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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (2669)	3/25/2003 8:39:24 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

You mean like this? search.ft.com WAR IN IRAQ: MILITARY: Iraqi resistance surprises allies By Andrzej Rybak on the Kuwait-Iraq border Financial Times; Mar 25, 2003 Although US and British troops pushed further towards Baghdad yesterday, back close to the border with Kuwait they were encountering persistent resistance that surprised the allies. Soldiers are not being welcomed as liberators but often confronted with hatred. One British officer said of Saddam Hussein: "It seems as if many people do not even want to get rid of this brutal dictator. This is not what we expected." US military units withdrew from the border town Umm Qasr yesterday in favour of British marines more used to street fighting. "The situation in this town reminds me of Northern Ireland," a UK soldier said. "The snipers wear civilian clothes but then they bring out their hidden weapons and slam." A vegetable farmer from Abdaly on the border asked: "If it is possible for the small Umm Qasr to resist for five days, how long will it then take to seize Baghdad?" In Basra, Iraq's second largest city, the Shia majority had been thought to be among the keenest to see the overthrow of Mr Hussein. But there were no signs of an uprising against him. And in the border town of Safwan, the attitude of local people was at most lukewarm. "How would you like it if we tore down portraits of [US President George W.] Bush in your home town?" an old man asked. During the first day of war, US soldiers had pulled posters of the Iraqi ruler from the walls. Others that might have reasons to complain about crimes of the dictator from Baghdad kept silent. "There is no guarantee that Saddam really will be overthrown," one woman said. "I do not want to be killed by his folk." There were no signs that the war would be only a matter of days, as some US or UK army representatives had suggested. Chris Vernon, UK military spokesman, had already invited American and British television crews to go to Basra, "at most 48 hours" after the start of a war. "The Americans have completely underestimated the enemy," several British soldiers said. Unlike during the 1991 Gulf war, the morale of Iraqi troops is good. Moreover, Iraqi commanders have changed their approach. Traditionally soldiers were trained only for big battles but now the army has switched to guerrilla tactics in the cities. In the desert they only seem to attack supply troops. "It is exactly the scenario we have tried to avoid," one British officer said. Faced with this strategy, the allied forces were not able to use their technological superiority.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (2669)	3/25/2003 8:40:13 AM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

So far, I've only seen one happy Iraqi--the gent who assisted a US soldier tearing down a poster of Saddam, this on the first day of the tank charge through the desert. Where on record is it noted that the vast majority of Iraqis asked to be "liberated?" Perhaps the more telling sign are the millions of Arabs who've marched in the streets in opposition to this war. You don't think the Iraqi people share this same Arab sentiment? Or do you somehow believe they are Iraqi Arabs are Arabs of a different kind? Fact is, Arabs don't like US-occupation. It was the US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia that helped to spawn Al Qaeda in larger numbers. Just imagine how Al Qaeda will grow from the current Bush's campaign of US-occupied Arab territories. Indeed, the very best thing Bush could have done to aide and abet Osama bin Ladin is exactly what Bush did. And--pardon me, while I clear my voice--that's not good for you, it's not good for me--it's not good for anyone! The White House planning has been shown faulty and has been completely decimated on several fronts. The only place where it has succeeded is its public relations in America where it knows full well how to beef up polling numbers. The original plan was for an easy capture of Basra, then film the flower-giving happy Iraqis each wanting from their liberators candy and their very own P-3 can opener. Once this was on film, then it would be used for inside-Iraq propaganda in order to induce surrender of the Baghdadians. But they forgot one very important fact: the happy Iraqis aren't Americans!

To: Brumar89 who wrote (2669)	3/25/2003 9:44:23 AM
From: thames_sider	Respond to of 21614

It's a funny thing, but in general people don't seem overly keen on foreign armies 'liberating' them from their own rulers, especially when it looks as though the new ruler will be chosen from that foreign military, and the same foreign military seems so concerned with securing that country's valuable natural resources. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong. But bear in mind that there are still armed Irishmen shooting at British soldiers, and for that matter murdering innocent civilians, 900 years after we first 'liberated' Ireland from its own barbarian dictatorial rule and set up our local proxies...