It's over.

Inspectors given 24hrs to get out and Bush is to speak to the nation tonight at 8pm EST.

Good day for a drink, won''t you say!!!

Besides it was unavoidable, and pretty much everyone knew that Bush will call for WAR no matter what... I just think he took his sweet time to do it! Even though I'm not in support of it!

Dear God don''t let us screw this up.

God speed the allies. The only way home is through Baghdad and I''d sure as HELL hate to stand in-between an American or Royal marine trying to get home..

VI day (Victory in Iraq) should be within 2 ½ weeks on the outside. I have mixed emotions about this because a lot of people on both sides are going to die horribly. Having said that, I realized today the die is cast and it's time to do the job and smash Saddam so bad it becomes legendary.

God bless the American, British, Aussies and everyone else about to go into battle. And God protect the innocent on both sides.

So...do you think it will start during the national news hour again this time? I still remember where I was sitting when the last Gulf War started. I was watching the news with my Dad when they cut to breaking news in Bagdad. Tracer fire into the night sky.

I can''t even bring myself to imagine the effects, short term and long term of this war. We''re only a couple hundred years old and we''re all up in everyone''s face. Now that it looks like a done deal, I can only pray for a quick resolution and minimal casualties. I hope General Franks has some clearly defined goals so the U.S. will know when this is over. Any drawn out conflict will hurt the Iraqi civilians more than any ""regime"". As we inch closer to conflict, keep posting and sounding off. The international gamers here provide a viewpoint we Americans are likely to hear less and less of in any U.S. media when things start up. Thank you all for keeping tempers in check. It helps make your opinions all the more valid.

I must say that I''m not happy with this. Without U.N. backing, the validity of any aggressiveness on the part of the U.S. will definately be in question by the rest of the civlized world. I can see no reason why the U.S. is rushing into this, other than the fact that Bush needs to further distract us from our own domestic problems. I''m usually proud to me an American, but right now I''m no so sure.

"Veloxi" wrote:

I must say that I''m not happy with this. Without U.N. backing, the validity of any aggressiveness on the part of the U.S. will definately be in question by the rest of the civlized world. I can see no reason why the U.S. is rushing into this, other than the fact that Bush needs to further distract us from our own domestic problems. I''m usually proud to me an American, but right now I''m no so sure.

Have you looked back at the history of the UN? The UN is not some great institute. Out of the 25 conflicts that have taken place since the UN only two have been sanctioned by the UN, Gulf War 1 and the Korean War. The UN is a joke. Clinton took preemptive military action against a few nations and no one cared that he didn''t go to congress or the UN.

A rush to war? This has been going on for twelve years and we've been talking about it for over a year. This has been anything but a rush to war. Clinton rushed us to war (which I agreed with) many more times than Bush has.

The rest of the civilized world? Well France isn't acting so civilized in Africa. The French threatened the veto is the reason the UN didn't back it. The "undecided" nations said they would vote with us until France threatened to use the Veto.

Be against the war but don''t fall in to those traps.

Ulari, I agree with you on these points, but I suppose what I''m trying to say is that I, like many others, am not convinced that another war with Iraq is necessary. We have so many problems that need to fixed here at home, yet Bush is willing to spend billions of dollars that our states could use for education and health care on foreign aid packages and military spending. I''m just disgusted with where this is going.

"Veloxi" wrote:

Ulari, I agree with you on these points, but I suppose what I''m trying to say is that I, like many others, am not convinced that another war with Iraq is necessary. We have so many problems that need to fixed here at home, yet Bush is willing to spend billions of dollars that our states could use for education and health care on foreign aid packages and military spending. I''m just disgusted with where this is going.

That''s fine. I respect that point of view.

Turkey to allow US troops.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...

Amazing how the fence sitters will start to shift now.

Maybe they''re offering it just to delay the war another 2-3 weeks.

So...do you think it will start during the national news hour again this time? I still remember where I was sitting when the last Gulf War started. I was watching the news with my Dad when they cut to breaking news in Bagdad. Tracer fire into the night sky.

When the last gulf war started I was in the good old USA, I was on a year long student exchange trip, I was sitting down in the den with the rest of the family watching a movie when it cut to the news.

I just hope that even if you don''t support the war, you support the guys who are going to fight it.

Support here in the UK is starting to swing Blairs way, not because people support him but they do support the troops and now that it''s inevitable people just want to get it over with. It remains to be seen wether or not he survives politically or not, that all depends on how well the war goes....

"kegboy" wrote:

I just hope that even if you don''t support the war, you support the guys who are going to fight it.

Damn right, I don''t want our guys and gals fighting in an unjust war, but if they have to fight, may they help keep the war quick and decisive.

To quote the great John Madden: ""Victory is the best deoderant.""

Let us hope that things will be more clearer after the war than the mind games leading up to the war...

We can hope can''t we?

I just hope that even if you don''t support the war, you support the guys who are going to fight it.

Very well put! I think we probably all know someone, through a friend or relative that is participating in this.

"Kegboy" wrote:

I just hope that even if you don''t support the war, you support the guys who are going to fight it.

That''s not a question. Of course I support the troops out there, even though I do not agree with how this turned out.

VI day (Victory in Iraq) should be within 2 ½ weeks on the outside.

Let''s hope the situation post war turns out better than it currently is in Afghanistan and that we don''t see any unpleasant surprises during and after the war.

The sad thing is, is that it isn''t over. It''s just begun. As Gandalf said, ''Not even the very wise can see all ends.''

Have we rushed into this war? No. As others have said, we''ve given Saddam twelve years. It''s unfortunate because we''ve let the Iraqi people suffer for those years. It never should have gotten to this point.

This was a time for action, and Bush acted. The ball''s in Saddam''s court at this point: there is no win, there is just losing gracefully, or losing shamefully. My gut feeling is that Saddam will opt for the latter, and many people will suffer for it.

May this war be as quick and clean as possible. I fully support Bush and Blair at this point. This war will be telling for many reasons, not the least of which, the future of the U.N. If things go our way, the U.N. may get a large-scale shake-up, because France is certainly not in good standing with us anymore.