BLOOD-BY-BLOOD: Your cut out and keep BBC News email stuff...
27-03-03 06.27GMT Arrival of first ship with aid for Iraq delayed 24 hours by mines.
09.12 American and Iraqi forces engaged in heavy fighting in and around the town of Samawah in central Iraq.
16.37 US President Bush and UK Prime Minister Blair say they will seek UN resolutions to secure humanitarian relief and an "appropriate post-war administration" for Iraq.
28-03-03 10.28 British military officials say Iraqi forces opened fire on around 2,000 civilians trying to leave city of Basra.
17.37 The United Nations has launched an urgent appeal for $2.2bn to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq.
19.03 At least 30 people are reported to have been killed and many more injured by an explosion at a Baghdad market.
23.32 A British soldier has been killed and three others injured in a "friendly fire"
incident in southern Iraq, reports say.
29-03-03 09.42 A suicide bomber has killed five American soldiers north of the city of Najaf in central Iraq, US military officials say.

 
QUICKLY UNINTERESTED: We were thinking that BBC News 24 had hamstrung itself by committing itself to War, War, Only War for the duration, and imagined that they'll be hoping for a Big Domestic News Event which will let them slowly move from the permanent war footing without anyone really noticing; certainly last night it was curious the onscreen chatter was suggesting that the hijacked Turkish plane was connected to the Iraq War - it may turn out to be, but nobody knew at that point. But while CNN and even Euronews are still plugging away at non-stop war (weather and sport excepted) we're impressed at the shortness of C-NBC's attention span: already back to showing endless coverage of second string golf tournaments this weekend. Classy.

 
AH, SO THAT'S THE BIG IDEA, THEN: We're a little surprised that Rumsfeld's 'plan' is to sit outside Baghdad and wait for the Iraqis to rise up and overthrow Saddam - isn't leaving it all to someone else and then trooping in for the glory exactly what the US have been suggesting France was trying to do? And does Rumsfeld really believe that laying seige to a city is the best way to persuade the citizens to overthrow their leaders? What appears to have happened in Basra is that the Iraqis not in the army have been forced out into the open by starvation and the lack of water, only to be shot at by both sides.
We keep getting told that at any moment, the Iraqis are going to rise up and overthrow Saddam; when the revolution fails to materialise Blair says 'ah, but they're worried they might rise like last time and not get any support, so they're biding their time...' - so, then, under the Rumsfeld plan, American troops will be sitting outside Baghdad, waiting for Iraqis to rise up in the city. The Iraqis, meanwhile, will be sitting in the city waiting for the US to come and start the last stage of Saddam's regime. I think I can see a slight flaw here, you know...

 
FILM 2002: Clearly, there's a movie waiting somewhere in the Gulf War, struggling to get out. But while doubtless Hollywood is already hoping the fighting's over while they can still cast Clooney as a convincing soldier, if the press are to be believed, they're merely going to wind up trotting out a remake of some other war film. After all, The Times reckons the struggles for Najaf are straight out of Apocalypse Now, which must make it rather like the road to Baghdad, according to the Daily Mirror; Yahoo News shows that even the troops themselves are happy to describe their life-threatening reality by cross-referencing the movies, while CNN calls upon A'Now to describe life with the Kurdish millitia. Although the Sydney Morning Herald thinks the real point where A'Now intersects with G'war is in the Kilgore tendency of John Howard. The DC Weekly Standard tartly points out that, actually, the unit featured in the movie was the first cavalry, who aren't even in Iraq, sidelined by Rumsfeld's desire to demonstrate that the US can fight a lot more war with far fewer men than the military would have you believe.
Of course, it's not only Francis Ford Coppola's work which is being pressed into action in the acres of Gulf coverage. The Norwich Bulletin reports that Norfolk troops have requested loved ones send them DVDs of Black Hawk Down - because, of course, there's nothing like the movies for a spot of escapism from your everyday life. Having said which, Brookings Institute Iraq expert Kenneth Pollack told the Independent that he was only being "half-facetious" when he suggested that Saddam's new tactics - compared to the human shields of '91- may have been inspired by watching Black Hawk. Maybe this explains why - inevitably - Ewan's movie is another lazy reference point for field reports - such as KMSB's quote from a Lt Col that Najaf is actually like Black Hawk Down rather than Apocalypse Now. I suppose both had helicopters in, so I'm guessing the battles may also have resembled Treasure Hunt too (this could be more apt than I first thought - people - guided by an elderly man who claims specialist knowledge which you just know is being fed to him through an earpiece - drop from the sky and run around desperately hoping someone will give them a clue and allow them to move on somewhere else as quickly as possible. Rumsfeld is perfect as Kenneth Kendal, don't you think?). Reuteurs also used Black Hawk Down to describe, erm, a green apache crashing.
Then again, Stars and Stripes thinks the coverage of the war is 24 hour Saving Private Ryan. The Daily Times of Pakistan can't even be arsed to leaf through the Halliwells before concluding the market place massacre is "like a scene from any horror film" (really? any horror film? So, like Ring, then?). Closer to home, the Windsor Hights Herald even pressed The Sopranos into action to suggest that a school board sitting in judgement on kids who skipped class to protest the war were, in effect, working in much the same way as the psychologically damaged head of maffia clan. So long as everything's kept in proportion, then.

