nico
11-01-03, 01:32 PM
Well it seems that the Americans just can't get their story straight:
Guerrillas in Iraq seem to have a deadly answer to every claim by U.S. military officials that they are in despair and on the run.
Sunday's bold rocketing of a Baghdad hotel that just missed the U.S. deputy defense secretary and a string of suicide bombings the next day were only the latest in what the generals dismiss as the violent acts of doomed men.
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Saddam Hussein loyalists, Syria, Iran, al Qaeda and its associate Ansar al-Islam -- all, in recent weeks, have been implicated by U.S. officials in the relentless violence.
Confusingly, U.S. comments have alternately highlighted and minimised the role of foreign fighters in attacks on U.S. forces, the United Nations, the Red Cross, foreign missions, Iraqi police and others close to the occupation.
In the latest example, U.S. Brigadier General Mark Hertling said coordinated suicide bombings that killed 35 people and wounded 230 on Monday "certainly...have a mode of operation of foreign fighters". He pointed to the capture of an assailant said to hold a Syrian passport.
The same day, Major General Raymond Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, took a seemingly different tack, saying the Iraqi resistance contained only a "very, very small percentage of foreign fighters".
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Sebestyen Gorka, fellow of the Terrorism Research Center in Virginia, said the mixed messages partly reflected crossed wires between the State Department, Pentagon, military commanders, special forces and newly created regional authorities in Iraq.
"There are far too many chiefs, basically. The lines of communication and command are confused and overlapping...It's a mess," he said.
Toby Dodge, author of a new book called Inventing Iraq, said foreign militants could well pose a future threat, but derided the idea that they already had organised networks in place capable of orchestrating bombing campaigns.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, the resistance and the bombings are all homegrown," he said.
Whatever their identity, the attackers have shown themselves able to strike effectively at short notice.
source (http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/031028-iraq-torment.htm)
What is going on here? The Americans obviously are having much trouble even understanding each other, and the situation at hand. This only adds fuel to the fire of the fact that the (mis) information we are getting out of Iraq is showing the weakness of American policy. Here is a list of all the nations, and what reports give them in terms of Press Freedom:
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=8247
Special situation of the United States and Israel The ranking distinguishes behaviour at home and abroad in the cases of the United States and Israel. They are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and 146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders.
135 United States of America (in Iraq) 41,00
Can we really trust anything that is coming out of Iraq? The US is obviously twisting the stories around, and trying to "goebell -ize" it, but really to no avail. If American commanders can't even agree about who is shooting at them, then what hope does the US have at stopping this?
Guerrillas in Iraq seem to have a deadly answer to every claim by U.S. military officials that they are in despair and on the run.
Sunday's bold rocketing of a Baghdad hotel that just missed the U.S. deputy defense secretary and a string of suicide bombings the next day were only the latest in what the generals dismiss as the violent acts of doomed men.
---
Saddam Hussein loyalists, Syria, Iran, al Qaeda and its associate Ansar al-Islam -- all, in recent weeks, have been implicated by U.S. officials in the relentless violence.
Confusingly, U.S. comments have alternately highlighted and minimised the role of foreign fighters in attacks on U.S. forces, the United Nations, the Red Cross, foreign missions, Iraqi police and others close to the occupation.
In the latest example, U.S. Brigadier General Mark Hertling said coordinated suicide bombings that killed 35 people and wounded 230 on Monday "certainly...have a mode of operation of foreign fighters". He pointed to the capture of an assailant said to hold a Syrian passport.
The same day, Major General Raymond Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, took a seemingly different tack, saying the Iraqi resistance contained only a "very, very small percentage of foreign fighters".
????????????
---
Sebestyen Gorka, fellow of the Terrorism Research Center in Virginia, said the mixed messages partly reflected crossed wires between the State Department, Pentagon, military commanders, special forces and newly created regional authorities in Iraq.
"There are far too many chiefs, basically. The lines of communication and command are confused and overlapping...It's a mess," he said.
Toby Dodge, author of a new book called Inventing Iraq, said foreign militants could well pose a future threat, but derided the idea that they already had organised networks in place capable of orchestrating bombing campaigns.
"Without a shadow of a doubt, the resistance and the bombings are all homegrown," he said.
Whatever their identity, the attackers have shown themselves able to strike effectively at short notice.
source (http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/031028-iraq-torment.htm)
What is going on here? The Americans obviously are having much trouble even understanding each other, and the situation at hand. This only adds fuel to the fire of the fact that the (mis) information we are getting out of Iraq is showing the weakness of American policy. Here is a list of all the nations, and what reports give them in terms of Press Freedom:
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=8247
Special situation of the United States and Israel The ranking distinguishes behaviour at home and abroad in the cases of the United States and Israel. They are ranked in 31st and 44th positions respectively as regards respect for freedom of expression on their own territory, but they fall to the 135th and 146th positions as regards behaviour beyond their borders.
135 United States of America (in Iraq) 41,00
Can we really trust anything that is coming out of Iraq? The US is obviously twisting the stories around, and trying to "goebell -ize" it, but really to no avail. If American commanders can't even agree about who is shooting at them, then what hope does the US have at stopping this?