March 22, 2003

BBC US-led forces aim to liberate Basra, not occupy it: US General Franks Deutsche Welle - US and British forces made day-time air strikes on Saturday and advanced on Iraq's second city of Basra in the south. There are some reports, still unconfirmed, that US troops have now taken control of the strategic southern city of Basra. 5:22:20 PM

5:15:52 PM

From Intapundit: THESE GUYS ARE ALWAYS BACKING THE WRONG HORSE: Thousands of Palestinians on Friday demonstrated across the West Bank and Gaza Strip in support of Iraq, waving Iraqi flags, holding pictures of Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat and calling on the Iraqi leader to "burn Tel Aviv." You know, Bush will probably push through some kind of two-state settlement after things in Iraq are settled down. But given the Palestinians' willful self-destructiveness on so many levels, it will be hard to say that they deserve it. And those who portray the Palestinians as victims need to recognize that they're mostly victims of their own hatred and imbecility. 4:59:50 PM

American anti-war demonstrators 'shocked back to reality' United Press International - A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head." 4:58:21 PM

Tobacco giant ordered to pay $17bn damages Sydney Morning Herald - Tobacco giant Philip Morris vowed to appeal a court order to pay $US10.1 billion ($A17.12 billion) in damages for misleading smokers about the dangers of light cigarettes over the past 30 years. 4:51:46 PM