Free Republic

<p>April 9, 2003 -- As their adrenaline surged, crew members checked the coordinates four times.</p> <p>Their B-1B bomber had been suddenly diverted to a vital Baghdad mission, and nothing - but nothing - could go wrong.</p> <p>"This is the big one," the air controller warned.</p>

<p>Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" (10-11 p.m.) earned the highest ratings in FNC history Monday night, snaring a whopping 6.3 rating and 5.1 million households.</p> <p>By comparison in that timeslot, CNN's Aaron Brown averaged 3.2 million households (3.7 rating) while MSNBC averaged 1.8 million hhs.</p>

GBU-31, GPS Guided B-1 crew describes taking out 'The Big One' by Master Sgt. Scott Elliott Air Force Print News 04/08/03 - WASHINGTON -- An Air Force B-1 Lancer crew rode an "adrenaline rush" as they prepared to strike a recently discovered target of opportunity believed to be the site of a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting April 7. "There wasn't a lot of time for reflection," Lt. Col. Fred Swan told Pentagon reporters via telephone from his deployed location. Swan is a B-1 Lancer weapons systems officer assigned to the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing. According to Swan, the B-1 was...

Tue Apr 8,11:58 AM ET A U.S. B-1 bomber that tried to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in Baghdad dropped four satellite-guided bombs only 12 minutes after receiving orders that 'this is the big one,' the plane's weapons officer said on April 8, 2003. 'We used four weapons on the target,' Air Force Lt. Col. Fred Swan, told Pentagon (news - web sites) reporters of Monday's attack in a telephone interview from the region. 'From the time we got the coordinates, it took 12 minutes to get the bombs on target.' A B-1B Lancer from...

This picture was found by zoso82t: WE GOT HIM - PROOF!!

FILE PHOTO -- An Air Force B-1B Lancer flies near Iraq. A Lancer like this one struck a building in a residential area in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 7 where a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting was believed to be ongoing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Cherie A. Thurlby) Lancer hits regime leadership targetby Senior Master Sgt. Rick BurnhamAir Force Print News04/08/03 - WASHINGTON -- An Air Force B-1B Lancer struck a building in a residential area in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 7 where a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting was believed to be ongoing. Officials at U.S. Central Command...

U.S. Publicly Targets Saddam During War By SONYA ROSS .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush did not say he wanted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ``dead or alive,'' as he did for Osama bin Laden. The bombs that dropped on a Baghdad street where Saddam was thought to be said it for him. There was little doubt Tuesday that the United States is trying to kill Saddam while the war provides cover to do it and makes the world community unlikely to protest. ``The fact is, maybe this is not such a big deal for them,because everybody hates...

CIA says Iraqi leader seen before attack - report WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - Multiple U.S. intelligence sources saw Iraqi President Saddam Hussein enter a building in Baghdad on Monday but did not see him leave before the structure was destroyed in an airstrike, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. government officials. One official said some analysts believe the multiple eyewitness accounts suggest that Saddam is dead and the official described the CIA as being "in a state of euphoria," the article said. "They say there is no doubt he is dead," a U.S. military official, speaking on...

Intelligence ops in Baghdad show need for physical security back home The U.S. Central Command today declined to offer details on how U.S. military forces were tipped off to an alleged meeting of Saddam Hussein and his top aides yesterday. But sources indicated today that physical taps on telephone and fiber-optic landlines in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad may have played a role. "We have a number of methods that we use to gain information," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said during today's Central Command press briefing. "A single source is never adequate, so we have multiple sources." Bombing missions near...

<p>The U.S.-led coalition bombed a Baghdad commercial block yesterday after receiving a tip that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was there, while across town the U.S. Army parked its tanks on the Tigris River in the front yard of one of the dictator's largest palaces.</p>

Iraq latest: At-a-glance BBC News Online charts the latest developments in the Iraq conflict. [All times GMT and approximate] Tuesday, 8 April 1805: Pentagon says it believes Iraqi Special Republican Guard still has "great potential for some sharp fights". 1758: Pentagon says Iraqi leadership still giving orders but they "do not seem very coordinated". 1650: UK security sources tell the BBC that they do not believe Saddam Hussein is dead.

