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"It has now been nearly six months since the President declared major combat operations to have concluded. It's time to declare them resumed."

Sorry, major combat operations remain concluded.

These attacks are not going to be solved by posting a couple of carriers near the Persian Gulf or through divisional sweeps with attack helicopters being used in brigade-sized raids. You don't cure suicide bombers by calling in Corp artillery. *Those* are major combat operations.

We are going to win or lose the counterinsurgency with small-unit tactics. Our success will depend upon the skill and agressiveness of our battalion and company commanders, and our platoon leaders. It will also depend upon the Iraqis picking up arms and joining us in a vermin hunt.

Our commanders and leaders are up to this kind of a challenge. So are our troops. And the Iraqis seem to be joining us. About half of the attacks over the last couple of days were foiled by our Iraqi allies.

To me, the attacks of the last few days were more a sign of desperation and despair on the part of our adversaries. Two months to plan one rocket attack against a soft target? Where half the missiles fail to launch? Suicide bombings made by foreigners with Syrian passports? That hardly seems consistant with a winning adversary.

All we need to assure ultimate victory is patience -- on the part of the home front.

I'm in agreement with NTWK here. We cannot punish the civilians for these attacks.

>> All we need to assure ultimate victory is patience -- on the part of the home front. <<

GWB said this would take time. We need to stay the course. There's a lot of good we're doing in Iraq. It's just the lamestream media terrorist sympathizers won't report it.

We can fight the terrorists on THEIR streets or on OUR streets. I prefer theirs.

IMHO, the problem is coming out of Syria and Iran. If we want to get tough that anyone, it would be those nations. The tyrants in power there do not want a free Iraq. Freedom is contagious and a free Iraq would mean the end of their regimes and they know it.

All we need to assure ultimate victory is patience -- on the part of the home front.

Agreed. But unfortunately we have an internal enemy in the form of national-level Democrats and the media doing their best to erode that patience.