John Stryker asks the question:

Okay, I have an honest question for those that claim they don't support the war, but they support the troops. Now I've been trying to wrap my mind around this apparent contradiction, but all attempts have proven unsuccessful.

I'm not asking this out of malice or as some sort of "gotcha!" trick. I'm honestly interested in how you reconcile the two. When you say you don't support the war, but you support the troops, what is it about the troops that you're supporting?

And to the other side: How exactly can someone be "pro-war"? Why the hell would someone want to be pro-war? I can understand someone being pro-Victory once it starts. That makes sense.

I support the war and the troops because, well, I was one. I know that when the president says it's time, it's time. I support the idea that we are toppling a regime that wants desperately to harm us. Some people are pro-war, they are generally people that have not served. I can't fathom the thought of being for killing anyone, although at times it may be justified. Just as pro-choice advocates support the right of a woman to end the life of a developing human being. I don't think they are pro-the-act-of-abortion.

A great release for our oppressed society.

The Telegraph has a reasoned editorial:

Americans know instinctively that once soldiers' lives are at risk on the orders of their commander-in-chief, the President, the debate must stop. They understand that, as that enduring old saw goes, politics stops at the water's edge.

Many in Britain like to mock the excessive manifestations of American patriotism. But how our soldiers in southern Iraq must envy their American counterparts in their knowledge of unquestioned support back home. In its desire to be seen to be backing the troops, the American heartland is not lapsing into anti-Muslim bloodlust. The emphasis at the patriotic rallies is much more on getting the job done than kicking Saddam's butt.

Most Americans at least.

Wouldn't it be amazing if our fear of bio-terror actually lead to a cure for cancer:

The smallpox vaccine may be reborn -- as a cancer treatment.

Scientists are rigging up the vaccine to carry an extra load, genes that signal the immune system to start fighting advanced tumors.

I can just see the headline as something to the effect that Saddam cured cancer.

The current situation is direct result of Ms. Albright's failures. She had this to say:

"If I were still secretary of state listening to the current secretary of defense, I'd be tempted to press the mute button."
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, secretary of state under President Clinton, speaking of Donald Rumsfeld

Can anyone in the Clinton administration just shut up? Apparently not.

There's also this item:

Besides fewer travelers, the airline industry says it's losing money because the government demands that two first-class seats be set aside for air marshals. American Airlines alone puts the price at $5 million a month.

Perhaps if proper security precautions were taken on September 11, you wouldn't be in this position.

This is sad news. The troops are jumpy and the driver of the vehicle didn't heed our warnings:

U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, a military official said.

Two other civilians were wounded in the incident at a U.S. Army checkpoint on a highway near Najaf in southern Iraq, the official said. The military is investigating, he said.

The dead and wounded were among 13 women and children in a van that approached the checkpoint but did not stop, the official said. Soldiers fired warning shots and then shots into the vehicle's engine, neither of which stopped it, he said.

I'm sure the soldiers are aching over this. They did what they had to do and the results were tragic. I hope the media shows this as it really was; a horrific mistake.

The Daily Mirror hires Arnett. I bet ABC is upset they didn't move fast enough to get him. if a company is only as good as its employees, the Mirror deserves that idiot.

Derek Jeter is seriously injured. To bad, because although I hate the Yanks, I love Jeters heart. They are calling in an ambulance to take him away as I type.

Update: Jeter has separated his shoulder according to ESPN. No link as yet.

This site is updated daily and has amassed the best pictures I've seen in one location.

The Allies continue to pound Baghdad and Republican Guard units.

The Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has come under one of the most intensive aerial bombardments by coalition forces since the start of the war against Saddam Hussein.
Correspondents say air raids are going on day and night now, with apparently heavier and heavier munitions.

After a brief lull at dawn, more than a dozen blasts were heard south and east of Baghdad, where the United States is trying to displace units of the Republican Guard.

other eports say we are engaging the Medina Republican Guard division.

We must keep up the attacks to soften the units ups for a quick northern advance. I believe we are biding our time for signs that they are in disarray before we begin the next phase.

A Gator Marine who works on Harriers has alot to say to us back home:

"The oil doesn't matter to us; the money we make doesn't drive us. All the simple pleasures we are afforded on a daily basis are given because someone before us gave his/her life to extend those privileges. None of us want to live in a country where we can't vote, can't voice our opinions, or can't pray to the God of our choice. Simply put, we do this because we want to have a 'home' to come home to."

Most people outside the Navy don't realize how Marines and Sailors work together. I was on a ship that had many Marines and Amphibious Tracked Vehicles onboard. This Marine captures the thoughts that most serving in this war have.

This is too funny. During the "die in" in NY last week, FOX decided to have fun with the protesters:

Fox News had its own response to the demonstrators. The news ticker rimming Fox's headquarters on Sixth Avenue wasn't carrying war updates as the protest began. Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.

"War protester auditions here today ... thanks for coming!" read one message. "Who won your right to show up here today?" another questioned. "Protesters or soldiers?"

Said a third: "How do you keep a war protester in suspense? Ignore them."

Still another read: "Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street" - a reference to the film maker who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday night for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine."

The protesters are beside themselves saying this proves that FOX is biased, yadda, yadda, yadda...

(thanks to sparkey)

This is my favorite time of year; the days are comfortable, the golf courses are greening, and most importantly; Baseball starts.

My predictions are;

NL East-Phillies Forty HR's from from Thome & 35 from Burrell ought to do it. Pitching is the key as always.
NL Central-Reds Griffey should regain some of his form and get them past the Astros and Cardinals.
NL West-Dodgers Bonds will not hit homers like the last few years and the Padres lost Nevin and Hoffman.
Wildcard-Braves The East will belong to another team, finally.

AL East-Yankees Too much pitching and Soriano will continue to play well.
AL Central-Whitesox A team that seems to have what it takes to win the division. The Twins will be tough also.
AL West-Angels This team reminds me of the '93 Phillies and really seems to come to play every day.
Wildcard-Redsox The Yanks will be too tough to win the division but they may make some noise in the playoffs.

Why does the black community always condemn African-Americans who do not fit into the Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Johnny Cochran models such as, Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and Roy Innis.

Canada pines for the days of Clinton, sorry guys, they are over:

While the forces of freedom are put to the test in Iraq, here in Canada the forces of farce are testing the limits of our patience. The main players in the farce are the Jean Chretien, Herb Dhaliwal and Carolyn Parrish Liberals. The governing Grits might as well be known as "This party has 22 personalities." First you had the leader Jean Chretien making fun of the U.S. president behind closed doors. Chretien, the orally challenged leader of this troop, has never forgiven the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. electoral college for making George W. Bush the president. Chretien still misses the champion of oral, Bill Clinton. Ever since the Clinton era ended and the Bushies took charge, Jean Chretien has been treating the American flag the way Bill Clinton mistreated Monica's blue dress.

Couldn't have said it better then that. Read the whole thing.

We have to toughen our resolve now. They think we will turn tail as we did in Beirut and Mogadishu. We are going to have problems if we don't start worrying about how many soldiers are killed and not how many civilians.

A suicide bomber driving a taxi killed five American soldiers Saturday at a checkpoint in south-central Iraq, a U.S. officer said. The attack came as coalition forces battled to quell paramilitary harassment in order to prepare for an all-out push toward Baghdad.

It was the first suicide bombing against U.S. or British forces since they invaded Iraq. Iraqi dissidents have claimed that Saddam Hussein opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out suicide attacks against coalition troops.

Let's get our troops in place and take Baghdad now.

How long until our increasingly repressive government bans this:

A final shock scene in the video of AOLTIMEWARNER recording artist Madonna's upcoming release -- is that of the singer throwing a grenade in the lap of President Bush!

MORE

"It is not me being anti-Bush, it's me being ironic and tongue in cheek," Madonna explains to NBC's ACCESS HOLLYWOOD this weekend.

"My kind of wish for peace and my desire to sort of turn a weapon of destruction, which is a grenade, into something that is completely innocuous."

