When you call for a "ceasefire", it means you are buying time....

[kentuck]

It has been reported in several posts that Bremer has called for a 24-hr ceasefire. I would interpret that as our troops are in need of some assistance near Fallujah. And in another related story, a US convoy was hit near al Graib, a highway near Fallujah. Nine people have been reported as killed. Where were these supplies headed? My guess would be that they were headed toward the ceasefire...

[Prodemsouth]

1. MSN has misleading headline- says US halts Fallujah offensive, Says

nothing of a Ceasefire! Which after I read the article figured out that what it was. BTW, gang vote on MSRNC article at this MSN home page there are four categories the two leading ones: 43 %: leading one "AS EXPECTED!!!! Iraq would not be easy to pacify" 11%: all idiots, I guess "Successful Saddam is gone and Iraq is heading toward Democracy!. 13%: Hard going I didn't expect the Iraqis would be so resistant. 33%: Disaster pull the troops out now, it is going to get worse. DU this.

[mopaul]

2. it's to allow the injured to be cared for..........yeah, right

like we give one flying fuck about the injured iraqis.

[kentuck]

3. You are correct MoPaul...

You can see the convoy being attacked in photo here : It was not carrying humanitarian supplies - it was carrying fuel and supplies for our troops in Fallujah.

[Jacobin]

4. In other words, they won this battle.

Trench warfare. A Stand Off.

[jobycom]

5. It means Bremer finally saw the big picture

He's not halting to regroup, he's halting to pull back. He finally saw what we've been saying-- that he's not fighting insurgents, he's fighting the whole damn country. That's a huge committment in troops and supplies, and one that would take a large toll on US and Iraqi lives. It's also so obviously counter to the whole "We liberated those poor schmucks" argument that even Bush can see it won't work. To win now, we have to commit to everything, and even so we might now win.

Ceasefire right now means "We surrender!" It doesn't mean we lost the war, but it means we can't finish this fight on their terms.

Of course, Bremer may be assuming that if we halt fighting for a few days, negotiate, then step up operations again and break our agreements, they will have lost the momentum. Given a few days, we can also corrupt their leaders, or take a few out, so when we start the offensive again, the resistance will be disorganized. Whether that works or not will depend on whether this is a genuine revolt of the people or just a well-organized counter-offensive.

Kennedy was dead on. This is Viet Nam.

[NNN0LHI]

6. it means we not only can't control the cities, we can't control the area...

...between the cities either.

Don