Reports of my demise...: First of all, if Saddam isn't dead, he's stupid. About all he has going for him in terms of keeping his troops fighting is the fear that he's still around to order executions and/or the hope that he'll come out of this on top, somehow, someway. In any event, these un-dated, taped "appearances" on state-run t.v. is not the way to instill confidence in your vitality. Secondly, what does the war and how it's been conducted say about the true state of our military? On the one hand, it's only been about 10 days, and we've only lost about 50 troops. Additionally, we're only meeting real resistance within a two-hour's drive to Bagdhad. On the other however, we see that no engagement, whether it's Panama, Yugoslavia or downtown Baghdad, is a cake-walk, and with a cunning, desperate opponent, life can be miserable for a while. Having said that, I still think the past few days have really just been a preparation to invade, and we're letting the massive pounding of our bombers settle in before we march. This no small advantage when your opponent doesn't dare send up an airplane. So, let's say we bomb the ever-loving shit out of the Republican Guard for 3-4 days, while our troops rest up, re-fuel and re-engergize. Meanwhile, the Iraqis have GOT to be thinking whether enough is enough, and maybe life in uncle's store isn't so bad. Taking that type of situation in a best-case scenario, we're left with minimal opposition until we get to downtown. Of course, then what? We've said we won't engage in a siege. Rather, we're going to rely on reconaissance to pick out leadership and other cells of influence, then rush the scene with special ops, helis, and artillery. Then back out to wait for the next spot. This kind of raiding activity could really unsettle the Iraqis, but it will undoubtedly take a lot of time to finish off. If we could parade around Saddam in a cage, I think things would go much faster.