Sounds like a woman in the death throes of her career trying to get some pub to me.

We are killing Iraqi men, women, and children by the score to hear some tell it. I guess this brave guy didn't get the memo.

Don't forget the Aussies, they are lending huge assistance. This loon will keep you abreast of Aussie developments.

UNICEF says that Iraqi children will need psychological rehabilitation due to our bombing. I'm reasonably sure that these children would have a better shot at recovering and leading a fulfilling life after our bombing then they would if they saw their parents murdered or they themselves were raped or had their tongues cut out, or worse. I'm not a psychologist though.

Damn! My weekend is ruined. Canadian PM Chretien is canceling his trip her. I bet Bush was looking forward to getting some great insight into the mind of a genius world leader.

It's McCarthyism I tell you:

Actress Susan Sarandon (news) said she was disturbed by a charity's decision to cancel her appearance at a fund-raising event because of complaints about her anti-war views.

The United Way of Tampa Bay was to feature the 56-year-old actress as keynote speaker at an April 11 women's leadership event designed to inspire volunteerism in the community.

I guess they don't like the women's leadership she provides.

Pennsauken is three town from where I live. I feel for the family and send them prayers.

What a surprise, a Columbia University Professor says something that sane people couldn't comprehend thinking.

Columbia University professor told an anti-war gathering that he would like to see "a million Mogadishus" — referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 American servicemen.

The man wants to see 18 million Americans dead. That would be 18 million young Americans not attending college, which may in turn mean that you may lose your job. Oh, silly me, with your way of thinking, they will make you Dean.

At Wednesday night's "teach-in" on the Columbia campus, Nicholas De Genova also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) and said, "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military." And he asserted that Americans who call themselves "patriots" are white supremacists.

So Dick...er, Nick wishes the US military to be destroyed. I get it, if our military is gone, we can become a communist utopia.

De Genova's comments about defeating the United States in Iraq were cheered by the crowd of 3,000, Newsday reported. But his mention of the Somali ambush — "I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus" — was largely met with silence.

I see, defeating the military is exciting to the crowd, but soldiers dying gives most of them pause. What were the ones who weren't largely silent thinking?


A call Friday to De Genova, 35, an assistant professor of anthropology, was answered with a recording that said his voice mailbox was full.


Columbia spokesman Joe Kennedy said the university was preparing a statement about the event.

Of course Joe didn't have the balls to condemn Nick himself, he better find out what the University thinks.

History professor Eric Foner, who helped organize the teach-in and spoke after De Genova, said Friday, "I disagreed strongly and I said so. If I had known what he was going to say I would have been reluctant to have him speak."

At least Eric understood the gravity of the comments. How long until he's accused of censorship?

He said De Genova was a last-minute invitee, was just one of about 25 speakers and "did not represent the general tone of the event, which was highly educational."

Of course the event was highly educational. Sounds to me like everyone had a great time. Check out the headline: Columbia Teacher Comments Irk Some; I would hope it would irk most, but then I must be in the minority. I really hope these people don't cheer everytime an American gets captured or killed, I can't be so sure anymore.

Lileks has two of the funniest paragraphs of the week:

About the wife and kid being out of town:

I’m sure they’ll be fine, and in a way this solitude will be fun. Tomorrow night I will be having one of those rare, precious moments of liberty: I can listen to the TV after ten without headphones! I don’t have to avoid the creaky step on the way the stairs when I come to bed late! I can cook up the heroin in the kitchen and not care if I set off the smoke alarm! No more skinnin’ possums in the garage - hell, put down some papers and do it sittin’ in front of Brit Hume’s show the way it’s meant to be done!

About the Richard Dawson portrayal in Auto Focus, the movie about Bob Crane:

#3. Richard Dawson, the movie implies, is far creepier than you ever, ever thought. Never mind the smarm he applied with a trowel in his “Family Feud” days - that was the tip of the iceberg. I imagine there were some women who’d appeared on “Feud” in 1983, saw “Auto Focus” in 2003, recalled how that man had given them a wet slobbery kiss, and they ran to the bathroom to scrub their lips with a loofah until they bled.

Read more, it's all good.

Tiger Woods has consistently pissed-off the Left by not taking a stand for minority issues or most other political matters. I have commented on this before. Here is what he says about the war on his website:

I have great respect for the men and women fighting overseas to protect our way of life in Iraq and other parts of the world. As the son of an Army officer, I understand the strength, courage and discipline required to successfully carry out their missions in hostile environments and feel tremendous pride they are representing us.

Obviously, no one likes war. Our Congress and President tried hard to avoid the use of force, but ultimately decided it was the best course of action. I like the assertiveness shown by President Bush and think we owe it to our political and military leaders, along with our brave soldiers to be as supportive as possible during these difficult and trying times. I just wanted to take this opportunity to let our forces know that I am thinking about you and wishing you and your families the best.

Not particularly political, with the exception of agreeing with Bush on the ultimate decision, but supportive of our troops and wishing them well. This guy is not only an incredible athlete whom I think will mean more to his sport than Michael Jordan, but an honest straight-forward guy who has the juevos to put something on his site without fanfare.

In other news, Martha (I was really wronged by a man at some point in my life) Burk equates the war with women not being allowed into a private golf club.

"It's appalling that the women who are willing to lay down their lives for democratic ideals should be shut out of this club."

Actually Martha, I think they have more important things on their minds right now.

My italics seem to have gotten out of hand. Screw it, I'm too tired to fix it.

Blogging form the front; I mean really from the front:

Woo hoo! Dude it was sooo awesome. We loaded up the SUV and hit the road. Just like a beer commercial

Eh.. it wasn't that awesome. Drove about 50 miles to pick up some new people. We loaded up the SUV with chem suits, MRE's water, cell phones and of course... guns.

No booze. No babes. No beach. Lots of sand though.

Damn this is a barren country. Imagine the california desert with NO vegetation and NO changes in elevation.

Via Ken Layne who I've neglected to post to for too long. Oh well, read it all to catch-up.

Tim Blair picked this little gem from the Daily Mirror:

A British man surrendered on Sunday to the Desert Rats after travelling to Iraq to fight for Saddam, it emerged yesterday.

The unidentified prisoner, in his mid-20s and speaking with a northern accent, gave himself up to Irish Guards telling them he wanted to go home to Manchester.

A source said: "He told us he wanted to fight for the Iraqis because he didn't agree with what Britain and America are doing. Then he taunted soldiers saying he'd soon be back in Britain enjoying state benefits."

Winds of Change has this amusing item:

" Despite the American foothold on the eastern side of the Euphrates, Iraqi forces continued to attack in what soldiers described as futile, almost fanatical assaults against M1-A1 tanks and Bradley armored fighting vehicles.

Cpl. Benjamin R. Richardson, who was among the engineers who went to the bridge, said he saw two civilian vehicles with armed Iraqis drive straight toward Americans. A tank drove simply over one of the vehicles without firing a shot...."

We're not only more technologically advanced in weapons development:

Waves of spam kept Al-Jazeera's website down for a third day on Thursday and officials at the satellite channel said it was coming from US e-mailers apparently angry over its coverage of the Iraqi war.

The Qatar-based network, which has broadcast graphic footage of dead US and British soldiers, also said it would now have to delay the introduction of an English-language site for several weeks due to the barrage of spam, or junk electronic mail.

Don't irritate the blogosphere.

The Airborne units rule!

The paratroopers descended because Turkey, a longtime U.S. ally, has refused to allow some 60,000 U.S. ground troops to cross into Iraq. That left coalition troops with no northern front.

That changed Thursday. American troops began the day wearing muddy uniforms tinged with frost. They fanned a valley nestling the airstrip, surrounded by snowcapped mountains.

By midday, an Iraqi hilltop position had fallen. From that site, Iraqi troops had fired on Kurdish civilians since the 1990s.

In the checkpoint town of Chamchamal, villagers rejoiced when Kurdish military commanders confirmed Iraqis had fled.

