OT: Conversing With Parrots



..... But it's not the Iraqis that we worry about. Get that straight
if you're using this as your opening argument.

Nate

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http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/200601026_who_are_we_fighting/

The US death toll in Iraq is horrendous. CNN's Michael Ware is one of
the best reporters embedded in Iraq who always tells it like it is. Last
night, he broke down exactly who we're fighting, where their allegiances
lie, why they fight and whether or not they're willing to negotiate with
US forces.


The most important thing in any war is to know your enemy, but many
share the misconception that every insurgent is somehow allied with, as
*** Cheney would say, the "al Qaeda types". This is a highly misguided
and ignorant view of the nature and dynamic of the insurgency. As Ware
reports, it's not only Sunni vs. Shi'a but also many different sects
within those two groups with different goals.

From CNN:

WARE: America's enemies in Iraq can be divided into two main groups:
Sunni and Shi'a. But there are groups within groups, factions within
factions.

Shi'a militias attack British and American troops according to Coalition
intelligence officers, not to defeat them, but to keep them in a
defensive mode. So they worry about survival instead of the militia's
political control and their Iranian backing.

But the insurgents most Americans recognize as the enemy are Iraqi
Sunnis. They are mainly former military from Saddam's regime and account
for most U.S. casualties. They are divided into two large categories:
nationalists and Islamists, each comprised of smaller groups. As the
nationalists, their agenda is secular, anti-Iranian and focused on
liberating Iraq from foreign occupation.

The Islamists, meanwhile, are more moderate than al Qaeda. They don't
call for a religious state. They tolerate other Muslim sects and also
vow to fight until U.S. forces leave.

Both of these large insurgent blocks are willing to talk peace with the
United States. But there is still those America cannot reach. The
darkest heart of the Sunni insurgency, al Qaeda and the many groups
aligned with it.

This is the group that sends out suicide bombers and who once cut off
westerners' heads. To them, there will be no end until Osama bin Laden's
plans for an international Islamic state are fulfilled.

And most troubling, the longer this war goes, the more Sunni groups
drift toward al Qaeda and the more Shi'a embrace Iran.


KING: Michael, a fascinating look there at the insurgency. Help us
understand the point you make in the piece. How willing are some of
these guys to talk to the United States?

WARE: Well, John, clearly (with) some of them, there's absolutely no
chance at all. Certainly with al Qaeda and the groups most closely
aligned with Iran.

But those in the middle have shown a willingness to talk to the United
States. Indeed, they've been doing so. Or certainly elements of these
groups have been doing so for at least a year and a half.

And some of these men who are involved in these talks are former top
military officers from the Iraq army under Saddam who were American
allies in the '80s during the Iran-Iraq War ? John.





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