] On one extreme is the title of an editorial in the Syrian
] government daily "Teshreen," which characterizes the
] tripartite meeting in the Azores on Sunday as "The Summit
] of the Bloodthirsty." On the other extreme is an
] editorial in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan which calls on
] Saddam Hussein to "Leave or You Will be Dragged," a
] reference to a known event in Iraq's modern history when
] its leader's (Nuri Sa'id) corpse was dragged behind a car
] in the streets of Baghdad amongst the enthusiastic cheers
] of the crowds.

Translated excerpts of editorials about the war, pro and con, from daily newspapers in Kuwait, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt.

MEMRI: '[Saddam] Leave or You Will Be Dragged' - Editorials in the Arab Press

] This war is a test of the concepts behind the theory of
] "effects-based warfare".
]
] This is the new "in-phrase" in military circles - the
] idea that you can achieve military goals by carefully
] selecting critical groups of targets whose destruction
] could effectively collapse the regime and disorientate
] its armed forces, thus avoiding the need to defeat the
] Iraqi military unit by unit.
]
] This is uncharted territory.
]
] The US planners are putting great store in their capacity
] for swift movement and the ability of their air power to
] deliver whatever the commanders on the ground need.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Comment: New US theory of war

Multi-layered interactive map of Iraq from the BBC, showing locations of UK forces, Iraqi bases, oilfields, weapons sites, Presidential sites, dissident areas, Iraq missile range, a map of Baghdad, and a ton of other info.

BBC: Maps of Attack Strategies

] With coalition warplanes striking Iraqi artillery sites,
] a military convoy headed toward Iraq, and Iraqi troops
] already surrendering to U.S. forces, there are clear
] signs of impending war in the few hours remaining before
] the U.S. deadline expires for Iraqi President Saddam
] Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq.

Here is CNN's roundup for hours before it all starts.

CNN.com - Airstrikes, troop movements and Iraqi surrenders - Mar. 19, 2003

] 15 Iraqi soldiers guarding the border surrendered and
] crossed over to Kuwait this evening, officers here said.
]
] They are believed to be the first Iraqis to have
] surrendered, something the American Air Force has been
] actively encouraging by dropping more than 1 million
] leaflets in anticipation of a ground invasion.

Defections Come as U.S. and British Troops Prepare for War

] Masses of Iraqi soldiers are deserting and senior members
] of President Saddam Hussein's ruling family circle are
] defecting as the countdown to a British and US invasion
] reaches its final hours.
]
] In northern Iraq, on the border with Kurdistan, up to
] three-quarters of some Iraqi regiments have already fled.
]
] In the mainly Shia Muslim south, Kuwaiti border guards
] are having to turn Iraqi soldiers back - telling them
] that they must wait until an attack begins before they
] can surrender.

Mass desertions weaken Iraqi defences

] Two Iraqi helicopters fired machine guns and rockets into
] three Kurdish villages on the front line north of Kirkuk
] yesterday, in the first shots intended to kill in the
] coming war.
]
] ''There were two of them, one an attack helicopter and
] the other normally used for transport, attacking the
] villages where people herding cattle live," Mohammed
] Fateh, a local Kurdish military commander, said.
]
] Kurdish officers believe that the Iraqi helicopter attack
] on the three impoverished and half-ruined villages of
] Bashtapa, Girdalanka and Sherawa in the hills south-east
] of Qush Tappa was a desperate effort by the Iraqi army to
] raise the morale of its men and prove that its firepower
] is still to be reckoned with.

Saddam's troops fire the first shots of the conflict

] Dutch journalist Peter Tetteroo aims his camera out the
] window of his hotel room in Pyongyang to film a
] policewoman directing traffic. She's in constant motion,
] gesturing to vehicles coming from one direction, then
] pivoting crisply and signaling to vehicles coming from
] another direction.
]
] It all looks perfectly normal, except for one thing:
] There's no traffic. North Korea doesn't have very many
] cars, and none of them happens to be driving by. The
] policewoman's choreography is all a surreal charade.

Washington Post.Com: 'Welcome to North Korea': A Surreal, Sad Game of Charades

] "There was a machine designed for shredding plastic.
] Men were dropped into it and we were again made to watch.
] Sometimes they went in head first and died quickly.
] Sometimes they went in feet first and died screaming. It
] was horrible. I saw 30 people die like this. Their
] remains would be placed in plastic bags and we were told
] they would be used as fish food . . . on one occasion, I
] saw Qusay [President Saddam Hussein's youngest son]
] personally supervise these murders."
]
] This is one of the many witness statements that were
] taken by researchers from Indict %u2014 the organisation
] I chair - to provide evidence for legal cases
] against specific Iraqi individuals for war crimes, crimes
] against humanity and genocide. This account was taken in
] the past two weeks.

See men shredded, then say you don't back war

] Reaction has been coming in from around the world
] following US President George W Bush's deadline for
] President Saddam Hussein and his two sons to leave Iraq
] by 0100GMT on Thursday 20 March or face war.

Quotes from a variety of countries: France, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Canada, China, Russia, Philippines, Iran, the Arab League, Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), New Zealand, and the Vatican. All over the scale, from "we're for it" to "we're against it," to "we're staying out of it and minding our own business".

BBC NEWS : In quotes: Reaction to Bush ultimatum