Kurdish militiamen gathered mines from along the road as cheering people walked, drove or pedaled to the site.

"They saw a chance to go up there and they took it," said Rostam Hamid Rahim, a high-level Kurdish military commander.

Rejoicing people, haven't heard that on the war coverage very often.

If this is true, I suspect Slobo will have several cellmates pretty soon...if the ones who are reponsible live that long. They will have defenders if they are tried, as you'd expect.

Another former "Human Shield" sees the light:

I was to tell the world about the terror on the faces of my family when a stranger knocked at the door. "Look at our lives!" they said. We live like animals -- no food, no car, no telephone, no job -- and, most of all, no hope."

That's why they wanted this war.

"You can not imagine what it is to live like this for 20, 30 years. We have to keep up our routine lest we would lose our minds."

But I realized in every household that someone had already lost his or her mind; in other societies such a person would be in a mental hospital. I also realized that there wasn't a household that did not mourn at least one family member who had become a victim of this police state.

Indeed.

John Podhoretz takes on Katrina vanden Heuvel, Helen Thomas and some hack from Playboy. I didn't even know Playboy had reporters and I've read (or seen) the magazine often.

Shades of France's past:

In the report, the committee said 193 of 313 attacks were against Jews and noted a "real explosion" in anti-Semitic violence. Last year, the group reported 32 acts of anti-Jewish violence.


The committee said increased anti-Semitic attacks came against a backdrop of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, and added that many of the attackers came from rough neighborhoods on the outskirts of France's cities.


In the last two years, France has suffered a wave of violence against Jewish schools, temples and cemeteries that coincided with new fighting in the Middle East.


The violence, which peaked a year ago when a Marseille synagogue was burned to the ground, has markedly decreased. But Muslim-Jewish relations remain tense. France has the largest Jewish community in western Europe and one of the continent's biggest Muslim populations.

How can the attacks simultaneously increase and decrease? If you go from 32 to 193 that's more than a six fold increase in one year. Have no fear Frisco, you are a close second with 4 1/2 time the increase.

Scott Ritter, the man who tried to lure teenagers over the internet to...uh...pleasure himself has turned up on a website that has a transcript from an Irish Radio interview with him:

Thorn in the side of the American administration, and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, has warned that America will lose the Iraq war and the American military: "will leave Iraq with its tail between its legs."

In an interview with Irish radio, Mr. Ritter said that the conflict would become an "absolute quagmire," and the US-UK advance would stall outside Bhagdad and fail to capture the city

First of all, the h in Baghdad comes after the g, and the website is filled with more anti-American filth than any site I've seen. It carries a link to this little tidbit of knowledge:

Editor's note: This story is intended for people who have accepted the official version of the 9/11 story. It should be distributed widely to the uninformed few who still believe this tragedy was engineered by Muslim terrorists.

Either by incompetence or by design, George W. Bush allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen, and probably was involved in the planning of them. The American people might stand by and allow him to slaughter every nation in the world, but they will not stand for it when they know he participated the mass killing of his own people.)

And this:

What you order your soldiers to do, most of us would never dream of doing. The vast majority of us could not inflict these horrific injuries on the people of Iraq ourselves.

But the specialization of function in modern society allocates that task to those we call our "armed forces." Allowing the rest to wash our hands and pretend we are not responsible.

That compartmentalization is no moral defense however, and unless we have at least dissented --or at best tried to thwart-- those like you, who order these atrocities, then moral responsibility lies with us. As equally it lies with you, my dear General.

That's about Tommy Franks. Read some of the drivel on this site and you'll wish to take a shower with a Brillo pad.

Vote here for you favorite Warblog. I voted for the Vodka Man.

Poor Han Blix is whining again. If a tree falls....

Good idea, they can join me in boycotting movies by any Hollywoodite that spoke about politics thinking anyone cared what they said.

The Union of Greek Filmmakers is mounting a boycott of U.S. films to protest against U.S. policies in Iraq. The group said that it will hand out leaflets at movie theaters throughout the country urging Greeks to stay away from American-made films. Director Theo Angelopoulos, whose film Eternity and a Day won the 1998 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, was quoted by the BBC Tuesday as saying that the boycott was not aimed at "American art" but at the "American attack against Iraq." The BBC observed that public sentiment in Greece is overwhelmingly in opposition to the U.S. invasion.

I guess the next blockbuster will only do $200,000,000 because they are boycotting us.

David Bloom from MSNBC/NBC/CNBC is one of the better embedded reporters giving info from Iraq. Overall MSNBC and FOX are doing the best job, with kudos to Lester Holt. The guy is good at handling many situations at once.

Anti-semitism on campuses is up. Could be because professors teaching at major colleges are linked to terrorist organizations.

An annual audit by the New York-based ADL found 106 acts of anti-Semitism on campuses in 2002, a 24 percent increase from the 85 a year before. The total number of anti-Jewish incidents increased by 8 percent, from 1,432 in 2001 to 1,559 last year.

The ADL said the anti-Semitism acts on campuses included name-calling and damage to buildings housing Jewish fraternal organizations. Anti-Israel rallies that didn't lead to overt episodes of anti-Semitism were not included in the audit.

How do you quantify if an anti-Israeli rally contributes to anti-semitic acts?

The French are washing away American blood (probably with Evian) trying to find the money:

Worried it could be shut out of business deals in postwar Iraq, France is drawing up plans to win French companies access to lucrative oil and reconstruction contracts, officials said Tuesday.


The government is determined that French companies will be part of rebuilding Iraq, despite President Jacques Chirac's vigorous opposition to the war, a Finance Ministry official said.


Gilles Munier, an executive board member of the French-Iraq Association for Economic Cooperation, said business leaders and government representatives were studying how to gain a foothold in postwar Iraq.

French industry has no shot at any contracts in Iraq. This is Chiracs worst nightmare. The more the media reports how badly the war is going, the more the Brit, Aussie, and US citizens will realize the how difficult this truly is. When Baghdad is taken after a brutal fight, the French will look worse than ever, and popular opinion will turn against the Gauls more so than at present.

We will find incriminating evidence against France, Germany, and Russia that will be embarrassing, but more important will galvanize the Allies against any French entree into Iraq.

(Unforgivingly stolen from Sgt. Stryker)

Stephen Green has some good analysis of events around Baghdad. Read it all.

The definition of a true hero:


An orphan who grew up on the streets while Guatemala was enmeshed in civil war, he found a new family when at age 14 he traveled to the United States by train, foot and bus. He enlisted partly to thank the United States for his new life, his foster brother said.


"He joined the Marines to pay back a little of what he'd gotten from the U.S.," Max Mosquera said. "For him it was a question of honor."


Lance Cpl. Gutierrez, 22, was killed in ground combat Friday. On Monday, a flag hung outside the Mosqueras' home in Lomita, 25 miles south of Los Angeles. The front porch was lined with pots of geraniums, each with a flag and a sign that read "United We Stand."

Thanks Lance Corporal Gutierrez.

Burn in hell Mr. Mayor. I hope you have a rather large cell-mate. The kids were 8 and 10-years old.

Mugger still churns out excellent commentary:

Newsday’s Jimmy Breslin, who didn’t graduate from Harvard, but is likely in the running for the school’s commencement speaker in May—if Gerhard Schroder or a Palestinian suicide bomber can’t make it—was magnificently incoherent last Friday. The Great Breslin, who’s made a pact with the devil, apparently gets a senior citizen pass from his editors that allows his copy to escape the delete button.

The following is a classic, worthy of Arthur Schlesinger Jr.—an ancient crank still living in Camelot who’s nonetheless pressed into duty by "corporate" media like the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek. (Reading Schlesinger, once a cold warrior, writing about foreign policy, you think of the Yankees dusting off Whitey Ford’s mothballs so he can pitch to Miguel Tejada.)

