I doubt the echoes of Tet are coincidental. It appears that the Iraqi resistance has studied America's humiliating defeats. The dismemberment of the contract soldiers in Fallujah in front of television cameras left little question that it was intended to invoke Mogadishu. An Administration with credibility being wounded left and right now faces images crushingly at odds with its incessant happy talk about Iraq.
Worse for Bush, the June 30th transfer date is well known in Iraq to be based on domestic political considerations. A student of Tet might feel extra motivation to launch and all-out attack now in the belief that it could topple the Bush Presidency.
This from the AP may answer the question of how the resistance will replenish its ranks if it takes heavy losses ala Tet.
U.S. warplanes firing rockets destroyed four houses in Fallujah after nightfall Tuesday, witnesses said. A doctor said 26 Iraqis, including women and children, were killed and 30 wounded in the strike. The deaths brought to 34 the number of Iraqis killed in Fallujah on Tuesday, including eight who died in street battles earlier in the day.
Leveling Fallujah with air power will make it harder for those who don't want to "nuke `em" to believe we're there to help the Iraqis and it is certain to inflame world opinion.
The good news is the whole Bush, neo-con imperial project looks to be in shambles. Iraq was supposed to be an object lesson, "We can f**k with anyone we want so you better get in line." Of course why they thought picking on wounded Iraq was likely to impress North Korea or Iran isn't clear. But now their ineptitude has shown the opposite. The illusion of our omnipotence as "the only Superpower" has been exposed.
What can be done now is without good answers. More people should not die in reprise of "our credibility depends on it". But many more are going to die whether we stay or go. The situation calls for a true international effort at nation building. Bush can't provide the leadership. Can Kerry?
