles northwest of Hayy. …Some of the defenders killed at Hayy and […]
3/31/2003
President George W. Bush on the role of the Coast Guard in Iraq: “In Operation Iraqi Freedom, our Coast Guard is playing a critical role. We have sent many Coast Guard cutters and over a thousand of our finest active duty and reserve members to the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters. Coast Guard personnel are protecting key […]
3/31/2003
Regarding the invasion of Iraq, French President Jaques Chirac said, on March 31, 2003: ” ‘They thought they would be greeted as liberators and that the regime would collapse like a house of cards… But they underestimated Iraqi patriotism. They would have been better off listening to us.’ ” – Todd S. Purdum and The […]
3/31/2003
In a statement to the 9/11 Commission on March 31, 2003, “Brian Jenkins, of the RAND Corporation, declared that ‘in the nineteen months since September 11, 2001, we have made considerable progress in destroying al Qaeda’s base in Afghanistan and in disrupting its operational capabilities.’ ” – Peter Lance, Cover Up, Page 153 […]
3/31/2003
Describing the challenges facing the 9/11 Commission in getting accurate information, former Congressman and Commission Member Tim Roemer (D-IN) said, in a New York Times editorial on March 31, 2003: ” ‘Facing the facts’ about the truth behind 9/11 ‘won’t kill us. But not getting the truth just might.’ ” – Peter Lance, 1000 Years […]
3/30/2003
Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote: “Early in the war [March 30, 2003], while major combat operations were still underway, I was asked on a news program if I was concerned about the failure to find WMD in Iraq. I had always tried to speak with reserve and precision on intelligence matters, but on this […]
3/30/2003
Secretary of Defense Donald “Rumsfeld had scoffed publicly at suggestions in the weeks after the invasion that there might not be weapons stockpiles in Iraq. The search was just getting started, he said. [In an interview on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on March 30, 2003, Rumsfeld said, regarding Saddam’s WMDs:] ‘We know where they […]
3/30/2003
” ‘We know where they are,’ [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld had said on March 30 [2003], about Saddam’s chemical and biological stockpiles. ‘They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat.’ ” – Michael Isikoff and David Corn, Hubris, Page 214 […]
3/29/2003
President George W. Bush updating the world on the War in Iraq: “In recent days, we have cleared mines from the water and taken control of a key port city, to allow humanitarian aid to begin flowing into the country. We have secured more than 600 oil wells and have begun putting out the few oil well […]
3/29/2003
Following the first suicide bombing in the war in Iraq, on March 29, 2003, “The Americans swiftly denounced the new tactic as beyond the pale. ‘To me, this is not an act of war,’ said Captain Andrew J. Valles, the 1st Brigade’s civil and military affairs officer. ‘It is terrorism.’ …Valles expressed frustration not only […]