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Friday, March 28, 2003
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NYT. Second market attack in two days in Baghdad. I am more than a little skeptical about these "attacks." Here's why. The latest attack occured in a crowded Baghdad marketplace during the day. The vast majority of our attacks on Baghdad have and continue to be at night. Also, nearly 70% of US air attacks made during the same time period that these marketplace attacks were made were on the Republican Guard divisions well outside the city. As a result, the potential that US air strikes caused the damage is extremely low (particularly when contrasted to the high degree of accuracy attained when we were dumping almost all of our munitions on Baghdad). I don't even think this was Iraqi anti-aircraft fire gone astray. It is rather a calculated measure to inflame Arab streets by Saddam. He is staging these explosions and it is working given the "Fox" news quality of Al Jazeera reporting. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
I wouldn't put it past Saddam to do something like this. On the other hand, maybe these are just the only two of-course missiles we've heard about. If other missiles have gone astray but not killed anybody I doubt the Iraqis would bother saying anything.
10:45:48 PM 
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Practice to Deceive. Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario--it's their plan. [Washington Monthly]
A look at what the government is up to. They haven't been hiding their goals all that well, so if you've been paying attention none of this will be news. It is a nice summary, though.
8:07:41 PM
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The truth about the Aussie SAS.... There has been some speculation about why the Australian military contribution to the war in Iraq has not received anything like the coverage that the American (obviously) and British forces have. Well the reasons are twofold: firstly, the size of the force is a great deal smaller as it is made up of the elite Australian Special Air Service (which is operating in conjunction with their British SAS and American Delta Force & SEAL counterparts)...... [Samizdata.net]
Here's an explanation of why the Australian forces in Iraq haven't gotten any coverage.
6:47:55 PM
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U.S. Copters Raid Republican Guard Units [AP World News]
There was no substantial damage from enemy fire to the choppers, but they did take some small arms and anti-aircraft fire, Haws said.
It sounds like they didn't get hit nearly as hard this time. The article doesn't say if that's because they got decent support this time, or because the Iraqis didn't shoot back as much.
Two helicopters were lost in crashes for reasons which boil down to "flying in a sandstorm is dangerous."
6:35:21 PM
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Shiite leader vows to fight any domination by America. "Coalition forces are welcome in Iraq as long as they help the Iraqi people get rid of Saddam's dictatorship, but Iraqis will resist if they seek to occupy or colonize our country," said Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, leader of the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Such resistance, the Shiite leader told a news conference in Tehran, would include "the use of force and arms." [Houston Chronicle]
Somehow I don't think this is the civilian uprising the Crusaders had in mind.
6:29:47 PM
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Supposedly this Russian site is a good source of news on the war. Unfortunately, I haven't had any more luck reaching it than I've had with the English Al Jazeera site.
1:07:01 PM
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There haven't been any posts from "Salam Pax" since Monday. That's not surprising, with all the bombing of telecommunications infrastructure, but I hope he's okay.
12:11:33 PM
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Smoke This. "Sometimes when you're in government you have to do things for the people whether they like it or not. That's what governing is all about."
So said New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno to The Buffalo News.
The matter at hand? A statewide smoking ban that the News calls "the strictest crackdown on smokers in New York in two decades." The law, which goes into effect in 120 days, "will end smoking in public places from rural coffee shops and downtown nightclubs to racetracks, Off-Track Betting parlors and bowling alleys."
[Link courtesy of Jeremiah DeWitt Weiner] [Hit & Run]
That's an unusual admission for a member of the Republican branch of the Boot On Your Neck Party. Normally they let the Democratic branch say things like this, and then quietly pass the oppressive laws while the Democrats have people distracted.
11:42:44 AM
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Thomas L. Knapp at Rational Review -
Thinking the unthinkable - could it happen that Iraq expels the
invaders? Maybe, says Mr. Knapp. [smith2004]
What was inconceivable a week ago -- that the coalition's war machine
might be ground to a halt and, ultimately, find itself ordered back to
Kuwait and onto waiting ships for the trip home -- is a possibility
that becomes more and more real with each passing sandstorm.
[End the War on Freedom]
His theory is that the Iraqis might be able to hold out long enough to gain allies, or that some other unforeseen event might force the US to withdraw. Perhaps a pre-emptive strike by Iran, Syria, or North Korea?
10:49:48 AM
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Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter asked readers of his weblog to pay to send him to Iraq, and they did. He's reporting from Turkey today, on his way into Iraq. Bravo. [Scripting News]
This is a really good idea! Apparently he's headed for Kurdistan--I look forward to some detailed reports on the situation there.
9:05:11 AM
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© Copyright
2006
Ken Hagler.
Last update:
2/15/2006; 1:52:51 PM.
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