The war has begun.
I’m watching CNN — the US has started to bomb Iraq.
Air raid sirens heard in Baghdad, and a cruise missile strike has apparently occurred. Ari Fleischer has announced, “The disarmament of Iraq has begun.”
The ABC reports that Explosions rock Baghdad, jets overhead:
A handful of explosions have rocked Baghdad at dawn as jets roared overhead, Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries opened up and air raid sirens sounded.
The blasts appeared to come from the southern suburbs.
CNN has said that cruise missiles were fired at a “target of opportunity”. US officials have also described it as a “leadership target” and something that has not suddenly appeared but that they’ve known about and planned to target for some time.
CNN is now speculating that further cruise missile strikes might presently be occuring on other “targets of opportunity”. Anti-aircraft guns are being fired intermittently against something the journalists can’t see or hear.
The Age has more detail on the bombings:
Reuters correspondent Nadim Ladki … heard two or three explosions, followed by a similar number at about 5:30am local time, an hour and a half after a US deadline for war on Saddam Hussein had passed.
The earlier air strikes, claimed by the Coalition of the Willing (CoW) to be nothing more than routine enforcement of the no-fly zone, were clearly the real beginning of the war. They were clearing a path for this bombing.
The CNN website has finally caught up with its broadcast.
Dubya is on now: “On my orders, Coalition forces have begun striking selected targets…” He’s softening us up for civilian casualties, blaming Saddam Hussein. Campaign could be longer and more difficult than some predict. Requires sustained commitment. No ambition but to restore control to Iraqi people. America is praying with you. For your sacrifice (ie, when we kill you in order to free you), you have the gratitude of the American people. Invoking 9-11.
The speech took about four minutes.
CNN has been told that it was a “decapitation strike” aimed at killing Saddam Hussein or his senior leadership. Or to frighten them. Now they’re saying the strike was not the start of the war, which seems ridiculous given Bush’s speech.
Sky News is showing Alexander Downer speaking in Parliament. He’s talking about getting people out of Iraq. It’s just Question Time, though, so it’s not really a speech.
NBC has those annoying tickers running across the bottom, so I’m not going to bother with it.
Tim Blair notes that Fox is reporting that the US have hijacked Iraqi airwaves and are broadcasting, “his is the day you have been waiting for.” Sean Paul backs up the story with a CNN report. But some of his readers contradict him, and he’s updated again. (He has excellent coverage, so I’ll stop now.)
NB: This post will be updated occasionally.