RE: [A-List] No fat lady in sight

["bon moun" <sherrynstan@xxxxxxx>]

A friend wrote me about the "three options for Baghdad":

   It looks as though door number three is what they took;bomb the
infrastructure,bomb the press,and fill the hospitals with civilians till
the
regime apparently collapsed from it`s own contradictions,or so it
seems.Bush
and Co are maintaining credability through photo ops real or
contrived,and a
healthy dose of cash to tribal leaders and others to ensure popular
support
from the masses as they liberate Baghdad.Wrap it all up with a sanitized

version,minimumize coverage of pockets of resistance,lots of statues
toppling,crowds cheering US liberators,and Bush is back on top as a
vindicated leader of the free world.Top off with a heavy dose of support
our
troops,hubris,and demoralizing posts on activist newswires in key
markets,combined with upbeat public opinion polls,and we are toast for
the
time being.The recent heavy handed tactics in Oakland,and some of the
same
here in DC are a good way to intimidate the more moderate types,while a
media
blackout on the worldwide protests  helps to feed the feeling of
isolation.
    I guess it will work in the short term,to stiffen support for the
start
of an occupation domestically,but I wonder about the global
implications.I
guess the target of "shock and awe" weren`t only the Iraqis,but rather
every
other  arab state,the arab people,aqnd the palestinians.I guess the
europeans
are also being punished for thier insolence,by being cut out of post war
deal
making.... ....

I replied:

More like door number three and a half...  I think I told Juliet before
this happened that the one option I didn't write about was the
disappearance of resistance.  But that doesn't necessarily mean they ran
away, does it.  If I commanded the defense of Baghdad, I would disappear
for a year, melt away in teams of three and four.  Let the situation
ripen a bit.  Study the developed weaknesses.  Agitate for street
mobilizations to increase the chaos factor.  Make one big, splashy
operation that stunned the giant hard.  Follow up with incessant
pinpricks using precision riflemen - one shot one kill types - to attrit
at a rate of two to three a week, making them stretch their lines or
consolidate inside hardened positions.  Giap in the city.  When they
pursue, withdraw.  When they withdraw, pursue.  But that's just what I
would do.  There's my little martial fantasy.