I hope I am wrong, but I fear a major offensive is building against our troops in Iraq....

[Blackhatjack]

Bush has now amassed the most troops on the ground that we have ever had in Iraq. This will not go unnoticed by all the groups that want the US to leave. They have been testing the Green Zone extensively, and mortar attacks have ramped up significantly.

I just have a sinking feeling for our troops that they are just sitting ducks behind the walls of the Green Zone.

Now we have the return of Sadr from Iran and tens of thousands of Shiites protesting against US troops in the streets.

Deaths have been increasing steadily since the so-called surge went into effect.

And we have no plan which will succeed.

For those of us old enough to remember the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, we know what that meant to the end of the Vietnam War. It is both a disaster and a tragedy if we wait until a similar event moves us to make real progress in bringing the troops home.

[Virginia Dare]

1. It'll get worse before it ever gets better, if it ever does..

you can count on that. I hope I'm wrong too, but I think this is going to be Mogadishu times one trillion before we get out of there. There is so much hatred, resentment and rage built up within the populace, something is bound to just snap and all Hell will be unleashed.

[movonne]

2. I have the same fear....it sure looks bad and we should get our

troops out now...

[EFerrari]

3. I share your concern.

:(

[jody]

4. Major offensive like the Tet offensive? Neither the Shia militia or Sunni insurgents can mass

troops, arms, and equipment for anything like Tet.

However, I would not be surprised if there is an increase in IED attacks and bombs as well as shifting targets to other cities and areas that are more vulnerable to unconventional warfare.

[gordianot]

5. America had a few friends in Vietnam, who is there in Iraq?

Bush will leave the pull out to his successor.

[ninkasi]

21. He will thus be doing what he has always done

leave the horrible messes he makes in everything he touches to others to clean up. This will be no different.

[NanceGreggs]

6. I hope you're wrong ...

... But I fear you are right.

[damntexdem]

7. It has already built and has been sprung.

It was called "the surge." It was perpetrated by the Bushistas.

[yellerpup]

8. They ratchet up the carnage on April 9th every year since 2004

They want us out. We have no plan, never had a plan except to cut ourselves in on their oil, so I fear you are on target. If only someone would start negotiating an exit. Yesterday.

[Bobbieo]

11. It's coming and we are going to lose - big time! In the end -

this may be the thing that gets us out of Iraq,

[yellerpup]

12. Hopefully, alive. eom

[mmonk]

9. I have that feeling too.

I think the insurgency has been waiting to see what this surge was all about and how to approach it. I think now time is drawing short and they've probably figured out their course of action.

[Straight Shooter]

10. The refusal of bush to set a timeline has ratcheted the desperation of those who want us out.

Clearly, he is emboldening the insurgents to take desperate measures, as they are beginning to believe that bush is determined to destroy Iraq before admitting he's wrong.

No timetable = no hope. For either side. bush's ego just gets uglier and more dangerous every day.

[madokie]

14. no hope=carnage on both sides

[Straight Shooter]

17. That's all too true.

:(

[Mr. Ected]

13. How Long Until the Iraqis "Stand Up"?

Remember when Bush was put up against the wall about an exit strategy for Iraq, and dissembled: "As the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down"?

That might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[TwilightGardener]

15. They're not just sitting ducks INSIDE the Green Zone--the whole

point of Petraeus' counterinsurgency plan was to set up "mini-bases" of Iraqi and US troops in the various Baghdad neighborhoods, with dual command of these posts by both Iraqi and US commanders. I'm not sure how many of these have come to fruition yet, or how fortified these posts are, but they sound more vulnerable to me than the relative fortress of the GZ.

[onethatcares]

16. Didn't Sadr tell the Shi ites to put their weapons down

for a short time? Then the demonstration yesterday, thousands in the streets. I kept thinking the helicopters and gunships were going to open fire at any time, but they didn't. I believe that all hell is going to break out, everywhere in the country.

[Ilsa]

18. Yeah and it's a damn creepy feeling. They said on CNN that 16 toops

were wounded in a battle in Baghdad today. No deaths, fortunately and hopefully.

[rasputin1952]

19. If this does parallel Tet, there are some interesting things...

that are about to happen.

Tet was actually a last ditch effort by the NVA/VC to wrest power from the US and RVN. In all actuality, the Tet offensive was a horrid loss of life for all sides, but it devastated the NVA, and if the proper measures would have been taken, it would have taken about 24 hours to overrun North Vietnam. A whole shitload of things happened that were reminiscent of critical CW battles, mainly Antietam and Gettysburg. In those two battles, just as in Tet, US Gov't forces sat back and licked their wounds rather than engage and destroy a decimated military force. The strategy was not to invade the North in VN, which was a strategic error. Tactically, once we beat the NVA/VC back, the error was not to keep the pressure on...but by that time, especially from Hue, where Walter Cronkite reported from, the situation was seen as a disaster.

We lost many troops, but we inflicted far more than we lost, all we gained though, was the same ground already held.

Tactically, for the NVA, it was a brilliant move, the whole thing took off w/o a hitch from their POV, but they never figured the cataclysmic losses they would incur. I don't want to see any more blood spilled, but if the Shiites do anything like attack our people, I can only hope we learned something from the last time this happened.

Personally, I wish we were out of there right now, but if this escalates through an attack by "insurgents", there needs to be an understanding that US forces have to clobber and crush the forces they will face. There is no doubt they can do this, but they must then follow through, the whole thing hinges on that follow through.

Damn bush is such an asshole, all he sees is death and destruction; I'm figuring we could get out of there just by producing bin-Laden, but I can't figure this asshole could figure that out...wouldn't fit his mindset...:grr:

This is simply the most mishandled situation I have ever heard of, bush will pay dearly for this...but nothing compared to those who will have to face the onslaught. bush is a friggin' coward, an incredibly stupid coward.

[butterfly77]

20. Aren't these the same people he claims he came there to save...

all of these people aren't insurgents and Al Qaeda...

[roamer65]

22. Just like Mao and Chiang Kai-shek united against the Japanese...

so to will the Shia and Sunnis in Iraq. Just watch.