Skippy has full details and a first hand account of the Los Angeles anti-war protests and civil disobedience arrests. We're glad Skippy didn't get arrested. We would have had a hard time getting to LA today to bail him out, which we definitely would have wanted to do.

Eric Alterman in Altercation today:

For me, the antiwar movement such as it was, is over. We lost. It's time to wish the best for our soldiers and the victims of this war and focus on building a better future."

We tend to agree as far as the military effort goes, but not the war on civil rights and against the detainees and non-citizens in this country.

To clarify: The anti war movement failed to prevent this war. We were as as committed to opposing this war as you all were. But it's on. So let's get it over with.

We now have to work to get Bush out of the White House--protect ourselves from Ashcroft, prevent the further erosion of our civil rights and protect the rights of non-citizens and the citizen accused.

We covered the war tonight because we're stuck in a hotel room in Washington waiting to fly back to Denver--but starting tomorrow, the media will be capable of reporting the bombs and casualities and it's going to be 24/7 coverage everywhere. We hope some of you will join us in returning to issues like politics, elections, legislation, crime and civil liberties.

Of course, we'll still be critical of the war effort when we have something to say--but marching to oppose war in Iraq is yesterday. The war is here, it's on and we have to deal with it and move on.

It looks to us like we're getting one step closer to detention camps. The FBI is about to start rounding up 10,000 American Iraqis for for interrogation:

The FBI is beginning a sweeping wave of 10,000 interrogations of Iraqi nationals in the U.S. to prevent a terrorist attack as war looms on the horizon.

In a sweeping wave of interrogations beginning with the start of war, the bureau will visit over 10,000 Iraqi nationals living in the U.S. including "students," "defectors," "permanent residents," "visitors" and even a few recently-naturalized U.S. citizens.

The bureau is also seeking to expel several more Iraqi diplomats like the two suspected intelligence agents who were kicked out of Baghdad's U.N. delegation in New York arlier this month. Officials will detain all immigrants from 34 suspect countries seeking asylum.

What will they do with the ones that don't answer questions to their satisfaction? We'll take an educated guess and say they're headed to Guantanamo.

Iraq Body Counter: The worldwide update of civilian casualties in the war on Iraq.

We just added one to the left side of TalkLeft. It's free, easy to download and install. (link via Tower of Babel).

The Struggle

What do Timothy McVeigh, accused Washington sniper John Mohammed and Louis Jones, due to be executed Wednesday, have in common? All are Gulf War Vets. All came back from the War acting very differently than before they went. Could this be a warning of dangers to befall our troops going over now?

Joyce Riley, a nurse and spokeswoman for the American Gulf War Veterans Association, is furious that troops are being deployed in the region again.

"We support the military, but we are against sending troops in an area where they're going to become cannon fodder," said Riley, who suffers from a neurological disorder she attributes to her service in that war. "Gulf War veterans aren't just sick, they're dying."

Gulf War veteran Rick Wilson of Indianapolis attributes his migraine headaches and joint pain to an extended exposure to low levels of a cocktail of poison gases.

"If those guys get sick like we are or sicker, I'm concerned the Veteran Affairs and Defense Department are not going to be responsive to their needs," said Wilson, a member of the staff of U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. "Those troops loyal to Saddam Hussein know they're going down with him, and I wouldn't put it past them to use that stuff."

Jones was a career noncommissioned officer, a decorated combat veteran with no criminal history before the Gulf War. Yet, after his service in the Middle East, experts said, he came to suffer the most severe form of Gulf War syndrome, an affliction that may have led to violence.

His experience illustrates the unknown dangers today's troops may risk as they, too, face the threat of biological and chemical weapons. Some fear the nation could soon have another generation of veterans plagued by mysterious sicknesses that appear to have unleashed deadly violence in some victims.

The Associated Press provides some answers to questions about legality of war to oust Saddam Hussein

The international community is debating whether a U.S.-led war against Iraq would be legal without approval from the United Nations. Here are some questions and answers about that issue:

Q: Can the United States and allies legally launch war without Security Council backing?

Q: Isn't Iraq violating disarmament resolutions?

Q: Isn't this a continuation of the 1991 Gulf War?

Q: The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1441 in November requiring Iraq to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors. Doesn't that permit enforcement

Read the article for the answers. Use the comments here if you disagree.

What will the military invasion of Iraq consist of? Lightning Strikes. To help war-challenged people like us understand what this means, here's a primer:

War plans call for simultaneous, lightning-quick operations by air, land and sea to overwhelm Iraq's shaky military forces. Heavy mechanized forces would speed toward Baghdad, bypassing Iraqi regular army units in a drive to reach the seat of President Saddam Hussein's power. The vanguard of the U.S. force would leave it to a second wave to engage those Iraqi forces. Special operations forces would parachute from helicopters deep behind enemy lines.

Whereas the United States took six months to position its forces for the 1991 Persian Gulf War and five weeks to bomb Iraqi targets before the ground war began, current war plans call for, at most, 48 hours of bombings — using tens of thousands of precision-guided munitions — before U.S. troops storm across Iraq's border.

Arranged across Kuwait to lead the charge are about 130,000 Americans, including 21,000 of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, more than 21,000 of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, about 64,000 Marines, 5,000 of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and several thousand special operations troops. Also in Kuwait are headquarters elements of the Army's V Corps and about 25,000 British troops. About 1,100 military aircraft, ranging from land-based Air Force fighter jets and bombers to Navy and Marine fighter and support planes launched from aircraft carriers, are in the region.

We also read somewhere, can't remember exactly where right now, that Bush is going to ask Congress to authorize 90 billion dollars for the war.

There is no money for war in the huge deficit budget Bush proposed a month or so ago. 90 billion? Where's it going to come from?

Sen. Tom Daschle said tonight that Bush has failed miserably in diplomacy, forcing America to war.

''I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war,'' Daschle said in a speech to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. ''Saddened that we have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country.''

With war imminent, some veterans are very angry at Bush.

Here is the latest Iraq Travel Warning from the State Department. You can check other countries on their websites. The UAR was added on March 10, 2003.

IRAQ February 19, 2003 This Travel Warning is being issued to alert American citizens that following the temporary closure of the U.S Interests Section at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Baghdad, other embassies and consulates have also suspended operations in Iraq, further limiting any assistance to Americans. No consular services are available to U.S. citizens at this time in Iraq. The U.S. Government continues to urge all U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Iraq. U.S. citizens in Iraq should depart. This replaces the Travel Warning of February 7, 2003.

Any bets on when war will break out? We say Thursday, so that the Administration can give 72 hours notice to people to get out.

A nice profile on Senator Robert Byrd and his emergence as the Senate's Most Forceful Voice Against War