Rumsfeld announced this morning that our current coalition has more nations than the first Gulf War. It gives a whole new meaning to "unilateral."

Ari Fleischer announces that the president will not engage in a running commentary on this war. That's the job of the blogosphere, right?

Three or four Iraqi oil wells are on fire.

Josh Marshall's comments still rankle. I guess it's the superciliousness of it, and the pretense of historical analysis, for a point that is nothing more than a Schadenfreudewuensch. There should be more indignation and derision of such silliness. Here's a link for a more serious discussion. It illustrates that there has already been a lot of thought about the problems post-war Iraq will face. I see no evidence that there is a rush to impose a western style democracy on Iraq. Indeed, this summary points out problems with such an effort. I think we would want to lay down a certain set of basic principles, a bill of rights, and then let Iraqis of good will build on them.

Kofi Anan pleads for the coalition to do all it can to protect the Iraqi people during this war and proposes that the Security Counsel appropriate $45 million for humanitarian aid, underscoring the Eric Shawn question, "Why was not the UN involve with the suffering of the Iraqi people over the last 23 years when they lived under the yoke of Saddam Hussein."