Truckin'

In Iraq, it can make you a quick $2500 dollars--if you can get to or from your destination. MSNBC has more:

While insurgents from the Mahdi militia battled U.S. Marines in Najaf, others were waging a much more subtle—and successful—war on Iraq's long and lonely highways. Their targets are mostly unarmed, unprotected truckers; their tactics, robbery, arson and kidnapping. Over the past month the insurgents have brought civilian trucking into central Iraq to a virtual standstill. Three months ago, for example, 1,500 Jordanian trucks plied Highway 10 between Amman and Baghdad every day. Now only 30 a day make the perilous trip...

30 Jordanian drivers have been killed in the past year, and 300 trucks have been either stolen or lost. Only 4 percent of Jordan's fleet of independent trucks (which once totaled 11,500) are now operating. "It's never been this bad, even during the [beginning] of the war," says Habashneh.

No major route into Iraq is safe. The highways spanning the 600 kilometers from the Turkish border to Baghdad are crawling with saboteurs. The Turkish International Transport Association has declared a total ban on supplying goods to U.S. forces in Iraq. Thirty-three Turkish drivers have been killed, kidnapped or injured over the past 12 months. Turkey's trade with Iraq doubled last year, but it is certain to fall off dramatically with a trucking moratorium. The even longer highways from Kuwait, usually much more heavily guarded by U.S. troops, have also seen a spate of kidnappings and robberies. Around Baghdad, truck stops are deserted.

Trying their best to put a good face on the situation, the military insists that "critical supplies" continue to arrive. Well, good, I guess. But the war won't be won or lost based on ammunition alone. "Victory" is a matter of winning hearts and minds. Without basic items like food (or parts to run electrical generators), you can't expect the Iraqi public's support.

At this point, the insurgents have the upper hand. Iraq is their country. They can wait us out.