Bobert,

I am not, nor have I ever said that it would be a piece of cake. If as you say the RG, SRG and FS hole up in downtown Baghdad and try to lure US forces into an urban scrap, lets just consider what is involved. By the way I have never assumed that the general population are armed - Iraq's views on gun control are a damn sight more responsible than those that exist in America today. But that apart:

1. The elements that can be assumed to be loyal to Saddam Hussein have to be fed and resupplied - By whom?

2. To be effective they have to be able to move about, they can't just sit there.

3. While the general population are not armed, there will be other forces in the city who are armed, e.g. regular army, police.

4. It's not only Saddam who will want to survive, the Ba'ath Party will want to survive and if that means ditching SH they will do so without hesitation.

5. Where is SH going to hide? Where is he going to feel safe among his own population. Remember this is guy who has created his own two layered personal guard just to protect himself from his own people.

Yes there will be casualties but not as many as you seem to imagine. This will be no Stalingrad, because the battle doesn't actually have to be fought.