Breslin spouts off like a workaday drunk: "I wonder if anybody watching this Shock and Awe bombing Friday noted that Iraq didn’t have a plane. There is no joy to kill the bull unless he fights. You can’t call this a war. The television people [I’ll agree that they’ve generally been awful, especially CNN’s Aaron Brown and Fox’s Rita Cosby], and the politicians in Washington, said this was an extraordinary exhibition of bombing that never has been seen before. They used the right word, exhibition. An exhibition war, not a real war. You’ll take it right now, if it keeps these young men of ours alive. Take it and gag on it, for this is a total character collapse of a country that was supposed to be so far above this loathsome act. You become the thing you hate. And Friday, we did. We became the Germany of 1939."

And the Upper West Side’s "intelligentsia" is whining that dissent is no longer allowed in the United States

He goes on to allow Alterman to be crucified, for good reason.

The NY Press lists the 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers. My favorites happen to be three of the last four.

4 Ann Coulter, Pundit

Yes, she does live here. What a depressing age we live in, when a horse-faced Tri-Delt who spends her days hurling genocidal threats at foreigners and liberals—whose best come-hither look promises jackboots, pepper gas and the switch—can somehow be considered a sex symbol. What’s next? Vlad the Impaler Beanie Babies? A children’s show called Joseph McCarthy’s Neighborhood? Please, before it’s too late, bring back Charlene Tilton, and send this pampered, vicious bitch back to the stenographic pool where she belongs.

I agree that Ann is irritating. She appeals to loser far right wingers beacause she agrees with them and has a boob job and blonde hair.

3 Michael Moore, Filmmaker/Activist

Slagging on this pandering blowhard is nothing new—especially not in these pages—but he makes it so easy. In the despicable Bowling for Columbine, the lumbering behemoth makes fun of working-class whites in order to make over-educated whites feel better about themselves. His arguments against gun control are simplistic, weak and mired in the cloying stink of self-service, which smells suspiciously like a fat man’s crack. Every time Moore comes out in support of a liberal band or politician or fellow celebrity—as he proved last Sunday night—the hardworking, intelligent and reasoned left is degraded by association. It’s time for activists to jettison the ballast that is Michael Moore and start repairing the damage.

What else can you say.

2 Ted Rall, Freedom Fighter/Cartoonist

Maybe Ted first captured your heart with his blocky cartoon scamps that appear in every lazy, predictable alt-weekly in the country. Maybe you were inspired by his impassioned and daring campaigns against such scourges as internet spam and student loans. (What’s next, Ted? Barking dogs? Rainy days?) Maybe you’ve already slept with him, since to hear him tell it, Ted’s c--k is a diamond-hard, unrelenting p---y magnet. Or, quite possibly you’re one of us—those who’ve suffered through enough of Ted Rall’s comics and editorials and television and radio appearances to know that he’s just another self-righteous shitheel who coasts on self-created controversy and tells himself that any publicity is good publicity. Much like Loathsome New Yorker #3, Michael Moore, Ted Rall’s attempts at political commentary and liberal activism do more harm to the cause than any amount of conservative clampdown. For someone who describes himself as a "First Amendment purist," he sure does spend a lot of time telling other people what to say, and we’ve had enough.

There you have it. Maybe my man Tim Blair would like to comment

Same old Hillary and Bill:

After several Lincoln Town Cars with tinted windows had dropped off their well-heeled passengers, a gleaming Escalade, Cadillac’s luxury SUV, pulled up to the neo-Georgian mansion at 3067 Whitehaven St., in Northwest Washington.

A shaven-headed man with athletic build, wearing a black leather jacket, got out, followed by a woman with platinum blond hair. They walked to the front door.

Despite the initial confusion of the small crowd on the street, the man was not a hip-hop star, but a bodyguard protecting Linda Daschle, wife of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.).

Daschle, unobtrusive in a plain blue suit, had slipped out of the vehicle ahead of them and was waiting on the front steps, as though a member of the advance team preparing to meet someone important — which was true.

I see three glaring things here;

The Democratic leader travels in a gas guzzling SUV;

He is a lapdog not only to his wife but to Hillary, and;

Even during a war the Dems can't stop thinking about money.

Of course Fox is still attracting the most viewers. They are the only ones who have positive coverage and don't treat every Allied misstep as breaking news.

Despite CNN's overwhelming advantage in reporting manpower, more Americans — at least so far — want to watch the war unfold on Fox.

"I think it's a pretty big surprise," said Erik Sorenson, MSNBC president, on Tuesday. Because of CNN's experience with the first Gulf War, "I think people thought CNN would win, at least in its early stages. One of the executives there said they would own the story, and I don't think they do."


CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson downplayed Fox's ratings advantage, saying Nielsen shows that more people at least sample some of CNN's coverage during the day. Fox's ratings are higher because its viewers watch for a longer time.

Yes Christa, people can't watch CNN for any more than a minute once they hear Wolf Blitzer or Aaron Brown make a statement about anything. We don't want rah rah all the time, but at least report the correct facts about us making an unprecedented run to Baghdad.

I knew it! Cheney convinced Bush to attack Iraq so Haliburton would get fat contracts and slip a big fat check in his pocket.

I like Tom Friedman (or is it Daniel?), I've read From Beirut to Jerusalem so many times I can't count. I believe that Tom lived and worked among the Arabs so long that he really believes they can be a great power for good, but break his heart everytime they go against that. Tom writes a good article but can't get away from the "US is acting unilaterally" kick.

For now, though, Europeans are too stunned by this massive exercise of unilateral U.S. power to think clearly what it's about. I can't quite put my finger on it, but people here seem to feel that a certain contract between America and the world has been broken. Which is why so much is riding, far beyond Iraq, on what the Bush team builds in Iraq. If we build it, they will come around - I hope.

Tom, Britain, Australia, and numerous other countries are assisting us. Are alot of countries supplying troops? No, but only the Brits and Aussies have a military that is even remotely close to ours technologically. The other countries would at best slow us down , and at worst be dangerous. Tom currently has a dialogue going with Andrew Sullivan that is interesting.

After the Gulf War I, the Kuwaiti and Saudi government's awarded the soldiers and sailors who served medals. I hope they take some Iraqi funds and issue our troops a medal for all they are doing.

Tim Blair is our insight into the Aussie Army movements. He links to a story about our treatment of POW's and the Iraqi methods.

Excellent war coverage can be found at Blogs of War.

Please, Please, Please do it.

New York civil rights activist Al Sharpton indicated Friday he might run for president as an independent if he fails to win the Democratic nomination.

In an appearance before the USC Law School Democrats, Sharpton criticized members of his own party for failing to speak out against the Iraqi war and for being afraid to raise issues and fight for them.

"They're not true believers," he charged. "They only want to be Republicans in Democratic clothing. And we already have too many donkeys running around here who are really elephants with donkey clothes on."

If Sharpton runs as an independent, we will get to see Edwards, Kerry, or Dean rap like Bulworth without telling the truth. Can't you see Kerry on BET acting like Lott?

We are closing in on Baghdad and I've yet to hear of large numbers of civilian casualties. The reporters in the field are doing an examplary job of reporting straight news of the fighting. Reading or listening to the editorial writers who are sitting at home commenting, make the writing they produce seem bland. Read this:

March 25 — American and British commanders shifted the focus of their air strikes early Tuesday toward Republican Guard units arrayed in defense of Baghdad as advance elements of the American invasion force moved to within 50 miles of the Iraqi capital. American attack helicopters fought a pitched battle Monday with elements of the Medina Republican Guards south of Karbala as a separate thrust by U.S. Marines positioned itself farther east. And U.S. commanders said a helicopter engagement early Monday marked the opening shots in the battle of Baghdad, a campaign that British Prime Minister Tony Blair described as “imminent.”

Just the facts, nothing more or less. This report is culled from wire services and does go off on a typical news tangent, but the first paragraph is good, absorbing prose.

Fox is the only channel to cover the war the way it should be. We have driven to the outskirts of Baghdad faster than anyone had a right to expect. We are just five days into this battle. President Bush said it would be hard, Rumsfeld and Powell said it would be hard.

