[Pukin Dog]

I think you are being too sanguine in your analysis. If this uprising delivers results (disorder, coalition KIA, financing from Al Qaeda, Iran, Syria, Saudis) it will get far worse.

I think you (and others) are behaving like scared chickens. You listen to the media, and expect the worst. It is as though you have no faith in our Marines at all. The word 'SURPRISE' has been thrown around like so much BS, it makes me ill.

There is no evidence of surprise at all, except from the media. NONE. Zip, zero, nada.

What I am being told is that the Marines have gone in, logged coordinates of the bad guys, took some fire, and have now cleared the area because Spectre is coming in tonight to make swiss cheese out of the places where we now KNOW the bad guys to be hiding.

If we kill 10 for one of ours, I call that a good day. Disorder is a living insurgent. Order is a dead one. If you really think that Iran, Syria or anyone else wants to give us reason to bring the fight to them, you are mistaken.

This is a punk who wants attention. Don't play along with the media looking for something to help the Democrats. You should know better than that by now.

[Travis McGee]

I look at this as an opportunity to cull out the hotheads.

Lots of young Iraqi wives (married with no say-so to 30 year old jihad jerks) will secretly thank us for offing the creeps.

[CasearianDaoist]

Here, Here! Exactly. And damn the repercussions. If they are decisive it will be not be remembered here come Nov. but will be etched on their memories yonder.

[prairiebreeze]

I have faith in our Marines. Hands down, they are inflicting significantly more damage than they are taking.

The military of the US and coalition will prevail in this. They will succeed. And yes, we mourn every single one of our casualties.

But we WILL succeed.

Prairie

[BushMeister]

"Chicken" is a meaningless comment directed to someone tying on a keyboard.

This is a bad day, and could become much worse, and bring much much worse in the days to come. We are all concerned and heartsick about what is going on in Iraq today. Calling people "chicken" doesn't solve or prove anything.

If we get into a position of taking 50 KIA and 250 wounded a week for months, do you think that would present a problem militarily or politically? That's quite possible in a general uprising.

***Is it possible, as Leventhal just said on FOX, that the attackers saw a bunch of Marines leaving the base at Ramadi (possibly to support the Fallujah operation), and decided to attack the lightly-defended outpost?

[iconoclast]

If we kill 10 for one of ours, I call that a good day.

Ah, body counts ... where have I heard that before.

Let's not go there, I don't think Bush will.

[iconoclast]

This is a punk who wants attention.

Who's the punk? You mean the Shiite cleric who has a warrant out on him?