Guest TheMikeSC Report post Posted March 19, 2003 "THE first shots of the war have been fired, killing at least one Iraqi during a suspected operation to mine the waters off Kuwait. But that opening skirmish is about to be dwarfed by the most formidable military assault in modern warfare: 250,000 British and American troops — backed by more than 1,000 aircraft, 400 tanks and a 110-strong armada — are poised to unleash their awesome power on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq the moment the order is given. The first clash occurred in the mouth of the Khawr al-Zubayr river, a few miles south of the port of Umm Qasr, when a Kuwaiti gunboat challenged a flotilla of about 25 Iraqi dhows. The boats failed to respond and the Kuwaitis opened fire. It was unclear whether the dhows had laid any mines. The Royal Navy has four mine counter-measure vessels in the Gulf which were searching the waterway last night. Tensions in the waters off Iraq are running high and coalition ships are alert to the threat of mines and terrorist strikes. A British ship escorting Royal Navy and US minesweepers was threatened yesterday while at anchor in the northern Gulf. A cargo vessel, feared to be on an al-Qaeda suicide mission, came within 800 yards of RFA Sir Bedivere during a tense hour-long stand-off. Crew members trained two machineguns on the 500-tonne ship, The stand-off ended only when it was driven away by the heavily armed USS Ardent." -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted March 19, 2003 Where do you get this from? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheMikeSC Report post Posted March 19, 2003 Where do you get this from? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-...-615748,00.html -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted March 19, 2003 So the Kuwaiti's fired the first shots. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tyler McClelland Report post Posted March 19, 2003 Why is that bad news, Mike? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheMikeSC Report post Posted March 19, 2003 Why is that bad news, Mike? Because war is never a good thing. You, as so many "pro-peace" people out there, seem to think that people like me, who realize that war is an unfortunate necessity, LIKE war. Perhaps it's moral arrogance. Fact is, I WISH war was not necessary. Not a soul here LIKES war and actively wants it. Not one single person. But some of us realize that bad things are, occasionally, necessary things. In this case, it is. It won't be a huge problem for us, but I don't like seeing anybody suffer. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Tyler McClelland Report post Posted March 19, 2003 Fair enough. I don't think it's necessarily bad news myself, however. The war is destined to start some time. I'm not hearing confirmation on CNN, Faux, or MSNBC, though. I wonder if it will be reported soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vern Gagne Report post Posted March 19, 2003 It sounds like Kuwait acted on their own. That could be wrong, but the official start of the war won't be until Allied planes launch attacks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
