[Paraclete]

Senior US commanders in the field have also told American correspondents that the Karbala Gap – described as "the last stepping-stone to Baghdad" – would be their next objective. Military experts counselled scepticism, warning that the military briefings may be intended to confuse the Iraqis and that the first blow could fall elsewhere.

Do you suppose a huge ruse is going on . . . Marines hit from the Southeast (where they're supposedly bogged down)?

[edwin hubble]

"Do you suppose a huge ruse is going on . . . Marines hit from the Southeast (where they're supposedly bogged down)?"

Or the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from the West (Jordan). Note that there aren't embedded troops in the North or West. Only the South (and Southeast).