Ninety minutes after the 1 a.m. Irish time deadline runs out on Thursday morning for Saddam to step down, the US begins a series of bombings on Baghdad using stealth bombers and cruise missiles.
The decision to bomb at this stage is taken after CIA director George Tenet tells President Bush during a war cabinet meeting that there was "a high probability" Saddam was expected to meet with his war council for hours at an isolated private residence in southern Baghdad.President Bush addresses the American public at 3.15 a.m. Irish time informing them that conflict has begun.
In a four-minute speech from the White House, he warned against assumptions of an easy triumph but vowed to accept "no outcome but victory". "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."
A second air raid is conducted on Baghdad at 3.07 a.m. Irish time.
A third air strike hits Baghdad at 3.34 a.m. Irish time.
President Saddam Hussein appears on state television at 5.24 a.m. Irish time.
Saddam, reading slowly from papers, begins by saying there "is no need to remind Iraqis what to do and what not to in the face of the attack".
"In any event you will be victorious over your enemies who are covered in opprobrium and ignominy," he says.
"The criminal little Bush has committed a crime against humanity," he says. He urges the people of Iraq to resist the attacks, adding: "Your enemies will suffer humiliation and defeat."