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

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

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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...

[thedugal]

in fact I have found it very strange that people haven't fled Baghdad

Saddam locked the city down when Bush gave his ultimatum. Noone has been allowed in or out of the city since (except for Human Shields).

[steveegg]

Me? I'm waiting for one of Saddam's missiles to clear the Dome of the Rock off of the Temple Mount...

That would just be oh so deliciously ironic.

[TexKat]

The only speculation was that they want to stay and fight. No one ever mentioned that they may want to hang around for liberation.

Iraqi civilians are being forced to fight or die. This has been reported by embedded media and also pentagon. This has also been the holdup of some of the bombing of shock and awe. We are not bruttle like those animal bastards.

[Mo1]

I was listening to David Bloom earlier on MSNBC .. he mentioned that the troops are also aware of the fake white flags, that the troops can get all the news on shortwave radio's and are listening and are aware of every thing that is going on

Speaking of white flag .. I give up .. I just can't listen to Clare Short any longer

[retrokitten]

FN: Greg Kelly w/ 1st Marines, 3rd Div.

IMO, he's been giving the best reports. I really look forward to them. That and my daily dose of Bob Bevelacqua. ;-)

[steveegg]

Note they are not wearing military uniforms....hiding and fighting in civilian clothes.

Which ought to put them in the category of unlawful combatants.

[abnegation]

At 2:10 p.m. EST exclusive interview on Fox: Brit Hume/Powell.

[Lauratealeaf]

That is a good thing. Prayers that those that are there walk out.

Amen!

[xp38]

The CBC has an occasional open house to the public of their National Broadcast center and I went there a few years ago. IIRC it was on a weekend and most of the staff wasn't there. We could roam pretty freely throughout the open office area of the news division and nearly all the desks were adorned with leftist doodads, posters on the walls etc. Nothing huge like a banner of Workers of the World Unite but each desk was like a little Marxist enclave. I always think of that open house when I watch the CBC. I also have similar feelings when I watch any other leftist slanted news from say CNN PBS ABC etc because I'm sure it's probably very similar in their office desks. I sort of like some of the on air personel the CBC have but the content and slant makes it pretty much unwatchable to me. Fortunately there are some better newscasts available here in Canada. CBC ratings are usually very low except for the sports they carry.

[crazycat]

I'd give it a few days, as we went up for 8 days and this is only the 1st dn day.

But I agree yr right overall.

[Carolina]

It is reported those $$$'s dwarf the USA dues and support.

Clare Short mentioned a $10B figure for the Oil for Food.

[retrokitten]

At 2:10 p.m. EST exclusive interview on Fox: Brit Hume/Powell.

Can you or someone give us cubicle bound a summary?

[Mo1]

Note they are not wearing military uniforms....hiding and fighting in civilian clothes..

And they look pretty well dress for the average Iraqi civilian too

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Update on wounded Americans - from Landstuhl Hospital in Germany, Col. Rubenstein, Hosp. Cmdr:

 

Made up of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, civilians and the Dept. of Veteran Care workers.

 

Oct. 19, 2001...first 2 patients arrived from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Over 2000 patients cared for since.

 

Today 12 patients arrived - 8 combat, 4 non-combat, 6 Marines and 4 Soldiers counted among those.

 

Most combat injuries are from blasts.

 

2 are in ICU, 6 are in medical surgery ward  (4 combat casualties), rest stabilized...will be transferred back to U.S. as necessary.

 

The quality of medic on the battlefield is much-improved over previous wars. "Superb."

 

The object is to get them to hospital alive.....chance of survival then great.

 

Patients received excellent care before they arrived in Germany. "We basically made them comfortable and let them contact home."

 

Ship - USNS Comfort: Receives and stabilizes patients and evacuates to hospitals.

 

"We're going to take care of any patient (that arrives)...irrespective of uniform."

 

[Miss Marple]

The resistance in towns is on the order of a couple of hundred hard-liners. Rather than taking the time to defeat them, they are leaving them alone to get to the big prize, Baghdad. Once Baghdad falls, the pockets of resistance can be eliminated (like we are doing in Afghanistan).

If you make the entire force wait on defeating these small pockets, you hamper the forward progress. That is how I understood this, anyway.

[finnman69]

Note they are not wearing military uniforms....hiding and fighting in civilian clothes..

Exactly, I did not think I needed to point that out.

[Semper Paratus]

This week's talking points on the war.
1) Quagmire
2) No WMD's
3) No Chemical weapon factory
4) Sadaam's alive

[Quilla]

Without minimizing the lives already lost in this war, please consider this. There are nearly 300,000 coalition troops involved in the war. If we took a look at any segment of the US with a population of 300K, I suspect the deaths from accident or violence within five days would be considerably higher than the 18 Americans and 16 Brits confirmed dead in this war. I feel the professionalism of our armed forces has been proven in the past five days. Of course, accidents (and violence) are expected during wartime. Although I wish none had perished, it seems that this number is incredibly low compared with a group of a similar size living right here.

[Carolina]

Jim Rubin on Beeb analyzing the American reaction to seeing POW. BeebBabe tried to get him to say that seeing this would weaken our resolve.

Hey, BeebBabe, President Bush said, "We are not a fragile people!!!"

[Norman Arbuthnot]

Hackworth is now attempting to explain the war to the to Barbara Walters and the other bubbleheads on ABC's show The View!! Looks like Hack wants airtime regardless of what kind show will give it to him. What's next for Hack, MTV? Maybe the Jimmy Kimmel Show?

Hack just said he thinks it could anywhere from 1 to 10 weeks to take Baghdad.