***Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - Day 5 - LIVE THREAD***

Everywhere! | 23 Mar 2003 | An.American.Expatriate

[null and void]

Good Morning.

This is the Daily Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - LIVE THREAD.

It is designed for general conversation about the events of the day. In depth discussion of events should be left to individual threads - but links to the threads or other articles is highly encouraged. This allows us to stay abreast of the situation in general, while also providing a means of obtaining specific information.

Please have mercy on us dial up limited FReepers! Limit the big graphics, post links instead. A breif description of what the graphic is would help:

To all who helped this get started, thank you!

Special thanks to An.American.Expatriate for staring the daily threads, Mo1 for the screamer, the AdminMods for their tolerance, mhking for the video links, and, of course, Belly Girl...

[Semper Paratus]

Ran into this site and I'm still steaming. Keeps a count of Iraqi civilian casualties we caused.

http://www.iraqbodycount.net/bodycount.htm

[mtbopfuyn]

Fox showing the farmers cheering around the chopper. Anyone else find it interesting that the Iraqi army is directing the cheering? I'm sure we've distroyed it by now but why did it take us so long that the Iraqi army and their tv crews got there for the story?

[Lauratealeaf]

Ok, you would think that they would regroup and try to salvage something after the beat down they took from us, instead they just keep putting more nails in their coffin. It was so funny, even the reporters there seemed a bit perplexed with his statements. Best to open the UN buildings to the homeless and let them re-decorate it, at least someone will get some use out of it.

LOL! When my husband was at the Army War College every student and spouse went to New York City for some kind of seminar that lasted a few days. Some arrangements had been made to take the spouses to the UN. I refused to go. Had better uses of my time planned.

[steveegg]

> "General, General! You've invaded a country, taken 2/3rds
>its terrority, and suffered less than 30 causalties. When
> will you surrender?"

For Frenchmen, only the last sentence is operative.

May I correct you; for the Frogs, it would be "When did you surrender?"

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Thanks for the suggestion - will follow those guidelines. Not enough time to read every comment. But latest info is where I want to be. The multitude of threads on FR now are mindboggling - and I prefer to keep my mind - in tact! Thanks for all who are posting FACTS.

[mtbopfuyn]

Oil for food article - thanks for the link. It was absolutely disgusting and I had no idea it was so corrupt.

[Straight Vermonter]

From the Jerusalem Post:

American forces in Iraq are chasing down leads from captured Iraqis and documents on possible chemical and biological weapons sites, but as of Monday had not confirmed the presence of any weapons of mass destruction, a senior administration official said.

A suspicious plant captured by American troops was still being evaluated, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said no significant information has been obtained to date from captured Iraqis, but he expects that to change as time passes.

US officials are questioning two captured Iraqi generals about chemical and biological weapons, an American commander in the region said Sunday. The military also is following up on a cache of documents found by commandos in western Iraq, the Pentagon's top general said.

US Central Command, which oversees the war in Iraq, said in a statement that troops were examining several "sites of interest," but that it was premature to call the plant in Najaf a chemical weapons factory.

Finding deadly chemical or biological weapons would be a coup for the United States, which says its invasion of Iraq is meant to rid Iraq of such weapons.

International opposition to the war, led by France and Germany, has focused on the view that United Nations inspectors should have been given more time to verify Iraq's claims to be free of weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq claims it destroyed all of its chemical and biological weapons and ended its nuclear weapons program shortly after the 1991 Gulf War. UN weapons inspectors say those claims are highly suspect, and the United States says they are blatant lies.

American special operations forces found documents in western Iraq that could lead to banned weapons facilities, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday.

Myers said US commandos found the papers along with a cache of millions of rounds of ammunition after a firefight Saturday, and the discovery "might save thousands of lives if we can find out exactly where and what they have."

"I just know that they have some papers that they want to exploit as quickly as possible, and we're going to do that, of course," Myers said.

US Army troops on Sunday secured a 100-acre (40 hectare) site in Najaf that could be a chemicals factory that may have made chemical weapons, US officials said.

The find, first reported by a journalist from the Jerusalem Post traveling with the Army, could be the first hard evidence of chemical weapons discovered during the war.

UN weapons inspectors are not aware of any large-scale chemical sites that could be used to make chemical weapons in Najaf, said Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the inspectors. However, there are many such dual-use sites elsewhere in the country because of Iraq's petrochemical industry.

The inspectors visited a cement plant in the Najaf area earlier this year to check on its explosives cache but did not report finding anything improper. A team of biological weapons inspectors also visited a university and school in Kufa, a few miles north of Najaf.

Asked at a news conference in Qatar on Sunday about reports of the chemical plant, Lt. Gen. John Abizaid of US Central Command declined comment. He said top Iraqi officers have been questioned about chemical weapons.

"We have an Iraqi general officer, two Iraqi general officers that we have taken prisoner, and they are providing us with information," Abizaid said.

American officials are focusing on the most senior officers among the more than 2,000 captured Iraqi troops in the hunt for chemical and biological weapons. Most of the Iraqi captives are mere foot soldiers who would not know anything about the banned weapons, making the two generals probably the most valuable prisoners in US custody.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

You're very welcome. Are you watching Tony Blair? Jack Straw looks proud. Good. (^:

[KSCITYBOY]

jesse did this same crap in 1991.

[TexKat]

Fox showing the farmers cheering around the chopper. Anyone else find it interesting that the Iraqi army is directing the cheering?

Yes those men are being forced to cheer. That is being choregraphed by the butchers of baghdad. Its either cheer or die.

[Anomaly in Illinois]

My apologies if this is OT for this thread, but did you guys hear that the Oscars were the lowest rated in history? *snicker*

[hawkaw]

Wow ... Tony is telling the way it is .... 60 miles from Bagdad!

hawk

[Carolina]

Hey, FWI! Tony Blair is speaking now. Laying out the aims and goals of the Allies.

[cyncooper]

Yes, I am listening to Blair and looked at the screen to see Straw vigorously nodding in assent at certain points.

Blair outlining the course of the war so far, and cautioned the House there are certain things he cannot reveal yet.

Points out divisions have existed but time to rally.

[steveegg]

I needed that laugh, even if it was off-topic.

[Lauratealeaf]

Fox showing the farmers cheering around the chopper.

I noticed that some of them had on Arafat type headdresses. Do you think that some of them could be Palestinians?

By the way, Tony Blair rocks!

[TexKat]

Regarding the female POWs, there were 2 right? One is dead and one alive as far as we know at the present.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thanks for the clarification. Heads up, FoxNews.

[cyncooper]

Tony saying we grieve for lives lost, and it is the nature of our technology that we can see lives being lost before our eyes. This mission is just and Coalition victory is certain.

Iain Duncan-Smith offering condolences to soldiers and journalists lives lost. Tribute to those fighting.

[tomkat]

duncan-smith up now.
commons coverage is continuing on cspam ...