President Bush ordered the seizure of $1.4 billion in Iraqi funds held in U.S. banks, marking only the second time since World War II that the U.S. government has taken ownership of a substantial amount of frozen foreign assets.

U.S. ground forces began an "intense artillery barrage" against Iraqi troops near the Kuwaiti border around 8 p.m. local time (noon EST) on Thursday and, nearly an hour later, launched an invasion into Iraq, news reports from the region said.