The Myth of Al Qaeda in Iraq
[The excerpt from an article in today's NY Times below tells it as it is -- there is serious doubt that the attacks on Americans and among Iraqis are anything but the result of endemic corruption there and the desperate measures being taken by competing groups to survive and dominate others. Needless to say our media are telling us less and less about such things. The Iraq story has been a patch of lies from the onset when we were induced to launch our murderous (and illegal war) under the malignant influence of our neocons. The tactic being used here is that devised by the Nazis. It was known as the Big Lie. Tell the same lies over and over again and people begin to believe them. Note the long list that has been devised to deceive our general public:
1) Hussein launched 9/11.
2) Hussein was an agent of al Qaeda.
3) We have won the war.
4) We have brought democracy to Iraq.
5) The surge has brought peace to Iraq.
6) We have to stay in Iraq to win the war there.
The list goes on and this is not exhaustive.
There is a bit of the truth exposed in the paragraphs below, but I doubt that you will find much of this reported, let alone, repeated on our cable news networks now obsessed with domestic violence rather than the deadly war that is killing and maiming multitudes of both Americans and Iraqis. Will we celebrate soldier #4,000 who gives his life for this pointless excursion into the fantasy world of our president and his honchos? This date should be coming up soon. Only 12 more to go:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqgQCcv26kB1dkgZRZNHmbn_1J8gD8VE6DI00
Ed Kent]
............................
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/middleeast/16insurgent.html?th&emc=th
The Motivations of Insurgents
Some American officials and politicians maintain that Sunni insurgents have deep ties with Qaeda networks loyal to Osama bin Laden in other countries. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, whose members are mainly Iraqi but whose leadership has been described by American commanders as largely foreign, remains a well-financed and virulent force that carries out large-scale attacks.
But there are officers in the American military who openly question how much a role jihadism plays in the minds of most people who carry out attacks. As the American occupation has worn on and unemployment has remained high, these officers say the overwhelming motivation of insurgents is the need to earn a paycheck.
Nor do American officers say they believe that insurgent attacks are centrally coordinated. “As far as networked coordination of attacks, we are not seeing that,” said a military official familiar with studies on the insurgency.
Opposition to the occupation and fear of the Shiite- and Kurdish-dominated government and security forces “clearly are important factors in the insurgency,” the official said. “But they are being rivaled by the economic factor, the deprivation that exists.”
Maj. Kelly Kendrick, operations officer for the First Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division in Salahuddin, estimates that there are no more than 50 hard-core “Al Qaeda” fighters in Salahuddin, a province of 1.3 million people that includes Baiji and the Sunni cities of Samarra and Tikrit.
He said most fighters were seduced not by dreams of a life following Mr. bin Laden, but by a simpler pitch: “Here’s $100; go plant this I.E.D.”
“Ninety percent of the guys out here who do attacks are just people who want to feed their families,” Major Kendrick said.
The First Brigade’s commander, Col. Scott McBride, concurs. “I don’t know that I’ve ever heard one person say, ‘I believe in a caliphate,’ ” he said.
Abu Azzam, a prominent leader of American-backed Sunni militiamen in Nasr Wa Salam, between Baghdad and Falluja, estimated that only 10 percent of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia’s members adhered to extremist jihadist doctrines.
“Many joined Qaeda for financial and personal reasons,” said Abu Azzam, whose militia includes former insurgents. “The others joined Qaeda because they hate the government, or they hate the American army, or for revenge.”
The focus on Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia obscures the activities of other major guerrilla groups in the country. Some, like Jaish-e-Muhammad, or the Army of Muhammad, which includes ex-Baathists and former military officers, continue to battle American forces. Some American officers consider another organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, to be a front group for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
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1) Hussein launched 9/11.
2) Hussein was an agent of al Qaeda.
3) We have won the war.
4) We have brought democracy to Iraq.
5) The surge has brought peace to Iraq.
6) We have to stay in Iraq to win the war there.
The list goes on and this is not exhaustive.
There is a bit of the truth exposed in the paragraphs below, but I doubt that you will find much of this reported, let alone, repeated on our cable news networks now obsessed with domestic violence rather than the deadly war that is killing and maiming multitudes of both Americans and Iraqis. Will we celebrate soldier #4,000 who gives his life for this pointless excursion into the fantasy world of our president and his honchos? This date should be coming up soon. Only 12 more to go:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqgQCcv26kB1dkgZRZNHmbn_1J8gD8VE6DI00
Ed Kent]
............................
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/world/middleeast/16insurgent.html?th&emc=th
The Motivations of Insurgents
Some American officials and politicians maintain that Sunni insurgents have deep ties with Qaeda networks loyal to Osama bin Laden in other countries. Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, whose members are mainly Iraqi but whose leadership has been described by American commanders as largely foreign, remains a well-financed and virulent force that carries out large-scale attacks.
But there are officers in the American military who openly question how much a role jihadism plays in the minds of most people who carry out attacks. As the American occupation has worn on and unemployment has remained high, these officers say the overwhelming motivation of insurgents is the need to earn a paycheck.
Nor do American officers say they believe that insurgent attacks are centrally coordinated. “As far as networked coordination of attacks, we are not seeing that,” said a military official familiar with studies on the insurgency.
Opposition to the occupation and fear of the Shiite- and Kurdish-dominated government and security forces “clearly are important factors in the insurgency,” the official said. “But they are being rivaled by the economic factor, the deprivation that exists.”
Maj. Kelly Kendrick, operations officer for the First Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division in Salahuddin, estimates that there are no more than 50 hard-core “Al Qaeda” fighters in Salahuddin, a province of 1.3 million people that includes Baiji and the Sunni cities of Samarra and Tikrit.
He said most fighters were seduced not by dreams of a life following Mr. bin Laden, but by a simpler pitch: “Here’s $100; go plant this I.E.D.”
“Ninety percent of the guys out here who do attacks are just people who want to feed their families,” Major Kendrick said.
The First Brigade’s commander, Col. Scott McBride, concurs. “I don’t know that I’ve ever heard one person say, ‘I believe in a caliphate,’ ” he said.
Abu Azzam, a prominent leader of American-backed Sunni militiamen in Nasr Wa Salam, between Baghdad and Falluja, estimated that only 10 percent of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia’s members adhered to extremist jihadist doctrines.
“Many joined Qaeda for financial and personal reasons,” said Abu Azzam, whose militia includes former insurgents. “The others joined Qaeda because they hate the government, or they hate the American army, or for revenge.”
The focus on Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia obscures the activities of other major guerrilla groups in the country. Some, like Jaish-e-Muhammad, or the Army of Muhammad, which includes ex-Baathists and former military officers, continue to battle American forces. Some American officers consider another organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, to be a front group for Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FindingHumaneJobs
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OurStupidEconomy
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 7:43 AM
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