With the countdown come and gone, and barely a dozen cruise missiles fired, major 24-hour news services are expressing disappointment. An MSNBC employee who chose to remain nameless expressed his disappointment. "We had a countdown to zero hour and everything. It was like New Years Eve without the kiss at midnight. No payoff what-so-ever."

Sheppard Smith from Fox News went on the record, "I've got to work all night, and nothing's freakin' happening. I jockeyed to get this slot because I figured everyone would be watching. This is nothing like Gulf War I, but then sequels never are as good as the original. We're lucky to get footage of a single missile strike."

CNN's Manager of Online Operations, David Manning, whose job it is to make the online news exciting, said that they were making the best out of what's happened so far. "Sure, there were only a few cruise missiles and some fighter attacks, but we made the best of it. We had our extra large 'Decapitation Attack' font, and plenty of banners. Still, it's nothing like Gulf War I, when we had thousands of air strikes, and exclusive footage of the sky lit up like Independence Day. Those were the days."

The major news outlets have a genuine financial interest in this war. They are spending millions of dollars on 24 hour international coverage. CNN's media scoop during the first Gulf War gave them a boost from third rate news channel to a full fledged two-bit network. Now, 12 years later, CNN and other 24 hour networks like Fox News and MSNBC hope to duplicate that success. Unfortunately, although President Bush said the war would begin at 8 PM sharp ET, the attacks have so far been very anti-climatic. The few air strikes that have happened are no more severe than the daily air strikes that have happened over the past 3 months.

Geraldo Rivera, former tabloid journalist and foreign correspondent for Fox News wanted to recycle old Gulf War footage. "I don't see what the big deal is," he said, "just take that old CNN footage and wipe their logo off. Hell, give me a blue screen and a camera, and I'll double the ratings of my 'Al Capone's Vault' prime time special."

So far, all America can do is sit back and wait. The countless Americans that set their VCR for 8 PM were undoubtedly disappointed to get regular network programming like George Lopez and Survivor.