"history of comedy" tomorrow night at 10:00 eastern, only on cnn. that's it for me tonight. i i'll be back tomorrow evening at 5:00 eastern. up next, back-to-back episodes of cnn's "the 2000s." good night. we are at a historic conundrum the likes of which i would never see in my lifetime. >> we still do not know the outcome of yesterday's vote. >> sometimes it seems we share a continent, but not a country. >> today, thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. >> the world before 9/11 looks different than the world after 9/11. >> every nation has a choice to make. and this conflict, there is no neutral ground. >> the facts show that saddam hussein and his regime are concealing their receive poeffo produce weapons of mass destruction. >> there is no silver bullet.

♪ ♪ today, america is again forging its future by choosing a man to lead it into the 21st century. this is cnn's coverage of

election 2000. >> this is the last official stop of campaign 2000. >> if people do what i think they're going to do, you're looking at the next president of the united states. >> the schedule over the last 48 hours reflected a major worry. florida, home of governor jeb bush. >> and when he looked me in the eye and said, florida's going to be bush/cheney country, i believe him. >> in texas, george w. bush, who was known as a bipartisan governor, at the time, the state house was run by democrats, and he had a very good working relationship with them. >> we poured our hearts and souls into this campaign, the organization, and the people are going to decide. >> indiana and kentucky, the polls now have closed in those two states. our projected winner is governor george w. bush, as expected. >> bush wins south carolina, vermont, up in the green mountain state, there for al gore. >> a big call to make, cnn announces that we call florida

in the al gore column. >> about roughly quarter of 8:00, we and all the other networks call florida for gore. i remember saying, how is bush possibly going to, you though, what's the path he can possibly take, because he's lost michigan, he's going to lose pennsylvania. if anybody wins all three, it's over. >> you can bet that governor bush will be madder than a rooster that his brother, the governor, wasn't able to carry this state for him. >> mr. bush says he is not ready to concede florida. so, that only complicates the evening just a little bit. >> the networks called this thing early, but the people that are counting the votes are coming up with a different perspective. >> george w. bush was a very confident man. i don't think bush ever doubted that he would manage somehow to get e legislated. >> some new returns came in and suddenly the gore lead that was necessary to make this prediction evaporated. >> what the networks give us, the networks take away. nbc news is now taking florida

out of vice president gore's column. >> as the night went on, it stayed close until at about 2:00 in the morning, eastern time, it looked like it was game over. >> abc news is now going to project that florida goes to mr. bush. >> george walker bush, the new president of the united states. the governor of texas. >> and at that point, al gore called george w. bush to concede. then, by about 3:00 a.m. eastern time, the numbers start to wobble again. >> something to report to you here in this very unusual night. the vice president has recalled the governor and retracted his concession, saying that florida is too close right now. >> under florida law, if the margin of victory is less than half percent, then there's an automatic recount. >> mr. vice president, did you one the election, sir? >> we're having a great run here. >> a confident and seemingly relaxed al gore is effectively

starting a second campaign for the white house. his campaign chairman in florida announcing the campaign will support lawsuits over the issue of ballot irregularities in palm beach. >> i cast a vote for gore but at the same time, i must have punched the buchanan column, as well. >> there was the butterfly ballot in palm beach county where an awful lot of people thought they were voting for al gore but because of the way the ballot was designed, they ended up voting for pat buchanan, and believe me, those two candidates had nothing in common. >> pat, good evening. >> hi, charlie. >> do you really think you got 3,400 votes in palm beach county? >> yes, i do, but i believe some of those were intended for al gore. >> i think if it hadn't been for the butterfly ballot, al gore would have been president of the united states. >> a hand recount of the vote is already under way tonight in palm beach county. one of four florida counties

which could determine who becomes the next president. >> there were four counties where we had concrete evidence of irregularities and so we asked for undepth recounts in those four counties. >> the blame may fall on a tiny piece of paper called a chad. a chad is what voters are supposed to punch out when they make their choice. sometimes it sticks. >> the hanging one is counted. the swinging door is counted and the try is counted. the ones that are not counted are the ones that are just dimple or pregnant, they're a little bit out but they're not through. >> the real issue at hand now is the decision by florida secretary of state katherine harris to have all ballots from all counties turned in and certified by tomorrow night. >> i've decided it is my duty under florida law to exercise my discretion in denying these requested amendments. >> the game was this. the democrats wanted to keep the recount going and the

