The Badghad offensive is encountering stiff resistance from entrenched Sunni guerillas.
But they are just doing it to make Bush look bad. Really they are losing. So don't be fooled by reports like this:
Iraqi Offensive Met by Wave of New Violence From Insurgents
At least initially, the crackdown in Baghdad appeared to have been met by a stiff, coordinated response that brought the toll to about 700 from the intensified rebel attacks this month. The heaviest battle raged across the districts of Abu Ghraib, Amariya and Khudra on the capital's western edge.
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In the space of 30 minutes in midafternoon, the insurgents answered attempts by government forces to cordon off the districts with a sequence of attacks. They appeared to catch Iraqi forces by surprise, and prompted commanders to call for backup from American troops garrisoned nearby. Iraqi witnesses said Apache attack helicopters with loaded missile racks swooped overhead as the insurgent attacks flared into protracted gun battles below. ...
The most daring assault appeared to have been a sustained attack on the detention center run by the Interior Ministry's major crimes unit in Amariya, where suspected insurgents are held before being moved to Abu Ghraib. The ministry said the assault there involved at least 50 insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns. According to an unconfirmed account by an Amariya resident who was reached by telephone, insurgent bands roaming the district after the battle claimed to have captured weapons from the detention center's armory.
Now that sounds real bad, but everything is under control over there. Really, the terrorists want you to think things are getting worse, so if you think that it is like you are a terrorist. Don't read the whole article, or you will be sorry.
Also, Krugman reports that a terrorist was purged from the ranks of the US Army general staff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/30/opinion/30krugman.html?hp
One of the more bizarre aspects of the Iraq war has been President Bush's repeated insistence that his generals tell him they have enough troops. Even more bizarrely, it may be true - I mean, that his generals tell him that they have enough troops, not that they actually have enough. An article in yesterday's Baltimore Sun explains why.
The article tells the tale of John Riggs, a former Army commander, who "publicly contradicted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld by arguing that the Army was overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan" - then abruptly found himself forced into retirement at a reduced rank, which normally only happens as a result of a major scandal.
And don't be fooled by the complete breakdown of the Iraqi health care system. Those doctors are quitting because they hate freedom and love terrorism and want Bush to look bad. That is all. Nothing to worry about.
Facing Chaos, Iraqi Doctors Are Quitting