Rebel war spirals out of control as US intelligence loses the plot

[DUreader]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1076100,00.html


The ghosts of Vietnam are returning as
Baathists, zealots, criminals, tribal leaders and
al Qaeda unite in a deadly alliance of hatred.
Special report by Peter Beaumont in London
and Patrick Graham in Baghdad

Sunday November 2, 2003
The Observer

Sharp disagreements are emerging between the
US and the UK over the exact nature of the Iraqi
resistance, amid warnings that the US is losing the
intelligence war against the rebels.

After eight days in which Iraqi fighters have
scored a series of major blows to the coalition
and its Iraqi allies, intelligence and military officials
in Iraq and on both sides of the Atlantic are at
odds over whether they are fighting a Saddam-led
movement or a series of disparate partisan
groups. They are just as divided on finding a way
to halt the escalating violence.

The latest violence comes amid increasingly bleak
assessments from Washington, where the latest
attacks have been compared in the media to
Vietnam's 1968 Tet Offensive against US forces
and described by Sandy Berger, a former National
Security Adviser to President Bill Clinton, as a
'classic guerrilla war'.

The comments follow leaked assessments by both
the US pro-consul in Iraq, Ambassador Paul
Bremer, and US Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld that war against the resistance was
going less well than planned, with the latter
describing a 'long, hard slog'.

[Aidoneus]

1. "Baathists, zealots, criminals, tribal leaders and al Qaeda"

A somewhat interesting piece in spots, but in part rather like reading a Bremer/Rumsfeld press report.

[tinnypriv]

2. Beaumont is all things said, a fool

As is The Observer in general. I still boycott it, as do a few other people.

[Voltaire99]

3. Unreadable

What a waste of the Guardian's resources that paper is.