For Bush, a clear path in Iraq, but many pitfalls lie ahead: "Isolated attacks on U.S. forces a year ago have crescendoed into rocket firings on U.S. helicopters, bomb blasts against Iraqis working for the U.S. and suicide blasts targeting Iraqi leaders. Bush said they have made Iraq the central front in the war on terrorism. And he contended that the attacks were growing because the terrorists wanted to sabotage the handover to Iraqis.
They've driven United Nations (news - web sites) and other aid workers out of Iraq, slowed reconstruction to a near halt, forced American officials to hunker down in fortified zones and scared many Iraqis away from working with the U.S.
Though Bush divided the attackers into three groups - former members of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime, outside terrorists and illegal militias loyal to Shiite religious leaders - he offered little evidence to suggest that the U.S. finally understands the nature of the Iraqi insurgency and can defeat it.
Understanding just who the enemy is essential if Bush's new strategy is going to work. The number of attackers and the extent of their support among Iraqis angry about the U.S. occupation are unknown. This past weekend, insurgents melted away in the city of Karbala and U.S. officials say they don't know where they went."
- posted by geoff @ #