***Operation Iraqi Freedom - Situation Room - Day 11 - LIVE THREAD***

Everywhere! | 30 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...

[Consort]

Could be Bob Villa indulging in some covert joinery.

[Senator_Palpatine]

proof of their SAM hitting Baghdad....:-)

[Timeout]

One of the German accents said "ABC, can you hear me now?" The other one was saying something like "Ossum, Ossum" (Awesome?). Then an unmistakable American voice was heard talking to them from a distance.

I'll say one thing...those guys DO NOT know how to hammer.

(In a few minutes I'm going to put up a couple of great items from The American Prowler.)

[ChadGore]

CBS bagcam has the sounds of carpentry for the last hour.

[null and void]

Maybe a public (BAGCAM) execution?

Maybe...

[clouda]

Melly!!

[clouda]

LOL!!

[Timeout]

Great stuff at the American Prowler website:

(WESLEY) CLARK TANKS
So much for the Democrats' hope that retired General Wesley Clark was going to be their Colin Powell. "He's more Benedict Arnold than anything else, if you believe the mail we've been getting here," says the Democratic National Committee staffer who, only a month ago was touting Clark as his party's answer to the military star power aligned with Republicans.

"Any cachet he might have had, he's pretty much pissed away on TV," says the staffer.

Since the outbreak of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Clark has been on CNN, bemoaning the Pentagon and Gen. Tommy Franks's strategy in the opening days of taking down Saddam. And while several other senior retired military men have made critical comments about the ongoing fighting -- Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, another former Clinton-era official, has been quick to criticize during his stints on MSNBC -- Clark has by far been the most vocal.

"It just looks really bad that he's knocking the troops and the way we're executing this war," says the DNC staffer. "He's taking hits everywhere, on TV, in the newspapers, on talk radio. People are furious at him. We can't fundraise off performances like this. The only presidential candidate that would probably want to be seen with him is Howard Dean."

Prior to Clark's "tanking" on CNN, the DNC had Clark pegged for political stardom. He'd visited New Hampshire, and had hinted that he was interested in perhaps running for president as a Democrat. Now, the DNC isn't sure what they can do with the man who directed Bill Clinton's military machinations in Kosovo.

LOW TURNOUT
The University of Iowa invited former President Bill Clinton to speak on Wednesday night, and even though tickets were free to students, turnout was comparatively low.

"It wasn't the sellout they thought it would be," says a Hawkeye undergrad. "There were lots of girls who went to take a look at him, though."

There were no estimates on the crowd, though more than 1,000 tickets went unused. For once, the terms Clinton and sellout weren't synonymous.

A Two-fer!

[merrin]

From The Agonist:

"3:31 EST Saturday, Marines took fire from a mosque on the north bank of the Euphrates. U.S. returned fire, destroying machine gun positions at the mosque. Secondary explosions and a resulting fire sent smoke rising hundreds of feet into the air."

[AFPhys]

That was not a "lucky first strike". Our maligned CIA and our Special Forces have undoubtedly been preparing the ground for just such a strike for many, many months. Sorry, I do not call that lucky, but rather well-prepared. I suspect we could have had such a chance for a strike at Saadumb on several other occasions during the first week of hostilities if the first occasion didn't occur.

[nicollo]

Thought y'all might enjoy a couple quotations I posted here on Arab culture from T.E. Lawence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Perhaps it's already been discussed. I only just started the book, so these are from the first pages. Probably a thousand gems to come. Lawrence seems to have understood the Arabs like de Tocqueville understood the Americans. Amazing insight.

[pitinkie]

I swear..CNN has been showing Anti-War rallies all day but no Pro troops or America ones..Hate them!

[pitinkie]

If we could only see....

[ztiworoh]

Ollie Coming Up on FNC

[pitinkie]

Maybe more about the crash.

[Robert A Cook PE]

And if his home in Turkay was not near the coast, but far land, he'd be in Deep Saddamn Housing In Turkey.

[bornintexas]

"A Two-fer"!

MAKES MY DAY!!! Best news I've read all day!

[AFPhys]

Since the outbreak of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Clark has been on CNN, bemoaning the Pentagon and Gen. Tommy Franks's strategy ... "It just looks really bad that he's knocking the troops and the way we're executing this war," says the DNC staffer. "He's taking hits everywhere, on TV, in the newspapers, on talk radio. People are furious at him. We can't fundraise off performances like this.

This HAS to be the schadenfreude post of the day.

Thanks.

[pitinkie]

Now they are sawing something.

[Miss Marple]

My sister read Lawrence's books right after 9/11, and she was struck by both his disdain for the Arab and the difference in perception of events between the Arab world and the West.