Operation Iraqi Freedom - Day 1 - LIVE THREAD

20 March 2003 | An.American.Expatriate

[An.American.Expatriate]

"Is that even really Saddam?? "

I don't think so!!!

[The Wizard]

keeps holding up "the report", you rmemeber, the one with nothing bad but in the "footnotes" delivered a day later

[Dog]

CNN has a live shot of Baghdad also...as Straw speaks .

[mhking]

So does MSNBC.

[Timeout]

Snippet of NY Times reporter, John Burns, from Baghdad last night on PBS:

And many, many Iraqis are telling us now, not always in the whispers he have heard in the past but now in quite candid conversations, that they are waiting for America to come and bring them liberty. ...

It has to be said that this not universal of course... All I can tell you is that as every reporter who has come over here will attest to this, there is the most extraordinary experience of the last few days has been a sudden breaking of the ice here, with people in every corner of life coming forward to tell us that they understand what America is about in this.

It won't be long now.

[The Wizard]

must have broken their hearts to say that

[An.American.Expatriate]

This pic doesn't look like him at all!!

[Green]

FNC was talking about this reporter this morning. They made specific note that to remember this was from NY Times and how out of character it was for them to be saying this finally.

[maquiladora]

Sky: More artillery fire from Kuwait into Iraq.

[theophilusscribe]

About SCUDs: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/theater/r-11.htm

"The SCUD-D SS-1e featured an improved guidance system, possibly incorporating active radar terminal homing, and a wider choice of warheads than its predecessors. This missile has a range of about 700 km. Initially operational in the 1980s, it may not have been deployed by former Soviet ground forces.

More: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/weapons/scud.html
"The Iraqis had four versions: Scud itself (180-km range), longer-range Scud (half warhead weight, extra range attained by burning all propellant immediately rather than steadily through the flight of the missile), Al Hussein (650-km, attained by reducing warhead weight to 250 kg and increasing the fuel load by 15 percent), and Al Abbas (800-km, achieved by reducing warhead weight to 125 kg, with 30 percent more fuel). Al Abbas could be fired only from static launchers; all of the others could be fired from mobile or static sites. Only the original Scud and the minimally modified version were particularly succesful."

[spectre]

MSBNC has replaced their "deadline clock" with a "present Bagdad time" clock. It helps.

sw

[Green]

Does anyone remember what time FNC said Donald Rumsfield was giving press briefing this morning?

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Thu Mar 20, 3:10 AM ET

FILES -- President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) accused the United States of commiting a ``shameful crime'' by attacking Iraq (news - web sites), urging his people in a nationally televised address Thursday to ``go draw your sword'' against the enemy. Hussein is shown in this three picture combo from Jan. 17, 2003 file photo, left, a March 17, 2003 file photo and March 20, 2003 photo. (AP Photo)

[An.American.Expatriate]

Good read here -> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/869813/posts

[Mr. Silverback]

This guy looks like my grandpa a lot more than he looks like Saddam.

[Tree of Liberty]

11am EST

[Peach]

Finally - cable back on and can get on FR - severe lightening. Saddam has many body doubles - book The Threatening Storm references 9 if I remember correctly. Also cable went out but just before it got knocked out I heard a report that he doesn't typically wear his eyeglasses in public.

[Mr. Silverback]

Yeah, no bloody way it's him. Maybe we killed him.

[Peach]

Rumsfeld - 11 or 11:30

[The Wizard]

that's true...someone can look like someone if you use the correct angle....and have nothing to judeg size