Article

2003-03-19 Iraq

âThe War Has Startedâ -- Allied troops in firefight in/near Basra

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Posted by jrosevear 2003-03-19 12:42 pm|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 A post on Little Green Footballs says that local children spotted B-52's taking off from RAF Fairford at 1:08 PM EST (6:08 PM Zulu time, 9:08 PM theatre time). Here we go...

Posted by Joe 2003-03-19 13:15:29|| 2003-03-19 13:15:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Damn--things like this always remind me of that scene in "Blackhawk Down" with the little kid holding up the cell phone as the choppers fly over.

Guess we'll find out if this is it soon enough...

Posted by Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-19 13:24:34|| 2003-03-19 13:24:34|| Front Page Top

#3 Taking off and not flying over my house, dammit! Didn't hear a thing...

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-19 13:33:41|| 2003-03-19 13:33:41|| Front Page Top

#4 Roughly 6 hrs flight time to target. That's put it on-site at around midnight, Baghdad time.

Posted by mojo 2003-03-19 13:57:16|| 2003-03-19 13:57:16|| Front Page Top

#5 Alright...an off topic and possibly crazy post.

This idea was prompted by viewing a photo of an Iraqi soldier manning a machine gun on the roof of a Baghdad building.

Would it be impossible to field a kevlar dirigible with a bullet-proof firing platform for snipers to use over Baghdad? This would give our snipers a stable and safe firing platform from which to pick off Iraqi snipers.

Presumably after the first wave of airstrikes, a majority of Baghdad's anti-aircraft weapons will be disabled. Even if said Iraqi snipers were to subsequently move inside, wouldn't infrared scopes help us to acquire targets inside buildings? Even better, just the knowledge that we had such a thing would hasten the surrender of hard-liners in and around Baghdad.

I know I know...sounds crazy...but anything to save our troops from urban warfare...

Posted by mjh 2003-03-19 14:14:33|| 2003-03-19 14:14:33|| Front Page Top

#6 maybe this is why you did not hear anything:

Sources Contradict Reports Of B-52s Leaving U.K.
Mar 19, 2003

Stratfor sources near the Fairford air base in the United Kingdom contradicted earlier reports, saying B-52 bombers have not yet left the base. The sources also say they have not been armed

Posted by scott 2003-03-19 16:12:18|| 2003-03-19 16:12:18|| Front Page Top

#7 As it turns out, it was a false alarm regarding those B-52's. Bret Baier of Fox News reported just a couple of minutes ago that those bombers aren't on a combat mission, they're being moved to forward bases in Southern Europe (possibly Romania or Bulgaria.) Looks like we'll have to wait just a little bit longer.

Posted by Joe 2003-03-19 17:10:30|| 2003-03-19 17:10:30|| Front Page Top

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