All-Out Assault on Baghdad?

"Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq"

"There is an opening in the city's main shaft that leads to the core," he said. "If a small rebel vehicle were to somehow break through the defenses shield and enter the shaft, it's possible it could hit the core with a single, well-placed shot and destroy the entire city."