By Paul A. Anthony, Editor in Chief

With dawn about to break over Iraq, President George W. Bush launched an air assault on Baghdad last night that he said would end with the nation’s disarmament and its leader’s removal.

“Operation Iraqi Freedom” began at about 8:30 p.m., when planes began dropping “bunker-buster” bombs designed to bore into the earth and destroy underground shelters. Intelligence reports soon after the attacks said they were spurred by an unexpected opportunity to strike at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein himself.

“On my order, coalition forces have begun targeting selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war,” Bush said in opening his address to the nation at about 9:15 p.m.

The opening minutes of the war were marked by confusion among media reports, with many unsure of whether flashes of light around pre-dawn Baghdad were the beginnings of an attack, a false alarm or what is known as “preparing the battlefield.”

Although planes began dropping bombs on Baghdad and military installations in southern Iraq, officials were asking the media not to reveal ground positions yet.

Nearly 300,000 American, British and Australian troops are amassed on the Iraqi border.

When ground forces invade, it is widely expected they will strike the southern port city of Basra first.

Bush’s speech capped a day in which the world watched and waited as his 7 p.m. deadline for the resignation of Hussein approached. It came and went without a word from Baghdad.

Many expected coalition forces to wait another day to attack, thanks to the late hour of the deadline (4 a.m. Baghdad time) and a troublesome sandstorm that had grounded attack helicopters.

However, as flashes of light began appearing in the Baghdad sky, news anchors scrambled to interpret the moves.

About 45 minutes later, Bush appeared before the nation and, while promising the war would not be “a campaign of half measures,” he warned it “could be longer and more difficult than some predict.”

However, Bush kept the same demeanor as he had in the past months: calm while laying out his case for war and projecting confidence that America would win.

“We will defend our freedom,” Bush said. “We will bring freedom to others. We will prevail.”