2003: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Just after 9:30 p. m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), US forces fired about 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq, striking three targets around Baghdad. The attack began the US-led, multinational coalition effort to liberate the people of Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. F-117A Nighthawks, flying “decapitation strikes,” successfully used the new dual-door and ripple launch techniques.
