AP: Most Iraq Suicide Bombs by Foreigners

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The vast majority of suicide attackers in Iraq are thought to be foreigners — mostly Saudis and other Gulf Arabs — and the trend has become more pronounced this year with North Africans also streaming in to carry out deadly missions, U.S. and Iraqi officials say.


The bombers are recruited from Sunni communities, smuggled into Iraq from Syria after receiving religious indoctrination, and then quickly bundled into cars or strapped with explosive vests and sent to their deaths, the officials told The Associated Press. The young men are not so much fighters as human bombs — a relatively small but deadly component of the Iraqi insurgency.

"The foreign fighters are the ones that most often are behind the wheel of suicide car bombs, or most often behind any suicide situation," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston, spokesman for the Multinational Force in Iraq.

Officials have long believed that non-Iraqis infiltrating the country through its porous borders with Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia were behind most suicide missions, and the wave of bloody strikes in recent months has confirmed that thinking.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_suicide_missions_1

[anotherdrew]

1. how has it confirmed that thinking?

How can they know the national origin from the remains of a suicide bomber?? Isn't most of the attacks pre-placed IEDs or rocket launcher anyway, ie... NOT suicide.

When are they gonna 'pressure' saudi arabia to do more to close the boarder? With all our remote drone technology, we can't patrol a few hundred miles of depopulated desert boarder?

The US State Run Media doing their job for the lier in chief as per normal. Just another day in the fascist states of america.

All hail Bush! All hail Bush! All hail Bush!

[Kraklen]

2. And how do they know that?

Do suicide bombers carry explosion proof passports?

I'll believe this story is true if they're considering Iraqis to be "foreigners."

[AlCzervik]

3. bullshit.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

4. Sooooooooooo

based on the reasoning and rationale we hear from the Bush administration, does this mean the US will have to invade all the countries surrounding Iraq too? :crazy:

[tanyev]

5. SAUDIS??

[Frederik]

6. It's probably true

And it's also true, as they note, that these suicide bombers form a small part of the insurgency, which is mainly comprised of Iraqis attacking US and Iraqi troops using guerrilla tactics, not suicide.

[eleny]

7. "thought to be" "believed to be"

"Up to 20 percent of the bombers might be from Algeria, according to forensic investigations after attacks"

What a bold faced load. What the hell can they tell from bits of bone and flesh? I recall recently a report that the head of a suicicde bomber was found at a scene. It was such a rare occurance that it made the news. I say they can't tell shit form shinola who these people really are no less their country of origin.

What I am damned sure of is that this administration wants us to think they mostly come from other countries. And will lie their asses off to convince us.

[Zodiak]

8. Another AP Propaganda piece

It is the AP that is putting out most of this rah-rah "we agree with Bush" tripe. There are no sources in this papaer other than a lot of anonymous sources and a few Iraqi puppets in the occupied government.

I have read more frank assessments that say that foreign fighters comprise only about 1-2% of the insurgency, but some crazy Iraqi official now thinks it is 20%...ten times that number. So which is right? I'll go with the assessment of one who doesn;t have a dog in the race.

Even the article says that there is precious little evidence about the identity of the suicide bombers.....of course they were parsing their words by saying that there is little evidence that the bombers were Iraqi....that could just mean there is little evidence, period.

The whole idea of this foreign fighter hypothesis is to give the idea that 1) we can't leave Iraq 2) we need to invade more countries, and 3) the Iraqis really love us. None of these are true once you leave the confines of American-Iraqi puppet thinking.

Nice try, AP, but I see you for the propaganda outlet that you are. Try going with a UN source, intelligence agencies of countries that aren't five foot up our ass kissing it, and perhaps ask the insurgents yourselves. That would be real reporting....as it is....it's stenography.

[rocktivity]

9. DING DING DING! Zodiak Ironfist, you're our grand prize winner!

The whole idea of this foreign fighter hypothesis is to give the idea that 1) we can't leave Iraq 2) we need to invade more countries, and 3) the Iraqis really love us. None of these are true once you leave the confines of American-Iraqi puppet thinking...
Nice try, AP, but I see you for the propaganda outlet that you are..

Heaven forbid that Bush should be "forced" to institute a draft, and that his efforts to close Iraq's borders couldn't help but spill over into Syria or Iran.

This story smells worse than a decomposing skunk.

x(
rocknation

[Herkdrvr]

14. From what I heard from the intel community...

The foreign fighters make up more than 1% of the insurgency. I don't know an exact number, but foreigners are running the show, and recruiting locals for most of the work.

Regarding the local populace...those I had contact with were cautious about our presence, but realized why we were there. They didn't hate us. If the populace all hated Americans, we'd have a much bigger problem over there than this slow, grinding low-intensity conflict. There are enough weapons in that country that just about every young man could grab a rifle and kick us out if they really wanted to. But instead we're fighting several thousand militants bolstered by foreigners.

