Diversions
We must be losing in Iraq:
The Taliban has attracted additional money, and suicide bombers, from Arabia. Two years ago, most of this support shifted to Iraq, where al Qaeda believed it had a better chance of winning some kind of victory. But too many Arab terrorist resources in Iraq produced nothing, and Iraqis have become very hostile to al Qaeda as a result of all the Iraqis killed by terrorist attacks. So now, efforts are shifting to Afghanistan. However, this is also a hostile environment for Arab terrorists.
al Qaeda must’ve gotten a hold of that DNC talking point claiming that Iraq was a distraction from Afghanistan, and thought it was meant for them. Either way, the Big Q has been forced to fight us Over There – which, if you ask me, is a fine way to fight our wars.
Hat tip to the California Yankee, who puts this story in context:
Almost two years ago, Newsweek published this article claiming that al-Qaeda was diverting a fighters from Afghanistan to Iraq. The article also claims that al-Qaeda decided to “reorganize the distribution of funding” reducing monthly payments to the Afghan resistance from $3 million to $1.5 million.
Hmm. I wonder why Newsweek isn’t giving this more play.
Actually the administration managed to lose both wars except for “green zones” in each country that house the puppets we have put into play and our troops. The rest of each country is off limits. Doubt me, fly into Baghdad and take the airport road. For $200+ billion and 2000+ dead you should be able to drive 7 miles.
I’m a little puzzled as to what exactly your point here is. Seriously.
Most of the people we are fighting in Iraq have nothing to do with al Qaeda. The vast majority are Iraqis who are pissed off that we invaded and are currently occupying their country.
I didn’t see a source on strategypage.com. Where did they get their information?
John, I suggest you speak with a few Marines before you post something as idiotic as “The vast majority are Iraqis who are pissed off that we invaded and are currently occupying their country.” Most of the so-called insurgents (terrorists) responsible for the bombings in Iraq that have been captured or killed are Syrian, not Iraqi. The two Marines I had the pleasure to speak with stated they couldn’t remember the last time they tangled with Iraqis. That would explain why so much military attention has been paid to the Iraq/Syrian border over the past couple of weeks.
Nice try, dumb ass.
Most of the so-called insurgents (terrorists) responsible for the bombings in Iraq that have been captured or killed are Syrian, not Iraqi.
Posted by: Jesse at November 22, 2005 02:23 PM
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies foreign fighters make up only about 4 to 10 percent of the estimated 30,000 insurgents.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/dailyUpdate.html
re: the CS Monitor article
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/dailyUpdate.html
One of the co-authors of the CSIS paper referred to in the article is a Saudi apologist. In an article he wrote for NRO he is called a “Saudi oil and security analyst”. In a Financial Times article he is referred to as: “head of the Saudi National Security Assessment Project, an independent consultancy that works closely with the Saudi government.”
Gee, a guy who works closely with the Saudi government writes a paper that says there are very few Saudi terrorists in Iraq. Now there’s a surprise!
He didn’t say ‘Saudi’, he said, ‘foreign’.
Strategypage don’t seem to attribute their articles to authors, which makes doing a similar 30-seconds of Google research more difficult.
Maybe they’re sending fighters to Afghanistan because their work in Iraq is nearly done.
Maybe they don’t need as much money, since they were practically given 850 tonnes of high explosives. (Courtesy of a botched invasion.)
Some of those billions swindled from the reconstruction fund probably ended up in their hands, too.
well,
A) Newsweek will not play at anything that makes Bush look good… media template and all that…
B) Al Queda has been in Iraq for a while… Zarqari and Zawahiri are al queda… they’re holed up in the lovely former Mesopotamia (that’s Iraq… for those with Gvmt edus…) they had training grounds there… remember Al ansar Islam and Salman Pak? Al Queda training grounds both… even pre-911.
Just in case you were suffering from selective memory loss, let me remind you that your cretinous President and his demented and incompetent crowd have let Bin Laden escape. Fighting the war on terror indeed! The guy responsible for 3000+ deaths on American soil is laughing all the way to his cave, and, more than likely, plotting another grand scale attack. Meanwhile your asshole of a President has us bogged down in Iraq.
Stop making an ass of yourself by blaming the DNC. That makes about as much sense as claiming that the earth is flat.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies foreign fighters make up only about 4 to 10 percent of the estimated 30,000 insurgents.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0923/dailyUpdate.html
Posted by John Gillnitz
Did they get them to stand still while counting them? Or did they send out a questionaire?
