AN ENTIRE IRAQI DIVISION HAS SURRENDERED. Keep ’em coming.

AFRAID OF COMPETITION? CNN has put the kibosh on Kevin Sites’ warblog.

IRAQIS TRY TO SURRENDER TO WAR CORRESPONDENT — an email account via Nick Denton.

KEEP YOUR EYE OFF THE BALL: I expand on some advice by Matt Welch, over at GlennReynolds.com.

WI-FI RULES: Spent a little time at the Downtown Grill and Bar, a brewpub owned by a friend from high school, and persuaded them to add free wireless Internet access.

There are a lot of people moving to fancy downtown apartments in Knoxville’s Old City, and they think that this will be a lure for business, especially during off-hours. I think they’re right. And since my readers — to judge by email — have a rather strong interest in the Knoxville barmaid community, I’m including this photo, taken atop the brewing tanks. The IPA is especially good.

UPDATE: Hey, Stephen Green is following my example:

Later tonight, my brother-in-law Rick and I will go support the troops by over-tipping cute cocktail waitresses who might have boyfriends or husbands serving in Iraq, right now as we speak.

Frankly, I’m shocked and saddened that no one else has had the courage to do something for these brave gals, and I assure you Rick and I are both beaming with pride at the prospect of tonight’s patriotic action.

He’s a great American.

“HUNDREDS OF IRAQIS EAGERLY SURRENDER:” Well, yeah. We’ve had our learning curve, and they’ve had theirs. And what they learned last time was that surrendering wasn’t so bad, while fighting was pretty damned lethal.

Then again, other people seem to have figured out what’s going on, too:

In the town of Safwan, Iraqi civilians eagerly greeted the 1st Marine Division.

One little boy, who had chocolate melted all over his face after a soldier gave him some treats from his ration kit, kept pointing at the sky, saying “Ameriki, Ameriki.”

This is the “peace” movement’s worst nightmare, isn’t it?

NOT ALL FRENCH POLITICIANS ARE STUPID. SOME ARE PROPHETIC. Tuesday:

Liberation reported that Dominique Dord, a deputy from the majority UMP party, said during Tuesday’s assembly debate, “We would look really stupid if Iraqis applaud the arrival of Americans.”

Today:

“No Saddam Hussein!” called one young man. “Bush!”

Another young man named Abdullah cheered the arriving Americans. “Saddam Hussein is no good. Saddam Hussein a butcher.” . . .

“Americans very good,” a man named Ali Khemy said. “Iraq wants to be free.”

Some of the townspeople chanted, “Ameriki! Ameriki!” Others put makeshift white flags on their cars and trucks. And many simply patted their bellies in a sign of hunger.

These are all scenes from the liberation of Safwan, Iraq — a “poor, dirty, wrecked” town near the border with Kuwait. Before crowds of Iraqis, American Marines used their jeeps to pull down portraits of Saddam. Maj. David “Bull” Gurfein told the people of Safwan: “Saddam is done” and launched them in a cheer: “Iraqis! Iraqis! Iraqis!”

Like I said, prophetic.

FRANCE CONTINUES THE PROCESS OF SELF-MARGINALIZATION and of undermining the U.N.:

The French president said at a European Union summit he would “not accept” a resolution that “would legitimize the military intervention [and] would give the belligerents the powers to administer Iraq.”

“That would justify the war after the event,” Chirac told reporters.

We should keep the United Nations, and its cadre of neocolonialist “internationals” as far away from Iraq as possible, and we should do our best to underscore the United Nations’ fecklessness and futility at every turn.

Er, to the extent that Chirac doesn’t do it for us, that is.

UPDATE: He’s hard at work, our Jacques:

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) – European Union (news – web sites) divisions over Iraq (news – web sites) widened Friday when three anti-war states agreed to hold a summit on defense integration without Britain, while London stood by charges that France had wrecked diplomacy in the crisis.

As EU leaders wrapped up a second day of tense talks, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt announced plans for France, Germany and Belgium to meet next month to discuss integrating their armed forces more closely.

