Iraq War: Shock and Awe Assault on Baghdad Begins (2003)

On 21 March 2003, ITN's John Irvine reported from the Iraqi capital of Baghdad as the “shock and awe“ phase of the US-led air campaign got underway. While the US bombardment of Baghdad had begun on 19 March, this had in fact consisted of relatively limited strikes targetting Saddam Hussein, senior regime officials, and other specific targets. At 17:00 UTC on 21 March, the air campaign moved into the next phase. In one night, 504 cruise missiles were launched at Baghdad's government district. The pictures captured by ITN's cameras that night are to this day considered defining images of the 2003 invasion and the Iraq War as a whole. #Iraq #IraqWar #ShockAndAwe #Baghdad #WarOnTerror #Conflict To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below: To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - @ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - 🎥 Like us on Facebook - 🎥 Check out our TikTok - @itnarchive1955