For those of you that confuse Insurgents with AQ
you are wrong, yes, oh yes, you are. It is like calling all illegal aliens Mexican.
But this guy is only a retired Major General and a former division commander in Iraq. Most likely he is a liberal, a pussy, works for the enemy and hates this country!
I also believe we cannot attribute all the violence in Iraq to al-Qaeda. There’s a tendency now to lump it all together, and call it al-Qaeda. We have to be very careful with that. This is a very complex region. al-Qaeda is certainly a component. But there’s larger components. al-Qaeda is a worldwide organization. It recognizes no national boundaries. And it’s in areas where we ought to be focused.
Now, if he was in a theatre company and said this I’d believe him
Tags: Bush's FUBAR War
Whoever said there wasn’t both? It’s mainly AQ and Sadr’s people, but AQ using the sectarianism to its advantage. Playing the two sides off against us.
Actually, Ryan, if you parse the quote above, AQ must represent less than 33@ and probably less than that.
There’s larger components means that there are more than 1 other faction and that the other two or more are larger.
No it isn’t MAINLY AQ and SADR baffoon, that is the problem with people like yourself. You casually disagree and say derrr I never said that it isn’t just AQ it is Sadr too…
A freaking General just told you there are larger COMPONENTS (plural).
So why are you saying it is only AQ and Sadr? When a General is even saying it isn’t? It means it isn’t.
get a grip on reality man. There is Sunni, Shiia, Baath, Insurgents from all over the middle east fighting for power not just AQ and Sadr don’t you people read? Or do you just believe everything your government tells you?
A stable Iraq is not AQ’s interest. That is why they bomb Shi’ite mosques. To incite Shi’ite against Sunni. Obviously, because they aren’t native to Iraq like the Shi’a and Sunni, they aren’t the majority in terms of numbers, but they could be causing a large percentage of the violence.
They are more organized and better connected than the homegrown groups.
donviti, do you believe someone only if they agree with you?
But but but…
Over at FSP they say the surge is working.
I’ve read enough of you to know you believe way too much of what this government tells you is happening. I mean you still believe there are WMD’s for gods sake.
I don’t care if someone agrees with me, but I do care whan i get retarded half assed answers from someone.
Now you are trying to say “Ok, maybe there are more than one or two groups fighting in Iraq, but, but, but AQ still causes more trouble then all the rest, because they have better bombs”
I’m going to go hube on you now…
YOU ARE AN IDIOT RYAN.
a general just told you not to do what you just did, but yet you still did it.
He even goes as far as to say that we have to be careful with that
yet you still do it. So You are wrong dude but when you command a division in Iraq I’ll change my mind and agree with you next time.
I guess I must be missing my nightly propaganda reports, because I have no clue what information the government is putting out there.
I don’t watch FoxNews or Tony Snow, but I do read Michael Yon, who is over in Iraq right now “embedded” with the troops and is independent of government or big business support.
Who ever said I believed that there were still large stockpiles of WMDs in Iraq? Yeah there was some old stuff lying around, and 95% of the world’s intelligence people were wrong, but I’m not fooling into myself that if we dig just a little deeper they’re there.
There are at least 5 major fighting groups in Iraq, but AQ’s strategy is to play them off against each other at the cost of American lives.
So Ryan, why is it that it is OK for you to say that it is not in AQ’s interest to have a stable Iraq and yet it is wingnuttery to imply that it is not in Halliburton’s and (by extension) Dick Cheney’s best interest to have a stable Iraq. There appear to be more Halliburton employees there than AQ operatives.
It seems to be that Halliburton will have a lot of work in Iraq for several more years regardless of its stability.
“A freaking General just told you there are larger COMPONENTS (plural).”
You have all missed the boat on this one. That General indicated bigger forces than AQ, but he did not say those forces were in any way shape or form Iraqi. Those are just the conclusions you are jumping to. I believe just yesterday a British Commander was complaining about the Iranian soldiers they keep running into IN IRAQ. Iran is certainly a much bigger problem than AQ and all the Iraqi insurgents combined.
No great surprise you missed it. Half listening…and half thinking…as usual.
OK, so are we fighting terror or Iraq. Please tell me what I should be afraid of Chris. Is Iran going to follow us home, or was that AQ?
Chrissy,
I’m sure you were too busy trying to find fault instead of reading my comments so I’ll save you the trouble…
here is what I said regarding other influences besides AQ sweetheart: Insurgents from all over the middle east fighting for power not just AQ and Sadr
No great surprise you missed it. Half listening…and half thinking…as usual.
“OK, so are we fighting terror or Iraq. Please tell me what I should be afraid of Chris. Is Iran going to follow us home, or was that AQ?”
Incapable of thinking about more than one enemy at a time? Iran and AQ are certainly two different enemies, but they are employing similar tactics. AQ is inciting sectarian fighting because they can only operate in instable environements. Iran is lending assistance to their Shite brothers to allow the Shite faction to win. They will then in tern either run or absorb Iraq.
As for whether you should be afraid of Iran or not that is up to you. It is being run by a madman who truly believes he was put on this either to bring about Armageddon. But I am sure we can take care of him simply by opening formal discussions. He must be a reasonable man or he wouldn’t have achieved what he has in life. Right? I mean Hitler was just misunderstood…right? If only FDR had tried to spend more time talking with Hitler, WWII could have been avoided I assume.
Again, you decide who you are afraid of. If you can only handle one enemy at a time then maybe we can set up a rotating schedule so you will not have to tax your brain too much.
“Insurgents from all over the middle east fighting for power not just AQ and Sadr”
Good. Then we are agreed. Since “from all over the middle east” puts to rest this silly notion that Iraq is just a civil war. Glad to see your enlightenment coming along. There is hope for you yet.
I think it is you coming around Chrissy. They are in a Civil war, but there are also insurgents creating instability.
You see the insurgents aren’t the ones that are drilling holes in heads and beheading the Iraqi’s.
so when I see Things like this, I need to make sure you read them and understand that it is possible to have a civil war and have insurgents at the same time
there is hope for you yet.
@Chris — The General did not go into detail on the composition of the insurgents because that is already largely settled knowledge within the DOD. Perhaps you’ve missed recent statements by General Lute (the nominated War Czar) that 90% of the Iraqi insurgency is homegrown. See also this Report by the GAO (report page 11, top paragraph especially) where the DIA and CENTCOM commanders indicate that al-Qaeda fighters are a minor fraction of what they face.
It is a rare thing for the senior military guys (this specifically excludes the political appointees) to speak of the insurgents (especially when discussing who they face battle by battle) without precision. They, unlike the political types and the deadenders who believe every word they say, cannot afford to confuse the pieces on the board.
Which is not to say that AQI is not something to focus on and disrupt and defeat. It is to say that there are multiple battles here and the biggest one (as General Petraeus keeps repeating) is the one for the political survival of the Iraqi government. Because a civil war — the sectarian violence that dominates the activity — has no chance of resolution without a stable government and governmental institutions. You can sweep all of the AQI fighters (foreign and not) into the sea today but there will still be the horrific daily stories of the tortured dead showing up all over Iraq. And that is your civil war.