In a letter to President Clinton on January 26th, 1998 the neo-conservative group Project for a New American Century urged the adoption of a new strategy “that would secure the interests of the US and our friends and allies around the world.” The 40 signatories, who included Dick Cheney and Ronald Rumsfeld, wrote “That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power…That needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.” On March 20th 2003 a coalition led by the United States and Great Britain began military operations to depose Saddam Hussein.