GUERRILLA WAR
"(Gen. John Abizaid's) reference to guerrilla-style tactics, with its resonance of the messy, protracted and unpopular American involvement in Vietnam, was the sort of language the Bush administration has not used thus far.

But in the face of continuing deadly attacks, American officials have been gradually strengthening their descriptions of the resistance that troops face.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said for the first time a few days ago that the resistance might be regionally organized, if not nationally so. He also disclosed last week that the cost of American military operations in Iraq had hit $3.9 billion a month, far more than anticipated.

The casualty toll in Iraq reached a politically sensitive milepost today with the 147th combat death among United States forces since the war began on March 20. That is the same number as died in the Persian Gulf War of 1991." NY Times

Finally Democrats are finding their voices:

"(John Kerry) said Mr. Bush now had a "dangerous gap in credibility" on national security, an apparent reference in part to the president's disputed assertion in January that Iraq had sought uranium from Africa.

"Americans should be able to trust that what the president tells them is true."

Mr. Bush, he asserted, had "stalled" investigations into the 2001 attacks, and the administration "gave presidential sanction to misleading information and is still trying to conceal what happened."

"Senator Edward Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, said on Tuesday that Mr. Bush's postwar policy had brought "chaos for the Iraqi people and continuing mortal danger for our troops."

"Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, told fellow senators that people in the White House were "bound and determined" to include the allegation in the (State of the Union) address, despite being discouraged by George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence.

"The president has within his ranks on staff some person who was willing to spin and hype and exaggerate and cut corners on the most important speech the president delivers in any given year," Mr. Durbin said as he offered a proposal to hold up $50 million in intelligence spending until the president delivers a report on the handling of the Iraqi intelligence." NY Times