[Neanderthal]

Is all this UN delay going to cause us to attack under a full moon? Is this likely to cause US casualties?

[error99]

When you least expect it...
expect it.

[dalereed]

With todays arms and technology I don't think it makes any difference at all.

[Brett66]

Doesn't matter when we go, we'll be unstoppable.

[xm177e2]

If Bush wanted to go on the new moon, he would have gone on the new moon. The UN is just for show.

[BellStar]

Night Vision technology. No moon necessary.

[Newbomb Turk]

Speaking from a military background a full moon is not the way to go at least on the ground.

We train to operate in full darkness. Moonlight actually makes it harder for us to see. You get whiteout when using NVDs and it makes you much more visable to enemy fire.

[WilliamWallace1999]

It's not gonna be a problem. Remember, the phase of the moon is irrelevant if it is up during daytime hours. Got this data right from the Alamanac on Sky and Telescopes website, so don't flame me for giving out state secrets. I joked about just this occurance with my astronomy buddies when Katie Communist was telling everyone on the Today show that we would attack on a new moon. The moon rises full but with the sun. It will be dark all night and perfect for stargazing and targeting Iraqis with thermal sites.


Basra, Iraq Mar. 17, 2003

Twilight begins: 7:36 pm
Sunrise: 8:56 pm
Sunset: 8:58 am
Twilight ends: 10:18 am

Moonrise:
7:56 am
Moonset:
9:05 pm

times are local for Basra.

[Damagro]

What difference does the moon phase make to 800 cruise missiles?After the first hours, it doesn't matter what they see. They will be running from it in horror

[TamiPie]

Is Planet Mars visible to the naked eye these days?

[Republic of Texas]

Only the US is stupid enough to go to war, during a full moon, after giving the enemy 10 days notice to prepare, just to placate a bunch of socialists who hate us and want to destroy us anyway.

[ken5050]

Alternative theory..there isn't going to be a war.....Saddam will be deposed by several of his generals, who will then invite the US forces into the country...

[LibKill]

I was expecting our guys to go in on March 3, the dark of the new moon. Now I'm confused.

I hope the enemy is equally confused.

I do have a lot of faith in our armed forces. In Afghanistan they pacified the country in 2 months, something the full might of the Soviet Union couldn't do in 10 years.

[TADSLOS]

The CENTCOM Commander decides H-hour. It could be day/night/moon/no moon. There's a wide variety of factors to consider and numerous courses of action to take. His staff briefs him several times daily on all aspects of the operation. Whatever decision he makes will be tempered by the the best course of action that meets his intent, ensures success and mitigates risk against the enemy's most probable course of action against our forces. The staff process to get to a decision is analytical and painstaking making his decision problematic in nature.

The short answer: They will go when they go. We'll read about the whys after the fact.