* Pentagon says up to 300 Iraqis may have been killed in
battle near Najaf
* British army says hearing reports of uprising in Basra and
vows to support it; but Iraqi minister denies revolt
* Warplanes attack Republican Guards defending Baghdad as
sandstorms halt some U.S. forces moving on capital; Rumsfeld
says Iraq may use chemical weapons on advancing Americans
* U.S. Marines find weapons, ammunition and over 3,000
chemical suits at Nassiriya hospital
* Two British soldiers killed by "friendly-fire" near Basra
on Monday night; two others seriously injured

EVENTS
Wednesday - Blair meets Bush in Washington
Thursday - Blair meets Kofi Annan

QUOTES
Richard Myers, chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff: "In the
big scope of things, we're on track, we're on plan. We think we
have just the right forces for what we need to do now. We remind
people that forces are still flowing to the region."
Saddam statement to Iraqi tribesmen: "The enemy has violated
your lands, and now they are violating your tribes and
families... Don't wait for our orders, just fight them."

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: U.S. forces attack Iraq's elite Republican Guards
defending approaches to Baghdad. U.S. armoured columns thrust to
the Kerbala area, 95 km (60 miles) south of the capital.
Outskirts of Baghdad pounded by heavy air strikes in an
apparent effort by U.S.-led forces to target the capital's outer
defences, a Reuters correspondent says.
CENTRAL IRAQ: U.S. Marines seize 3,000 chemical suits,
weapons from Nassiriya hospital; 170 unarmed Iraqi troops held.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: Pentagon says up to 300 Iraqis killed in
battle near Najaf
British forces say the southern Iraqi port town of Umm Qasr
is "safe and open".
British TV reporter says British troops shelling Iraqi
forces to try to help reported local uprising in Basra.
U.S. Marines resume advance towards Baghdad after fighting
through city of Nassiriya. These troops could eventually form
the eastward arm of a pincer movement on the capital, 375 km
(235 miles) to the north.
NORTHERN IRAQ: Aircraft carry out raids on targets in or
around Mosul, the heaviest on the city since raids began.

CASUALTIES / PRISONERS
U.S. military - 18 dead
UK military - 20 dead, two missing
Iraqi military - no reliable figures, up to 300 killed near
Najaf
Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 158
Prisoners - Rumsfeld: U.S.-UK hold more than 3,500 prisoners

As the first bombs fell over Iraq
today, Australia's military chiefs sat huddled in a secret war room
buried metres beneath defence headquarters in Canberra.
Behind the high razor-steel fences of the Defence Signals
Directorate, Defence Minister Robert Hill joined the chief of the
military General Peter Cosgrove for a brief tour of the ADF's
Command and Control Centre.
From here the military can contact and direct Australian forces
anywhere in the world, including teams of Special Air Service
commandos operating deep inside Iraq.
Entry requires passage through two security desks and the
surrender of mobile phones and laptops.
Behind banks of computers and video screens, military personnel
and a scattering of civilians and defence scientists filtered
information rolling in from around the world - a process known as
"deconflicting".
"They need to work out what the senior commanders need to know
and de-conflict that information," a senior ADF spokesman said.
"It just means making sure everything is right."
Under clocks marking time in the Middle East, Christmas Island,
London and the US, the control centre boasted wall-size maps of
Iraq and video conferencing facilities, and screens marked
"secret".
From here the ADF controlled operations in East Timor in 1999,
as well as the
interception of asylum seekers and the "war on
terror" deployment to Afghanistan.
"This is a huge command post," General Cosgrove said.
"This is an absolute beehive.
"They're processing information, they're sending it on.
"With satellite communications, we can speak to (the troops)
whenever we want."
The war room, called the "the pit" by its inhabitants, will
provide information to senior officers, including General Cosgrove
and centre commander Major-General Ken Gillespie 24 hours a day.
In practice, General Cosgrove and a handful of senior officers,
as well as Defence Secretary Ric Smith, will receive daily
briefings from around 0430 AEDT each morning and will in turn brief
the government.
Those mid-morning briefings at Parliament House will include
Prime Minister John Howard and senior ministers on the National
Security Committee of cabinet.
Also in the war room were teams of lawyers ready to advise on
the legality of combat missions in Iraq under Australia's tight
rules of engagement.
"There are teams of lawyers here 24 hours a day, relating to
lawyers in the field, who are relating to other lawyers in allied
forces," Senator Hill said.
"From a planning point of view I really think the performance
here has been excellent.
"That leads to the forces in the filed having confidence in
what's happening here."
AAP rft/sb/ph/bwl

The pre-dawn strike was targeting leadership figures, including Saddam
himself, U.S. officials said.
The Iraqi leader opened the speech by stating the date - March 20, 2003. This
might have been used to prove that address was live and wasn't videotaped.
But quickly he stated the beginning of hostilities constituted a "criminal
act" by the U.S.
"We promise you that Iraq, its leadership and its people will stand up to the
evil invaders, and we will take them to such limits that they will lose their
patience in achieving their plans, which are pushed by criminal Zionism," Saddam
said.
"They will face a bitter defeat, God willing," he said. "You will be able to
achieve glory and your despicable infidel enemies will be defeated."
"This is added to the series of their shameful crime against Iraq and
humanity," Saddam said, describing the U.S. president as 'little, evil Bush."
He ended the address by chanting, "Allahu akbar" or God is great, and saying,
"Long live jihad and long live Palestine."

