***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...

[ChadGore]

"I'm
deeply
saddened"

[TexKat]

Especially the blackhawks.

[Timeout]

Bloom's on now, but it doesn't say "live".

[ztiworoh]

Honestly, today is the most uneventful day of the conflict so far, but I think we'll be engaging the RG soon, then it should pick up steam quite a bit

[commish]

Look at the bright side Prarie -- our casualties may be in the 200-300 range but theirs will be 20000-30000 or more.

[Mo1]

They haven't been showing many of the embedded reporters tonite, have they

My guess is they are a bit busy tonight staying out of the way ..

Sky News showed a clip a little while ago about an earlier fire fight .. it was pretty intense and the reporter had to run for cover

[Robert A Cook PE]

The launch trucks are small, mobile (Soviet battlefield-designed to move within seconds of firing), and can be shooting only minutes after pulling off of the road. (After all, they don't really care about accuracy - Saddamn just wants to hit the city and cause more civilian casualties.)

Even when in GWI the jets SAW a rocket flare at night and turned to attack the site while the rocket was still in early flight (they burn out in about 80 seconds), they usually missed the truck, or hit a dummy (decoy) covered to look like the launcher truck.

[spectr17]

I haven't seen any yet. The battle is changing and they may have to be keeping their heads down or that haboob (sandstorm), may be a factor in their uplinking.

[POGIFFMOO]

'cause we were stoned?

[DollyCali]

LOL!!! Lissen. This is my first ride on this thread. I have staked no position on Belly Girl. My first ride too. Truce?

[commish]

Sky just did a rerun of the Pentagon brief .. loved it when Clarke said "This is a war. People die and bad things happen. People need to realize that."

[SoldiersGirl]

HA!
That's the same tub o' fluff I've been living off of

[RummyChick]

[lavrenti]

This guy on Sky News is basing his calculations probably that there is a standing army with reasonable capability defending Baghdad.

So far, the opposition is disorganized rabble led by the Baathist Party hacks, and an occasional trained officer who rather be someplace else.

The Arab street is about to be let down again. Our people are rollin' in.

[DollyCali]

Please drop something, ANYTHING on Baghdad so we can move past Belly Girl for five minutes ;-) Absolutely, we need to move on to Ab- Guy"

[Kadric]

They are probably using counter battery radar to locate them. They are more than likely mobile launchers by the time counter fire or ac are called in they are moving most of the time. I'm sure that we are taking them out. I'm surpised there haven't been move than there have.

[Fledermaus]

The Bush plan after war was to use Baathist bureaucrats...I hope they reconsider this!

[Poser]

Miss Michigan may in fact *not* have fake boobs.

Miss Texas is indeed in the final 5.

[SoldiersGirl]

A post from DU, sorry if it's a re-post

"It was interesting to see the interviews being held with a few of the POWs captured by the Iraqis.

I noticed that the interviewers spoke in calm, comforting voices, and I saw how one of them put a gentle hand on the shoulder of the young African-American female. Her eyes seemed to express a terrible fear, and that is likely because she was trained/brainwashed by the US miltary to believe all Iraqis are blood-thirsty murderers.

I have faith that the experience of these POWs will leave them non-plussed and very confused. I expect that they will be given good treatment, decent food and clean quarters during their confinement, and that they will be released, unharmed when the time comes.

Maybe I'm just dreaming, but it is my hope that the POWs will discover that they were treated better by the Iraqis than they have ever been treated by the very people who are supposed to be protecting them on the battlefield. And, in the case of the African-American woman, she may find that people in the Middle East, unlike too many of the folks back home, do not consider her a second-class human being because of her dark brown skin!"

[justshe]

WISE decision, oh elder one. :-)