Watch CNN or MSNBC and you'd think we were in the fourth year of Vietnam. By the way, why is Aaron Brown even reporting news let alone the spotlight anchor? If the only person you watched was this guy, youd think we got our asses kicked at Basra and the Iraqis overran Kuwait City.

I like both the websites these two organizations present though.

France celebrates flying to countries where dictators rule. To truly celebrate, they are increasing service to Cuba, North Korea, and China, but unfortunately had to cancel flights to Baghdad. They said refunds will not be given but will be donated to the Saddam Defense Fund.

Surprise! A statutory rapist is loved by Hollywood again.

Hollywood has begun loving fugitive director Roman Polanski again, applauding his artistry and putting behind memories of his statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl over 25 years ago.

Just put out a good movie and we'll forget about destroying a 13-year-old girls life. Him and Marc Rich can both fly home together to an adoring LAX crowd. To most people, Polanski is the equivalent of this guy.

My "This'll sure piss off PETA" story of the week.

Courtesy of the web site that features articles from everywhere, the best war site I've seen. I've always thought that photographs capture a moment, joyful, heartbreaking, or shocking, much more clearly that video. These pictures are not done by artists or pose phtographers, they catch a real moment with real feeling. This site updates daily.

The Poles are in it with us. New Europe gets it.

Poland admitted on Monday that its elite GROM commando unit had taken part in the U.S.-led attack on Iraq after the soldiers posed for a Reuters news photographer.

The Defense Ministry had denied that GROM (Thunder) special forces were involved in combat, but on Monday it confirmed their participation after dailies splashed photographs of the soldiers in the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, where U.S.-led troops are battling pockets of Iraqi resistance.

Remember, the Poles fought back against a far mightier German Army in '38, unlike another country.

I feel that this war is a just cause. We have to irradicate the terrorist element if we in America are to be safe. I pray for the POW's and those who have been killed. These Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen have not been drafted, they chose to serve.

When I went to bootcamp, they told us in not so uncertain words that the chances of dying were real. We could also be captured and should only give our name, rank, and serial number. All who serve know the risks that we take. Death is possible for the Seaman Recruit up to the Admiral.

War is ugly business. the taking of life can never be taken lightly. Most in the military know this but still do the job they are being paid to do. These men and women are putting themselves at risk to free the Iraqi people and hopefully bring some security to us. It's not about the oil or Bush avenging his Dad, it's about freeing an oppressed people from a murderous regime, plain and simple.

Today was a tough day. We lost numerous men in firefights, and some were taken prisoner. Watching the ever changing events gives one a feeling of this taking place over weeks, not days. It has been a few days, days that to our troops feel like weeks. We must remain steadfast in our support, rally around the families these great men and women have left to fight a just war. Do not waver or flinch when seeing the brutality of battle. War is ugly, but a war to free people who have been murdered and tortured for twenty years is always right.

Fuck Turkey. If we give them another dollar I'll protest. Maybe I'll kill a live turkey for symbolism. Just jokin' Sta.

That piece of shit who attacked his soldier brethren is now a murderer. String him up. the Sarge has his say.

Tim Blair has a story concerning a woman who understands why we are at war.

Coalition forces, uh, excuse me, France isn't there; unilateral forces have captured a "huge" chemical weapons plant and the commanding officer of that plant.

About 30 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered today to US forces of the 3rd Infantry Division as they overtook huge installation apparently used to produce chemical weapons in An Najaf, some 250 kilometers south of Baghdad.

One soldier was lightly wounded when a booby-trapped explosive went off as he was clearing the sheet metal-lined facility, which resembles the eery images of scientific facilities in World War II concentration camps.

The huge 100-acre complex, which is surrounded by a electrical fence, is perhaps the first illegal chemical plant to be uncovered by US troops in their current mission in Iraq. The surrounding barracks resemble an abandoned slum.

It wasn't immediately clear exactly which chemicals were being produced here, but clearly the Iraqis tried to camouflage the facility so it could not be photographed aerially, by swathing it in sand-cast walls to make it look like the surrounding desert

I guess Han Blix was fooled by the camouflage.

Andrew Sullivan has this garbage:

Donning an anti-war totem is also popular. Among the actors who have said that they will wear anti-war badges are nominees Day-Lewis, Adrien Brody, Pedro Almodóvar Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore as well as veteran star Dustin Hoffman.

Yet even that decision has been difficult for some actors to make. Ben Affleck is among those who has apparently not yet made up his mind. Instead he has announced that the final decision will rest with his stylist. Nor is it just the stars who are affected by this new pared-down ceremony. The 500 photographers, TV cameramen and reporters who normally work the carpet have been told that this year the stars do not want to talk and have undergone FBI background checks before they were issued with their credentials.

The slug can't even make up his own mind. He is relying on a stylist to decide should he be for or against the war. If my remote is stepped on by my dog and goes near the Oscars, I will shoot the TV.

This guy is not a POW, let him loose amongst the soldiers at the camp and be done with him. Attacking your fellow combatants is reason for a serious fragging.

More about the POW's. I haven't seen any US station that has shown the footage.

Drudge has pictures of the images shown on al-Jazeera. During the CENTCOM briefing today Gen. Abazaid smacked down the correspondent front said network. I think we ought to look at jamming the al-Jazeera satellite feed. Just a thought.

Iraq showed the interview of our troops on state run TV. This, as anyone who wore a uniform knows, is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention:

Iraqi television showed film on Sunday of at least four bodies, said to be U.S. soldiers, and five prisoners who said they were American.
Two of the prisoners, including a woman, appeared to be wounded. One was lying on the floor on a rug.

I have always been against women on or near the front-lines. I may be a chauvinist but the things they can do to a woman are too scary to comprehend. Try the people involved as war criminals and hang them.

At the liquor store yesterday, I was standing there looking at the myriad beer selections. I picked out Molson Canadian, a great tasting beer. I decided that I would not do anything to help the Canadian economy since they've chosen not to support us when we need them. I grabbed a twelve of Bass Ale instead. Maybe in one small way, I could support the Brits as they have been unwavering in supporting us. Next time I'll get Fosters.

A "Human Shield" wakes up to the reality that Saddam is a bad man:

I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, "Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good". He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.

As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam's regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq's oil money went into Saddam's pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.

It scared the hell out of me. First I was thinking that maybe it was the secret police trying to trick me but later I got the impression that he wanted me to help him escape. I felt so bad. I told him: "Listen, I am just a schmuck from the United States, I am not with the UN, I'm not with the CIA - I just can't help you."

The bold is mine but that just about sums it up for me. A schmuck who has has grand ideals but no conceivable plan.

If I were Saddam, I would save every missile I had for the fighting around Baghdad. It appears that is what may be happening.

United States military officials say they bombed several Iraqi missile launchers last night. But the Iraqi missile batteries now appear to be heading north on the highway out of Basra so they can fire at the right flank of the American troops as they advance toward Baghdad.

"They are not out of the game," said Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, the commander of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, which is commanding the Patriots batteries in the Persian Gulf region. "They are repositioning."

Iraq has fired six Ababil-100 missiles, at the 101st Airborne division, at an allied air base in Kuwait, at the command center for the land war, at a huge Marine logistics area and at other important targets.

I haven't seen any reports concerning capturing Scud sites in the western areas, which is the only area they could hit Israel. I think we had those sites scouted or destroyed very early in this campaign.

I hope that Saddam is dead or injured. The problem is that if he's dead, the remaining leadership would have disposed of the body in a way that it may never be found.

Tony Blair's War Cabinet was told by intelligence chiefs yesterday that Saddam Hussein survived last week's cruise missile attack on his bunker in Baghdad, but sustained serious injury.

The Telegraph has learned that ministers were told at a special 40-minute briefing that the Iraqi leader had been so badly wounded he needed a blood transfusion.

If we fail to find his body, we may be answering all the stupid "why haven't we gotten Osama yet?" questions about Saddam.

Hollywood and the that fat dirtbag Michael (give me) Moore are at it still.

