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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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**Special edition of Hardball 6:30-8 pm et tonight on MSNBC**
Chris will anchor special live coverage of Operation: Iraqi Freedom on MSNBC tonight
beginning at 6:30 pm et...We'll bring you the latest from The military field of
operations, The Pentagon, The White House, The skies over Baghdad and wherever and
whenever news breaks....
In between that.....
Tonight we'll talk to former Vietnam Vet/Navy Seal and Senator Bob Kerrey
-New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman about his new documentary "Searching for the
Roots of 9/11" and Arab world reaction to the war
-MSNBC military analysts Barry McCaffrey and Bill Arkin on the latest military
developments and the current strategy...
-Lt. Col. Rick Francona, U.S. Air Force, (retired) and MSNBC Middle East analyst, plus
Dr. Jerrold Post, George Washington University's Director of Political Psychology
Program on Saddam's mind and what his next move might be...
-Col. Danny McKnight-U.S. Army (retired); commanded convoy that got lost in Mogadishu
during Blackhawk Down incident...He'll discuss the perils of urban warfare and his
advice for ground troops who may soon enter Baghdad...
-Tony and Dallek will do Bush's leadership style based roughly on Johnny Apple's piece
in the Times today...
-There's also a good chance Senator Rick Santorum will drop by to weigh in on things...
Did I remind you that we air live at 6:30 to 8 pm et tonight on MSNBC?
Plus, MSNBC's Michael Savage will give us his take on the war and the media's coverage
of it...
Complete Iraq coverage http://iraq.msnbc.com
If you have a buddy or family member you care deeply about and feel they should be
receiving this Briefing, send 'em this link
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Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC...
At this hour...Basra in Chaos...
-ITV News reporting the British military claim there is a popular uprising in Basra.
-BRITISH MILITARY SPOKESMAN SAYS FORCES KILLED TOP BAATH PARTY
OFFICIAL IN BASRA
DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL TELLS NBC NEWS THAT THERE ARE "CIVIL DISTURBANCES IN THE
WESTERN SECTOR OF BASRA, AS MUCH DIRECTED AGAINST US AND BRITISH FORCES AS AGAINST THE
GOVERNMENT"
IN FACT, HE POINTS OUT THAT THE BRITISH SOLDIER KILLED TODAY IN THE BASRA SUBURB OF AZ
ZUBAYR WAS KILLED IN A RIOT WITH IRAQI CIVILIANS.
MORTARS ARE BEING FIRED BY IRAQI MILITARY UNITS TOWARDS THE WESTERN SUBURBS AS BRITISH
FORCES TIGHTEN THE NOOSE.
THE OFFICIAL HAS NO MORE INFORMATION TO CORROBORATE THAT THERE ARE INTENTIONAL STRIKES
ON CIVILIANS OTHER THAN MORTAR SSTRIKES INTO THOSE SUBURBS WHERE BRITISH FORCES ARE
OPERATING.
THE OFFICIAL SAYS THAT US INTELLIGENCE NOW ESTIMATES AS MANY AS 8,000 IRAQI IRREGULARS
ARMED INSIDE BASRA AS WELL AS ELEMENTS OF A BRIGADE OF THE 51ST MECHANIZED
DIVISION...ABOUT 3,000 MEN.
British troops are said to be firing on Basra in support of a "popular uprising"
against Saddam Hussein's troops by the people of Iraq's second city, according to
military sources. (ITV News) http://www.itv.com/news/466525.html
-Per NBC News producer, Babak Behnam: bright flashes northeast of Kirkuk, Northern
Iraq
-Secretary of Defense Rumseld says coalition forces have taken over 3,500 Iraqi
prisoners
A swirling sandstorm grounded combat helicopters and slowed U.S. forces as they
advanced to within 50 miles of Baghdad on Tuesday, but officials insisted the
coalition was on schedule as it hammered Republican Guard targets around the capital
with artillery and more than 1,400 air strikes. http://www.msnbc.com/news/870749.asp
"Coalition forces are on plan," Air Force Maj. Gen. Gen Victor Renuart said at a press
briefing at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar. "It's been not a
terribly comfortable day on the battlefield" because of sandstorms that limited
visibility and tormented the troops. "However, that hasn't stopped us." (The
Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22911-2003Mar25.html
Sandstorms slowed U.S. and British forces to a crawl and thwarted air missions Tuesday
as U.S.-led forces edged closer to the Iraqi capital. Baghdad residents, hunkered down
for an eventual battle, woke to howling winds and the distant crash of artillery (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20030325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_rdp
President: 'We will prevail'...Following a briefing by Pentagon officials, President
Bush on Tuesday said coalition forces are "on a steady advance" in Iraq while
cautioning that no one knows how long the war will last.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/842500_asp.htm
Ricks Analysis: WashPost: Unfolding battle holds key to war...The battle now beginning
between U.S. forces and the Republican Guard's Medina Division to the southwest of
Baghdad promises to be a decisive engagement that signals whether the new Gulf War
will be over in a week or two or drag on for a month or more.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/890280.asp
As U.S. soldiers and Marines swiftly advance toward Baghdad, British forces left
behind to man the checkpoints, control the roads and occupy the cities here in
southern Iraq say the military campaign for them has taken on the feel of a Northern
Ireland-style guerrilla war. (The Washington Post)
http://msnbc.com/news/890299_asp.htm?0cv=CB10
Bush seeks $75 billion in war funds...Some of the money would go to local
anti-terrorism efforts http://www.msnbc.com/news/884208.asp?0dm=N17LN
With the Pentagon now rushing thousands of troops from Texas to the Persian Gulf, a
number of seasoned Gulf War ground commanders said yesterday that the U.S. invasion
force moving rapidly to Baghdad is too small and should have included at least one
additional heavy Army division. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21450-2003Mar24.html
Iraqi state television on Monday showed two men said to have been the U.S. crew of an
Apache helicopter forced down during heavy fighting in central Iraq. U.S. defense
officials confirmed the identities of the two men, after notifying their families.