 
HERE'S A QUICK QUESTION: Since Sky and others seem to be doing a large number of those idiotic 'vote now' things (I was bemused to see Amanda Plattel suggesting the majority of the public were now pro-war on the basis of 66% of self-selecting voting viewers of Richard and Judy said so) I'd like to suggest an either or for them: Bearing in mind the Prime Minister was quick to make capital out the 'execution' of British soldiers whose families were told had died in combat, would it be more morally wrong if it turned out the Prime Minister had knowingly mislead the entire British public, or the MOD had lied to the servicemen's families?

 
FRITWATCH UPDATE: Kelly Rowland reorganises dates for September, so we can presume she's not as gloomy about the prospects for a swift end to the war as the Mirror; not as upbeat as Rumsfeld.

 
FRITWATCH: Added to the list of stars whose lilly-livered fear outweighs their need for a public to demonstrate their love, Kelly Rowland joins the other Kelly in pulling out of travelling to the dangerously positioned next-continent-along from the Iraq war.

 
I GUESS WE'RE LUCKY THEY DON'T USE POSTMAN PAT: Am I getting too soft for this war, or does anyone else think it's extraordinary that Geoff Hoon has said the two captured British POWs aren't soldiers but hired civilian drivers? The Coalition have big plans of everyone being safe, and yet they're putting untrained people into combat situations and can't even guarantee their protection.
The other curious thing about Hoon's latest round of damage limitation is his insistence that Al-Jazeera are "breaching the Geneva convention" - apparently we're at war and the Cabinet Minister in charge seems to think that a TV network is an independent state. Perhaps this is a common view in the Coalition? Maybe that explains why the Americans blew up the Al-Jazeera offices in Afghanistan that time; perhaps it wasn't a clumsy-handed bit of censorship, maybe they saw it as an attack on a beligierant state?

 
WHILE WE WERE SLEEPING: The war-in-your-inbox updates for the last thirty-six odd hours:
24.03.03 22.01 GMT Iraqi TV shows two men it says are captured US Apache helicopter pilots.
23.15 UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is flying to the United States later this week for talks with President George Bush, according to administration officials in Washington.
25.03.03 07.42 The UK military says a second British soldier has been killed in Iraq.
12.18 Tony Blair pledged the West's support to the Iraqi people, saying "this time we will not let you down."
15.52 US President George W Bush requests $74.7bn to pay for the war in which he said the US-led coalition would prevail.
17.52 UK military officials say there appears to be a popular uprising in Basra. One report says Iraqi soldiers have been firing at civilians.
21.18 Two British soldiers killed in friendly fire incident on outskirts of Basra.
26.03.03 16.32 Pictures said to show two dead British soldiers and two British prisoners of war are broadcast on Qatar-based TV.
17.22 An Iraqi armoured column of between 70-120 vehicles is seen leaving Basra, heading south-east.
19.08 US admits coalition planes attacked Iraqi missile positions in a residential Baghdad area, where 14 civilians reportedly died

 
NURSE, THE SCREENS: Radio One apparently ban Hot Hot Heat single because... it uses the word 'bandages' too much.