The U.S. launched the opening salvo Wednesday night of a war
to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, firing cruise missiles and
precision-guided bombs against selected targets in Baghdad.
No word on the specific targets - or on the damage - was immediately
available.
However, the single strike appears to be the only military action as
hostilities commenced. No other troop movements or air strikes by the U.S.-led
coalition have been reported.
The air attack occurred approximately two hours after the U.S.-imposed
deadline for Saddam to leave Iraq passed.
U.S. President George W. Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office just
after antiaircraft fire was reported in Baghdad - saying the attack was against
"targets of military opportunity" aimed at Iraq's leaders.
One White House official said the attack was the result of fresh intelligence
that prompted an earlier-than-planned opening strike.
One U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified
them as "leadership targets," members of the regime's ruling group, but said he
was not certain whether Saddam himself was one of them.
Even so, it was clear from Bush's words -he called it the opening stages of a
"broad and concerted campaign" -that the war to topple the Iraqi dictator and
eliminate his weapons of mass destruction had begun.
"This will not be a campaign of half-measures and we will accept no outcome
but victory," Bush said in an Oval Office address shortly after explosions
ricocheted through the predawn light of the Iraqi capital.
However, after the address, Bush reportedly retired for the evening. Also,
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice
left the White House at that point.
Earlier in Baghdad, antiaircraft tracer fire arced across the Baghdad sky as
the American munitions bore in on their targets. A ball of fire shot skyward
after one explosion.
Saddam's state-run television broadcast a message of defiance to Americans in
return: "It's an inferno that awaits them. Let them try their faltering luck and
they shall meet what awaits them."

U.S. Preparations For Attack

Earlier in the day, Bush told Congress the attack was part of a worldwide war
against terrorism, and at the same time as the U.S. struck in Iraq, American
forces launched a raid in Afghanistan. About 1,000 members of the 82nd Airborne
Division moved into villages in southeastern Afghanistan, looking for members of
the al-Qaida network.
In Iraq, an American-led invasion force of 300,000 troops awaited the order to
strike more broadly. U.S. and British forces massed in the Kuwaiti desert close
to the Iraqi border, and giant B-52 warplanes were loaded with bombs, and
Tomahawk missile-carrying ships were in position, all awaiting an attack order
from Bush.
Bush had given Saddam 48 hours to leave the country or face war.
The ultimatum expired at 8 p.m. EST - 4 a.m. Thursday in Baghdad - its
population shrunken in recent days by an exodus of thousands of fearful
residents.
Not long after, White House chief of staff Andrew Card informed the president
that intelligence officials had no information that Saddam had left Iraq, and
Saddam's regime gave every appearance of digging in.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the nation "ought to be
prepared for the loss" of American lives once the military effort to depose
Saddam and destroy weapons of mass destruction begins.

"What I found interesting is to be reminded of the use of
propaganda in war. All the discussion we have heard coming out
of Washington and then in the media focused on beginnings with
night attacks and massive bombing campaigns, extraordinary
amounts of ordnance in a short period of time in what they call
the 'shock and awe' approach. What that tells us is how
vulnerable we are to manipulation.
"It's a good reminder to look carefully at what comes out of
Washington and the war theatre. These people leak things like
mad, and there is a reason that they are leaking. It's all
manipulation and sleight of hand."

BARTHELEMY COURMONT, FRENCH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND
STRATEGIC RELATIONS
"It looks to be highly, highly targeted and that fits in
with expectations. The last thing the United States wanted for
its public opinion were pictures of civilians in difficult
situations.
"I think this first phase could go on for a few days --
perhaps a week. Then, you have got two scenarios: the first is
that it will have borne fruit and then this war will have been
the fastest and easiest in military history; the second, which
is highly probable, is that it doesn't fully work.
"In that case, you have to go into phase two, which will
either be the campaign of massive bombing or the start of the
ground offensive, which would be accompanied by very real
uncertainties."

PAVEL FELGENHAUER, INDEPENDENT RUSSIAN MILITARY ANALYST
"There's not much time to lose as the weather becomes
increasingly unfit for active warfare. They will try to end the
active part -- breaking up of organised resistance, disarming of
the remnants of Saddam's forces, destroying the centralised
command and destroying the regime as an organised force -- by
the beginning of April.
"That depends on how strong Iraq forces are and how quickly
they begin to disintegrate. Much depends on whether the Iraqi
forces dig in the heels, on the attitude of the soldiers. The
length of the operation is hard to predict but it should be
short. Resistance could be several days, a week or two.
"Russia military intelligence are foreseeing a war of a no
more than a month.... The Americans have far superior weapons.
They can fight at night. They can fight in bad weather. They
will use the advantage of darkness as much as possible.
"I expect Saddam to flee -- most likely to Iran. The
Iranians do not like Saddam but they hate the Americans more."

