All hell is breaking loose
Written by: Beck
The insurgency in Iraq is well and fully underway now. And it's all because of
this guy. The most interesting thing to watch will be how the American public reacts to the situation. When Iraqis were dancing in the streets and pulling down Saddam statues, it was quite easy for the general public to stomach the liberation. Now that quite a few Iraqis seem rather less than happy to have us there, opinions could swing dramatically. My hope is that, with insurgents out in the open now, it'll be easier to crush resistance quickly, rather than trying to fight a protracted urban geurrila war. The toughest thing about operating in Iraq will always be that enemy fighters can simply put their guns down and melt back into the population.
For a thorough breakdown see either
CNN's article on the subject. For an exhaustive breakdown from yesterday, see
instapundit's voluminous links and quotes.
Finally, eight employees of Blackwater Security, the firm employing the four Americans who were killed and mutilated in Falluja, held off an assault on the CPA headquarters on Sunday. According to
the story on MSNBC, eight guys and one injured marine fought off "hundreds" of Iraqis. These guys are basically modern-day mercenaries. And it's cool as hell. My favorite part is where they sent in their own helicopters to resupply with ammo and airlift out their wounded.
A little something you probably didn't realize:
The role of Blackwater's commandos in Sunday's fighting in Najaf illuminates the gray zone between their formal role as bodyguards and the realities of operating in an active war zone. Thousands of armed private security contractors [thousands?] are operating in Iraq in a wide variety of missions and exchanging fire with Iraqis every day, according to informal after-action reports from several companies.