We had two reactions to this turn of events:

1) It's about time.

2) Isn't there any non-movie actor in America who can be booked to oppose the war?

Whether you're for or against the war, a full-throated debate in the media is overdue. This was the first time this year that the Sunday shows had given such prominent treatment to (admittedly famous) peace activists. The Beltway tilt toward officialdom - and the president's domination of the airwaves with his anti-Saddam campaign - have largely muffled dissent, at least until now. [Washington Post] The debate is being aired because war is imminent, there is something concrete to dissent against.

Mumblings from the Saudis:

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud called on Iraq to cooperate with the United Nations, saying at a news conference Wednesday that the region could not bear a protracted crisis.

The region "requires a fast solution based on the implementation by Iraq of the demands of the (U.N. weapons) inspectors," Prince Saud said, adding a solution entailed "on the one part, for the (U.N.) Security Council not to rush into war and, on the other part, for Iraq to respond completely to the report of the inspectors."

"Either Iraq has weapons of mass destruction or it doesn't," he said. "If it does, then it should produce them. If it doesn't, it should respond to the inspectors' demands and, when it does, we expect the crisis will end and the sanctions will be lifted."

Saud said oil should not be used to pressure America in this crisis.

Prince Saud also denied a Washington Post report Wednesday quoting anonymous U.S. officials and diplomatic sources as saying the United States and Saudi Arabia had agreed to allow expanded U.S. air operations from Saudi territory for any war on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"They must know something I don't," he said. "I don't see any expansion in it." [Washngton Post]

Which simply means he they weren't ready for the information to be released yet - darn those impetuous "anonymous U.S. officials and diplomatic sources."

Gen. Tommy Franks tells the "human shields" to watch out:

In the event of war, U.S. and allied forces could not ensure the safety of civilians who deliberately position themselves as human shields to prevent attacks on Iraqi targets, said Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, who would run the war.

"We'll do our best to avoid noncombatant casualties and, I will tell you, we will not be 100 percent successful," Franks, who heads the U.S. Central Command with responsibility for the Middle East, said in an interview.

Franks was at his Persian Gulf command post here for meetings today with the land, air, naval and special operations commanders who report to him from Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

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