“The initial invasion force [in Iraq, on March 19, 2003] consisted of 250,000 American troops, 45,000 from the United Kingdom, and small numbers of troops from Poland, Australia, and Denmark. Over time, 33 other countries contributed troops ranging from Italy and Spain, with peaks of 3,200 and 1,300 troops, respectively, to Iceland with 2.” – […]
3/19/2003
“In the Gulf War of 1991 an attacking force three times the size of the OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched on March 19, 2003] force was employed to achieve the limited objective of driving Iraqi forces out of tiny Kuwait; however, twelve years later, a comparatively small force was employed on behalf of the much […]
3/19/2003
Acting on intelligence that Saddam Hussein and his sons were hiding out at his Dora Farms complex in Iraq on March 19, 2003, President Bush ordered an air strike to deliver bunker-busting bombs on the site. “Saddam, it turned out, was not hit, and when U.S. forces examined the Dora Farms site after the fall […]
3/19/2003
On the evening of March 19, 2003, President Bush “addressed the nation from the Oval Office… ‘On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war,’ he said. ‘These are the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.’ ” – […]
3/19/2003
On the morning of March 19, 2003, after speaking with Central Command leader General Tommy Franks and nine senior commanders stationed in the Persian Gulf, President “Bush then gave the command he had prepared for the occasion: ‘For the peace of the world and the benefit and freedom of the Iraqi people, I hereby give […]
3/19/2003
“[O]n March 19 [2003], at 10:16 p.m., President Bush announced his fateful decision [on attacking Iraq]. ‘My fellow citizens,’ the president began in an Oval Office address, ‘at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from […]
3/19/2003
“…the first bombs of Operation Iraqi Freedom began to fall on Baghdad on March 19 [2003]. The next day the ground war began.” – Peter Lance, 1000 Years For Revenge, Page 439 […]
3/19/2003
“On March 19, 2003, they [Major Mark ‘Fuji’ Hoehn and Colonel Dave ‘Tooms’ Toomey] were selected to carry out an order issued directly from the Pentagon–a top-secret assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein, using GPS-guided bunker-busters. Though they did not know it, their mission was to be the opening strike of Operation Iraqi Freedom.” – Eugene […]
3/19/2003
In an appearance on Meet the Press with Tim Russert on March 19, 2003, Representative Jack Murtha (D-PA) said: ” ‘There was no [Iraqi] connection with al-Qaida, there was no connection with terrorism in Iraq itself.’ ” – Douglas Feith, War and Decision, Page 611 […]
3/19/2003
On March 19, 2003, President Bush “met with the NSC [National Security Council] in the Situation Room…Then a secure video link came up with [Central Command leader General Tommy] Franks [who was at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia] and nine of his senior commanders. It is likely the first time a president was […]