Who exactly are the Iraqi resistance

[wjousts]

From here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1246771,00.html


This is the front-line elite, a bunch of badly equipped men with rusted AKs and decade-old RPG rockets. When we first arrive they are brewing tea, piles of RPG rockets stacked on the walls two feet away from the fire.

"So how long you have been here?" I ask one of them.

"Three weeks now." He says he is here because he wants to defend the shrine of Imam Ali. "I'm unemployed and have nothing else to do." He is 17.



"But, alhamdulillah [thank God], the Americans are very wise and respect the shrines. Our brothers, the Americans, are taking very good care of this thing, but as far as the Shias around the world and in Iraq are concerned, they hear that the Americans are fighting 'close to the shrines', and that Shias are being killed. They see the smoke on your films so they come en masse to fight and they are immediately brainwashed by Moqtada and his thugs."

If that's the case, I ask, why doesn't the Ayatollah come out publicly and denounce those people, and show his support for these "brothers"?

"Are you crazy? It's haram [forbidden by Islamic law] to support an infidel, even when he is right, against a brother Muslim."

"So what is your strategy?"

"We will pray for Allah to stop this."


The meeting is interrupted many times, once when a small kid comes into the room and everyone stands to shake his hand. "He is our best sniper here. He has killed three Americans, he wants to call the Americans out for a sniping competition."

Make me wonder how anybody is ever going to fix this mess. :(

[TAILGUNNER]

Not sure on how to fix this mess but goes to show a rusty AK is still obviously a dangerous weapon and those that wish to kill dont need sophisticated hardware to do so

[wjousts]

What bothered me most about this comment:

"We will pray for Allah to stop this."

Is I fear that might be Bush's best plan at the moment too.

[Furious]

Originally posted by wjousts
From here:




Make me wonder how anybody is ever going to fix this mess. :(

Just try to rebuild the country as best we can, turn it over to the Iraqis as soon reasonably possible, and hope that word gets out that right or wrong (and a few nasty instances aside, like the prison abuses), the people of the U.S. aren't really all that bad.

And then hope for the sake of humanity that people start realizing that there are good and bad people of every ethnic, racial or religious group and not to base actions on tribal, geographic, or religious reasons.

[Ziggurat]

For those feeling pessimistic about America's operations in Iraq, here's a nice little antidote:

http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/2004_06_01_belmontclub_archive.html#10882494408258 7050

Flip the perspective for a moment: the Iraqi insurgents have more arms and men than the Chechens had when they defeated the Russians in Grozny. And yet, despite over a year's worth of fighting, they have made absolutely no progress on pushing us out or even weakening our positions, they have failed to rally popular support, and have been unable to prevent a new government from forming.

One side is indead failing, spectacularly, in Iraq. But you wouldn't know which side it is from press reports.