Why not make it simple? How many of those captured or killed in the last year have been foreign? 4-10% is not a real number. All those numbers are estimates.
mad bikini blogger-
1.Zawahiri isn’t in Iraq; I think you’re mixing him up with someone else. He’s in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region and has no real connection to Iraq (he’s Egyptian).
2.Al Ansar Islam is not a training ground, but a radical Islamist group that was located in the Kurdish region of Iraq, a region protected by the US/British No-Fly Zones and not under the control of Saddam Hussein.
3.With regards to the infamous Salman Pak; US officials (that
Railroad Stone,
I was commenting on the CS Monitor article, not the comments by Mr. Gillnitz. In fact, the first line of my post says: “re: the CS Monitor article”.
If you read the CS Monitor article, it references an article in The Guardian that is based on the CSIS paper. The title of the CSIS paper is: “Saudi Militants in Iraq: Assessment and Kingdom’s Response”. While it discusses foreign fighters in general, the paper’s focus is on Saudis. Hence the title.
“Suspected foreign fighters account for less than 2% of the 5,700 captives being held as security threats in Iraq, a strong indication that Iraqis are largely responsible for the stubborn insurgency.
Since last August, coalition forces have detained 17,700 people in Iraq who were considered to be enemy fighters or security risks, and about 400 were foreign nationals, according to figures supplied last week by the U.S. military command handling detention operations in Iraq. Most of those detainees were freed after a review board found they didn’t pose significant threats. About 5,700 remain in custody, 90 of them non-Iraqis.
The numbers represent one of the most precise measurements to date of the composition of the insurgency and suggest that some Bush administration officials have overstated the role of foreign holy warriors, or jihadists, from other Arab states. The figures also suggest that Iraq isn’t as big a magnet for foreign terrorists as some administration critics have asserted.
In Ramadi, where Marines have fended off coordinated attacks by hundreds of insurgents, the fighters “are all locals,” says Lt. Col. Paul Kennedy, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. “There are very few foreign fighters.”
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-05-detainees-usat_x.htm
Few Foreigners Among Insurgents
Judging from fighters captured in Fallouja, all but about 5% are Iraqi, U.S. officials say.
by John Hendren
LA Times
November 16, 2004
CAMP FALLOUJA, Iraq
The Disconnect
What does this say about al Qaeda’s ability to operate in Iraq or Afghanistan? It’s got trouble. Which means that the US must be doing something right in both places. And that the US needs to watch out for a new front.
Read below how the Chickenhawks support our troops: by killing measures designed to help veterans! The Republican creatures are repugnant hypocrites.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Senate Republicans Kill Two Bills To Help Veterans
We all know based on the actions against Representative John Murtha (D-PA) last week what House Republicans think of Veterans and, as they have demonstrated all year, the GOP-controlled Senate has once again shown their true colors when it comes to standing with both Veterans and those on active duty.
Two amendments to the Tax Relief Act of 2005
Anyone feel like checking the IPs on this storm of Kos-Kidz Komments to see if Gillnitz, Advocate, Shingles, Stone(d), & Matt are seperate people or just one wanker with MPD & too much free time?
Actually I see this transfer of resources to Afghanistan as a bad thing.
Since the American left has determined that absolutely no level of casualties is acceptable, al-Qaeda could be shifting resources to cause a noticeable spike in casualties there. Al-Qaeda doesn’t have to kill thousands, only hundreds. Throw in a few spectacular terror attacks and an assasination of a key political figure or two and you have a “quagmire”.
Al-Qaeda’s counting on a hysterical, defeatist response from the MSM. They’re not likely to be disappointed.
Exposed to a constant barrage of negative stories the American peoples’ resolve will wilt away. Again.
9/11 notwithstanding, wouldn’t be long before spineless and irresponsible American politicians began demanding an “exit” strategy.
Trudger: Point taken. I thought you were trying to refute John’s comments which, even on second view is understandable, imho. If your point was just a tangent, you should tag it with ‘OT’ or something.
Oh, and Cybrludite…no. Thanks for the input, though.
The vast majority are Iraqis who are pissed off that we invaded and are currently occupying their country. — John Gillnitz
Gee…a bunch of thugs get bounced from power and they respond like, well….thugs.
Friends of yours?
One last thing:
If you haven’t/can’t figure that last (previous post) out, don’t think your snarling tantrum is going to get you much credibility.
Has your President and his neo-con entourage expended as much money and as many troops to go after Al – Qaeda and Bin laden, than he and his crowd have expended into going in a war of choice in a country that was no threst to us, we would be a whole lot better off.
Thank you rightnutters for supporting that criminally incompetent crowd.
I feel so much safer now.