New Iraq report to warn of attack

[EV_Ares]

<<These guys have an answer for everything:>>
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The Bush administration is finishing a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq that paints a sobering picture of a mature civil war unlikely to be snuffed out through political progress, according to officials involved in the report’s preparation.

A late draft of the document warns of the possibility of a spectacular attack in conjunction with a crucial mid-September assessment by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq.

With the Petraeus-Crocker report looming, some administration officials say they fear a coordinated onslaught like the Tet offensive, a surprise country-wide series of attacks that produced a psychological victory for Vietnamese Communists in 1968.

“We’re concerned about the desire of Al Qaeda to undertake some Tet offensive-style attack in conjunction with the Petraeus report to influence political opinion to the extent that people would lose their stomach for the fight,” one of the officials said.

Gordon Johndroe, National Security Council spokesman and deputy White House press secretary for foreign affairs, said: "The NIE, an update to the one from February 2nd, will likely offer a picture of the current successes as well as the remaining challenges we face in Iraq, and, like the previous NIE on Iraq, the consequences of pursuing different courses of action."

j((((entire article @ link below))))

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5344.html

[tularetom]

1. From what I've heard AQ is not capable of a Tet style offensive

this sounds like more bullshit propaganda to me. Just to soften the blow for when Gen Betray-us says we need to stay there for a hundred years.

[EV_Ares]

2. I think U just hit the nail on the head so to speak; that is exactly this

group's tactic. They know the report is not going to be favorable, they know it will hurt them to control the repukes for extending the serge deadline past Sep so we are going to get this.

[Ilsa]

3. Aw shucks. And I was hoping to take a vacation to Baghdad in September.

The troops are screwn. This is so obscene. They know alot of death is coming, but they won't do anything about it.