It's certainly not news that Iraqi air defenses and US air patrols are taking potshots at each other - it's been going on just about ever since GWI died down to the current low level of intensity.

But what we may be seeing here are the first salvos of GWII, where the critical field of battle will be the media. We smacked some Iraqi air defense radars today, and Saddam protests that we hit "civilian" targets. "At 0855 a.m. local time (12:55 a.m. EDT) today U.S. and British planes...flew 35 sorties using air bases in Kuwait," the Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).

"The enemy attacked civilian and service installations in Basra province, killing eight people and wounding nine others," the spokesman said."

Expect to see a whole lot more of this in the coming months, as Saddam tries to play the collateral damage card to undermine support for the war to toss him out of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Cheney made a speech today outlining the need to go and get him now, close on the heels of Tom Delay's speech on the same topic. The administration is starting to make it's case, as it should.

Meanwhile, the DoD has just informed reservists in many of the critical combat support billets that they are liable to be kept on active duty for up to two years, for the very first time since the formation of the all-volunteer forces in 1973.

For better or for worse, the decision has been made. The administation, Congress, and the press will all prance through the rituals of the kabuki, for custom's sake. We are now like the passengers in a rollercoaster, as it clinks and clanks it's way up the climb to start the ride - there's no getting off the ride now until the very end.

... Link

... Link