Iraqi forces win battle but war?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5626666

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Recent successes against Iraqi rebels have created an impression the tide may be turning in the fight against the
insurgency, but the reality is more clouded.

Shopkeepers and residents on a busy Baghdad shopping street this week pulled their own guns on a group of masked men firing at
bystanders from a passing car.

It wasn't the first case of citizen retaliation, but it was one of the most visible displays of Iraqis wanting to get even. And in recent weeks there
have been large Iraqi demonstrations against those suspected of being behind insurgent attacks.

At the same time, Iraqi and U.S. forces have been making their own inroads against the nearly two-year-old insurgency.

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[gratuitous]

1. Tracking Vietnam almost perfectly

Now, for your amusement, the body counts of dead insurgents.

When you tune into a ball game late, and you hear the announcers for your favorite team intone, "And that's their biggest lead of the game," you know that that's good news in only one direction. When you find out it's your team that's behind, you know they're headed for a loss.

Likewise, when you hear the announcers intone that American and Iraqi forces just routed "the largest insurgent camp found to date," it means that they're going to keep finding larger and larger insurgent camps. It's definitely NOT good news.

But it's comforting to know that the Americans and the Iraqis are "making their own inroads" against the insurgents.

[DemoTex]

2. Yep, very much like Vietnam (where we won every battle ..)

.. and lost the war.