United Arab Emirates Committing Troops!

Fox News

[Burr5]

Sorry if this has already been posted, but Fox just reported that 3,000 soldiers are on the ground (they showed the footage, BTW) alongside our forces.

Thank God for another friend, huh? For political reasons if not military ones I LOVE to see this.

[Righty1]

Trust me it is in western europe. The french, swedes belgie, and the huns all have a morally superior condenscending attitude toward the U.S. that reminds me of canaduh and medico! It is time that we cease doing anything for these GD ingrates that mouch off of us. South Korea is inching up toward the same shitlist.

[DoughtyOne]

The United Arab Emirates is a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Other members are Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

This article from a few weeks ago addresses the Gulf Cooperation Council's plans for the war with Hussein.

LINK

[TheBattman]

So what is the deal with the Ivory Coast? I know they have some massive problems, but there just isn't a whole lot of info I have been able to find.

I do like the picture of those there of US supporters. So what's the real deal there?

[JohnBovenmyer]

Now if our friends in UAE would just take the surrender of the "human" shields (note proper punctuation) and keep them separate from all the good Iraqi's we liberate.

[Beck_isright]

"I wonder which country will be next?"

6 divisions of the meanest military in the Middle East fighting along side our boys:
The Turks. If you think the Iraqis won't wet their pants at the sight of 2 US and 6 Turkish divisions on the highway to Baghdad, you haven't seen them in action....

[Beck_isright]

Add Turkey by next Wednesday...trust me.

[Beck_isright]

"Leave it to the frogs to resort to unilateral military force, and then use it to impose appeasement."

The truth is "leave it to the frogs to resort to unilateral military force, and the use it to impose another dictatorship."

I'm so sick of the french. Everyone of their former colonies is a FUBAR will have to go clean up.

[Future Useless Eater]

February 2003
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Baghdad  SunSet  SunRise
	24   9%  +8.4hrs	25   7%  +9.2hrs	26   5%  +10.2hrs	27   3%  +11.2hrs	28   2% Blackout	01   1% Blackout	5:59pm   6:30am
March 2003
02   0% Blackout	03   0% Blackout	04   1%  -11.2hrs	05   2%  -10.2hrs	06   3%  -9.3hrs	07   5%  -8.4hrs	08   7%  -7.4hrs	6:04pm   6:22am
09   9%  -6.4hrs	10 11%  -5.4hrs	11 13%  -4.5hrs	12 15%  -3.5hrs	13 20%  -2.6hrs	14 26%  -1.8hrs	15 34%  -1.0hrs	6:10pm   6:12am
16 44%  n/a	17 55%  n/a	18100%  n/a					6:15pm   6:03am
Legend:       (%)Luminance compared to a Full Moon         (Starlight alone is 1/2 of 1% of a Full Moon) Nighttime TOTAL BLACKOUT period       ( + ) hours AFTER sunset when Moon is behind the Earth, OR       ( - ) hours BEFORE sunRISE when Moon behind the Earth (Times not adjusted for 25 minutes of civil twilight after sunset or before dawn) (Luminance figures are approximate based on an average lunar cycle. Figures are even less when the moon is lower in the sky ... and crescent moons don't get very high in the sky until after daybreak) .

And just in time!

It's now daylight - Monday morning in Baghdad.

In just a few days we will have a prime nighttime 'opportunity' - SEVEN nights in a row with NO MOON or virtually no moon all night long.

The lunar calendar to the right should help explain this. The NEW MOON occurs on the date shown as March 2nd, because that date represents the EVENING of the 2nd AND MORNING OF THE 3RD.

There will be clearly FOUR nights of total blackout, by anyone's count. That is because the moon will be behind the Earth ALL NIGHT LONG on FOUR Baghdad nights. [The moon rises and sets in 10.5 hours, but the winter nights are still 12.5 hours long] The four dates are shown as Feb 28, Mar 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

One night before those, on the evening/morning of Feb 27/28, the moon will be just a tiny sliver, and will appear for only the first hour before sunrise. If we could measure the intensity of that moon under ideal circumstances (like from South America at mid-day), it would appear 3% as bright as a Full Moon.

