Petraeus: Expect insurgent 'sensational attacks' to 'grab the headlines to create a mini-Tet'; Says Sept. report will give 'implications' of 'options'

Above: In 1968, 84,000 Viet Cong guerrilla and North Vietnamese Army troops attacked South Vietnamese and U.S. military and government installations on the Vietnamese New Year, January 30. The holiday, known as Tet, was usually observed with a cease-fire. One of the cities where the VC were most tenacious was Ben Tre. The VC held their positions throughout the town for nearly a week despite constant pounding of helicopter gunships, fighter bombers, and artillery. By the time they eventually withdrew, half of the city, with a population of 30,000, had been destroyed. Peter Arnett of the Associated Press filed a story on the battle that quotes an unnamed American major: "It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it." Though the VC were actually defeated, the 'Tet Offensive' became a turning point in American opinion about the war.

BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) - Sunni extremists are likely to try a series of high-profile attacks to grab the headlines ahead of a watershed report to Congress in September on political and military progress in Iraq, the top U.S. commander said Saturday.

"We expect they will try this - pull off a variety of sensational attacks and grab the headlines to create a `mini-Tet,"' Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with The Associated Press...

Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to present a report to Congress by Sept. 15 on the situation in Iraq. Several Republicans say if progress is not made by then, they may call for a new strategy in Iraq.

The general would not say what he and Crocker plan to tell Congress in the report.

But he added that the two top American officials in Iraq "have a responsibility to produce our assessment of the implications" of "different options."

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