A military union of France, Germany, and the dreaded Belgians! That’ll show ’em! Well, it’s showing us something, all right. This way they can be ineffectual in unison, instead of individually. . . .

UPDATE: Brian Erst emails: “Ineffective in unison. Now we know the French meaning of ‘multilateral.'”

MAJOR AIR ATTACKS IN BAGHDAD — I’m watching Rumsfeld’s briefing now.

UPDATE: Rumsfeld says the Iraqi government is losing control. He’s gleefully pointing out examples of Iraqi officials’ “confusion.”

“The regime is history.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jeez, some idiot just asked Rumsfeld if we’re winning so easily that we’ll be “seen as a bully.” Rumsfeld’s response, basically, is “only by idiots.”

ACADEMIA’S TRENT LOTT MOMENT:

On Saturday, at one of the state’s public colleges, another man said something even worse about another black female government official.

In front of an overwhelmingly black audience of about 100 at Coppin State College, Amiri Baraka, New Jersey’s Lunatic Laureate, called national security adviser Condoleezza Rice a “skeeza.”

For those of you not in the know, a “skeeza” is a derogatory street term used in reference to a woman and as offensive as calling her a prostitute. It’s a noxious, bilious, disgustingly sexist term and one of the worst things you could call a woman.

It is something Rice certainly is not. Baraka knows she’s not. Those blacks who laughed, giggled, tittered and applauded when Baraka said it know she’s not. But what was the reaction of these black folks when Baraka finished his invective masquerading as poetry that he called “Somebody Blew Up America”?

They gave him thunderous applause and a standing ovation. At no time was there the indignation that was present when O’Malley said much less about Jessamy. I guess Baraka can get away with it because he hates all the right people.

I’m waiting for the chorus of condemnation for this slur. You know it would be forthcoming if Trent Lott had said it. Instead, we get this:

Robert Cataliotti, an associate professor in Coppin’s department of humanities and media, said Baraka was paid for his appearance, and he defended his being invited to speak.

“[Baraka’s] a major figure in the development of African-American literature,” Cataliotti said. “I’m not here to judge the content of his poem. He has the right as an American to express his opinion.”

And others have the right, and perhaps the duty, to condemn his opinion — unless they share his ugly views.

FAISAL JAWDAT FISKS THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT in one stinging sentence.

JONATHAN LAST WRITES THAT BIG MEDIA ARE FINALLY CATCHING UP with guerrilla media. Or at least trying to. Evan Coyne Maloney gets a mention.

THIS PBS NEWSHOUR TRANSCRIPT shows Iraqi-Americans jubilant about the invasion of Iraq.

I’m glad to see this stuff — but how come they weren’t doing more stories on this kind of thing a month or two ago, when it might have had an impact on the war debate?

Hmm. . . .

NOW THE LEFT CAN HATE SADDAM TOO: Jonathan Adler details his environmental crimes.

LILEKS HAS BEEN WARBLOGGING. Here’s my favorite bit:

3:10 PM NPR is interviewing a Saudi editor, who warns us that the average Saudi – who of course holds Saddam in contempt as a brutal butcher – will nevertheless be very angry if America kills fifty Iraqis and continues to block UN resolutions on Israel. I say when this war is over we couple the issue of Palestinian rights with Saudi women’s rights. Self-determination for everyone. The Pals get autonomy; Saudi women get driver’s licenses. Agreed?

Heh. Read it all, and don’t miss this:

5:17 PM News report: Hans Blix admits that he would have never have found all the WMD. Thanks, Hans. Much obliged. I’m guessing that he was paid by the week, not by the discovery; if we’d given him a bonus for Finding Stuff, and the bonus exceeded what he would have made in a year of desultory squinting, we might have had the material breach in week one.

Indeed.

