Comments on: In Response to the WaPo: What Really Matters

By: Rhymes With Right

Rhymes With Right — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:57:48 +0000

Watcher’s Council Results

The winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are A Cure for “Anti-Zionism” by Joshuapundit, and Sticking To What I Know Best by Dr. Sanity. Here is a link to the full results of the vote. Here are…

By: domajot

domajot — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:24:37 +0000

I also recognized the story line as something already published. The bottom line seems to be utter chaos, with no way to keep track of who is killing whom and why.
Unlike some others, I do think it would help us to have a better understanding of the intricacies of the cross warfare, if only to assess with whom we are dealing when trying to track AQ or negotiating with elders.

I place only very modest and temporary importance on whatever friendships US forces can forge with Sunni tribes. At best, such alliances can only facilitate using one another briefly, as tactics in pursuing very different goals.

I have to admit that I’ve never reached the callous stage, and the thought of the casualties makes my skin crawl. Especially, I shudder to think what this experience is doing to Iraqi children. I can’t even imagine how their minds and souls are being crippled.

Of course, American casualties break my heart.

The carnage is horrifying.

By: Jim Satterfield

Jim Satterfield — Fri, 25 May 2007 06:06:36 +0000

Who is being killed and who the murderers are really don’t matter in the current environment there. It all contributes to the chaos and inability to recover from everything that has damaged the Iraqi economy and infrastructure. And that contributes to resentment of the U.S. in Iraq and throughout the Muslim world. It doesn’t do wonders for our reputation in the rest of the world either.

By: jdledell

jdledell — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:06:23 +0000

Michael – The key question is really ” are we creating more terrorists by our occupation than we are killing.” Until that question is answered , who is being killed by whom is secondary.

By: George Sorwell

George Sorwell — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:42:47 +0000

It’s true. This is not at all a new story.

A key feature of these stories the disclaimer that we never seem to know “who is killing whom”.

And as for “ordinary crime”, do you mean the kidnapping industry that has developed over there?

By: Mikef

Mikef — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:18:58 +0000

I’d be happier if I hadn’t been reading variations of this story since at least last September.

Here’s a key graph from one of the many links you’d find simply by Googling Sunni insurgents in Anbar:

The missing piece is the homegrown Sunni armed resistance to the U.S. occupation, which enjoys the strong support of the Sunni population and tribal leaders in the province and has been at war with the foreign terrorists of al Qaeda for many months. According to a report by prominent security analysts Anthony Cordesman and Nawaf Obaid, foreign fighters represent only 4 to 10 percent of some 30,000 armed insurgents in Iraq.

As for the idea that â€œsome of the deaths are ordinary crime,â€ which are of course â€œthe least politically disruptive.â€: chaos is at least as disruptive as factional fighting, since nobody can predict where they can live safely or what might make them a target.

What you’re describing is a situation akin to the recent anarchy in Somalia. That’s hardly reassuring.

We’ve known for a long time that Iraq has split into a civil war where many factions are fighting for dominance. Shia vs Shia violence is nothing new nor is conflict between the local Sunni population and AQ. That’s what makes the U.S. position so difficult, we don’t have a single enemy to combat, we got many – and very few allies.