[Yankee]

It is difficult, though, to come up with any reason why they would leave Basra in that direction. It's one of the dumbest military moves since Pickett's Charge.

I've been thinking of that exchange between Lee and Pickett after the charge in the film "Gettysburgh".

Lee: "General Pickett, you had better look after your division.".

Pickett: "General Lee, I have no division.".

[Dirk McQuickly]

Earlier this morning, MSNBC insisted that the arriving column was "yet another setback" for the coalition. How can anybody take that Playskool network seriously?

[Pompah]

And another : " It is well that War is so terrible. Lest we grow too fond of it."
R.E.Lee December 1862

[Redcloak]

Yup, a dumb move. The only reason I can think of for them to go south would be to threaten Umm Qasr. (Not that they ever had a chance of getting close enough to it to so much as spot its lights on the horizon...)