An enemy that can do suicide car bombing as well as break-contact drills is truly formidable; it’s like the alpha and omega of war. The Americans have been talking about two kinds of enemy in Iraq, the calculated ex-Ba’athist roadside-bomber types who care deeply about living to fight another day, and the crazy-arsed jihadis who just want to die gloriously and couldn’t care less about breaking contact in an orderly fashion. It looks like they’re on their way to finding a Hegelian synthesis.

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