Good Morning.
This is the continuation Thread of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Day 1- 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.
I have had no problem with profiling since 9-11. National and world security demands it.
I wouldn't know about anyone on ESPN. (G)
I was impressed with his articulation and poise for his family and his homeland. I'd take 100 of him to 1 peacenik.
Here's a report:
Sunday March 23, 9:00 AM
Allied air power pounds Baghdad for second straight night
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/030323/1/399xa.html US and British forces smashed Baghdad with a quick and intense air raid, raining bombs and missiles as allied troops crossed the Euphrates River and advanced on the Iraqi capital.
The second night of heavy bombardment in Baghdad began around 2030 GMT Saturday, and several neighbourhoods were plunged into darkness, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
Multiple massive explosions erupted before apparently cutting power to sections of the city, still shaken by the first night of the all-out bombing campaign which Iraq said left three dead and 207 injured.
On the ground, US and British forces said thousands of Iraqi troops had surrendered, but the allies said they encountered stiff resistance in some parts of the desert.
Aboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the eastern Mediterranean, warplanes roared into the early morning darkness.
"We will be flying until mid-morning or so tomorrow, as we continue our strike operations in support of operation Iraqi freedom," said the ship's Captain Richard O'Hanlon.
US B-52 bombers meanwhile took off from a Royal Air Force Base at Fairford in the west of England, according to Sky Television News, which broadcast live images from the base.
The long-range strategic bombers, which have already been in action over Iraq, were seen taking off shortly before midnight (0000 GMT), with a flying time of about six hours to Iraq.
I n northern Kuwait, the jumping off point for the allied assault that began early Thursday, 10 US soldiers were wounded in a suspected terror attack at a heavily-guarded US military camp early Sunday, an officer said.
He said he could not confirm a television report that grenades were rolled or thrown into tents where members of the 101st Airborne Division were camped out in the desert as part of the US-led war in neighbouring Iraq.
"The carnage was pretty severe," US journalist Jim Lacey told CNN from the scene.
In Washington, the Pentagon said secret "discussions" were under way with members of the Iraqi high command and that there was still time for them "to do the right thing."
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke would not elaborate on the contacts except to say that the United States has been holding "a variety of conversations and discussions" with Iraqi leaders, telling them, "End this now. Save your lives, save the Iraqi people's lives.'"
On their way north, allied forces captured the key southern city of Nasiriyah, a third of the way to Baghdad, giving them access across the River Euphrates and the road towards the capital, the Pentagon spokeswoman said.
Earlier Saturday, Washington finally dropped plans to open up a northern front from Turkey after Turkey's parliament, which opened its air space to allied planes, refused to allow troops to cross its soil.
Some 25 ships carrying the US Army's 4th Infantry Division's heavy hardware, waiting to disembark in Turkey, came about about and headed for the Gulf via the Suez Canal and Red Sea, a several days' journey.
The division's troops have not yet left their base in Fort Hood, Texas.
US Army General Tommy Franks, who is orchestrating the assault from the Southern Command base in Qatar, said troops advancing on the capital were bypassing the strategic southeastern city of Basra, Iraq's second city and its principal port, a key to its oil exports.
"Our intent is not to move through and create a military confrontation in that city," Franks told a press conference.
Troops had spotted no major concentration of Iraqi firepower in Basra and would prefer to work with civilians there "who are welcoming the forces as they come in," Franks said.
Speaking alongside Franks at the command centre in Qatar, US Army Brigadier General Vince Brooks said forces were moving fast towards Baghdad.
"The attack continues as we speak and has already moved the distance of the longest manoeuvre of the 1991 Gulf War in a quarter of the time," said Brooks.
Franks said allies had taken 1,000-2,000 Iraqi prisoners of war in the opening days of their drive north to Baghdad, and that thousands of others had "laid down their arms and gone home."
Franks admitted that the whereabouts of Saddam, whom President George W. Bush has vowed to drive from power, remained a mystery. The Iraqi leader was shown on Baghdad television late Saturday meeting with his war council.
"I have no idea where he is right now," Franks said. "I imagine we'll know more in the days ahead."
Dispelling speculation of his possible injury or death, Iraqi television showed Saddam in military uniform, meeting with his war council at an unspecified location.
His aides, said the television, "voiced satisfaction at the resistance and heroism displayed by the armed forces, fighters of the Baath Party and tribesmen."
Bush met with his own war council for an hour and a half early Saturday at the secluded Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Washington.
And he conferred by telephone for half an hour with close ally British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who got a domestic lift from a poll showing British public opinion was finally shifting in his favor on the war.
Bush earlier warned, in his weekly radio addresss, that despite the horrific force of what the so-called "shock and awe" campaign to crush Saddam's regime, the conflict could last longer than many people expect.
US Marines were meanwhile locked in fighting in the southern port of Umm Qasr, defended by Iraqi commandos, some in civilian clothes, a Marine officer said.
"The city is under control, but there are various organised groups offering resistance on the outskirts," Lieutenant Colonel Steve Holmes said.
In Copenhagen, the Danish parliament approved deployment of a submarine and naval gunboat to join allied forces in the Gulf.
In Baghdad, Information Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf said the Iraqi military had inflicted "heavy losses" on US and British troops while repelling attacks in southern Iraq.
I was extremely impressed by him, and if I did hear correctly and he said he was born 19 years ago then I am in awe..minus the shock.
He seems to be some sort of Peace Creep.
Kasich kicked his ass.
Doing good. Going to go eat dinner. I didn't know you were registered here. Be back in a bit.
Illeana is cool . . . she's Cuban! :o)