March 19, 2003

The Liberation of Iraq Has Begun

So says this report from a London newspaper.

British and American troops were involved in fierce fighting near Iraq's main port today as the war to topple Saddam Hussein began. The firefight broke out near Basra as men of the Special Boat Service targeted the strategically vital city and the oilfields in southern Iraq. At the same time allied troops were flooding into the demilitarised zone on the Iraqi border with Kuwait 40 miles away to take up positions for an all-out invasion.

I've often wonder how I would have felt on D-Day, when the Allies began the main push to liberate France and the rest of Europe from Hitler's heavy heel. Now I know. This is the same kind of momentous day, a day that will live in glory as the start of another American-lead liberation of millions from oppression and tyranny. This is what America does best.

I feel immensely proud of my country. We're doing the right thing.

P. Casey Daley/Tennessean staff-file photo
Safaa Albadran, 4, stands outside the Nashville Convention Center under a banner held by her father Karim, an Iraqi immigrant who opposes Saddam Hussein’s government, left, proclaiming "Saddam: Out - Democracy In."