republicans wanted to stop it. >> they make keep asking for recount after recount after recount. but when is it going to end? i ask you, when is it going to end? >> each day was a drama, and the gore forces had just one shot left. they could go to the florida supreme court. >> the court today has issued its opinion by a vote of 4-3, it has ordered a manual recount of all undervotes in any florida county where such a recount has not yet occurred. because time is of the essence, the recount shall commence immediately. >> the florida supreme court issued an opinion changing the deadlines, changing the manner in which votes would be counted. we were stunned, and so, we challenged that in the united states supreme court. >> the votes are being counted and all of a sudden, the television screen flashes that the united states supreme court in at 5-4 has ordered the county

to stop. and it hasn't even been an argument of an appeal. >> here, you had a conservative supreme court stepping in with the authority of the federal government to stop what was traditionally a local issue. it was the reverse of everything you heard from conservatism. >> the wait is under way for a decision from the united states supreme court. a decision that could keep alive al gore's presidential hopes or kill them outright and hand the presidency to george bush which would be the first presidential election decided by the court. >> the system had never had this kind of stress test before, and it failed. the result of this, chaos and uncertainty who the president of the united states would be come january 20th. >> everybody in the country was on pins and needles. and those of us who were working to try to get the situation stabilized and over with were exhausted. >> i thought we were so clearly right that i thought there had to be a chance that i could

persuade one of those five justices to change their mind. and i hoped i could do it. i didn't. >> it was a very unusual late-night ruling from the united states supreme court. the decision ending any lingering hope of a recount. >> the problem with bush v gore is that it looked so partisan. it ended in a 5-4 vote with the conservatives in the majoriy. and so what's important here is to understand the bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. the outcome of the 2000 election, i don't mean the fact that bush won, i mean the way he won. it deepened skepticism about the impartiality of our institutions. >> whether you voted for me or not, i will do my best to serve your interests and i will work to earn your respect. the presidency is more than an honor. it is a charge to keep, and i will give it my all.

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be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.

the most highly recommended bed in america just got better. introducing the reinvented tempur-pedic. designed with the most pressure relieving material we've ever created and superior cool-to-touch technology. find your exclusive retailer today at tempur-pedic.com. i, george walker bush do solemn my swear. >> that i will faithly execute the office of president of the united states. >> that i will faithly execute the office of president of the united states. >> the bush presidency starts with a lot of political anger, and there are many democrats who don't feel that on day one on his inauguration that you're watching the victor become president.

>> sometimes it seems we share a continent, but not a country. we do not accept this and this is my solemn pledge. i will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. >> early on, bush is concerned about two things primarily. one is education and this initiative, no child left behind. and the other is tax cuts. >> bush comes into office essentially as a moderate conservative, as a compassionate conservative. it's a pretty middle of the road presidency for his first few months. >> this is a cbs news special report. dan rather reporting from cbs news world headquarters in new york. good evening. president bush is about to officially announce what could be one of the more significant decisions of his presidency. >> the issue of research involving stem cells derives from human 'em bri owes -- >> the fact that was one of george w. bush's first major speeches to the nation tells a lot about the challenges that he

thought were the greatest that he faced. what was he going to do when science and religion didn't take him the same place? boy, things would change for him in a month. >> we want to tell you what we know as we know it. but we just got a report in that there's been an explosion at the world trade center in new york city. >> you're looking at the world trade center, we understand that a plane has crashed into the world trade center. we don't know anything more than that. >> of course, as we all know, years ago, there was that terrorist attack. it took place down on the ground and in the underground levels, in the garage levels. but again, that's not to imply that we have any reason at this point to believe that this is -- this is terrorism or not. we simply don't know. >> have you seen any evidence of people being taken out of the building? of course, the major concern is -- >> oh, my goodness. oh, another one just hit.

something else just hit, a very large plane just hit directly over my building and there's been another collision. >> this is cbs news continuing live coverage of the apparent terrorist attacks today here in new york city. >> i saw a large plane, like, a jet go immediately headed directly into the world trade center. it just flew into it, into the other tower coming from south to north. i watched the plane fly into the world trade center. >> oh, my goodness. oh, my goodness. we're looking at a live picture from washington and there is smoke pouring out of the pentagon. >> in the nation's capital, a state of emergency and an emergency plan now in effect to keep the federal government running in an orderly way. >> and again, i don't mean to say this in melodramatic terms. where is the president of the united states? pretty soon, the country needs

to know where he is. >> there's a lot of confusion. again, it appears that an aircraft of some sort did hit the side of the pentagon. >> wow. >> and -- >> jamie, jamie, i need you to stop for a second. there has just been a huge explosion -- i'll tell you, i can't see that second tower. >> let's go to the trade tower again, because john, we now have -- what do we have? we don't -- >> it looks like a new plume -- a new large plume of smoke. >> one can only hope that the area has been evacuated, but of course, you wonder about all the emergency vehicles and the people who might have been injured early in the morning. >> there was dust and everywhere -- >> oh, my god.

