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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (118902)	11/7/2003 2:37:06 PM
From: GST	Respond to of 281500

Iraqi Resistance Takes Many Shapes, Forms Fri Nov 7, 4:23 AM ET By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer MOSUL, Iraq - Dhabla Ahmed saw her 22-year-old son leave home before the sunlight filled the sky and head for dawn prayers in the mosque as he did most days. This time, Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim never returned home. Only his bullet-riddled body did. At about 6 a.m on Oct. 23, a Thursday, four insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a U.S. compound, the American military said. Troops opened fire killing two of their assailants and critically injuring a third. The fourth fled. The U.S. military didn't give the names of the Iraqis killed in the attack, however it confirmed the incident. Ibrahim's life and death, as portrayed by relatives, provide an insight into the motivation of some so-called resistance fighters. But Ibrahim didn't take up arms out of economic need or for ousted leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). His motive seemed to be religious. story.news.yahoo.com

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (118902)	11/8/2003 5:07:47 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Nadine Carroll; Re: "Far too simplistic. What about a case where 10% of the population support the resistance, and 90% hate it?" I love how you blow both hot and cold on the subject of the well, subjected Arabs. On the Palestinians, you say that they're hopelessly addicted to terror, but on the Iraqis, you say that they hate it. The evidence suggests that the Iraqis are better at it than the Palestinians. Or at least that they have more targets. The simple fact is that in the same period where we've trained tens of thousands of Iraqi police, attacks against our forces have increased several times, in both quantity and quality. It will be interesting to see if the US is able to clean out its abandoned munitions when it runs away from Iraq. If Vietnam is any guide, what we'll do is give a bunch of nice weapons to the "good" side in Iraq, and then, a year or two after we leave, all our weapons will become the property of the "evil" side. Any ideas on how that will impact on Israel? I'm curious. Sort of think that it will be bad, but I haven't seen any analysis from the Israelis. I would guess that they're working out the likely consequences in private. Maybe that top Israeli military guy was thinking about the Iraqi munitions problem when he opined that Sharon's policies were increasing the terror problem. Nothing like a little dose of reality to get the "bitter enders / die hards" to the bargaining table. -- Carl

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (118902)	11/9/2003 10:50:11 AM
From: boris_a	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

> where 10% of the population support the resistance, and 90% hate it? If those 90% are deaf, dumb and blind, yes, then it might be possible. However, my sources (Iraqis expats) say that the overwhelming part of the population would never collaborate. They hate Saddam and Baath party. And they hate the occupiers as well. They don't say that the population is an active supporter, but resistance is silently tolerated. Kind of "United We Stand". If an Iraqi counterpart to the Algerian "Front de libération nationale (FLN)" of the 50ies comes up, then the situation could turn nasty for years. >not the other 80% of the country that's quiet. Here you have a point. To a certain degree, we have to precise. For example, we've repeatedly seen attacks in Mossul and attacks near Kirkuk. Yesterday, Red Cross decided to shut down operations in Basrah. I believe they have first hand information about how "quite" the situation in Basrah is or may be in the future.