The news media seems to think the war in Iraq is going badly. I can just see these guys write a post-mortem of the 1972 Miami Dolphins: Despite Coach Shula’s claims of a perfect season, we can report that opponents completed passes, gained yards, first downs, and even scored on the Dolphins while the Dolphin offense struggled at times, failing to put points on the board with every possession. As far as I can tell, the campaign against Iraq is going very well. Coalition ground forces have seemingly advanced at will, stopped only by the weather; what’s described as fierce opposition has managed to inflict few casualties and is best described as a nuisance. Some seem surprised that vehicles still need gas, guns still need bullets, and soldiers still need to sleep now and then. Despite fears before hand, the war has neither widened — no rising of the Arab street, no terrorist attacks, not even a tape from Osama — nor has Iraq used WMD yet. Yes, the coalition has made mistakes, mistakes that have cost lives, mistakes that will prolong the campaign, but then this too should not be surprising.

Part of the problem is that since neither we nor the media know what the plan is/was, we cannot accurately asses how we are doing relative to the plan. Some seem to think the plan was to drive to Baghdad and be welcomed as heros. Somehow, I doubt that was the plan. It looks to me that the plan was to get to Baghdad by fighting as little as possible in the south and have the decisive battle occur there. As an Iraqi in Nasiriya, scene of heavy fighting, said, “You want to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime? Go to Baghdad. What are you doing here?” 

So I think the coalition needs to press ahead to Baghdad. Waiting around for reinforcements and getting bogged down taking every town in the south are diversions. Strike the Republican Guard units while they are still outside Baghdad. Infiltrate the 101 into Baghdad before Iraqi units retreat into it. Keep the pressure on; keep the initiative, adjust to Saddam’s countermoves but don’t lose sight of the overall picture and objective. Knock his TV and radio broadcasts from the airwaves and replace them with our own. Attack every aspect of Saddam’s regime that you can while you advance to destroy him.