But in Baghdad, in the hour before sunrise, it will only barely be noticeable on the horizon, and will be less than ONE PERCENT of the brightness of a Full Moon. That, plus it will be washed out by dawn's early light.
So that nighttime will have 'virtually' NO Moon ALL night long.

The same is true for the two evenings/mornings: March 4th/5th, and 5th/6th, except in reverse. The tiny crescents on those nights will be barely noticable, mixed in with the dusk of sunset. Those tiny crescents will be followed by undisturbed pitch blackness ALL NIGHT long.

(Besides, who wants to go bombing in the first hour or so after sunset... Most Iraqi's are still awake, and it's still too light out from the sun.)

Detailed Local Forecast For Baghdad, Iraq

Click for updates

      Last Updated Monday, February 24, at 5:45 AM Local Time (Sunday 9:45 PM EST)

Today: Sun along with patchy clouds. High 74F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Some clouds. Low 53F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 62F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.

Tomorrow night: A few clouds. Low 43F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday: Chance of showers. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid 30s.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 30s.

Friday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 30s.

Saturday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 30s.

Sunday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 70s and lows in the low 30s.

Monday: Partial sunshine. Highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 40s.

Tuesday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the mid 40s.

Wednesday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 40s.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

---

Travel Tip for Saddam: Pack plenty of clean underwear.

[timestax]

bump for the flags

[Future Useless Eater]

It will quickly get too hot in Iraq for our guys to wear chemical suits during the day! Already, there is an 80 degree day forecast!

Wednesday[March 5th]: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 40s.

[TEXOKIE]

"The speech given by the Ambassador from the Marshall Islands at the UN this past week brought a tear to me eye after all the speeches that had been made against the US. "

Bump to your post 21. I had not heard this! Very good news indeed.

[kattracks]

UAE Sends Troops to Defend Kuwait

United Arab Emirates Deploys Troops to Defend Kuwait Ahead of Possible War in Iraq

The Associated Press

KUWAIT CITY Feb. 23 ?

Hundreds of infantrymen from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Kuwait on Sunday with tanks and armored personnel carriers, part of a security force deployed by Kuwait's neighbors ahead of a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.

Kuwaiti and UAE military officials here said the troops are part of Peninsula Shield, a military operation ordered by the Gulf Cooperation Council to protect Kuwait from a possible Iraqi attack should President Bush order American forces into Iraq.

The GCC is a loose political and economic alliance of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

But a UAE Defense Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the troops who arrived in Kuwait on Sunday were not part of the Peninsula Shield arrangement. He said they belonged to a 4,000-strong force being deployed under a bilateral UAE-Kuwait agreement.

The discrepancies in the officials' remarks could not be reconciled immediately.

UAE is deploying a mechanized infantry brigade of around 3,000 men backed by Apache attack helicopters, Leclerc tanks, amphibious armored vehicles, two missile boats and support ships, said Col. Fahad Keti, a spokesman for the UAE army.

The Peninsula Shield force will not exceed 4,500 troops, of which 70 percent will be Saudi, Saudi chief of staff Gen. Saleh bin Ali al-Muhaya said in remarks published Saturday. Saudi officials could not be reached to confirm the report.

More than 70,000 U.S. troops are training in the Kuwaiti desert in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq. Bush has threatened to use force to disarm Baghdad of weapons of mass destruction if it does not do so voluntarily according to U.N. resolutions.

Iraq denies it has such weapons.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I have avoided Western Europe to this point. Looks like I haven't missed much.

[xm177e2]

LOL! You've got a point! (I'm not in the "Kill All Muslims" camp, but I see your logic, and it is strong)

[MeekOneGOP]

Bu-bye, SADdam ! Forget the underwear. You won't need it where you're goin' !! ...

[Dog Gone]

I think it's becoming pretty obvious that we won't do anything before the next inspector's report on March 7. Even then, I would expect a few more days after that for another Resolution to be debated.

Assuming that we want to wait for a new moon (something I think is desirable but not essential), we'd have to wait until April 1.

[teeman8r]

they showed some human shields setting up their cots and peace signs inside and around an iraqi power plant just as happy as they could be, i'd love to see their faces when the bombing starts and they try to leave and are kept there by the iraqi military.... or arrested as spies... fools rush in...

jmt teeman