Why U.S. lost Baghdad battle

The U.S. strategy for suppressing the militias of Baghdad has failed disastrously. The reasons are far-reaching. The price of adopting an unsuccessful confrontation policy with the militias of Baghdad has been very high for the United States. American troop casualties for October soared to very high levels. Political and strategic tensions and distrust between the U.S. government and the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki are worse than they have been in the half a year since Maliki took office. The militias are stronger and more credible than ever. And the Bush administration has been forced to make an urgent reassessment of its Iraq strategy when it never expected to have to do so at this time.

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Baghdad Is Under Siege

Sunni insurgents have cut the roads linking the city to the rest of Iraq. The country is being partitioned as militiamen fight bloody battles for control of towns and villages north and south of the capital. As American and British political leaders argue over responsibility for the crisis in Iraq, the country has taken another lurch towards disintegration. Well-armed Sunni tribes now largely surround Baghdad and are fighting Shia militias to complete the encirclement. The Sunni insurgents seem to be following a plan to control all the approaches to Baghdad. They have long held the highway leading west to the Jordanian border and east into Diyala province. Now they seem to be systematically taking over routes leading north and south.

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“The Sword that Cuts the Arteries of the Infidels"

“The Sword that Cuts the Arteries of the Infidels,” referring to supply lines and apostate forces which support American and Shi’ite forces, is the title given to a fifty-two minute video presentation recently issued by Ansar al-Sunnah, one of the primary insurgency groups in Iraq. The video bears a resemblance to another of the group’s past releases, “Path of Glory ,” in which two men identified as Husam al-Shamri and Mohammed Abu Hajer, a member of Ansar al-Sunnah’s military office, sit and discuss the attacks which unfold and provide clarification for the group’s purpose in these actions. Abu Hajer explains that the supply lines of the enemies are like the beating heart in the body, and the enemy cannot function without supplies. To cut off the supplies then, is like “stopping the heart beat of the enemy”.

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Chandrasekaran Interview, Part II
by Juan Cole

This is the second part of my interview with Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post, concerning his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in how we got to where we are in Iraq.

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Losing the Home Front (Part 1)

Fiasco Then, Fiasco Now (Part 2)
administration and Iraq. Part 1 was Losing the Home Front. One of the sections below is devoted to Riverbend, the pseudonymous "girl blogger" of Baghdad. For it, I read the collection of her blog entries that the Feminist Press at CUNY published in 2005, Baghdad Burning, Girl Blog from Iraq, and then the newest volume, Baghdad Burning II, More Girl Blog from Iraq, just now being published. These represent an unparalleled record of the American war on, and occupation of, Iraq (and Riverbend writes like an angel). The two volumes are simply the best contemporary account we are likely to have any time soon of the hell into which we've plunged that country. I can't recommend them too highly. Tom]

Military Charts Movement of Conflict in Iraq Toward Chaos

A classified briefing prepared two weeks ago by the United States Central Command portrays Iraq as edging toward chaos, in a chart that the military is using as a barometer of civil conflict.

Breaking Faith
by Steve Gilliard

Ever since World War II, soldiers and Marines have followed a simple creed: leave no man behind. In combat units, it's a matter of faith. No one is left on the battle field. During Vietnam, Marines would take casualities to rescue their wounded. It got so bad that commanders had to order units not to get killed rescuing the wounded. You don't leave people behind. It's simple, it's taught reflexisively. American soldiers do not each other behind. It is a matter of faith. You may not have a wife or a job when you get home. You may not get home in one piece. But you know one thing as you suit up for another day in the sandbox, they will not leave you behind. No matter what they have to do, they will bring you home, alive or dead. It it understood, it is a compact. Not any longer.

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