President George Bush's tenure in office has so far been marked by repeated statements about the importance of symbolism in foreign policy, but last week abstract symbolism became reality when two dozen British and U.S. aircraft bombed numerous sites around Baghdad in the biggest air strike in over two years.
The airstrike was billed as a routine action by both military officials and Bush himself, but the raids were the most confrontational attacks in regards to their scope and location.
"There's nothing routine about this at all," said Richard Perle, a former Pentagon official and security advisor to Bush in an article by the Washington Post.
Iraqi television reported that one person was killed and nine injured in the attack.
"There's been a lot of talk about how the administration will be tested by Saddam Hussein. Maybe the administration has decided to test Saddam rather than be tested by him," Perle continued.
The first major military action of the Bush administration was interpreted as a get-tough action towards a country that has been the crux of American foreign policy for years.
"Saddam Hussein has got to understand we expect him to conform to the agreement that he signed after Desert Storm," Bush said in a news conference last week.
Bush is "not interested in simply maintaining an appearance of containment," said Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee.
Military commanders have described the raid as a counter to recent Iraqi fire against U.S. and British aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone.
"Iraqi air defenses had been increasing both their frequency and the sophistication of their operations," said Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Hussein has pledged to fight back.
"They thought they would scare Iraq but they are wrong," he said in a statement on Iraqi television.
"The more they continue aggression, the stronger the Iraqi people ... will be in facing them. We will fight them in the air, land and sea, and their aggression will deepen failure," Hussein continued.
The airstrikes were condemned by a number of countries, most notably China and Russia, which have consistently opposed U.S. policy on Iraq in the past.
Bush promises more school aid
Bush proposed to increase federal spending on elementary and secondary education by $1.6 billion over the upcoming year as part of an Education Department budget increase.
"There is no more important subject than public education. We must get it right to make sure no child is left behind," Bush said while announcing the increase at Townsend Elementary School in Tennessee.
The increase was announced during a campaign-style visit to a rural school in the Smoky Mountains during a tour intended to rally support for his tax-cut and education plans.
"The billion-dollar-a-year additional money for the reading initiative will allow districts to access money for K through [2nd grade] diagnostic testing; for curriculum development; for teacher training, to make sure that the teacher I saw today, the skills that she has, are given to all the teachers who are charged with teaching reading," Bush continued.
The increase is a tangible step aimed at fulfilling his campaign promise to increase federal education spending by $47.5 billion over 10 years.
However, there have been no further details regarding the allocation of the $1.6 billion, or how much money Bush will seek for the Education Department in the next fiscal year.
Aides have said that that this increase -- the largest percentage granted to any government department -- is meant to lend credence to Bush's claim that public schools are his top priority.
Some conservatives have called for the abolition of the Education Department in recent years, claiming the department is a bloated, unneeded bureaucracy and that public schools should fall under the jurisdiction of local and federal governments.
