What did they expect?
“Facing a marked increase in the frequency and brazenness of attacks on U.S.-led forces in Iraq in the last two weeks, military officials are for the first time speaking more openly about the potential for a long-term fight to quell the resistance to the American presence.
Although the term is rarely used at the Pentagon, from every description by military officials, what U.S. troops face on the ground in Iraq has all the markings of a guerrilla war — albeit one in which there are multiple opposition groups rather than a single movement.”
Perhaps the Iraqi troops vanishing in face of the US invasion was a deliberate strategy. Retreating in the face of overwhelming force, after all, is a classic guerilla warfare tactic. All those Iraqi troops, armament, and weapons went somewhere…
The US may make the mistake of thinking the Iraq opposition is centrally commanded and has a head that can be chopped off. This is almost certainly not true. Instead, this is a classic case of asymmetric warfare, with many groups, maybe in loose contact, maybe not, determined to drive the US out.
In other words, good morning Vietnam…