Posted: 3/5/2003 6:17:36 PM EDT
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I think (read hope), that we're hours away from liberating Iraq. U.S. Orders Two Iraqi Diplomats to Leave Associated Press UNITED NATIONS - The United States has ordered two Iraqi diplomats to leave the country, Iraq's U.N. ambassador said Wednesday. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the two men were ordered out of the United States because their behavior was in contradiction to their diplomatic status. This is the usual diplomatic language that refers to spying. Al-Douri said the men were informed of the expulsion order Tuesday at 6 p.m. EST and were given 72 hours to leave the United States. "They are the security personnel of the mission, the guards," the ambassador told The Associated Press. "They are living in the basement of the (Iraqi) mission." The men have the ranks of attaches but are not on the list of personnel accredited to the United Nations, Al-Douri said. "They have nothing to do with the United Nations," he said. "They are there for security reasons, to guard the mission." The U.S. State Department announced the expulsions in a statement issued in Washington. "The United States has requested the departure of two attaches from the Iraq Mission to the United Nations. Nazih Abdul Latif Rahman and Yehia Naeem Suaoud have been asked to depart by midnight March 7," it said. "The two attaches were engaged in activities outside the scope of their official function. Federal law enforcement authorities deemed the activities to be harmful to our national security." |
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Let me asked the miltary guys here...what does this mean? Subject: Security Update - Key Leaders - 3 MAR 03 Summary of Daily Update: FORCE PROTECTION CONDITIONS: NO CHANGE THREAT LEVEL CHANGES: NONE TSI / SIR Reporting: One SIR SECURITY AREAS OF INTEREST: CENTCOM AOR, IS/PA < What is SIR and TSI?? |
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I saw the news conference featuring Hans Blix today, immediately followed by Colin Powell's news conference. Blix is scheduled to present a progress report to the UN Security Council this Friday. Blix's comments implied that the Iraqis' are either recalcitrant or incapable of providing evidence adequate to prove their claims of destroying the weapons at issue. Judging by Powell's tone and comments, it's obvious (to me, at least) that we're done waiting for "inspections" to produce material results in disarming Iraq. After Blix's report to the UN on Friday, my guess is that Powell will make his case (noncompliance with UN resolutions = military action) to the UN one last time to sway any who might still be "on the fence." We will then thumb our noses at the UN's unwillingness to act, make some formal declaration concerning the impotence of the UN to protect its member nations from tyranny, and act without the UN's "blessing" to remove Saddam. The fireworks will begin this weekend, boys ... hope y'all have plenty of refreshments to sustain you through the many hours you'll spend glued to the tube! Lookout Saddam, there's a high-velocity projectile headed your way with your name inscribed on it ... could be as small as 55 gr. or as large as 2000 lbs. Doesn't matter - you probably won't see it comin'. |
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Quoted: Nah. I am betting the Turkey thing set us back weeks if not months. We will see... I have a feeling that if the Turkish issue is not solved by next week, Turkey will be out one very large aid package, and our troops will be back on ship, heading for the Gulf... So, how long does it take for troopships to sail around Saudi??? |
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The 101st's equipment should be arriving now. I think they'll be ready to go next week, and will go within two weeks. Most likely late next week. I suspect the bombing campaign and invasion will be simultaneous. There's a RG division in southern Iraq that will be made an example of. If the 3rd ID launches it will probably take a day or two to get to them, and they can be bombed during that time. It's important to keep the initiative in something like this, so Iraq is so preoccupied it can't launch WMD or terror attacks. |