The "El Salvador Option" (tags)
The US administration recognizes that its troops face a resistance firmly anchored in the population. As a result, it relies on a hidden dirty war..The model for contemporary Iraq is not Vietnam but El Salvador where 70,000 were killed in the 12-year war.
[Addendum, Oct. 7, 4 p.m. ET: Osama Bin Laden essentially claimed credit for the Sept. 11 attacks in a statement recorded before Sunday's strikes on Afghanistan. "America was hit by God in one of its softest spots," he said. "If it continues with this policy [against Iraq and the PLO], the sons of Islam will not stop their struggle."]