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To Iraq By Hercules
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US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Baghdad on 30 April on an MC-130H from the Air Force Reserve Command’s 919th Special Operations Wing, based at Duke Field, Florida. Less than a month after the fall of Baghdad, Rumsfeld flew from Kuwait to Basra and then to the Iraqi capital city. Rumsfeld received a briefing from Maj. Gen. Robin V. Brims, commander of the British 1st Armored Division, at the Basra airport. He told the secretary that the coalition effort worked “exceptionally well,” that US forces demonstrated “fantastic capabilities,” and that the British allies were very impressed. At the newly rechristened Baghdad International Airport, Rumsfeld told coalition land force troops they had rescued a nation and freed a people. He later met with coalition leaders at Saddam Hussein’s Abu Gharib palace. He also recorded a message that was broadcast to the Iraqi people via an EC-130E Commando Solo psychological-warfare aircraft of 193rd Special Operations Wing. On 29 May, British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew into Basra on one of the Royal Air Force’s Hercules C. Mk. 4 (C-130J) aircraft to address British troops, becoming the first Western leader to visit the country since the end of hostilities. |
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