WILL SALETAN FINDS COMIC RELIEF AT THE UNITED NATIONS:

Fischer and de Villepin have declared passionately for months that war would be wrong and that their governments wouldn’t stand for it. So what are they doing about it, now that it’s started? The same thing they did about Saddam Hussein’s rearmament: nothing. Sloth and cowardice, it turns out, are as agreeable to American aggression as to Iraqi aggression.

“The Security Council has not failed,” Fischer told fellow council members. “The Security Council has made available the instruments to disarm Iraq peacefully. The Security Council is not responsible for what is happening outside the U.N.”

Wait, let’s hear that again. The Security Council is not responsible for what is happening outside the U.N.

And to think some people said the United Nations was useless.

Saletan continues:

Let’s see. The Security Council negotiation process failed to give pro-war nations the legitimacy they sought. It failed to give anti-war nations an effective veto. It failed to keep the peace. A massive American-led assault on Iraq is underway—I’d call that an alternative—and nobody’s paying attention to Fischer’s urgently relevant remarks. I’ve underestimated the German sense of humor.

De Villepin followed Fischer’s speech with an equally indispensable lecture on the wisdom of France. The U.N. weapons inspections, he explained, had merely been “interrupted” and would soon resume. To those who think this war will eradicate terrorism, de Villepin warned, “we say they run the risk of failing in their objectives.”

Fair enough. So here are our options: the risk of failure or the certainty of it. Gentlemen, gentlemen. Your words are as compelling as your deeds.

If the Franco-German axis had set out deliberately to construct a compelling case for American unilateralism and the futility of the United Nations, it could hardly have done a better job.

DOCUMENTARIAN DAVID HARDY writes that Bowling for Columbine shouldn’t be eligible for an Academy Award as a documentary because — by the Academy’s own standards — it’s not actually a documentary. But will the Academy listen?

THE ARAB (WELL, ISLAMIC) STREET SPEAKS:

The “Great Satan” has invaded Iraq but students at Tehran University seem pleased at the prospect.

“It will be a good thing to have American troops in Iraq. Perhaps that will bring change to Iran,” said Namin, a lanky engineering student strolling to class.

“Maybe that will put more pressure on the regime here.” Unlike fellow Muslims in the Middle East or their predecessors 23 years ago who seized the United States embassy, students today are not seething with anger against America and are unmoved by the government’s daily references to “the enemy” in Washington.

“I think only about the consequences of a war. If the war has good consequences, let it be,” said another student, Mohammad. “We’re not protesting like European students. We don’t have a democratic government like they do. We’re not acting like them because we’re not in European shoes.”

Politically incorrect attitudes on campus are not helping calm the nerves of the country’s conservative leadership, which appears genuinely concerned at the implications of “regime change” next door.

Heh. It should be.

BLIX SAYS IRAQIS IN VIOLATION: A day late, and a dollar short, as usual.

THE GLOVES ARE OFF: Britain is releasing figures on Franco-German trade with Iraq:

As Tony Blair prepared to meet President Jacques Chirac at the European Union summit in Brussels last night, Downing Street drew attention to statistics that detail the value of EU sales to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The figures show that since 1997, France and Germany have exported goods worth more than £1.7 billion to Iraq, compared to British exports worth £193 million.

Government sources claimed France and Germany interpreted UN sanctions more liberally than Britain.

“More liberally,” eh? Indeed. Meanwhile, Blair and Chirac are not exactly getting along at the EU summit:

The diplomatic war of words between Britain and France over Iraq reached new heights last night as Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac clashed at a European Union dinner in Brussels.

Downing Street made clear its disgust at the French president’s behaviour after he insisted on removing a paragraph from the summit communique expressing regret that Iraq had not responded to UN demands to disarm under resolution 1441.

In a withering reference to the French president, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “One is always surprised when people do not want a reference to the unanimous decision of the UN.”

But Mr Blair put his foot down when M Chirac also tried to remove a reference in the declaration stating that the EU’s aim remained the “full and effective disarmament” of Iraq.

Chirac’s fuming impotence is beginning to look comic, rather than sinister.