Most outspoken was documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, the man behind the popular anti-gun expose "Bowling for Columbine," whose title refers to the Colorado high school where two students massacred 13 people in 1999.

"The lesson for the children of Columbine this week is that violence is an accepted means by which to solve a conflict," Moore told the 1,000 attendees gathered under a marquee on Santa Monica Beach as he accepted the Spirit Award for best documentary. "That's the lesson for the kids."

Wearing a badge that said, "Shoot movies, not Iraqis," Moore called Bush a "fictitious president" who was waging "terrorism."

He later told reporters he had spoken to a number of Oscar nominees who said they planned to acknowledge the war in acceptance speeches if they won in their categories. Moore's film is nominated for a best documentary Oscar, but he said he doubted he would win again on Sunday.

The article is standard fare but look at the picture of the Marine and the Iraqi woman...That's what we're here for.

Lesbian Anti-war Mexicans say stop the war. Pull the troops out now!

Iraqi conscripts shoot their chain of command:

In total, 40 Commando had collected more than 100 prisoners of war yesterday from the few square miles of the al-Faw peninsula that they controlled. Two of them were a general in the regular Iraqi Army and a brigadier. They came out from the command bunker where they had been hiding after 40 Commando’s Bravo Company fired two anti-tank missiles into it. With them was a large sports holdall stuffed with money. They insisted that they had been about to pay their troops, to the disbelief of their captors.

These were the men who had left their soldiers hungry, poorly armed and almost destitute for weeks, judging by the state we had seen them in, while appearing to keep the money for themselves.

Classic, take the money and run to some other Gulf state.

Weblog Central has a round-up of numerous blogs from the Middle East and beyond.

Jeff Jarvis has a nice blog on NJ.com of all things.

Whoever had the idea to embed reporters with the troops was a genius. Two things have come of this; a reporter with idle time will report anything, including uncorroborated info and by the writers and correspondents living and eating with our guys, they will feel as if they are part of the team and thus will not report all the stuff that could show the armed forces in a bad light. Plus, we are seeing things, sometimes not that clearly, we have rarely seen. The pictures of the armored divisions rolling north last night was riveting.

This is why I'm not a betting man. Both Philly teams booted in the first round, although St, Joes-Auburn was a hell of a game.

Here are the names of four of the Americans killed in the CH-46 crash yesterday. The other men killed including the Brits have not as yet been released.

Who wrote this, I'll give you two sentences.

It was like a door slamming deep beneath the surface of the earth; a pulsating, minute-long roar of sound that brought President George Bush's supposed crusade against "terrorism" to Baghdad last night.

Crusade, terrorism in scare quotes, bad metaphors, yep it must be a Fisk scribbling.

There was a thrashing of tracer on the horizon from the Baghdad air defences – the Second World War-era firepower of old Soviet anti-aircraft guns – and then a series of tremendous vibrations that had the ground shaking under our feet. Bubbles of fire tore into the sky around the Iraqi capital, dark red at the base, golden at the top.

Again, bad analogies and the America is bully argument.

Saddam Hussein, of course, has vowed to fight to the end but in Baghdad last night, there was a truly Valhalla quality about the violence. Within minutes, looking out across the Tigris river I could see pin-pricks of fire as bombs and cruise missiles exploded on to Iraq's military and communications centres and, no doubt, upon the innocent as well.

Sorry Bob, as of yet we have yet to hear of the mass civilian casualties you want so bad you can't stand it.

The first of the latter, a taxi driver, was blown to pieces in the first American raid on Baghdad yesterday morning. No one here doubted that the dead would include civilians. Tony Blair said just that in the Commons debate this week but I wondered, listening to this storm of fire across Baghdad last night, if he has any conception of what it looks like, what it feels like, or of the fear of those innocent Iraqis who are, as I write this, cowering in their homes and basements.

I saw quite a few dancing in the streets today, newly liberated.

Not many hours ago, I talked to an old Shia Muslim lady in a poor area of Baghdad. She was dressed in traditional black with a white veil over her head. I pressed her over and over again as to what she felt. In the end, she just said: "I am afraid."

She's afraid because you neglected to assure her that, despite being the Great Satan and all, we are not attacking civilians. Too bad Bobby, will you dance with her in a few weeks to celebrate her new-found freedom. Probably not. I see you shouting at her "Don't you understand woman, the US, Brits, and Aussies liberated you without approval of the UN, you should still be oppressed by Saddam. Don't you get it"

That this is the start of something that will change the face of the Middle East is in little doubt; that it will be successful in the long term is quite another matter.

The sheer violence of it, the howl of air raid sirens and the air-cutting fall of the missiles carried its own political message; not just to President Saddam but to the rest of the world. We are the super-power, those explosions said last night. This is how we do business. This is how we take our revenge for 11 September.

We should have just taken it and searched for understanding from our terrorists enemies, instead of carpet bombing pre-madrassa's.

Not even George Bush made any pretence in the last days of peace to link Iraq with those international crimes against humanity in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. But some of the fire that you could see bubbling up through the darkness around Baghdad last night did remind me of other flames, those which consumed the World Trade Centre. In a strange way, the Americans were – without the permission of the United Nations, with most of the world against them – acting out their rage with an eerily fiery consummation.

More horrid metaphors and the unmistakable, analogizing the WTC attack with us attacking Saddam. And we did it against the wishes of the UN. Tsk, Tsk.

Iraq cannot withstand this for long. President Saddam may claim, as he does, that his soldiers can defeat technology with courage. I doubt it. For what fell upon Iraq last night – and I witnessed just an infinitely small part of this festival of violence – was as militarily awesome as it was politically terrifying. The crowds outside my hotel stood and stared into the sky at the flashing anti-aircraft bursts, awed by their power.

What this means I have no idea. Perhaps Fisk ran out of ideas for this week.

My favorite part of the day was seeing a Marine tear down a Saddam poster and an Iraqi going over and whacking it with his shoe. Awesome.

We're going to find out more about these type of atrocities as the liberation progresses. Will the anti-war types be ashamed of themselves? No friggin' way.

Saddam Hussein's eldest son mercilessly beats girls as young as 12 on the soles of their feet if they refuse to sleep with him, Iraqi defectors said today.

Uday Hussein forces head teachers of schools in Baghdad's poorest districts to send pupils to his palace where he arranges dates with those he likes.

If the chosen girls annoy him in anyway they are dangled over a wooden beam held by his bodyguards and repeatedly hit with a wooden club, according to two former members of his inner circle who recently fled Iraq.

"He does it to a girl if she says she doesn't want to go out with him, or if she finds another boyfriend, or is late or reluctant," one defector told Vanity Fair magazine.

Twelve-years old. Too bad the reports are that we killed Odai instead of this scum. It's also being reported that we got "Chemical Ali". Damn, I wanted to try and execute that guy.

"Chemical Ali" earned his chilling nickname by using chemical weapons to suppress a Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq in the late 1980s, killing thousands. Both Ramadan and Ibrahim are long-time advisors to Saddam. Along with Saddam himself, the two men were the only surviving plotters who carried out the coup that brought the Baath Party to power in 1968.

The three men did not appear in a videotape of Saddam Hussein meets with advisers released today. Also absent was Saddam's eldest son Odai. There are suspicions he also may have been killed.

Charles Rangel, Barbara Lee, John Conyers, and "Baghdad" Jim McDermott all voted no for a measure that simply showed support for our troops. Kucinich voted present.
(via James Taranto)

Word is out that a whole Iraqi division has surrendered. The "Shock and Awe" concept seems to be working. The lights are still on in most of the country and little reports of civilian injuries have been published. My prayers go out to the families of the US and British dead. They gave the ultimate to liberate the oppressed.

Update: Here's the link to the surrender of the whole 51st Infantry Division, 8,000 men.

The reason most people give for owning SUV's is the safety afforded by them. Hollywood and the Left constantly berates SUV drivers because they guzzle gas. What does an armor-plated limo get per gallon?

