Registration required.
Bush Administration Plans to Delay Major Assaults in Iraq
Attacks on Iraq's rebel-held cities will be delayed, officials say.
But that could make it harder to allow wider, and more legitimate,
Iraqi voting in January.
By Mark Mazzetti, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to delay major assaults on rebel-held cities in Iraq until after U.S. elections in November, say administration officials, mindful that large-scale military offensives could affect the U.S. presidential race.
Although American commanders in Iraq have been buoyed by recent successes in insurgent-held towns such as Samarra and Tall Afar, administration and Pentagon officials say they will not try to retake cities such as Fallouja and Ramadi -- where the insurgents' grip is strongest and U.S. military casualties could be the highest -- until after Americans vote in what is likely to be an extremely close election.
...