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It's all speculation. They are either going to hit us hard, or they are impotent and using scare tactics (such as beheadings, internet threats and rudimentary tapes) as their primary means of terrifying us. The only two means of communication with them are decimation of their nests or capture. IMHO locals with knowledge of hostages who do not report their location to authorities (coalition troops) are as guilty as the hostage takers. Those "street dancers" need to be considered enemies of the coalition and meet the same fate as the insurgents. Harsh, yes - but as long as we have troops in Iraq, their safety and the stability of the country come first. Those abiding by the law and respectful of coalition troops should not be affected.

I don't agree. Since they declared war on us in the early 90's, they have averaged three years or so between attacks. Lately, depending on whom you believe, they have somewhat successfully waged a global war including attacks in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Russia and elsewhere. Rather than a lull, this is an unprecedented escalation of attacks. I also think that we tend to project our twenty first century five minute mentality on to them, which is wrong and plain dangerous. They have patience in spades, and I don't believe they feel any pressure other than to attack successfully. Time has no bearing.