THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS:
5 Hours to G-Day

All indications are that the ever-defiant Saddam Hussein will not take up President Bush's invitation to "get out of town," at least not by 8:00 pm EST tonite. Thus the 300,000 US, UK, and Australian troops and 1,000 warplanes amassed at his borders are now on the move.

Associated Press reporter David Crary relates the following details (Fair Use extracts in blue text; emphases via underlines added):

(March 19) -- Hours before the deadline set by President Bush, Saddam Hussein gave no sign of yielding, and long columns of U.S. armored vehicles moved through swirling Kuwaiti sandstorms Wednesday toward Iraq's border.

In Baghdad, fortified by trenches and sandbags, streets were quieter than usual, with light traffic and some shops shuttered. Saddam ordered residents to stack wood and oil barrels to be set afire in hopes of concealing targets from bombardment.

Iraq's rubber-stamp parliament, at a special session, rejected the U.S. ultimatum and reaffirmed support for Saddam. The idea that he would flee into exile ''is absolutely unthinkable,'' said Speaker Saadoon Hammadi.

Just across Iraq's southern border, U.S. and British troops piled ammunition and combat gear into fighting vehicles and broke camp, ready to invade on short notice. One major deployment involved the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division - its 20,000 soldiers and thousands of vehicles were ordered to positions close to the border.

...''We are one day closer to making history,'' Col. Michael Linnington, commander of the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade, told his officers at a briefing Wednesday morning.

...Though U.S. defense officials hope for a quick victory, with minimal casualties on both sides, they raised the possibility that Iraq would use chemical weapons. Pentagon officials said intelligence reports suggest Saddam has given field commanders authority to use such weapons.

The top American general in Kuwait, Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan, warned against any such tactics. ''It would be a hugely bad choice on the part of any Iraqi leader or commander to employ chemical weapons,'' he said.

Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said he does not believe Saddam's government would use chemical or biological weapons even as a last resort because it would turn world opinion in favor of the United States. ''Some people care about their reputation even after death,'' Blix said.

Interestingly enough, Blix does not mention that as recently as the past few months Saddam has been telling the UN Security Council and its weapons inspectors in Iraq that he does not possession chemical or biological weapons.

Obviously, as has now been established, Saddam had been lying all along. Yet Bush's critics, especially in the Democratic Party, continue on their self-deluding merry way as if nothing has changed:

....Some determined opponents of the war - including a group of black members of Congress - refused to abandon hopes for a diplomatic settlement.

''We are making one last plea not only on behalf of ourselves but on behalf of millions of people throughout our country, millions of people throughout our world,'' said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said black lawmakers had asked to meet with Bush but were rebuffed....

WINDS OF CHANGE IN IRAQ:
And Whirlwinds of Defeat for Saddam

Before this week is out the disarming of Saddam and the liberation of the Iraqi people by the coalition forces of the US, UK, and others will begin. In yesterday's edition of his End of Day e-newsletter, Gary Bauer of the Family Research Council notes that in recent days the Iraqis themselves have been protesting against Saddam despite the oppression and violence they face for doing so. He writes:

Hussein In The Crosshairs

Events are now swiftly moving toward war. The Azores "summit" resulted in the allies giving "diplomacy" one more day, but even one more month would not have mattered. France again made it clear they would veto any U.N. resolution that contained an ultimatum and without an ultimatum there is no chance Hussein would ever cooperate.

Now comes word that President Bush will address the nation tonight at 8:00 pm after briefing congressional leaders. Rumors swirling through Washington suggest that he will give Hussein 48 to 72 hours to leave Iraq. But even before the President's speech, an Iraqi spokesman said Hussein will not leave and that the only thing that will avert war is for President Bush to resign!

Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence is picking up signs that the chemical weapons Iraq doesn't have, that Blix couldn't find, and that the French insist don't matter, are being distributed to Republican Guard units around Baghdad. Speaking of Blix, he is planning on leaving Iraq tomorrow and will soon be replaced by 225,000 G.I. inspectors who have a bit more passion for the job than the U.N. bureaucrat has shown in the last six months. In fact, very soon Blix, Kofi Annan, Jacques Chirac and the peace demonstrators will be taking a backseat in the news to the bunch of kids from Everytown, U.S.A., who will, once again, liberate - not conquer - and make us all proud.

Cracks In Iraq

Reports are beginning to leak out of Iraq about what is going on there as liberation nears. Twenty thousand demonstrators in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk marched demanding Hussein's overthrow. There are reports of sabotage all over the country. Posters of Hussein are being vandalized. Last weekend a demonstration against Hussein by Iraqi Shiite Muslims was brutally suppressed. In short, freedom is in the air in Iraq. If I were Jacques Chirac, I would vacate my Iraqi embassy now.

ANOTHER GREAT IRISH SAINT:
Maybe Patrick Drove Out the Snakes, But....

...according to beer writers Steve Frank and Arnold Meltzer Ireland's own St. Brigid (457-525 AD) turned water --including dirty bath water-- into fine ale:

Probably the best known Irish saint after Patrick is Saint Brigid (b. 457, d. 525). Known as "the Mary of the Gael," Brigid founded the monastery of Kildare and was known for spirituality, charity, and compassion. St. Brigid also was a generous, beer-loving woman. She worked in a leper colony which found itself without beer, "For when the lepers she nursed implored her for beer, and there was none to be had, she changed the water, which was used for the bath, into an excellent beer, by the sheer strength of her blessing and dealt it out to the thirsty in plenty." Brigid is said to have changed her dirty bathwater into beer so that visiting clerics would have something to drink. Obviously this trait would endear her to many a beer lover. She also is reputed to have supplied beer out of one barrel to eighteen churches, which sufficed from Maundy Thursday to the end of paschal time. A poem attributed to Brigid in the Brussels library begins with the lines "I should like a great lake of ale, for the King of the Kings. I should like the family of Heaven to be drinking it through time eternal."

Unfortunately, we're not told what the Ph levels were in the water, nor what kinds of hops St. Brigid used, nor whether or not she employed a single or double decoction. But we trust the resulting brew was at least as good as Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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FOR THOSE OF IRISH DESCENT....
...And Those Who Wish They Were

Here are some links to Irish folk songs and other goodies:

Irish Songs Music, Lyrics and Midis for Traditional, Drinking and Folk
Songs

Irish Folk Songs

Ireland 20,000 Volkslieder, German and other Folksongs

Traditional Irish Songs

Irish Folksongs. Airs, Ballads, Ditties, Folksongs, Hymns, Jigs, and Reels of Ireland

Irish Songs and Stories