StrategyPage also has a new map showing known Coalition forces locations, and suspected dispositions of Iraqi troops.
Don’t worry — none of this information is classified; it’s all been garnered from public sources.
Click over and you’ll see that 3ID is poised to strike through the “Karbala Gap,” located between the town of Karbala and the lake west. If the Iraqis think they can stop us short of Baghdad, it will have to be there. And they can’t.
Units of the 101st are following 3ID, but I suspect they’ll be used mostly for occupation and pacification. We don’t have many boots in the sand, and there are still lots of pockets of enemy troops behind 3ID. That’s being done on purpose — race past enemy strong points in order to get to Baghdad, where the leadership is (probably, maybe) hiding out.
To the east, you’ll see the 1st Marine Division and 1st UK Armor. At least one of those divisions will eventually run up the roads along the Euphrates River, to be in position on the east side of Baghdad. With Kurds and Special Forces in the north, the circle will be, to quote Darth Vader, complete.
That much can happen in days, not weeks. But as I wrote before, speculating on how the endgame will play out is still pointless.
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