Adversary's Tactics Leave Troops Surprised, Exhausted (washingtonpost.com): "In dawn-to-dusk fighting, more than 100 armed insurgents overran neighborhoods and occupied downtown buildings, using techniques that U.S. commanders said resembled those once employed by the Iraqi army. Well-equipped and highly coordinated, the insurgents demonstrated a new level of strength and tactical skill that alarmed the soldiers facing them.
.... Coming less than a week before the U.S. occupation formally ends, the attacks brought into sharp focus the threat the lies ahead for Iraq's interim government and the challenge that remains for U.S. forces who will remain here to defend it. The U.S.-trained Iraqi police were routed or abandoned their posts rather than face a more capable foe, and military commanders here said the battle for this city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad was far from over. "
- posted by geoff @ #