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A young woman's severed head and torso and a small boy's body were pulled Tuesday from a smoking crater carved into the earth by four U.S. bombs, so powerful they yanked orange trees from their roots. But there was no sign of the man those bombs were aimed at: Saddam Hussein.</p>

<p>Multiple U.S. intelligence sources saw Saddam Hussein enter a building in Baghdad on Monday and not emerge before four 1-ton Air Force bombs destroyed it, government officials said yesterday.</p> <p>One official said some analysts believe the multiple eyewitness accounts suggest the Iraqi dictator is dead. The penetrating bombs reduced the building near the popular al Saa restaurant to rubble.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — The bombing strike Monday of a building where Saddam Hussein was believed to be marks the first time the U.S.-led coalition has had actionable intelligence on the Iraqi despot's location since the start of the war.</p> <p>Officials say other leadership targets have been hit since the war's start, but since the opening strike, the intelligence is the first specifically relating to Saddam and his two sons.</p>

<p>U.S. analysts could use several tests to determine whether Saddam Hussein died in a Baghdad house that was bombed Monday, American intelligence sources say.</p> <p>Coalition military commanders in Baghdad say it will be at least several days before they reach the bombing site, which is in a neighborhood that has not been cleared of fighters loyal to the Iraqi dictator. The house was attacked after intelligence reports indicated that Saddam and at least one of his sons were there.</p>

US President George W. Bush and senior officials in Washington were confident last night the war on Iraq was almost over, even as bloody battles continued to rage on the streets of Baghdad. The crater in the Mansur district / AP Mr Bush, hoping a coalition strike on Monday buried Saddam Hussein under the rubble of a Baghdad restaurant, told a press conference in Belfast with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "the power of Saddam is ending". "Saddam Hussein will be gone - it might have been yesterday, I don't know," he said. "I can't tell you if all 10...

04/08/03 - WASHINGTON -- An Air Force B-1 Lancer crew rode an "adrenaline rush" as they prepared to strike a recently discovered target of opportunity believed to be the site of a high-level Iraqi leadership meeting April 7. "There wasn't a lot of time for reflection," Lt. Col. Fred Swan told Pentagon reporters via telephone from his deployed location. Swan is a B-1 Lancer weapons systems officer assigned to the 405th Air Expeditionary Wing. According to Swan, the B-1 was engaged in midair refueling when a call came from an airborne control aircraft telling them "this is the big one"...

Crew Took Minutes to Hit Saddam Hideout By PAULINE JELINEK .c The Associated Press WASHINTGON (AP) - ``This is the big one'' was the message relayed to a B-1 bomber as it prepared for a mission in western Iraq. Crew members didn't know exactly what that meant. But 12 minutes later, they had diverted from their original plan, sped some 200 miles to Baghdad and dropped four huge bombs on a suspected hiding place of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, his sons and other regime leaders, said bombardier Lt. Col. Fred Swan. ``When we got the word that it was a...

Fifty years ago on Friday, one of the more significant events in the era of mushroom clouds, megaton yields and mutually assured destruction took place. It was the detonation of the world's first hydrogen bomb, set off at a United States test site in the Pacific Ocean. The blast, timed at 1915 GMT, produced a light brighter than a 1,000 suns and a heat wave felt 50 kilometres away. Although successive international treaties have sought to reduce the nuclear stockpile, there are still enough hydrogen bombs in the world to destroy humanity many times over. Arms race It was just...

Yes, today is the 13th anniversary of the SF bay area's "big one." I've been noticing lately how many Freepers there are right here, so I thought I should acknowledge this anniversary. I don't know about you guys, but I was hit hard. I live about a mile from the epicenter, and believe me, it felt nuclear here. At 5:04 this afternoon I will pause to reflect upon that day.