UPDATE: Then there’s this:

European leaders today expressed personal condolences to Tony Blair over last night’s helicopter crash in Kuwait – but the French president, Jaques Chirac, was not among them.

And it’s headlined in The Guardian, of all places.

UPDATE: Reader Xavier Basora emails:

You’ll need to correct the last paragraph,. Early this morning I listened to Blair’s press conference on CNN after the meeting and he stated publically that Chirac handwrote a personal letter of condolences to him; the government sents its condolences to the British. I don’t have a link yet but one should be up by this afternoon.

What? The Guardian wrong? Actually, what’s most interesting about the Guardian story isn’t the story, but the strong anti-French slant — which becomes even more interesting if the slant is so strong as to be false. I think this means that Tony Blair’s left flank is well-defended, thanks to growing anti-French sentiment in Britain.

SKBUBBA WRITES:

I think the fact that Baghdad is still largely intact (among other things) is evidence they may have actually gotten Saddam. It sounds like they may be exploiting the breakdown of command and working other channels to arrange some sort of surrender, thus avoiding massive destruction of Iraqi infrastructure (not to mention civilians). Andrew apparently agrees. This would be a good thing, at least in terms of reconstruction and “democratization” efforts, and for humanitarian considerations. This would also reduce the likelihood of massive refuge problems in neighboring countries.

So far it seems like the war is being prosecuted with remarkable restraint and a subtlety that was not evident in the pre-war rhetoric and blustering. On the other hand, today is another day and more surprises could be in store. If so, I’d look for fireworks around 3:00 to 4:00 AM Baghdad time, which would not only provide cover of darkness but would also coincide nicely with network prime time in the U.S. and present the opportunity for dramatic accounts of “daring pre-dawn” raids, which I know Wolf is just dying to say on the air.

And I know the world is breathlessly awaiting analysis and commentary by some anonymous Bubba, so there you go.

Of course we are. At least, I was! Meanwhile, both this Andrew and this one do seem to agree that we may have gotten Saddam after all. This article from the Washington Post (which has the New York Times beat hollow on war reportage) says that intelligence officials think Saddam was in the bunker, but don’t know if he survived. We’ll see. Interestingly, it’s probably not in anyone’s interest, on any side, to go public with definitive news of Saddam’s life or death just yet, even if they know for certain.

And most of the pre-war bluster about massive casualties and destruction came from peace activists and gullible journalists, I think. Of course, that only made it more credible to some. . . . Hmm. Maybe they’re not just Karl Rove’s useful idiots — maybe they’re Donald Rumsfeld’s useful idiots, too. But hey, at least they’re making themselves useful for a change!

SO FAR, SO GOOD:

KUWAIT CITY, March 20 — U.S. and British ground forces punched into Iraq across a broad front tonight after a booming artillery barrage, seizing territory along the Kuwaiti border with only modest resistance and pushing on toward the key southern city of Basra. While the sweeping land invasion began under a hazy desert moon, a second torrent of U.S. cruise missiles destroyed several buildings in Baghdad.

The long-awaited ground war started a day earlier than planned because of President Bush’s decision to launch the “decapitation” attack on the Iraqi leadership early this morning, U.S. officers said. Although the invasion was clearly underway after months of buildup, U.S. defense officials characterized the movements as the first step in a much more massive push toward President Saddam Hussein’s headquarters in the Iraqi capital.

The news isn’t exciting, but that’s a good thing.

HERE’S AN ACCOUNT OF PRO-LIBERATION ACTIVISM by Brandeis University’s student group, United We Stand. I like the part about attending extra classes, to make up for the anti-war students who were on “strike.”

TIRED OF WAR-TALK? Check out the NASA Solar System Simulator, which I found via The Sleaze Report. (I don’t know why — there’s nothing sleazy about it, it’s very cool. . . .)

And, of course, Gizmodo just keeps plugging along with cool new gadgets, most of which I’d like to own. Finally, this post about wireless pizza blogging is largely war-free.

IF YOU’VE MISSED IT BEFORE, Outside the Beltway is a warblog that’s worth reading.