March 20, 2003 — The United States launched the opening salvo last night of a war to topple Saddam Hussein, firing cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs against targets in Baghdad.
"This will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory," President Bush said in an Oval Office address shortly after explosions ricocheted through the pre-dawn light of the Iraqi capital.
Defiant to the end, Saddam's state-run television broadcast messages to the Americans after the bombs struck: "It's an inferno that awaits them. Let them try their faltering luck, and they shall meet what awaits them."
Early in the day, Ohio University students waved anti-war signs, slammed Bush and were among 39 people arrested, bound with zip-cord handcuffs and piled into a bus-turned-paddywagon amid cheers of "No blood for oil."
The intersection of Court and Union streets was closed as protesters blocked the busy intersection about 1 p.m. With bongos, banners and bullhorns, students and residents plopped down on the brick street while police and onlookers stood safely on the sidewalks.
Despite the public opposition to the war, not all students were against the invasion. Students who supported the war gathered on the fringe and elsewhere to support Bush.
Regardless of opinions, students paid attention to the war that began during Final's Week.
"It's nice to see people give a damn about something other than themselves," OU senior Amanda Cunningham said.
Staff and wire reports
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