Counterpoint

( Salon Opinion: Why *Not* Fight Saddam? )

And so, it begins.

The war has started
By Robert Fox, Defence Correspondent and David Taylor, Evening Standard
19 March 2003

British and American troops were involved in fierce fighting near Iraq's main port today as the war to topple Saddam Hussein began.

The firefight broke out near Basra as men of the Special Boat Service targeted the strategically vital city and the oilfields in southern Iraq.

At the same time allied troops were flooding into the demilitarised zone on the Iraqi border with Kuwait 40 miles away to take up positions for an all-out invasion.

Cruise missiles were also loaded onto B52 bombers at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a clear sign that the bombardment of Baghdad could be only hours away.

British troops taking up "forward battle positions" were ordered to switch off satellite phones and allied warplanes bombed targets in Iraq after coming under fire in the no-fly zone.

By lunchtime, allied forces were in position to strike from the moment the 48-hour deadline set by President Bush for Saddam to quit Iraq expires at 1am British time tomorrow. But the White House had refused to rule out a strike before that.

Maybe not

( Pentagon denies Standard report. )

Okay, now it's begun

Iraqi Deadline Passes, Explosions in Baghdad

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said it had began its war against Iraq on Wednesday just minutes after several explosions were heard over Baghdad.

"The opening stages of the disarmament of the Iraqi regime have begun. The president will address the nation at 10:15 p.m. EST," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

A handful of explosions rocked Baghdad at dawn on Thursday as jets roared overhead. Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries opened up and air raid sirens sounded.

Some 275,000 U.S. and troops awaited the order from President Bush to launch an assault on Iraq, after an ultimatum expired for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to give up power and go into exile.

Saddam ignored Bush's ultimatum to leave the country with his two sons by Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST, which was 4 a.m. on Thursday in Iraq.

U.S. and British troops moved into the demilitarized zone that straddles the Iraq-Kuwait border on Wednesday. The zone extends three miles into Kuwait and six miles into Iraq. Soldiers donned chemical suits at desert staging posts that were swept by fierce sandstorms.

"Let's get this show on the road. Play time is over," said Staff Sgt. Lavert Mitchell of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, who with colleagues was packing his backpack and checking equipment, ready to move into action from his desert base in Kuwait.

Bush met with military planners, chaired a National Security Council meeting and was "allowing the time that he has given to pass," said Fleischer.

On aircraft carriers and at land bases, pilots prepared for what is expected to be one of the most ferocious aerial bombardments in history.

Upward of 3,000 satellite-guided bombs and cruise missiles will be unleashed from sea and air on targets vital to Saddam's government to start to the war, officials said.

The strategy, dubbed "shock and awe" by the U.S. military, is designed to destroy Saddam's air defenses and remove his command and control ability while stunning Iraqi troops to the extent that many will be too demoralized to resist.

British and U.S. aircraft dropped almost 2 million leaflets over southeastern Iraq urging Iraqi soldiers not to use weapons of mass destruction or torch oil wells, and advising them to lay down their weapons rather than die for a lost cause.

Seventeen Iraqi soldiers gave themselves up to U.S.-led forces in northern Kuwait, the U.S. military said.

Fleischer braced Americans for casualties. "It could be a matter of some duration. We do not know," he said.

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said in Baghdad the invaders were facing "definite death." Iraqi legislators vowed to die for their leader.

War - Good God Y'all

Okay, so the Iraqi War is on. I'm sure everyone is either glued to their set or bored out of their fucking skulls or various shades of irritation in between, so I won't do a run-down of the news. The first few days is pretty boring boom boom boom anyway. I'm still waiting for casualty figures and wondering if Saddam will cut loose with any chemical weapons he has. I hear a couple of SCUDs have already slammed their way into Kuwait and the invading troops are donning protective suits ("don we now our gas apparel, fa la la, la la la, la la la"). I've worn those damned things - they is sweltering - I can't imagine how it'd be under the desert sun. If I were the Iraqis, I'd dispense with the chemical weapons and let the invaders just die of heatstroke. No longer in Iraq, Hans Blix, of course, is understandably pissed off with the inspectus interruptus... but now look what you've made me do. You've made me run down the news.

On a brighter note, while I still haven't gotten the official letter from UGA (and an e-mail to the Registrar's Office has yielded no replies yet, although my Professor tells me to keep bugging them), I've seen the official dates on the web site and with the Halls of Residency opening August 13 and classes starting August 18 it looks like I'll be in Georgia by August 1 or thereabouts. jost, take note and keep the spare bedroom ready, good buddy. I'll probably need those couple of weeks to get settled in, and get really celebratory with my new Southern neighbors and family.

In unbrighter news, of course, Arsenal has been eliminated from the Champions League's final eighth. As the Brooklyn Dodgers were wont to say, "Just wait till next year." There's still the double to win.

Finally, for those who want to keep track of such things, I give you the Iraqi Body Counter, a serious effort to keep an accurate body count of Iraqi civilian casualties arising from the crisis.