The Start Of War

The launch of three dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. Navy ships signals the beginning of the war with Iraq.

A television image of the Baghdad skyline shortly after the U.S. launched cruise missiles on the city.

President Bush tells the nation the operation to "disarm Iraq and to free its people" has begun.

About two hours after the initial U.S. attack, Saddam Hussein appears on televison. It is not known whether the statement was recorded before or after the attack.

Anti-war protesters from left, Quinn, 24, Tam Coe, 45, and Elizabeth Swift, 28, participate in a candlelight vigil at the Federal Building in Bellingham, Wash., Wednesday evening, shortly after the attack on Iraq began.

An F/A 18 Hornet takes off for flight operations from the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday, March 20, 2003.

Lindsey Wade, 18, of Arlington, Texas, covers her face as she and Fort Worth resident Mike Anderson watch President Bush address the nation Wednesday night March 19, 2003 in Fort Worth, Texas. Wade is the girlfriend of Marine Eric Anderson, Mike Anderson's son.

The first F-117 Stealth fighter/bomber lands at an undisclosed location after a mission over Iraq Thursday, March 20, 2003.

Palestinian school students make peace signs while holding a poster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during a rally in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza strip Thursday March 20, 2003 in protest against the U.S.-led attack on Iraq.

The wrenching separations continue. Tears flowed as Jaime Harris saw off her husband, Dana Harris, in Okmulgee, Okla. He is part of the 316th Quartermaster Battallion.

As home security measures are stepped up, a United States Coast Guard helicopter patrols the skies over New York Harbor.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney leave the White House after a meeting Wednesday.

U.S. Marines M-1123 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, drive across the desert in Kuwait near the Iraqi border.

Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves 10 Downing Street in London, a day after his impassioned speech in favor of military action in Iraq drew the endorsement of the British Parliament.

A member of the British Royal Air Force ground crew shields his eyes against the sand storm.

Fleeing Irbil city toward safety, Iraqi Kurdish families sit in the back of tractors with few possessions.

At a check point in Qoshtapa, Iraqi Kurdish children keep an eye on Kurdish militia.

An F/A-18 Hornet jet takes off from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.

Tank crews from the Alpha Company 4th Battalion 64 Armor Regiment pray during a heavy sand storm.

Around the world, Americans, their allies and their foes all are preparing for the inevitability of war in Iraq. In the eastern Mediterranean, an F/A-18 Hornet aircraft pilot gives the thumbs up before taking off from the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.