I remember drudge linked to a British Independent (or the Sun?) article that says the invasion would be on the 17th. If you give two or three days of air-bombardment, shouldn't the bombs be already falling on Basra? Just to throw it out there. mmm, maybe the Azores meeting will drop some bombshells.
Should have finished 12 years ago... But it won't be long. One area where I think the administration has screwed up is taking too long with diplomacy. We should have issued a serious ultimatum from the start, and when it was broken immediately built up a large force and gone in. Instead, we have taken the very counterproductive approach of dragging out a diplomatic course that has no hope of success, while incrementally increasing our forces there. The result is that not all of the forces you would want to be there are in place yet, and that the entire friggen world is vocally against us. We should have gone in when the momentum was with us. It is often bemoaned here that the administration has not put enough impetus into the diplomatic effort, but that is really both untrue and unwise. We have tried for a year and a half to get the world on our side, and all we have gotten for waiting is increased anti-americanism and opposition abroad. Had we gone sooner, this would not have happened... It will make no difference in the end - the only probable lasting result will be a souring of relations with France and Germany (the latter less so than the former, probably inevitable anyway); success will likely wipe away many of the other problems that have developed as a result of this strategy. The "rolling start" is not the ideal way to prosecute the war either, but it will not change the outcome. The only difference it will make is that instead of likely winning in less than a week, it might take 2-3 weeks to win. As to when it might start, I have been partial to the end or March/beginning of April period, as we will have pretty much all of the major units in theater by then, and that is when the next moonless period will occur. It will also give Bush and (more importantly) Blair the opportunity to claim that all diplomatic avenues have been exhausted... It would also be our last real window before the desert heat really kicks in. Or it could start tomorrow. Like I said, "rolling start"...
Baghdad: 5 U.N. Copters Have Left Iraq Sun Mar 16, 5:47 AM ET BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites) said that five of eight helicopters used by United Nations (news - web sites) weapons inspectors left the country Sunday after a Western insurance company suspended coverage for the aircraft as the threat of war looms in the region. The U.N. spokesman in Baghdad, Hiro Ueki, could not immediately be reached for comment, and no reason was given for the insurance company's action. But the suspension of the coverage was seen as a possible indication that war could be imminent as President Bush (news - web sites), British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) and Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar prepared to hold an emergency summit on Sunday in the Azores. The three-way summit in Portugal's Azores island chain was billed as the final push for a diplomatic solution to disarming Saddam. U.N. inspectors have used the eight helicopters since January to travel across Iraq to visit sites suspected of involvement in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction. The five that pulled out are U.S-made Bell-212s and the three that remain are Russian-made M-8s, which are insured by another company. They flew to Syria en route to Cyprus. The three M-8 aircraft would continue to be used in the inspections, according to a statement by the National Monitoring Directorate, the Iraqi state agency that acts as a liaison with the inspectors.
MSNBC Breaking News ------------------------------------------------------ Bush frames Monday, March 17th, as deadline... After meeting with allies, President Bush says Monday is a "moment of truth for the world" on Iraq.
