Report: New NIE will say Iraq in mature civil war, warns of coordinated attack on troops before September report

Above: Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division react after receiving fire on a mission in Ambekiyah in July.

The Bush administration is finishing a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq that paints a sobering picture of a mature civil war unlikely to be snuffed out through political progress, according to officials involved in the report’s preparation.

A late draft of the document warns of the possibility of a spectacular attack in conjunction with a crucial mid-September assessment by Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq.

With the Petraeus-Crocker report looming, some administration officials say they fear a coordinated onslaught like the Tet offensive, a surprise country-wide series of attacks that produced a psychological victory for Vietnamese Communists in 1968.

Read the rest at the Politico

Related Link:
Report: New NIE says al-Qaeda likely to use Iraq network for U.S. terrorist attack

Related Link:
Sources: New NIE says al-Qaeda regaining strength

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

Related Link:
'Senior U.S. Official': Iran coordinating Sunni-Shiite summer offensive against troops in Iraq