NY TIMES LIKELY TO RAISE QUESTIONS:

Resistance by Militia Is Delaying Baghdad Battle, Officers Say (NY Times, 3/26/2003)

Allied forces have shifted the focus of their land campaign in Iraq to concentrate on defeating the fedayeen and other militias serving Saddam Hussein in the south before beginning the battle for Baghdad, senior officers said tonight....

"We will go to where the enemy is," a senior American military official said tonight....

The British moves came amid reports of rebellion in the Shiite-dominated city and harsh reprisals by security forces loyal to Mr. Hussein's government.

A woman who waved to British forces on the outskirts of the city was later found hanged, an American officer said, and the Iraqis moved D-30 artillery in place to shell rebellious residents....

The turn of events in Iraq is likely to raise questions about the influence of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on military planning. Mr. Rumsfeld had rejected the doctrine of overwhelming force promulgated by Colin L. Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the current secretary of state.

The Times's incessant efforts to portray a rift between Rumsfeld and Powell grow tiresome. I'm sure Rumsfeld and Powell both want the bastards who hanged that woman drawn and quartered.
Posted by Paul Jaminet at March 26, 2003 7:14 AM