On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition
forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiated war on
Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq’s
capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a
TV address (below), “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 grave
danger.” President Bush and his advisors built much of their
case for war on the specious claim that Iraq, under dictator
Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of building
weapons of mass destruction.