>> i don't know where my peers are. i hope to got they're okay. >> i was standing next to 1 world trade center and i heard rumbling and we started running away from it. the glass like blew out and threw me onto the sidewalk. >> i was trying to go back to find people from my office. john's like, let's go. i start to leave. i see people jumping from the top of the world trade center. and -- >> it was unbelievable in there. there's guys still trapped we couldn't get to.

>> i'm just going to add to the chaos and the trauma of the day to say that a large plane has crashed about 80 miles southeast of pittsburgh. >> we don't know where their destination was, what their target was. we can only presume, we can only guess that they were short of the target. >> it would never be the same for george w. bush. from that moment on, he would never again have the bandwidth to think primarily about nestic problems. >> by september, he still wasn't seen as a heavy weight. there were still questions, even from republicans who liked him, could he handle this job if something big happened? and then something big happened. but in the early weeks of the crisis, george w. bush proved to be incredibly effective. >> this nation stands with the good people of new york city. as we mourn the loss of

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we're going to go to abc's terry moran, who is at camp david, where there is going to be a meeting this morning, terry? has it begun yet with the president and his national security advisers? >> well, not yet. we're told that this meeting is really the first big formal meeting of the entire national security team, including vice president cheney, secretary of state powell, secretary of defense rumsfeld and others, since the attacks. >> well, the media at camp david was a pretty sober affair. they all knew in one way or another they had failed the american people. so, the mindset shifts to preventing another 9/11. >> are you satisfied that osama bin laden is --

>> there is no question that he is a prime suspect. if he thinks he can run and hide from the united states and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken. >> i joined the fbi in 1997. i was assigned to work terrorism. when we saw the planes hit the buildings, the world trade center, we knew that it was al qaeda. >> there had been a progressive escalati escalation, 1998. bin laden attacked the u.s. embassies in east africa. two simultaneous attacks using suicide tactics. then, the attack on the uss cole. something like 9/11 was the next logical continuation. >> afghanistan, under the taliban regime, had harbored al qaeda. so, when the president meets with all of his national security advisers in camp david, they decide the taliban had to be uprooted if they were really going to get at bin laden. >> what's different here, what's changed in terms of u.s. policy is the president's determination to also go after those nations

and organizations and people that lend support. >> the obvious response is to go after al qaeda. but the administration needed somehow to show that it was serious. >> our war on terror begins with al qaeda but it does not end there. it will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. >> they said, this has changed everything. the world was not going to be the same. and they created what they called the global war on terror. >> president bush plans to sign the anti-terrorism bill into law today, after it was overwhelmingly approved by the senate. the legislation gives sweeping new powers to law enforcement including expanded wiretapping and surveillance authority. >> the most important part of the patriot act is the power of surveillance. some people are privately

worried this is too much, but at the time, many the aftermath of the anger and shock and horror, there's very strong support to pass it. >> this government will enforce this law with all the urgency of a nation at war. >> the politics of the time led to america's sort of tough war attitude, we were going to fight them here and we were going to fight them abroad. >> operation enduring freedom is under way. u.s. tomahawk cruise missiles delivered the first blows, hitting military targets near the capital city of kabul. >> it was a righteous war. we had every reason to go to afghanistan. we gave the taliban so many opportunities to give bin laden up and they refused. >> on my orders, the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime in afghanistan.

these carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations. >> around the world, there was enormous support for the war in afghanistan. there was a sense that osama bin laden had attacked not just the united states, but the security of the global community. the u.s. military mission to overthrow the taliban was very swift, it took only about six weeks to force the taliban out of kabul. >> toppling the taliban wasn't that difficult. toppling a government is one thing. to track down individual fugitives, that was difficult. >> the president's approach to this is that it will be continuous, but that it will be broadly based and it will be economic and political and diplomatic, as well as military, overt and covert. >> the concept, especially by don rumsfeld, was, we want a small footprudeint.