 
YOU WANT PROOF THAT THE RIAA IS EVIL?: The record companies are warning that buying fake Cds is the same as handing a terrorist your cash - 'your fake Cranberries CD could cost a life' they wail. Thanks to Just A Blip, you can say the same eighty percent of the major labels. Except, amusingly, EMI, who my generation were encouraged to give a hard time over when they part of the conglomerate that made the triggers for nuclear weaponry. Now they're all demerged and almost pious. [Thanks to need to know].

 
TICKITY TICKITY: War-by-email:
23.03.03 15.37 GMT US Marines say they have suffered four dead and 50 wounded in fighting in the Iraqi city of Nasiriya
24.03.03 02.57 Two British soldiers missing in southern Iraq - UK ministry of defence.
08.12 Saddam Hussein delivers an address on Iraqi television
08.32 Saddam Hussein tells Iraqi television "victory is near"
10.34 A US Apache helicopter has gone down in Iraq, a US military official confirmed, as Baghdad television showed pictures of a helicopter it says was shot down in Karbala.
16.22 The first British soldier to be killed in action has died during an operation near Al Zubayr in southern Iraq.

 
SMALL, BUT IMPORTANT TO A COMMUTER: Couldn't help but notice yesterday that Bagdad buses are nicer and less environment-damaging than most of the ones in Liverpool.

 
"EVIL WICKED MONSTER" DOES EVIL, MONSTEROUSLY WICKED THINGS - WORLD SHOCKED: While we're as nauseated as anyone by the treatment of the US POWs and especially by their apparent execution - in case you haven't got it, we don't want anyone to die - what we find inexplicable is the way the Pentagon have suddenly behaved as they've caught Cliff Richard beheading choirboys in a satanic ritual - "Saddam isn't sticking to the rules of the Geneva Convention!" they cry, as if for all the world surprised beyond belief at this. But... you have spent the last 18 months describing his regime as part of an Axis of Evil, and claiming that Saddam is capable of anything - what was it? "This man gasses his own people, who knows what he might do next?" Indeed, part of the anti-war movement has been taking their position based on the assumption that it's better to not corner the guy and find out. So, to suddenly blink in astonishment that he's not sticking to the Rule Book seems a little disingenuous to the say the least. (This is on a par, of course, with the US news networks yesterday who suggested that it was somehow beastly of the Iraqis to shoot at Americans - didn't they get the script? They're not meant to fire back).
Of course, if Saddam wants to bring himself back into the international fold, all he has to do is learn a lesson or two from Lil'George. Faced with POWs he wanted to treat against every principle of decency and fairness, he simply renamed them Detainees and removed the problem. Saddam might want to go further - why not call the POWs Business Guests; he might even get away with charging the US Army for their bed and board.
Do you know, it's funny, but I'm sure when us bleeding heart liberals suggested that one day the US might regret treating the Geneva Convention with such contempt as it'd come round and bit them in the butt, we were slagged off almost endlessly. Funny.

 
FRITWATCH: A guide to the stars deluded enough to believe they're targets, weak enough to pull the dates
Matchbox 20 have axed their European tour - not because of fears about themselves, of course, but - hey - they don't want to put their fans at risk by making them come out and see them when there's a war on. Meanwhile, the World Music Awards is being put back until October, partly because they know nobody's going to turn up at a time like this, but mainly because they've realised that all-important 3 am Thursday Morning slot on ITV has been pretty much block-booked by ITN for the duration. The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac took the decision to hold back the release of tickets for their US tours by a week - inappropriate to do something like flog rock tickets when people are preparing for combat, apparently; selling them while troops are actually being shot in the head by Iraqis doesn't seem to be so much of a problem - we reckon its a case of 'the blanket coverage will be over by then.'

