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IRAQ NEWS as it happens.

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We're The Great Old Ones Now

09:42 / 19.03.03

US/alliance troops have entered the DMZ on the Kuwait/Iraq border. Technically, much of this is Iraqi territory.

Question: I saw a glimpse of what looked like a report of bugs found in EU offices and a brewing stink about the US bugging friendly governments - anyone know anything?

We're The Great Old Ones Now

09:49 / 19.03.03

Answering my own question:

French and German offices bugged.

09:54 / 19.03.03

Reuters news report on Bugging of France and Germany's EU offices

09:56 / 19.03.03

There was definitely a report of US intelligence services bugging other members of the UN Security Council (see here) - is that the same thing?

US moves to 'Orange' terror alert and the government announces 'Operation Liberty Shield' (i.e. homeland security, another phrase which sticks in the craw):

Around 600 asylum seekers from Iraq and 33 other countries suspected of harbouring terrorists will be temporarily detained for background checks, according to the plan announced by Tom Ridge, the homeland security secretary. "We want to make sure, during this period of time, that you are who you say you are," Mr Ridge said.

A little over a fifth of the Iraqi citizens in the US will be invited to voluntary interviews. Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman, said the dual purpose of the interviews would be "to see if they have any information that may be helpful with regard to potential terrorist activity, and, second fold, to advise them of the FBI's responsibilities to protect them" from racist or xenophobic attacks

10:17 / 19.03.03

BBC coverage of the bugging at the EU. Nothing much new here yet, this story will probably develop, unless of course it is overshadowed by the outbreak of a war...

10:36 / 19.03.03

'Voluntary' interviews my ass. I wonder how many of those who voluntarily registered last year are still in jail?

10:48 / 19.03.03

The army is saying they won't start until 0100GMT/2000EST. Agh.

10:51 / 19.03.03

The coalition according to the BBC:

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan

(I find it very odd that countries like Afghanistan, Albania and Eritrea are included. How much military support can Eritrea give? I can see why they're professing support (aid money), but when they brag of their coalition, it's not really any major powers....)

We're The Great Old Ones Now

10:56 / 19.03.03

That's like the invite list to the premier of a very bad movie.

ONLY NICE THINGS

11:50 / 19.03.03

Macedonia? DUDE!

Rumours that Tariq Aziz has defected...not sure how accurate yet...

12:27 / 19.03.03

Further - there are unconfirmed reports that Tariq Aziz has been shot dead.

12:45 / 19.03.03

Meanwhile UK foreign office is seeking to verify Tariq Aziz's possible defection

14:01 / 19.03.03

Eritrea, Ethiopia & Uzbekistan are all relatively close to the region -- could be OK places (not great, but OK) to station troops and whatnot.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:04 / 19.03.03

Eritrea and Ethiopia are also, IIRC, in constant dispute over their border. To sort out these borders conclusively would, of course, require the attention of the hegemon. Therefore if one of them signs up to the coalition, the other one has to, in order to avoid losing favour in the eyes of the hegemon, whose support they hope to enlist in the favourable resolution of these border issues.

14:06 / 19.03.03

in which case, where is Armenia?

We're The Great Old Ones Now

15:38 / 19.03.03

Ari Fleischer is even now explaining that the financial support deal offered to Turkey was contingent on full support, and that since that has not been given, the package will be different. In other words, Turkey's support is a direct purchase.

15:39 / 19.03.03

One of the U.S.'s "major" allies, Spain, is not offering any ground troops, and will only activate the Spanish air force if Turkey is attacked.

17:19 / 19.03.03

Mass desertions—up to three quarters of some regiments—among Iraqi soldiers, especially in the North. And "[i]n 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."

And an important defection: Saddam's closest advisor (and half-brother), Sab'awi Ibrahim Hasan Al-Tikriti, has defected, seeking refuge in Damascus.

17:29 / 19.03.03

Bahrain offers exile to Saddam

The king of the Persian Gulf state of Bahrain has offered "safe exile" to Saddam, saying he hopes the Iraqi leader "would seriously consider this offer before the onset of war," the government-run Bahrain News Agency said Wednesday.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa "announced that Bahrain is willing to accommodate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, if he wishes to reside here, with dignity and without disgrace to Iraq."

The king said that Bahrain's initiative "comes as part of its nationalistic responsibilities, toward ensuring security and stability in the region, in order to avoid war on Iraq and its people."

(Jack's note: though this is the first official, overground offer of asylum for Saddam, rumor mill says private overtures have been made by several other gov'ts in the region.)

17:41 / 19.03.03

From the mass desertion article: it is estimated that 73 per cent of the regular Iraqi army in the south of the country has already made up its mind to surrender to British and US troops.

Seems a bit high an hard to estimate? I hope they're right of course, but... Oddly enough, all Yahoo news had was "17 Iraqi soldiers surrender"

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:01 / 19.03.03

Large airstrikes already- but afaik all in the "no fly zone" still.

odd jest on horn

20:48 / 19.03.03

from the Grauniad:

Meanwhile, the Iraqi deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, appeared at a press conference in Baghdad to quash rumours that he had defected to northern Iraq, or been shot while trying to flee.

Goodness Gracious Meme

21:05 / 19.03.03

Think this was C4 News this afternoon, but there were rumours of US troops in dialogue over a surrender from troops in Southern Iraq.

Which would imply that they were in the country to engage in that dialogue.

04:13 / 20.03.03

My html is more than a bit rusty. How do I put up links again?

http://www.paknews.com/main.php?id=3&date1=2003-03-20

LONDON, UK: Mar 20 (PNS) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has, had a sigh of relief as he won a majority vote in the House of Commons Tuesday night backing use of force to disarm Saddam Hussein of his weapons of mass destruction.

04:39 / 20.03.03

3 dozen cruise missles fired, Saddam was the target. U>S> hopes to have control of Iraq radio and tv within 24 hours. Saddam calls on every Iraqi to draw their sword on Iraqi tv.

04:54 / 20.03.03

To the Conversation?

odd jest on horn

06:40 / 20.03.03

Conversation should get it's butt over here :-)

07:09 / 20.03.03

Any news on what the missiles hit? BBC Baghdad correspondent said he heard only a couple of explosions in the capital.

08:46 / 20.03.03

The official collaborative blog of the BBC correspondents for gulf war II

We're The Great Old Ones Now

13:35 / 20.03.03

1535 (london)

BBC reporting 'considerable bombardment' of southern Iraq.

Kuwait City gets all clear after chemical/biological alert.

14:05 / 20.03.03

Reports of iraqi oil fields on fire

14:12 / 20.03.03

Rumsfeld is at the podium right now, addressing his remarks to the Iraqi military—warning them what not to do, exhorting them not to fight for a corrupt regime, warning them not to use chem/bio weapons, burn oil fields, etc.

"You will have a place in a free Iraq if you act with honor..."

Warning Iraqi civilians to stay in their homes, not go to work, and keep clear of military areas: instructing civilians not to flee the country, assuring them that humanitarian aid is on its way to Iraq.

Explicitly saying coalition forces will stay in Iraq "not a day longer" than is necessary to hand control over "to Iraqis" (not explicitly a civilian or democratic government, I note.)

14:13 / 20.03.03

And now the standard "loose lips sink ships" message.

14:16 / 20.03.03

Turkish parliment approves US overflights.

14:17 / 20.03.03

still no confirmation on the bbc radio report on iriqi oil fiels on fire...

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