We have been flooded by requests for armoured limousines to take some very famous people to the Oscars," said Rich Cooley, vice president of global operations for SecureCar Worldwide which specialises in celebrity transport.

Cooley, a former Hollywood bodyguard, offers Mercedes and BMW limousines with 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds) of extra armour plating and bullet proof glass to ward off a close-range machine-gun assault or a grenade blast.

The normal public is not allowed to be safe, but celebs can be safe and guzzle gas and jet fuel:

Oscar will don his tightest security cloak ever this year to thwart potential terror strikes, with war prompting worried stars to opt for armoured limousines and private jets on Hollywood's biggest night.

I hope they private-plane pool.

The French will step in and take over when we're done winning this war.

Mr Chirac signalled that France would campaign through the United Nations to keep any American or British involvement in the running of postwar Iraq to a minimum.

Just hours after Tony Blair, British prime minister, called for a new UN resolution on the reconstruction of Iraq, Mr Chirac said France would not accept a dominant US and British role in such efforts.

"France will not accept a resolution that would legitimise military intervention and give the US and British the powers of administration in Iraq," he said.

Well Chirac, we'll let you supply the port-a-potties for the Yank, Brit, and Aussie workers rebuilding the country into a real democracy.

I love the fact that we grabbed his money. This will assist the rebuilding along with saving several oil fields from destruction.

Also, we may have used the MOAB in Basra.

Iraqi missiles.

Does anyone think it funny that the Iraqi's or anti-war types have yet to scream about civilian casualties? I thought it would be Jenin-like by now.

This is a great use of the internet. No Vodkaman, I'm the last to link to this.

I witnessed this exchange on Hardball last night:

MATTHEWS: You think he’s quite the kind of guy that can do that kind of thing. Let me ask you about the-you’re a politician. You’ve been elected to a lot of offices over the years-governor and Congress before that for so many years. Do you think he has a legitimate hold on the people? Or they will, as the advocates of this war have said so long from our side, they will collaborate, they will celebrate, they will cheer our arrival.
RICHARDSON: I think it’s mixed, Chris. I mean, I’ve seen some of those crowds that seem to generate in demonstrations. When I was in Iraq, I sensed that he did have some support. I suspect that support is waning and what you’re seeing in the Iraqi population is God, we want to get rid of this guy simply because the instability is so enormous. I wouldn’t say that there’s going to be shouting in the streets of glee, but I think his support is probably 50-50 if you know you could ever do a poll there...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
RICHARDSON: ... because he does have the armed forces there. The rural areas are with him, and I believe that, you know, he’s used skillfully public relations when you control the media totally to build a cultic personality around him.
MATTHEWS: If he were allowed to stick around through this war and participate in the next election in Iraq, do you think he’d have a shot?
RICHARDSON: No, I don’t think so. I think they’d want to get rid of him, but we cannot underestimate him.

Is Chris Matthews actually asking if Saddam would win an election if he survives this? He isn't so blinded by his ideology that he can't believe that Saddam's 100% vote was out of pure fear of him? I almost fell out of bed when I heard that. Chris is notorious for softballing friends but Jeez.

These guys are in it now.

These guys started it.

These guys and href="http://www.benning.army.mil/airborne/">these guys will ensure that Iraq is completely baffled.

These guys will provide the aerial firepower.

These guys will fix up our wounded with bullets flying all around.

And this beast will surprise the shit out of everyone who's targeted.

And last of all this will disinegrate any will the Iraqis have to fight.

Work called so I missed posting on a major historical event. Others did it better and continue to amaze with there wordsmith.

A round up of everything

a man who knows how to analize things

info with an edge

Up to the second coverage

Military brethren (and sisters)

Intelligent writing and analysis

A man who has gone mute but will recover soon.

A paying blog

With war imminent, who else would you turn to for great analysis with chili pepper like bite?

Are France and Germany questioning the decisions they've made concerning Iraq?

For the first time, French publications, reporting on the disarray of political analysts, are now asking: Who are we against, Saddam or Bush? Or: Where was the sense in Chirac's promising a veto of a new UN resolution when such a gesture was not an absolute necessity? And even: How did France manage to reject British revisions to its draft resolution last week hours before Iraq did?

Oil is dropping dramatically:

World oil prices fell again on Wednesday, deepening a five-day rout that has knocked 21 percent off the cost of a barrel as dealers brace for an impending U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Prices have tumbled $8 in the last five trading days as dealers bet hard on an easy U.S.-led victory in military action they expect to cause only a brief disruption to Middle East oil flows.

How fast will the price of gas drop?

I, Saddam, now will lay the wrath of Allah at your feet, right guys?...guys?...Uday?...Qusay?..

Masses of Iraqi soldiers are deserting and senior members of President Saddam Hussein's ruling family circle are defecting as the countdown to a British and US invasion reaches its final hours.

In northern Iraq, on the border with Kurdistan, up to three-quarters of some Iraqi regiments have already fled.

In the mainly Shia Muslim south, Kuwaiti border guards are having to turn Iraqi soldiers back - telling them that they must wait until an attack begins before they can surrender.

I send my condolences and prayers to this man's family.

Check out the downloads here. Taliban bodies in particular rocks. (Thanks to my Bro)

War is upon us, but nothing will stop Daschle from seeking out the pork.

Chain- $10
Lock- $5
Making a complete idiot out of yourself in front of the world-priceless

A man spent hours chained to the wrong building Tuesday in an ill-planned effort to protest war with Iraq, police said.
Jody Mason padlocked himself to an entrance of the Washington State Grange building at 924 Capitol Way S., thinking it was a sub-office of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Grange employees found him about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday and asked what he was doing.

He told employees he'd chained himself to the building in civil disobedience Monday night after listening to President Bush's televised ultimatum to Saddam Hussein.

I wish it was a Hell's Angels hangout.

45 nations are with us. More than 90-91.

Australia rules. I believe I've mentioned Down Under three straight days. They are going toe-to-toe with the Frogs, Excellent:

"I think the stance taken by the French has been completely opportunistic and without any merit at all," Mr Howard told ABC Radio.

"They want the benefits of the American and British military presence to put pressure on the Iraqis to keep the weapons inspectors there.

"But they criticise and oppose the policy which brought the presence of the troops about in the first place."

Federal parliamentary secretary Warren Entsch called the French international vultures, despite strong backing for Paris from China, Russia and Germany.

"When you start to compare (permanent security council members), America is the eagle, China is the tiger, Russia is the bear, and in my view France is the vulture," he said.

Awesome. (via Tim Blair, to paraphrase Lileks; where he is, the war has already started).

The end of another political career:
In one of the most brutal critiques of the administration's policy toward Iraq by a member of Congress, East Bay Rep. Pete Stark said President Bush would be responsible for "an act of terror" by launching a massive bombing campaign to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"I think unleashing 3,000 smart bombs against the city of Baghdad in the first several days of the war . . . to me, if those were unleashed against the San Francisco Bay Area, I would call that an act of extreme terrorism," said Stark, a Democrat from Fremont.

What if someone was responsible for 3,000 dead in that city. Forget what I said about him losing his job, he's from the Frisco area. He'll probably last for 15 terms.

Some early reports of combat action via Drudge:

British and American troops were involved in fierce fighting near Iraq's main port today as the war to topple Saddam Hussein began.

The firefight broke out near Basra as men of the Special Boat Service targeted the strategically vital city and the oilfields in southern Iraq.

At the same time allied troops were flooding into the demilitarised zone on the Iraqi border with Kuwait 40 miles away to take up positions for an all-out invasion.

Cruise missiles were also loaded onto B52 bombers at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a clear sign that the bombardment of Baghdad could be only hours away.

British troops taking up "forward battle positions" were ordered to switch off satellite phones and allied warplanes bombed targets in Iraq after coming under fire in the no-fly zone.

And:

British and American warplanes have bombed targets in southern Iraq as the deadline for war approaches.


Sky News correspondent James Forlong is on board the American aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Persian Gulf, from where 10 warplanes involved in the attack took off.

