Our goal is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused. If you find something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". Welcome!
TO IRAQ...
On the Battlefield
Free bus rides for Palestinian terrorists headed to Iraq. You've got to see this one to believe it... definite Darwin Award potential.
I've been meaning to post this link, but it wasn't working until now. Oxblog has a very good post re: allied war strategy to date. Compare and contrast with Kos' post of analysis from "Officer X".
Reports coming in that the big fight may be starting near Karbala. Truth is, we can't truly know whether it's a series of skirmishes or the Republican Guard's last stand until tomorrow at the earliest. These BBC blog entries are certainly suggestive, though. (Hat Tip: The Agonist)
More good analysis of the coming fight here.
"War in the Houses of Ali" looks at the battle from a different perspective, giving some background on Ali and the sites in Karbala and Najaf venerated by Shias everywhere. From Saddam's strategy to history to battlefield reports.
An interactive satellite map of Nasariyah. Very cool.
Speaking of Nasariyah, Trent has more details and some thoughts on the Jessica Lynch POW rescue.
Fierce fighting in Ad-Diwaniyah beyween Marines and Iraqi forces after what appears to have been a bait-and-draw operation.
This isn't on all maps, so for Ad-Diwaniyah, imagine a town of 25,000-100,000 about 25 miles E of Najaf. Hilliah and then Hindiyah lie to the NW, and Samawah sits to the SE about half way to Nasariyah.
A great map of Basra, incl. British positions. (Hat Tip: Acepilots.com)
STRATFOR with an analysis of the Basra situation. And the British commander with his stated views.
Sgt. Eugene Williams, one of 4 Marines killed in a suicide bomb near Najaf the other day.
Two American soldiers just spent a week stranded and forgotten in the Iraqi desert. Great story, exemplary conduct.
Flit has a good post on "The Mixed Blessings of the M-1 Tank." In its element, the M-1 is a class above. But it comes with some limitations, too, as Flit explains.
Given reports of Iraqi preparations to use chemical weapons, see "Devils in the Details" at Techcentralstation.com. It's my analysis of Saddam's chemical and biological options on the battlefield, and an honest look at both allied weaknesses and potential responses.
Beyond the Battlefield
Everything you need to know about the 4th Infantry division, now arriving in Kuwait, and how it's getting there.
The Winds of Change.NET consolidated directory of ways you can support the troops. Now international, with some links for Brits and Australians! Anyone out there with more information, incl. the Poles and Czechs? [updated April 1, 2003]
Peter Arnett: Isn't It Ironic?
Instapundit with a post on the crack-up of the "anti-war" movement, at least in America. Something that's even being acknowledged by many on the Left these days. As the saying goes, folks - "this is a dead parrot!"
What if we had the U.N. on side instead? Eugene Volokh makes a compelling case that our situation would be significantly worse. (Hat Tip: Instapundit)
"A democracy that immediately self-destructs after the first election, a la Algeria, or that merely lends popular sanction to blundering bellicosity at home and abroad, a la Pakistan, is of little use to its people or the world at large. How, then, to tame the inherent instability of popular choice? How do we curb the all-too-likely extremes?" Tacitus offers some thoughts on Islam & Liberty.
Oxblog with a good post on "Celebrity Occupation," and the tug of wars between the U.S. State Department, Defense Department, and 10 Downing St.
Seems Kanan Makiya's suggestion is finally being listened to. The Department of Defense has asked the Iraqi National Congress to find 250 Iraqi expat volunteers willing to return to Iraq on 48 hours' notice. Recruiting has begun in a number of U.S. cities, and the slots are reportedly filling quickly. These people could really help.
Charles Freud of Reason Magazine has a very good post that examines recent military press coverage, and also notes that "The debates that emerge from negative press stories are not a distraction, they are a necessity." You would prefer Al-Jazeera instead? But even there, he notes, there's some hope for the future. (Hat Tip: Matt Welch)
AND BEYOND...
We're not seeing Ledeen's nightmare scenario or anything, but Tacitus is concerned about developments in Syria and Iran vis-a-vis Iraq.
"A Vile Business" by Iraq Watch, looks at the shady dealings that many companies have conducted with Saddam's regime to help him create and deliver his worst weapons.
More background on Egyptian democracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim's freedom. To Canada's credit, MP Irwin Cotler of the governing Liberal Party acted as his lawyer, and helped prepare the appeal that finally resulted in Dr. Ibrahim's freedom. Want to thank Irwin Cotler yourself?
"Toxic Terror Tick-Tock" looks at the issue of terrorists with biochemical weapons: the past, our present, and possible futures.
I try to close on a more humourous note if possible. "Janeane Garofalo To Be Lowered Into Shredder" is an appropriately satirical riff on a world in which lefty moral equivalence theories described reality.
# Instapundit with a post ... As the saying goes, folks - "this is a dead parrot!"
Nitpick: That should be "THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"
A longer excerpt:
"C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"
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