So we’re in downtown Baghdad and it becomes clear what CENTCOM meant when they said Baghdad would “fall from the inside out”. It’s also clear why they are not in the least bit unhappy about having the Iraqis know exactly where they are: they want as many Ba’ath loyalists, Republican Guards, and Fedayeen butchers, foreign auxiliaries and their ilk to come to them as possible. Every one of that lot who gets killed trying to dislodge American forces from the center of Baghdad is one less we have to go searching for in the streets of the city, “house to house” as it were. Let ’em come. That’s what’s been happening at the airport, and now that’s what’s happening in downtown Baghdad.
Yes, this does seem to be the strategy, and I think it’s a good one. But after reflecting on how well things are going, he also offers this appropriate cautionary note:
Don’t get cocky.
That’s good advice, too.