 
BUT THEN...: After two or so hour's thought, Fox "decided" to show stills of the dead soldiers - presumably they hated doing it and were straining to suggest they were doing Saddam's work? Interestingly, and we don't know if it was related, EuroNews' signal got really badly corrupted yesterday evening - through the pixelation and and stuttering it looked like they were showing either stills or the entire video of captured Americans.
Fox added an "Iraq TV" caption to the still shot - erm, except the pictures clearly had come from Al Jazeera (not, of course, an Iraq station, however much Fox may think their failiure to display a fluttering stars and stripes on screen may mark them as such) and who actually shot them was still a matter of debate.

 
CHEEKY FOX: Fox News took the opportunity to snipe at Al-Jazeera's "editorial independence" because it showed the footage of the US POWs - suggesting that it was a pro-Iraqi station doing work on behalf of Saddam's propaganda programme. Fair enough, perhaps - although the thought of Fox News questioning the journalistic impartiality of anyone is a bit much. Except, a couple of minutes later, buried in the commentary, Fox reported that Al-J had pulled the footage as soon as the Pentagon asked them to... Fair and unbiased?

 
DON'T TRY TO SEE YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: The warnings that anyone trying to sneak into an American military site in the US could well end up being shot on the decision of a lowly military policeman are slightly alarming, especially with the realisation that this isn't actually a war-footing situation, but the 'use of deadly force' rule is perpetual; what is more outrageous is that signs have been going up in Britain stating 'Use of deadly force permitted'. Now, weren't we assured when the National Guard was brought on to British soil that they weren't going to be doing anything other than lending a helping hand? Yet - since, as far as we know, it's been a long time since British troops were allowed to shoot people outside of Northern Ireland on a whim - clearly the Americans have been granted far, far wider powers than we were led to believe ('asked to believe"). Gloucstershire Police have moved on a peace camp from near RAF Fairford - they were staying in pub grounds as guests of the landlady, and so not even breaking tresspass laws, but the police moved them on because it would be "safer" for them. So, then, British people in a country pub car park are considered by British police to be at risk - the risk, we can only assume, is from the soldiers who were meant to have no powers to act outside the airforce perimeter. Wasn't Iraq the country that was meant to have been invaded in all this?

 
CRIMEWATCH: Commenting on the pictures of Iraqi troops shooting into reed beds near where Iraq claims two 'coalition' airmen came down in Baghdad, Geoff someone on Sky News tutted over how "they're showing no respect for the Geneva convention" - which is a curious interpretation of the convention, that it stops you from shooting at your enemy. The most recent BBC alert, however, does suggest that Iraq is about to breach the rules by "putting captured POWs on show", which is a clear breach.
Meanwhile, there's growing calls for civilian deaths in the wars to be treated as war crimes - most recently from The Think Centre, a singapore based NGO. From the other side, Western lawyers have floated the idea that Saddam Hussein could legitimately be tried as a war criminal for any Iraqi misdeeds on the grounds that as well as head of State, he also has a formal role as head of the Iraqi armed forces. Which makes sense, but does raise the possibility that the head of American forces - Commander in Chief George Bush - and the de facto head of the British army - that would be your Queen - would also be in line for similar actions. It'd be neater for the Americans for Saddam to not be around to face charges at the end of this, then, as any legal arguments that he could be tried might prove a little uncomfortable for the White House.

 
BANG BY BANG: Again, the last twelve hours or so, as recorded by the BBC breaking news alerts:
22-03-03 13.08 GMT US and UK troops in southern Iraq say they have entered the city of Basra, the centre of the southern oilfields.
11.23 Iraqi TV reports fighting with coalition forces near Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad
23-03-03 06.32 A British RAF aircraft is missing after Iraq mission - ministry of defence.
07.57 An RAF warplane missing after a mission in the Gulf may have shot down by a US missile, the MoD says.
10.42 The Iraqi vice-president says 35 American prisoners of war have been captured and will be put on show later on Sunday.