and there was some wisdom in that. they sent in a bunch of cia officers with suitcases full of money and they hired a bunch of tribesmen to go after bin laden. >> u.s. officials say american commandos, operating with opposition forces, got within two miles of a cave system that osama bin laden was holed up. but they could not go any further. >> there was a moment where we had bin laden bottled up inside tora bora, we knew where he was, but the road to pakistan was left open. >> opposition and u.s. special operations forces rolled into the tora bora mountains in support of fleeing al qaeda fighters. but the pentagon says its anyone's guess where bin laden is. >> al qaeda got away. bin laden went off to pakistan. but what was very striking how quickly it turned to iraq. >> i never say anything's inevident, but if i were saddam hussein, i'd be thinking very carefully about the future and i'd be looking very closely to

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i we worked with pg&eof to save energy because wenie. wanted to help the school. they would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didn't cut off the light. the teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. so they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights! those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. we actually saved $50,000. and that's just one school, two semesters, three girls. together, we're building a better california. after a flight halfway around the world, 20 terrorist suspects captured in afghanistan are settling in tonight at an open air prison in the caribbean. >> shackled, hooded and in one case sedated, they had been

loaded aboard a transport yesterday with two guards for every prisoner. >> in many cases, you had no idea how senior they were, how junior they were. how much information they had. so, you had to have a system to bring them somewhere and then subject them to intensive interrogation. >> the bush administration decided to call them enemy combatants, and they did not have prisoner of war status. they didn't want them to have those kinds of protections. >> across europe, there have been complaints warning america won't win the war on terror if it gives up the high ground. >> some people said, the president does not have unilateral power to deprive these people of any rights whatsoever. and it began to erode international support for us. >> some here now say the critic's real complaint is less how al qaeda prisoners are treated than it is about how america has acted on its own with no apologies. >> the president of the united states. >> the intensity of the early

days of the war on terrorism started to concern some people, but you have to realize the country was different, that people were shocked by what happened with 9/11. and the bush administration used that. >> our war against terror is only beginning. >> there was the sense in the bush administration that there are these rogue states which will take advantage of the chaos created by al qaeda, so, even though bin laden hasn't been captured, the united states is on the road to war somewhere else. >> our goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening america with weapons of mass destruction. north korea, iran, aggressively pursuing these weapons and exports terror. iraq continues to flaunt its hostility towards america and to support terror. the iraqi regime has plotted to

develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade. states like these and their terrorist allies constitute and axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. >> president bush, rumsfeld and cheney long before 9/11 wanted regime change in iraq. they felt like in the first persian gulf war in 1991, that the job was not done. and when they started the war against terrorism, they saw that as the perfect opportunity. >> many americans weren't really thinking of saddam hussein. they were thinking of 0 samba bin laden. so, it wasn't clear why this should be part of the war. >> the iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons. >> imagine a september 11th with weapons of mass destruction. >> but we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud. >> the administration had to mount an argument, and they did it by scaring us. >> simply stated, there is no doubt that saddam hussein now

has weapons of mass destruction, that he is amassing them to use against our allies and against us. >> vice president cheney made repeated visits out to cia headquarters and it was quite clear what conclusions were very welcome at the white house and what conclusions were not. >> the bush administration found the intelligence it wanted and then sold that intelligence to the american public. >> why haven't our allies, who presumably would know the same information, come to the same conclusion? >> i don't think they know the same information. i think the fact is that in terms of the quality of our intelligence operation, i think we're better than anybody else. >> i think that the world has to be presented with the information, with the intelligence that's available. a debate is needed within the international community so that everybody can make a judgment about this.

>> they at the white house denied reports of a division in the administration over how to handle saddam hussein. >> a white house spokesman says there is no internal rift, insisting the administration speaks with one voice in demanding iraq be rid of all weapons of mass destruction. >> it turned out that there was, in fact, this war within the bush administration, among some very heavy hitters. colin powell is not a fan of invading iraq. he has the famous expression, the pottery barn rule. if you break it, it's yours. and he knows that if we go in and break iraq, it's ours. we're going to have to rebuild it. on the other side, rumsfeld and cheney, they just want to go in. >> when you're dealing with terrorist networks that can attack at any time using any technique, you know before you start that you can't defend against that. therefore, you have no choice. we know they have weapons of mass destruction. we know they have active programs. there isn't any debate about it. >> powell was the odd man out here. he realized he couldn't affect

