pinning this...
?ON MY ORDERS, coalition forces have begun striking targets of military importance,? Bush said from the Oval Office of the White House at 10:15 p.m. ET. ?... These are opening stages of a long and concerted campaign.?
Peter Arnett, on assignment in Baghdad for ?National Geographic Explorer,? reported for NBC News that anti-aircraft fire emanated from the southern outskirts of the capital about 5:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday), about 90 minutes after the deadline Bush set for Saddam to flee the country had expired.
NBC News? Jim Miklaszewski reported that U.S. forces had launched a preliminary wave of attacks using B-1, B-2, B-52 bombers, as well as F117 ?stealth? bombers flying from three aircraft carriers, against what senior U.S. military sources described as a ?key air node? and a ?national command center.? The forces were firing cruise missiles from both land and sea.
Sources told Miklaszewski that the raids in and around Baghdad had been intended as ?extensive prepping of the battlefield? in the no-fly zone in the south of the country. But the attack was ramped up after U.S. intelligence spotted what was termed a ?target of opportunity,? described as a ?senior or very senior member of the Iraqi regime.? U.S. officials would not disclose the identity of the target or say whether the attack was successful.
Loud sirens and anti-aircraft fire persisted in Baghdad for almost two hours as police cars raced through the streets, Arnett reported.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/870749.asp?vts=031920031945