Kelly wanted to report on the start of the Iraq War in 2003. For this war, the U.S. military embedded journalists into coalition military units and Kelly acceded to this approach, as did around 600 other journalists. Kelly was assigned to the same unit as journalist Ted Koppel of "ABC Nightline". On April 3, 2003, a few weeks following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. forces were 10–20 kilometers from the Baghdad International Airport and the center of Baghdad. Koppel, in his preface to "Things Worth Fighting For: Collected Writings", said that he and Kelly learned that securing the airport was the 3rd Infantry Division's mission on the night when he last saw Kelly alive.