George W Bush to address the Nation at 9pm EST, 6pm PST

Fox News ^

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

President George W Bush will be speaking to the nation at 9pm this evening. Bahgdad This is one hour after Saddam's " GET OUT OF IRAQ" deadline.

[PhiKapMom]

Let's put it this way -- MSNBC has the live picture of Baghdad on the screen all the time now. The press is sure acting like war is imminent.

[TLBSHOW]

US Pushes For Saddam Exile Up to Last Minute Before Deadline
David Gollust
Washington
19 Mar 2003, 23:10 UTC



Saddam Hussein
As the deadline set by President Bush approached, the State Department reiterated the United States' readiness for an exile deal for Saddam Hussein, that would include amnesty from war-crimes prosecution. But officials say there is no sign of any interest in such an arrangement from Baghdad.

An offer by the King of Bahrain Wednesday to allow Saddam Hussein to take up residence in that Gulf state in what was termed "dignity and without disgrace" touched off speculation that a last-minute exile deal might be in the works. But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States,though willing to facilitate such an arrangement, has seen no sign of interest from the Iraqi leader.

"We've said we'd be willing to work with such proposals were they to be accepted," he said. "But at this point we've seen no such acceptance. We've seen continued refusal by the government of Iraq to take any option that provides for a peaceful settlement. And all we can do at this point is say: let's hope they take the offer."

Administration officials have said an exile deal, including some form of amnesty, would be a cheap price to pay to avoid war, though they say U-S-led forces would still enter Iraq to keep the peace and arrange a transition of power.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=2DCBC40E-6F89-46D2-A9CCDDA8C557B329&title=US%20Pushes%20For%20Saddam%20Exile%20Up%20to%20Last%20Minute%20Before%20Deadline

[Joe Hadenuf]

45 minutes to go till deadline........

[PhiKapMom]

In fact, they reported that General Franks had the signed off on war plans and the timetable is now General Franks! Reporting that when troops are in attack position they go in 24 hours.

[Peach]

Fox has reported it's up to the military to choose a date - they have the go ahead from the President to choose a time and date. Depends on weather and more variables than I could imagine.

[DaughterofEve]

BW - Thanks for always including me on your ping lists!

[Joe Hadenuf]

B-52s up......

[Peach]

In addition, the Pentagon/Defense Dept. is in charge now that they have the go ahead from President Bush. They will chose the time/place, etc. according to Pentagon sources on Fox.

[afraid]

i heard there looking for a little place to get togather.

[OXENinFLA]

You left out the count down clock in Min. and sec.

[Capitalism2003]

Is this the "LIVE THREAD"?

[PhiKapMom]

Former Secretary of State Baker was saying the other day he knew the exact time the bombs were supposed to hit Baghdad, ran back to his office, turned on the TV and waited. At 10 minutes past the time designated, he was getting nervous and thought something had delayed everything when all of a sudden the skies in Baghdad started lighting up.

They were 10 minutes LATE!

They have an H hour now they have picked! Wish we all knew when it was!

[knak]

gotta link?

[mewzilla]

With any luck it'll be the Saddamn's Dead thread.

[PhiKapMom]

Time Clock right below the live picture. 40:17 and counting!

[Peach]

It absolutely could be tonight; just thinking they'd prefer to work in the dark for a while longer than from 4:00-6:00 a.m. Bagdad time when it starts getting light. But, hey - the military can do what it wants, when it wants, and perhaps darkness vs. daylight doesn't mean that much to them. Remembering Gulf War I, a day or so passed after the deadline before we went in. "Softened" the bad guys up a little - no sleep for a while!

[Trust but Verify]

I doubt it as well. The WH told MSNBC they were putting on 'the lid' for the night, which apparently in TV parlance means there will be no official photography in the WH for the rest of the night. If that was the case, then I'd doubt there would be a Presidential address forthcoming.

[PhiKapMom]

It was a live MSNBC report from the WH NBC reporter!

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Not only is it live, it's hopping!!!

[Trust but Verify]

I posted the same thing before seeing your post. I guess people don't want to beleive it.