It was at 10:15 p.m. EST on March 19, 2003, when George W. Bush addressed the American public and announced that the U.S. and coalition forces had begun striking targets that were of military importance to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign," he declared.
The rest is 10 years of history, though many Americans rarely think of Iraq anymore, especially after most of our troops were pulled out at the end of 2011. But the anniversary is being observed around the world. In Tampa today, approximately two dozen people gathered at a familiar spot, the corner of Dale Mabry and Gandy, just a short distance away from MacDill Air Force Base. MacDill is the home of U.S. Central Command, and was always referred to as the "nerve center" for the Iraq war.
MSNBC recently aired (and will re-broadcast this Friday) a documentary titled Hubris: Selling the Iraq War. Sam Hazelrig from Tampa said the documentary reinforced his feelings about how the country was "mishandled and bullied, and sold a bill of goods" in the lead-up to the invasion.
"It makes me so angry," Hazelrig said.
This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2013.