The last 11 days have made it clear that the Battle of Baghdad is actually Iraqi defense in-depth.
This is a defense that began at Basra and Umm Qasr and now is attacking US and British rear
areas and supply lines throughout the theater with every asymmetric means available. The
resulting mix of missiles, rockets, Fedayeen, regular forces, Republican Guards, Baath Party
agents, Popular army forces, and intelligence and security stiffeners is Saddam’s best way to
use small cadres of loyalists to inflict disruptive attacks, cause casualties, try to force the US
and UK to fight in the cities in the rear (potentially alienating them), and devote resources and
air strikes to missions other than the attacks on Baghdad.