Layton The Day, War Breaks Out: The first bombs rained down on Baghdad at 5:34 a.m. local time, as the U.S. launched stealth fighters and fired more than 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the capital. The strike, called a “decapitation attack” by the Pentagon, was intended to knock out members of the Iraqi leadership, including Saddam Hussein, who later appeared on Iraqi television, calling U.S. President George W. Bush a “criminal.”
As the bombs and missiles exploded on Iraq, NDP leader Jack Layton was the guest of honour at the Churchill Memorial debate at Hart House.
“What could be transpiring is a fundamental tragedy of human nature,” he said of the war. “We are witnessing a new superpower emerging: the people of the world,” Layton added.
