Basra - Gaza - Baghdad and the West Bank

I do not see the war situation in Iraq growing into something comparible to the war America fought against the Vietnamese.   It is more likely that the situation will come to mirror Israel's involvement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  

This is likely to be the case because the thinking of key Bush advisors,  many of whom are American Israelis, has been shaped in light of Israel's colonial involvement in the Palestinian Territories.   

And what we are seeing two weeks into the conflict confirms that:  suicide bombings, military checkpoints, needless accidental killings of unarmed civilians, restrictions on the travel of the local population, military troops bursting into civilian homes, military shoot to kill orders in civilian communities,  war damaged mosques,  military imposed bottle necks effecting food, water and electricity,  military blockades of civilian communities, etc.,.   

It's likely that the local population will not cooperative with a colonial administration imposed on the nation by and dependent upon the United States.   Therefore, it is likely that administrators appointed by the US will be assassinated and US troops will be subjected to hit and run tactics,  car bombings, suicide bombings, kidnappings, etc.,.  

Unfortunately,  the far right may well regard it as beneficial in as much as it may bring greater American sympathy for Israel's plight.  

KR