I think his overall point is that the "insurgents" will do whatever is necessary to be active at crucial points for Iraq, because they want it to fail.
I'm certain that these brave, brave men will make their point by machine gunning some women and children, or perhaps blowing up some cars. Who knows, those minute men are so unpredictable.
Does an upsurge in violence mean that we should capitulate to people who kill civilians, or does it mean we hunt them down and stop them?
Is war supposed to be easy?