No sniping, mortars, or tracer. And no sign of the dreaded Republican Guard

It’s worthwhile to discuss all that has been accomplished for being a mere two weeks into Operation Iraqi Freedom. This article from the UK Guardian (swiftly becoming one of my favorite websites for foreign news) offers just one perspective:

The first American pontoon raft slid into the river Tigris with a slosh and a clatter at 4.30pm yesterday, and young Iraqi men watched from both banks, curious, timid and passive, as a grubby horde of US marines prepared to bridge their ancient waterway.

There was not the slightest opposition to the river crossing; no tracer, no mortar rounds, no sniping, not even a shouted curse against the invading Yankees from these fit young locals who were not in the least bit interested in fighting for Saddam Hussein.

An F-18 fighter swooped low overhead and, seeing the marines surging across the legendary river, could not resist an exuberant roll. The Iraqis on the far bank flinched visibly in terror, fearing they were about to be bombed. When they weren’t, they carried on watching.

In three days, these marines have pushed forward 75 miles against the most ephemeral resistance. They have become accustomed to Iraqi guerrilla tactics of shoot and flee, and the Iraqis, confusingly, seem to have nothing else to offer.

Safe to say that “shock and awe” is working, all in all Iraq is proving to be a vindication of 4th Generation Warfare and the tactics used in Afghanistan.