Bush addresses the nation

President George W. Bush spoke to the country on television at 9:15 p.m. CST and announced that he had ordered the attack on Iraq to begin.

“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 grave danger,” Bush said. He went on to say, “To the men and women of the armed forces serving in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world now depends on you.”

Bush said that the first strikes were against selected targets of military importance to take out Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Reports from the CIA placed key Iraqi officials and possibly Hussein himself in Baghdad at the time of the strike. The administration said that they were targeting key leadership in this initial strike. The strike was unexpected by some military units, but was a “target of opportunity” not to be missed. Later in the evening, Hussein made a television appearance to reassure the people of Iraq that he had survived the attack.

The degree of success of the mission is not yet known. Officials said it is very difficult to successfully target a single person on the ground in such a bombing.

More than 40 cruise missiles were fired from U.S. warships in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, military officials said. The U.S. also utilized F117 stealth fighters in the attack.

Air raid sirens were heard in Baghdad at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday (8:30 p.m. CST) approximately 90 minutes after the deadline for Hussein to step down or face a military attack.

Bush said the military campaign, supported by 35 nations, would make every effort to spare Iraqi civilians. However, this would be difficult since Hussein has placed military equipment and weapons in civilian populated areas using his own people as human shields. Bush said that regardless of this, the U.S. military plans to use its full might in the war. Bush also said that this war may take place in an area the size of California with a similar terrain, but the coming conflict could be longer than some people may expect.

The United States and Britain have massed nearly 300,000 troops in the Persian Gulf region.

“This will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome except victory,” Bush said. “The only way to limit the duration is to apply massive force.”