Gen. Tommy Franks, the U.S. war commander, had earlier confirmed that one helicopter
did not return from a mission Sunday, and that its two-man crew was missing.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/889604_asp.htm
The United States, eager for stability in northern Iraq to marshal a possible second
front against Baghdad, apparently failed on Tuesday to talk Turkey out of sending
troops into the Kurdish-controlled area (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2446457
A U.S. F-16 fighter plane accidentally fired on a Patriot missile battery in southern
Iraq, a spokeswoman at Central Command forward headquarters in Qatar said on Tuesday.
(Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2445549
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it had made a proposal to end the U.S.-led war on Iraq
and was still awaiting a response, but it was not immediately clear whether it had
launched a formal initiative (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2445988
Slate's Saletan reports on the use of Iraqi civilians as human shields
http://slate.msn.com/id/2080606/#terrorism
U.S. allows broadcasts to continue Pentagon wants to use networks to keep eye on enemy
leadership (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030325/4986188s.htm
Covert mission aims to find intelligence agency's files...The United States has begun
a covert mission to acquire Iraq's intelligence archives and has contacted members of
Baghdad's notorious Iraqi Intelligence Service (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030325-20592142.htm
Gertz: Bush presses Putin to stop arms sales...President Bush yesterday called on
Russia's government to investigate and halt arms shipments to Iraq from Russian
companies. http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030325-16180735.htm
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will visit President Bush this week, giving the two
allied leaders a chance to plot strategy in the war with Iraq and plan for its
aftermath. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=540&ncid=703&e=4&u=/ap/20030325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_bush_blair
MSNBC was first to report the beginning of hostilies with a briefing from Peter Arnett
to NBC's Tom Brokaw. From his hotel room in Al Rashid, Arnett reported of air raid
sirens sounding off at around 9:30 p.m., and sounds of explosions in Baghdad. Read
Peter's latest Diary entry (NBC) http://www.msnbc.com/news/883204.asp
NBC News has obtained a copy of a message from the al-Qaida terrorist network to
Muslims in Iraq, a message that is, in effect, a military playbook on how to defeat
Americans. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_email.asp?/news/890282.asp
U.S. officials say the Iraqi leadership has drawn "a red line" around the map of
Baghdad and once American troops cross it Iraqi Republican Guards have been authorized
to use chemical weapons, CBS reported on Monday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=2440262
Department of Defense officials said on Monday that no evidence of chemical weapons
production had been found at a facility close to the southern Iraqi town of Najaf
occupied by US forces on Sunday. (Financial Times)
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313098973
U.S. and British military experts searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
are certain they will find the "smoking gun" that will vindicate the U.S.-led
invasion, a planning team commander said on Tuesday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2446275
Relief progress in Basra and key port...Civilians in southern Iraq could see some
relief as Red Cross experts on Tuesday got permission to fix a water treatment plant
and coalition forces said humanitarian shipments should start arriving in two days.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/887467.asp
Candidates tangle over Iraq...John Edwards and John Kerry dispute deception
accusations by Howard Dean. (Des Moines Register)
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c2229999/20828383.html
Division on war imperils Democrats...Democrats remain so divided over the U.S. war in
Iraq that some of the party's advisers privately fear it could damage its prospects in
the 2004 election. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030325-46290503.htm
No more Coca-Cola or Budweiser, no Marlboro, no American whiskey or even American
Express cards -- a growing number of restaurants in Germany are taking everything
American off their menus to protest the war in Iraq (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=PPEJRY2HPWRFECRBAEZSFEY?type=focusIraqNews&storyID=2446136
Opinion/Editorial
Who's violating the Geneva Convention?...Did the broadcast by Iraqi TV of the five
American POWs violate the Geneva Convention, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has
alleged? Slate's Jack Shafer explores.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/890153.asp
Landfield: Nicaraguan Controversy Reminds Us...How Lucky We Are To Be American
http://www.practicalpolitics.net/landfield/3_25_03.html
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