the decision itself, so, at that point, he changed gears and persuaded the president to get public support. >> the democrats are opposed to the war. george bush is happy to have this become an issue. bush actually pushes the idea of having a resolution supporting the use of force in iraq before the congressional elections. so that members of congress will feel compelled to vote for it. >> congressional opposition in both houses finally came down to a few hard core liberals who worried congress was giving up its right to declare war. but it was a lonely fight when the white house invited a bipartisan crowd of supporters for an obvious show of power, opposition really began to melt. >> because i believe it is important for america to speak with one voice at this critical moment, i will vote to give the president the authority he needs. >> it was one of the hardest decisions i'd made, even though i had a great deal of skepticism

and concern. i felt it was important to give our commander in chief the benefit of the doubt, as well. >> for critics of the war, it was very difficult to argue against it, because the memory of september 11th meant that those who were aggressive had the upper hand. >> in balancing the risks of action versus inaction, i think new yorkers who have gone through the fires of hell may be more attune to the risk of not acting. i know that i am. >> president bush says america has spoken with one voice. early this morning, the senate voted 77-23 to clear the way for the president to use force against iraq if necessary. the vote came hours after the house also gave overwhelming approval. >> the united states in 2002 was not a normal america. we had been attacked in a way we'd never been attacked before. it was just a whole new game. and as a result, president bush had a mandate to do whatever he

wanted. >> the days of iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end. ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease,

i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. good evening, sir. good evening.

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saddam hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger. we must stand up for security and for the permanent rights and the hopes of mankind. by heritage and by choice, the united states of america will make that stand. and delegates to the united nations, you have the power to make that stand, as well. thank you very much. >> as bush is now seriously preparing for the invasion of iraq, he realizes he's going to have to make a public case, not just to the american people, but to the world. >> no one should have any illusions. what the president of the united states is talking about is a new war against iraq, with the purpose of removing from power saddam hussein. >> you have a dictator there who is not obeying u.n. resolutions and he certainly wasn't, who had had weapons of mass destruction, and we thought still did. so, i think there was a strong

case for action. >> a deal was reached a vote taken and now the u.n. security council has made it clear. let weapons inspectors in or else. >> powell pushed very hard to get the security council to adopt a resolution demanding saddam hussein readmit international weapons inspectors and saddam hussein agreed to it. >> the outcome of the current crisis is already determined. full disarmament of weapons of mass destruction will occur. the only question for the iraqi regime is to decide how. >> weapons inspectors are confident their first few days there have gone smoothly. that includes the right to make surprise checks on so-called special sites, including presidential palaces. >> when the regime readmitted the inspectors, they were making progress, but they simply did not have enough time to really find out anything of significance. >> at this point, the security council was very much against an invasion, and so, it was decided, in the white house,

that they had to make one more push and really say, we've got the evident. and who better to do that than powell? >> secretary's presentation is intended to win the security council's authorization for military action to disarm iraq. in the end, president bush says he does not need the authorization, but he would like to have it. >> in the vice president's office, they had already written a speech for powell. it was every rumor, every bit of unverified intelligence they had ever gotten and he got it and looked at it and said, i'm not going to give this speech. are you kidding? >> colin powell went over all the cia's intelligence, and the majority of it was discarded. >> our conservative estimate is that iraq today has a stockpile between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. an iraqi major who defected confirmed that iraq has mobile biological research

laboratories. saddam hussein already possesses two out of the three key components needed to build a nuclear bomb. >> powell had some doubts, but i think those doubts were pretty much dispelled by the director of central intelligence, george tenet. >> he insists that george ten net sit behind him, be right there in the television shot, in order to show that the intelligence community stands behind this. >> i can trace the story of a senior terrorist operative telling how iraq provided training in these weapons to al qaeda. >> you could sense the tension in the room, the audience was rited by what he had. he held up a little vile claiming that this was what a vile of anthrax looked like and how deadly it could be. there were all kinds of graphics, there were conversations that had been picked up by electronic surveillance. >> we must not shrink from whatever is ahead of us. we must not fail in our duty and our responsibility to the

citizens of the countries that are represented by this body. >> well, this was perhaps the most dramatic presentation at the u.n. in half a century. america essentially trying to win the world over for a war it now believes is necessary. the skeptics shaking their heads. the stakes couldn't be higher. >> millions of demonstrators turned out around the world to protest the use of force against iraq. >> the power of the people don't stop. >> you have massive numbers of people in the united states and across the globe pouring into the streets to demonstrate. in fact, it stands today as the largest single demonstration against war in our history.

