Fyi..
Everyone who comes to this thread might like to check out Bill Roggio's "The Fourth Rail" blog. He puts much of the operational information into context:
http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/11/operation_steel_1.php
He's also been invited to go to Iraq to see first hand what's going on. It would seem that his blog has gotten the attention of some of the military in country. He is scheduled to go later this month. Expect his analysis to get even more on target.