The Things We Do
Internet access was down again this morning so who knows when you will be reading this.
The more the war progresses the stranger the strategy being employed seems. It appears the US has made a political decision to avoid inconveniencing the Iraqi people. By that I mean the US has avoided hitting the Iraqi infrastructure, at least in Baghdad, such as electricity, phone, water, food, roads, and air fields.
In addition, there appears to be an effort to supply humanitarian aid to Basra. Even as Iraqi troops are doing everything they can to stop the aid - up to an including using classic tactics such as ambush and hiding among the populace.
With all due respect to the Iraqis, the sooner the fighting gets over the better for everyone. Hence, to the extent that US troops are put in harms way because of these political decisions, is the extent the war could take much longer. I know it seems paradoxical, that by acting like barbarians we are actually being more humane, but war is like that.
We must not fall into the trap of loosing focus of the objectives and become distracted by side issues that do not directly lead to successful conclusion of the war. If focus is lost, events will spiral out of control and they will dictate the course of the war.
Aloha!