>> there's no question about it that the majority of the country was strongly behind invading iraq. those of us whether you're on the left or the right who opposed that feeling after the 9/11 horrors were considered unpatriotic. >> within the bush administration, you had the vice president cheney, secretary of defense rumsfeld, the hardliners, those who wanted to take more dramatic action. there was a momentum that the international community wanted i believe to stop. >> the united nations security council has not lived up to its responsibilities. so we will rise to ours. sadaam hussein and his sons must leave iraq within 48 hours. their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. without paying for things you don't. number 6. i know. where do i put it? in my belly. (vo) one family. different unlimited plans.

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couldn't imagine. >> the u.s. war to disarm iraq and oust saddam hussein intensified dramatically today, as the air campaign began with bombing raids on baghdad and elsewhere. >> the rest of the world saw this as a war of aggression. >> my fellow citizens, at this hour, american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger. >> it's getting much, much closer. all the air defenses are opening up around me at the moment. massive shock just coming through our windows. i'm going to have to take cover. >> the invasion and the toppling of sadaam was quite easy. the entire campaign did not take more than a month. >> we see the coalition forces advanced from southern iraq near the kuwaity border. the kuwaiti border.

it's taken 22 days of war for the coalition to get this far. to get this far. the 101st airborne division. we liberated the first major city? e in iraq, najeh. and then karbala. then moved into baghdad. >> the man who ruled here so brutally and absolutely for almost 25 years has vanished. >> the closer we got, the more they knew sadaam was finished, and they were glad to show it. >> the troops were very welcome. shiites were joyful, running through the streets, the iconic image of the big statue of sadaam hussein being pulled over with some help from u.s. troops. >> this is george w. bush, the president of the united states. at this moment, the regime of saddam hussein is being removed from power and a long era of fear and cruelty is ending. the government of iraq and the future of your country will soon belong to you. >> things, however, very quickly started to turn dicey.

>> the city of baghdad has now experienced five days of looting. government ministries, hospitals, museums, the homes of the wealthy and even the palaces of saddam hussein have been strained bare. >> we saw the looting and the total disorder in the streets and the, frankly, indifference on the part of american authorities to what was happening. >> the pentagon says coalition forces will indeed get that unrest under control, but that has not yet happened. >> it wasn't just that there was disorder. the society is being torn apart, and there's nobody in control, and that was our fault. >> mr. bush declared an end to the military phase of the war in iraq and called the battle a victory in the war against terrorism. >> the administration's very intent on actions that show to the public things are going well. so on may 1st, 2003, bush flies out to a ship near san diego and

gives this speech where he talks about just how well the operation had gone. and the navy had hung a banner in the background that said "mission accomplished." >> the transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. our coalition will stay until our work is done, and then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free iraq. >> since the start of the war the president's job performance has jumped ten points, from 67% to 77%, as of this evening. >> of course, the mission was far from accomplished. and, in fact, what was actually happening at this moment was a real insurgency was beginning to gather steam. >> the jubilant mood among those very iraqis who suffered most under saddam's regime was not felt across most of the capital

where some violent resistance remained. >> it was starting to appear to me this was not going to end the way it had been briefed. you could just see that this country was probably going to crack. >> the united states learned the hard way that removing a tyrant is not the same thing as ushering in democracy. it's much less difficult in many instances to get rid of the old than it is to help bring about something that's new and better and enduring. >> it may seem an ungracious note on which to end, but the euphoria, ripping down saddam's pictures, toppling his statues, those are the benign photogenic events that can delude us into misunderstanding what lies ahead. there are hundreds of thousands of scores to be settled in this country. blood debts to be repaid. the u.s. military doesn't want to get into the middle of that, but if it doesn't, there are likely to be lynchings and massacres that will sicken the world and make the establishment

of a new government hideously complicated. it is good that people are finally able to believe that saddam's regime has been crushed. the military victory was difficult enough. but now comes the hard part. for all who love freedom and peace, the world without saddam hussein is a better and safer place. >> the war may officially be over but the violence wages on. >> congress must no longer follow him deeper into the quagmire in iraq. >> he cited an urgent need for constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. >> hurricane katrina is now bearing down on louisiana. >> where is the federal government? where are the troops? >> signs the economy