Chickenshits posted by Richard Seymour

American forces have been close to capturing or killing Mr. Sadr before, but have repeatedly backed off. This time American commanders had vowed to crush his guerrillas, known as the Mahdi Army.

The delay came after a day of intense preparation for the attack, with a convoy of tanks and armored vehicles leaving its base.

Officers declined to discuss why they did not go ahead with the attack.

"Preparations to do the offensive are taking longer than initially anticipated," said Maj. David Holahan, second in command of the Marine battalion in Najaf.

"We never said what time we would do it."