Another friend of mine was deployed in Baghdad and was just showing me some digital photos the other day of the Iraqi family he personally "sponsored"...and many other troops at his facility did the same thing. Having food, toys and clothing mailed from home to give to their sponsored family. He mentioned they had a pretty good rapport with the locals where he was. I saw pictures of the local Iraqis that showed up one day to give information on where militants were buying black-market arms.

Most of the populace doesn't hate America, nor do they love us either. They just want it over with. Some do like Americans and want us there. Some hate Americans and want us dead. Most of the latter belong to the group (sunni) that was in power previously, along with some Islamic jihadists.

Anyways, that's my perspective from being in the military and being deployed repeatedly (every 120 days) with the 745th EAS. Many of my friends have been deployed in support of everything from convoy support to staff jobs in Baghdad, to infantry with the National Guard.

Just my .02 cents.

[Zodiak]

15. Not disputing personal experiences, but this is what I have read

I am not going to dispute anyone who says they were there and know better by virtue of being there, but I will say that this is not the expert opinion of many non-American sources. Here is one:

A picture of the composition of the insurgency, though in constant flux, has come into somewhat greater focus. London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates roughly 1,000 foreign Islamic jihadists have joined the insurgency. And there is no doubt many of these have had a dramatic effect on perceptions of the insurgency through high-profile video-taped kidnappings and beheadings. However, American officials believe that the greatest obstacles to stability are the native insurgents that predominate in the Sunni triangle. Significantly, many secular Sunni leaders were being surpassed in influence by Sunni militants. This development mirrors the rise of militant Shia cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr vis-à-vis the more moderate Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani.

Still, the New York Times article also references military data suggesting roughly 80 percent of violent attacks in Iraq were simply criminal in nature –e.g., ransom kidnappings and hijacking convoys- and without political motivation. This figure lends credence to those who cited the CPA’s disbanding of the Iraqi army as an error likely to create a pool of unemployed and discontented young males ripe for absorption into the insurgency. Further, this statistic highlights the importance of reconstruction, and the revitalization of an economy in Iraq that can provide traditional employment opportunities. Of the remaining 20 percent of violent attacks –those with political motivation- four-fifths are believed attributable to native insurgents as opposed to foreigners.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_insurgency.htm

The article is from this year and numbers the insurgency to 40,000 hardcore fighters with a 200,000 part-time and suporter network. The foreign fighters comprise about 1/5 of attacks in Iraq. So, out of 240,000 possible insurgents and their supporters, this number would be 0.45% or so and out of hardcore fighters it would be about 2.1%. Hardly the 20% that this article states to make it look like a "terrorist magnet so we don't have to fight them here."

You can also look to this USA Today article from last year, which reports the very same percentage from another data gathering method.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-07-05-detainees-usat_x.htm

Suspected foreign fighters account for less than 2% of the 5,700 captives being held as security threats in Iraq, a strong indication that Iraqis are largely responsible for the stubborn insurgency.

Since last August, coalition forces have detained 17,700 people in Iraq who were considered to be enemy fighters or security risks, and about 400 were foreign nationals, according to figures supplied last week by the U.S. military command handling detention operations in Iraq. Most of those detainees were freed after a review board found they didn't pose significant threats. About 5,700 remain in custody, 90 of them non-Iraqis.

The numbers represent one of the most precise measurements to date of the composition of the insurgency and suggest that some Bush administration officials have overstated the role of foreign holy warriors, or jihadists, from other Arab states. The figures also suggest that Iraq isn't as big a magnet for foreign terrorists as some administration critics have asserted.

So you can see why I do not trust the words of th US military, Bush, or anyone else in the Iraqi government who is allowed to speak to western reporters. The AP keeps putting this poorly-researched crap out and the rest of the newspapers just swallow it up and try their damnedst to make it "common knowledge". This "foreign fighter" argument is dangerous in that it is not true and is the "new" justification for an otherwise indefensible war of aggression, and it doesn't pass the smell test.

Your individual experiences aside and all due respect intended.

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Juan Cole disagrees

He says they are more like 8% of the insurgency

[Ezlivin]

11. Iraq - Democracy, then outsourcing

What? Now they have to outsource their bombing?

My, they are quick learners!

They must have seen the thousands of private contractors, all from several different countries.

[K-W]

12. Im sure the Pentagon's 'thoughts' on the situation

are sure to be the result of a sober accurate assessment of the facts.

[theHandpuppet]

13. How about these foreign fighters in Iraq?

I'm referring to Americans, Brits, Czechs, Danes, Poles et al. Seems to me they make up the majority of "foreign fighters in Iraq". I guess what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

I suppose what I really hate about these reports is the fact that spokespersons such as Gen Alston talk as if WE aren't foreign fighters, only Arabs recruited by the Iraqis themselves. And we have the nerve to bring our mercenaries along, too, a number of whom got their experience with Pinochet or the South African secret police (from the apartheid era). Just who are we to whine about "foreign fighters"? What hypocrisy.

[bemildred]

16. US and Iraqi officials "thought to be" ignorant, dishonest fuckwits.

I sure think so, and I know I'm not alone. And that's just as
much evidence as this story provides for what it says.