2.30am
Reuters has reported the first air raids on Baghdad. Just a handful of explosions at the moment.


[Update at 2.40am]
ITN reports two bomb hits to the north of the city.

Bush is addressing the nation at 3.15am.

The BBC is pointing out that the element of surprise is being brought into play - nothing all night, giving the Iraqis the assumption that they'll wait until tomorrow night. Now it looks as if a dawn invasion is about to start. Quarter of a million Allied troops... Jesus...


[Update at 2.50am]
The streetlights are still on in Baghdad, and they've been in the middle of an air raid. What the fuck are they playing at?

An ITN news presenter said there was a theory that Saddam was doing it deliberately, using them as a human shield. The correspondent he was talking to said, "If you attack a city of 5 million people, you can't really call them a human shield. They live there."

Damn good point.