Operation Iraqi Freedom - Day 1 - LIVE THREAD

20 March 2003 | An.American.Expatriate

[An.American.Expatriate]

This is a thread to collect all the breaking stories regarding the Libration of Iraq

[steveegg]

You're both partially correct. The Scud's guidance system consists of a gyroscope that is set prior to launch, and the guidance system is only effective for the time that the rocket is lit.

[fml]

Be patient.

[Straight Vermonter]

CNN reporter on board a carrier says planes are returning without bombs. Seems they are putting iron down somewhere. BTW the CNN television audio is available here.

[Norman Arbuthnot]

Poor Ollie should have stayed at home. He is not in shape for this.,

I don't know why you would say that. Ollie is probably in better physical condition than most of the reporters over there. I've seen more than a few fat bodies among the embed's . Ollie is still pretty trim and he's not going to be humping a 100 lbs. rucksack. I think Ollie is more than up to the physical demands of the assignment and nobody out there among the reporters is better qualified to describe the weapons and tactics that the front line troops will be employing. Most of the civilian reporters are pretty much clueless in terms of their understanding of modern weapons systems and the capabilities of our military units and the Iraqi military units. I'm very glad Ollie is out there.

[theophilusscribe]

If the leadership strikes were a success, then it's good, very good...but if they failed, then perhaps this wasn't such a great idea.

Just a thought—even if it failed, it could have a Debka-effect. It is possible that sufficient rumors could be started that Saddam and his sons had died that the forces would be inspired to surrender. Look at the Tariq Aziz debacle yesterday.

Is this possible, perhaps, with well-placed and coordinated Psych-Ops?

Please forgive the wild, unencumbered speculation. LOL!

[Michael81Dus]

Both sides are reported, and the TV channels report without breaks from Brussels, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Washington, New York, London, Moscow, Bejing, Berlin and Kuwait City.

[maquiladora]

Well, thats that sorted then.

Just heard that the Israeli Air Force is on high alert.

[Quilla]

Debka-effect

LOL!

[Tree of Liberty]

They've been on high-alert for a couple days now.

[Michael81Dus]

This time, the UN failed (and I think it was the fault of all SC members), the US and Europe can´t live without good relations, I´m pretty sure that our ties will strengthen after the war, when it comes to finance and protect the rebuilding of Iraq.

[section9]

I'm very glad Ollie is out there.

So am I. Not many people here understand that he was considered to be one of ThirdMarDiv's two best platoon skippers. The other one was James Webb.

An interesting development. One of the FOX embeds is with the Marine's spearhead unit. He can only tell us that he's "on the move", but can't tell us where he's moving. Also told us about the counterbattery fire that was, apparently, quite successful.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Bush, Pentagon assess damage of initial attacks on Iraq -AP Breaking News
JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
(03-20) 05:22 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon assessed the damage Thursday from its initial strikes against targets in Iraq, as President Bush conferred with his national security adviser on a conflict that he said "could be long...[snip]

[maquiladora]

I have a bit of a theory about the Aziz thing myself. Could it be that the rumour was planted by us, then let spread wide enough till Aziz was forced to go and make a live TV broadcast to prove he's still alive..bingo...now we know where he is, so we follow him from the live press briefing and we have an idea where he is hiding. Could be something similar actually with these leadership targets, could be just an attempt to force them to come on TV to prove they are alive, from that we can get a fix on where they are.

[Michael81Dus]

Personally, I don´t watch CNN International, but I watch a German sister channel (N-TV).

[AppyPappy]

I thought planes couldn't land on a carrier with bombs.

[maquiladora]

Sky News reporting more artillery fire from Kuwait into Iraq.

[steveegg]

I thought planes couldn't land on a carrier with bombs.

It depends on the loadout. I do know that F-14s that were sent out with 6 Phoenix missiles have to jettison 2 before landing, but they could retain any other air-to-air mix that they had launched with.

[Carolina]

Sky News showing the B-52s in Gloucestershire. Lots of activity.

[Timeout]

Michael,

Thank you for your kind words.

I think US/German relations will begin to mend shortly after the war. But France is another matter.

I refer you to this article in our Weekly Standard, an opinion magazine---very well sourced staff.

France Still Doesn't Know What Hit It