Posted on 04/01/2003 9:10:41 PM PST by Capitalism2003
he he he he he...
Bush set out the operating parameters here: We will, whenever possible, minimize casualties to Iraqi citizens and vital infrastructure. That was part of a political calcualation, understanding that we're going to be mucking around in that hellhole for a while and since we have the tools of accuracy and timing, we'll use them.
Rumsfeld, Franks and the management council came to Bush when the opportunity to vaporize Saddam in his flop house materialized that first night. That was a material and profound change in the plan the Prez authorized. If bombing a hospital would achieve an unarguable and vital operational objective ... they would probably run that by the Joint Chiefs and Rumsfeld first, then Bush. That's a tough tradeoff, it comes into conflict with the operational parameter of rules of engagement, and that warrants the Big Boy's attention and approval or squelch.
Rescuing a fellow soldier when the time is ripe is not something the CIC needs to authorize. He doesn't have to be in the loop if the Charmin is going to the Marines and the Army is going to be pissed because they get the Puffs two ply again. Bush is not interested in the Geraldo Rivera crisis one iota, and Maureen Dowd's heartsickness for Michael Douglas can't make him laugh like it used to.
These reporters hear nothing. They are at press conferences to make statements and present challenges and fodder for feeling doubtful, fearful and uncertain about this President and our campaign.
Is Terry Moran the blonde one from CNN who always looks like he is snearing or he smelled something really bad?
Wednesday, 2 April
1400: US forces report that B-52 bombers have used a new version of a cluster bomb against an Iraqi tank column in central Iraq; the weapon adapts to wind and weather to hit targets more accurately.
1330: US military says it is looking into an allegation that coalition aircraft have bombed a Red Crescent maternity hospital in Baghdad.
1300: Brigadier General Vincent Brooks of US Central Command says American troops have crossed a "red line" around Baghdad which the military believe could trigger a chemical attack by Iraqi forces.
1255: UK forces say they have found what they believe is a torture centre run by Saddam Hussein's secret police in the southern town of Abu al-Khasib.
1230: Doctors at the Saddam Hospital in central Nasiriya say they have registered more than 250 deaths since the fighting in the city began.
1226: US military says US forces have destroyed Baghdad division of Republican Guard and that other Republican Guard divisions are in trouble and under serious attack.
1200: Turkey and the US say they have agreed on a number of measures to improve their co-operation in Iraq, including some support for US troops and access for humanitarian aid.
1148: Iraq's information minister denies US troops have crossed the Tigris river in their advance on Baghdad.
1120: US military says Iraqi forces fired on coalition troops from inside revered mosque in Najaf, but American troops did not return fire. Iraqi information minister accuses US-led forces of targeting the shrine.
1100: President Saddam Hussein chairs meeting on Wednesday of top officials, Iraqi state television says, but no footage shown.
1050: One of President Saddam Hussein's palaces in central Baghdad hit by missile or bomb, news agency reports say.
1035: BBC Monitoring reports that Iraqi satellite TV went off air at this time and is currently not transmitting on any of the three satellite frequencies they monitor.
1000: Russia protests to the United States over an air strike which Moscow says targeted an area close to its embassy in Baghdad.
0955: Amnesty International urges US-led forces in Iraq to take greater care to prevent civilian casualties and calls for independent inquiry into killing of seven people at a US checkpoint. Criticises Iraq for using soldiers disguised as civilians.
0825: US Secretary of State Colin Powell meets Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to try to win more co-operation from Turkey for the US military campaign in northern Iraq.
0700: US marines say they have seized a key bridge across the River Tigris to take control of one of the main highways north towards Baghdad at the city of Kut.
0630: A structure in the southern city of Basra comes under heavy artillery fire from UK forces, who say they were fired upon overnight. Stream of civilian traffic seen leaving the city just prior to the firing, the BBC's Kylie Morris reports.
0550: US forces who rescued Private Jessica Lynch also found the bodies of two US soldiers and eight Iraqi troops, the US military says - it is not clear if they died in the operation or were already dead.
0545: US forces carry out sustained bombardment of Iraqi Republican Guard positions around Karbala overnight and move forward, the BBC's Gavin Hewitt reports.
0100: The Pentagon confirms a soldier rescued earlier is Private Jessica Lynch, a supply clerk who was captured on 23 March.
0037: US military sources say US ground forces have begun a major engagement against the Medina and Baghdad divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard south of Baghdad.
0025: Central Command spokesman General Vincent Brooks says US forces have rescued a US army prisoner of war. Seven Americans have been listed as prisoners; an unnamed source in Washington says the rescued soldier is one of them.
0010: US Senator John Warner condemns "retired military officers" for criticising the administration's conduct of the war in Iraq. The chairman of the Senate armed services committee urges them to behave like former US presidents, "who do not criticise the current president when there is a war going on".
At the same briefing, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld says there has been no more precise bombing campaign "in recent memory" and that Saddam Hussein is a greater threat to the Iraqi people than the US campaign is.
UNLEASH THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES.
Does that mean she's a crack reporter?
(whoops! cat stepped on keyboard and wouldn't move) It was a great article except for the little statement that the U.S. needs good news like this because of all the Iraqi deaths. I liked this quote: The mother and child, both said to be doing well, were given food, water and bandages and were later driven home in a U.S. military ambulance.
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