April 13, 2003

Ari Fleischer, press secretary to U.S. President George W. Bush, gives credit to The Pentagon for the apparent victory in the 2003 Iraq war. [1]
According to the Washington Times, the objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom have shifted from victory in Iraq to "destroying remnants of Fedayeen Saddam and other paramilitaries, and rebuilding Iraq to nurture a new democracy." The Times also suggests that the Operation is hunting for evidence of weapons of mass destruction and for members of the former regime. [2]
Seven U.S. Prisoners of War are released to Coalition troops approaching Tikrit in Northern Iraq. The POWs included two Apache helicopter pilots, Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young Jr. and Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams, and five members of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company; Spc. Shoshana Johnson, Sgt. James Riley, Spc. Joseph Hudson, Pfc. Patrick Miller and Spc. Edgar Hernandez. All seven POWs had previously been shown held captive by Iraqi state television and Al Jazeera. [3]