From No Quarter: Walking the Thin Red Line

Larry C Johnson...

If Don Rumsfeld's latest decision to put more troops in Baghdad was described in terms of playing Texas Hold Em (a poker game), he has gone all in only holding a pair of deuces (for those not familiar with the terminology, he is betting all of his money on a weak hand). If the U.S. can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, this is the only plausible option.

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The major challenge for the U.S. troops is to avoid actions that the Shia majority will view as a threat to their newly minted status as the de jure majority. Of course, U.S. intentions don't really matter. What matters is what the Shias perceive to be the truth. Here is where the trouble starts. It seems Sadr's supporters already view the U.S. arrival as the first step toward stripping the Shias of power.

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