He said the aircraft - two 'Top Gun' F-14 Tomcats and eight F/A-18 Hornets - returned safely.

Forlong spoke to one of the pilots, who said their targets included an Iraqi intelligence unit and surface-to-air missile sites.

Tonights the night.

22 hours until we unleash hell upon Saddam. We have reporters embedded that will show this playing out like we have never seen. I pray that no Iraqi civilians are killed or injured, although that is not likely. I pray that my military brethren take care of business swiftly so they may be home soon. God Speed.

Celebrity idiots continue to be...well, idiots:

There are many questions that beg to be asked. Some are being asked
rhetorically by many journalists, including a great writer at the New York
Times by the name of Daniel Friedman. For example-if we are claiming that we are
going into Iraq to save it's people from such an oppressive regime and such
heinous human rights infractions, then why are we not addressing these
situations in other Middle Eastern countries that are our allies? What is
the standard? Is there a way to justify the human loss that we can expect
from this war....our own as well as innocent Iraqis?

Tom Friedman is the preeminent authority on the Mid-East (at least in the Times mind). I gotta read Dan sometime.

I'm feeling really upset for this wuss:

Crooner Justin Timberlake nearly cried a river when the jumbo jet he was taking to Japan was hit by a bird shortly after takeoff.

The pilot of the Singapore Airlines flight decided to return to Los Angeles to calm frightened passengers.

"Justin said that he and everybody on the plane was frightened," his rep said. "Justin hates flying and was left very, very badly shaken."

and the make-believe president just won't shut the hell up:

Activism by celebrities does carry added responsibilities. Statements, demonstrations and marches that include public figures undoubtedly receive a measure of press, providing access to a stage that others often cannot reach. As a result, we are often called to give voice to the voiceless and a presence to the marginalized.

Whether celebrity or diplomat, cabdriver or student, all deserve a turn at the podium. In speaking the truth as we know it, my friends and I have stood proxy for all those yet to join this great public debate. We urge their participation and welcome them to the fray, for in the end, this is not about us but is truly about the matter of life and death.

The simple fact Mr. Sheen is that the idea of someone who thinks like you as President is horrifying to a large group of Americans. Some wars are just. I do not recall you saying anything about Clinton waggin' the gog in '98 or Kosovo.

It's starting:

THE first shots of the war have been fired, killing at least one Iraqi during a suspected operation to mine the waters off Kuwait. But that opening skirmish is about to be dwarfed by the most formidable military assault in modern warfare: 250,000 British and American troops — backed by more than 1,000 aircraft, 400 tanks and a 110-strong armada — are poised to unleash their awesome power on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq the moment the order is given.
The first clash occurred in the mouth of the Khawr al-Zubayr river, a few miles south of the port of Umm Qasr, when a Kuwaiti gunboat challenged a flotilla of about 25 Iraqi dhows. The boats failed to respond and the Kuwaitis opened fire. It was unclear whether the dhows had laid any mines.

Good luck and God bless to fighting men and women from all nations.

This guy is hilarious, too bad he can't post from work as often.

If you are a leader and stick to your message, people will respect you and back you. Clinton never understood this.

The folks who gave us St. Andrews and William Wallace now give us the Desert Rats.

Sergeant Frank Mack, of Leith, Edinburgh, said: "Generally, we are three to five kilometres in front of the battlegroup.

"Our main task is to locate enemy positions and their strength - anything which makes a target for our tanks.

"When we've done that, we find any obstacles which might lie in the path of the battlegroup, such as rivers or anti- tank minefields.

"After we report that to HQ, the engineers can move in to build bridges or clear mines."

Lucianne Goldberg's site says it all; Tony Blair is the Churchill of our time. Thank God.

Tony Blair tonight saw off the final obstacle to UK involvement on a war with Iraq, defeating a Commons anti-war vote with a majority of 179.
A total of 217 Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and nationalist MPs voted against war, on an amendment saying the case was "not yet established", with early estimates putting the Labour rebellion at 140 - up 17 from the vote last month.

The government's own motion, allowing for military action, was easily carried by 412 votes to 149. It is thought 83 Labour MPs voted against their government.

And with thousands of anti-war protestors outside Westminster - and at least two interrupting the debate from the public gallery - it has proved one of the most tense and unpredictable nights in recent political history

It's Blair and Bush's night but the Guardian couldn't resist mentioning the person they truly miss:

However, he spend most of the day trying to persuade waverers on his own side - on top of the personal efforts put in by his wife, Cherie, and the former US president, Bill Clinton, yesterday.

When I was in the Navy, I visited the great country of Australia. I woke up with a mean hangover and a tattoo. I wish I had met this guy when I was enjoying Victoria Bitter.

Stephen Green has a picture of the leaflets we dropped on the Taliban and heres a link to leaflets dropped during Gulf War I. Check in with Stephen on a daily basis, he has excellent insight and in about 23 hours his brain will be moving full throttle.

The French will now assist us if Saddam uses weapons he doesn't have.

Naji Sabri is a great example of the type of person that the anti-war idiots are supporting:

He said that the Iraqi people 'elected Mr Hussein as their leader' and they will lead a fierce struggle against the aggressors under his command. The Iraqi foreign minister added that a horrific death awaits any Americans captured on Iraqi territory. 'They will be burnt or beheaded,' said Mr Sabri.

How could such nice, WMD- free people, even think this way. It must've been taken out of context.

It's the Jews fault for everything. How could they treat France like this.

KURT SCHAECHTER could have been forgiven for wanting a quiet retirement after twice surviving arrest by the wartime Vichy regime and entering the French Resistance using false identity papers that disguised his Jewish origins.
But this week he will take the SNCF, the French railway network, to court for an unprecedented hearing into its role in transporting French Jews to Nazi concentration camps between 1942 and 1944.

M Schaechter, 82, is suing the state-owned railway for deporting his father, Emil, to the Sobibor concentration camp in 1943 and his mother, Margaret, to Auschwitz a year later. Neither returned.

I can't believe this. The reliable, moral French would never turn away from anyone in need.

I swear I will pay for his ticket. First Class even.

Ted Turner, the 64-year-old founder of CNN and a board member of its parent AOL Time Warner, said he volunteered to cover the looming war in Iraq for CNN. The network's executives turned him down.

I will cash in every dollar I have to ensure that he had a comfortable seat on his way over.

A British producer, no one has ever heard of, will make a speech no one cares about, if he wins an award that means nothing outside Hollywood.

Stephen Daldry, Britain's brightest hope of an Oscar at this year's Academy Awards ceremony, has vowed to denounce the war on Iraq from the podium if he wins.

Our celebs go to Britain to denounce America, British celebs at least have the huevos to denounce us on our own turf.

Blair calls Parliament's bluff.

And he said that to retreat now, he believed, "would put at hazard all that we hold dearest ... tell our allies that at the very moment of action, at the very moment they need our determination, that Britain faltered. I will not be party to such a cause." With the Tories officially backing him there was no real doubt that Mr Blair would gain the paper majority he needs in the vote at 10 tonight.

But the fear at Downing Street was that the Labour revolt - 121 strong last time - could rise beyond the 200 mark, forcing the Prime Minister to rely on Conservative votes. That, some at Westminster believed, would amount to a virtual "No" and make his position impossible.

Latvia, Romania, and the Ukraine are assisting us and France and Germany aren't. I guess you know who your friends are (and aren't) by who's by your side when needed most.

Murder is murder no matter what the ambition or expected outcome.

Anti-abortion extremist James Kopp was found guilty Tuesday for the 1998 sniper shooting of a doctor who provided abortions.


Judge Michael D'Amico issued the verdict Tuesday, one day after he heard the second-degree murder case without a jury during an unusual single court session. Kopp, 48, waived his right to a jury trial last week.

Dr. Barnett Slepian was struck down Oct. 23, 1998, by a single bullet fired from a high-powered rifle through a rear window of his home in suburban Amherst home.

He deserves more than fifteen years for this.