April 13, 2003

Congrats Mike! Do they have an insulated Green Jacket suitable for someone from the Great North? Interesting fact heard on the TV: In addition to being the first Canadian to win the Masters, Mike Weir is the first lefty. 7:20:18 PM

The Washington Post has details of both the high and low points of the US campaign in Iraq. It cities US commanders as being very worried with failing supply lines on March 27th compounded with a fear of higher then expected resistance after the ambush of American troops in Nasiriyah on March 23 and the failure of an Apache helicopter attack that night. But information from Washington about the higher than expected success of air attacks on the Iraqi Republican guard and Special Forces operations as also recounted in a Newsweek article led them to push onto Baghdad. The article also has some details on why the commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, Col. Joe W. Dowdy was removed from command. It reports that he may not have pushed his men close enough to Iraqi positions south of Kut to draw fire from Iraqi artillery that the air force would then destroy. 10:59:39 AM

Any hearts and minds program to win over the Iraqi people just took a major hit as US troops did nothing to prevent the Iraqi National Museum of Antiquities from being looted with 170,000 items destroyed or stolen leaving museum employee’s in tears and archaeologists angry with US inaction. Similarly every hospital but one in Baghdad has been looted. Most government ministry buildings have been looted but the Oil Ministry is heavily guarded by US troop which in reflection is not the best way of proving the war in Iraq is not about oil. 1:04:23 AM