MAJOR-GENERAL (RET) AMOS MALKA, FORMER CHIEF OF ISRAELI
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
"I estimate they hit leadership and communications targets.
There was a certain deceptive element in the timing of the
opening of the offensive that was somewhat reminiscent of the
impressive American capability to mislead in (the) 1991 (Gulf
War)."

HUGH WHITE, DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE
"This may have simply been an opportunistic strike at a
target that presented itself, which seems to be the way that
it's being described by the Washington sources that are now
running, but I think it's much too early to make any conclusions
about the shape of the campaign. I'll give that 24 hours or at
least 12 anyway.
"...I don't think this is, if you like, an opening of the
campaign. They describe it as an opportunistic strike, and if
that is correct then I think this is not so much the opening of
a campaign as a little sort of pre-dinner hors d'oeuvre."

SIR PATRICK CORDINGLEY, WHO COMMANDED BRITAIN'S FRONT LINE
DESERT RATS IN THE 1991 GULF WAR
"I would have expected about 24 hours of aerial bombardment
before an attack went in. The whole point of war is surprise and
taking people unawares."

FRANCOIS GERE, PARIS-BASED DIPLOMACY AND DEFENCE INSTITUTE
"It seems to have been a targeted attack, not necessarily on
Saddam Hussein but perhaps on a meeting of his central command
-- the United States has considerable ability to intercept
communications and electronic signals to spot events such as
that.
"This is not surprising -- the idea was always that there
were going to be more selective strikes than in the (1991) Gulf
War. This could go on for a couple of days before any massive
aerial bombing begins....
"I don't expect any ground offensive at this stage -- the
Americans like to clear the way for their soldiers with aerial
bombing first."

WING COMMANDER ANDREW BROOKES, UK'S INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE
FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES
"It's going to be a precise campaign, that's the whole
theory of it. The aim is not to kill millions of Iraqis, but be
precise. That's what you see at the moment, the party
headquarters, the leadership being targeted, not the people.
"I expect more of the same in the next few hours.
"I would expect the ground forces very shortly. There's no
point in keeping a quarter of a million people on their
backsides. You want to get them in.
"This is no surprise for Saddam. It was obvious to anybody.
His 48 hours were up."

KLAUS REINHARDT, GERMAN FORMER KFOR COMMANDER:
"I considered that the military operation would be launched
straight away. There's no reason for the Americans to hold back
after the deadline runs out.
"I assume too that it will be full power from the start in a
combination of cruise missiles and air strikes. Very soon we are
likely to see a parallel introduction of special forces and air
assault brigades, including in the north. The mass of troops
could start as soon as today or early tomorrow.
"I think the bulk of the operation could last as little 10
to 14 days as the shock effect could be so strong."

DEREK WOOLNER, DIRECTOR DEFENCE ANALYSIS PROGRAMME,
AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE STUDIES CENTRE
"(The quick start) doesn't surprise me. They've got all
those forces in the dispersal area in Kuwait and you don't want
them all hanging around there, it's too much of an invitation to
Saddam Hussein to try his (chemical and biological weapons) on
them and see what happens....
"The Americans are confident of the accuracy and lethality
of the new generation of weapons and they think that this time
they'll be able to knock out the command and control,
communications systems of the Iraqis within little more than a
day but there's no need for days and days of bombardment.

WASHINGTON, March 19 AFP - Text of speech by US President George
W Bush tonight announcing the start of war against Iraq:

"My fellow citizens, at this hour American and coalition forces
are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to
free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.
"On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected
targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's
ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a
broad and concerted campaign.
"More than 35 countries are giving crucial support, from the use
of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to
the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has
chosen to bear the duty and share the honour of serving in our
common defence.
"To all of the men and women of the United States armed forces
now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes
of an oppressed people now depend on you.
"That trust is well placed.
"The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and
bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honourable and
decent spirit of the American military.
"In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for
conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed
Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use
innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military; a
final atrocity against his people.
"I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition
forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from
harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as
California could be longer and more difficult than some predict.
And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will
require our sustained commitment.
"We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great
civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no
ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of
that country to its own people.
"I know that the families of our military are praying that all
those who serve will return safely and soon.
"Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of
your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent.
"For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the
American people and you can know that our forces will be coming
home as soon as their work is done.
"Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly, yet our purpose is
sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies
will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the
peace with weapons of mass murder.
"We will meet that threat now with our Army, Air Force, Navy,
Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later
with armies of firefighters and police and doctors on the streets
of our cities.
"Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration
is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a
campaign of half measures and we will accept no outcome but
victory.
"My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world
will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry
on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring
freedom to others. And we will prevail.
"May God bless our country and all who defend her."
AFP