Iraqi Guerrilla Gives U.S. a Dire Warning

[Oilwellian]

Damn.

By John Daniszewski, Times Staff Writer


FALLOUJA, Iraq — "Commander A," a hawk-nosed, stubble-bearded former Iraqi intelligence officer who says he leads anti-American guerrillas in this area, sat in a car on a deserted country road screened by seven-foot reeds Monday and laid out his vision for driving U.S. forces out of Iraq.

Slowly, he said, the "resistance" has been building its strength, accumulating stores of weapons and collecting money from residents. Former supporters of Saddam Hussein and observant Muslims alike are rallying to the cause, he asserted. Thousands are willing to die to evict U.S. forces from the country, and attacks are now being centrally coordinated, he said.

"The American Army will feel that Vietnam was just a playground by comparison," the self-proclaimed leader of Serayeh al Jihad — the "Companies of Jihad" — said. At one point his deputy flinched when two U.S. helicopters passed overhead.

The man who gave his name as Commander A and the deputy who called himself Commander B agreed to meet with an American journalist and discuss their activities, offering a rare glimpse of what may be the thinking behind the insurgency against U.S. forces in Iraq.

The clandestine meeting was brokered by an Iraqi journalist from Fallouja who has covered the resistance for Arab television networks and worked in the Hussein-era Information Ministry. Although the two reputed resistance fighters were boastful and prone to exaggerated assertions of their effectiveness, their knowledge of recent operations, their wariness and their connections to Hussein's intelligence service lent some credence to their claims.

They said that the guerrillas are preparing to expand beyond the so-called "Sunni triangle"; that their group aims to abduct U.S. servicemen and give them to Osama bin Laden to barter for the Al Qaeda prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and that they are starting to develop into a full-fledged underground army that could take over as soon as they drive U.S. forces from Iraq.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-resist7oct07002421,1,339285.story?coll=la-headlines-world-manual

[TLM]

1. All the more reason we need a man of peace and healing in the white house.

Not a man of war.

[cspiguy]

2. right. If most iraqis wanted the U.S. out, there would be 100's /day

90% of iraqis are happy about the overthrow of Saddam. (oh yeah, what about - Just don't go there - I know from relatives). 10% of 24 million people is a LOT of enemy though and they DO want to take back THEIR country, i.e. the other 90%, including Shia, Chaldeans, and Kurds. Those dead-enders may make trouble and need to have their back broken (watch the Turks) but their boasts of a "growing" insurrection are wet dreams. They will never again rule the majority again.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

3. Commander A

you know Commander A would be a gas station attendant if he lived in a country with any semblance of an economy.

[displacedvermoter]

5. And how do you know this?

Hell, if he was a former Iraqi intelligence officer he might well be college trained and a hell of a lot smarter than you and I. If nothing else, and as big a monster he may very well be, he's laying his life on the line, so much unlike some folks now leading our end of the cluster fuck that is this war. God, it is a shame how little we know, and how much we pretend we do!

[mmm]

6. thank you

all true

[displacedvermoter]

4. Need to have their back broken (sic)!

Spoken like somebody speaking from the comfort of their PC! Watch the Turks, alright, as they begin putting their personal touch on things. Those Kurds, by the way, who you include in the 90%, might just have something to say about the Turks taking what they consider THEIR country. Getting the Turks involved in this shitty mess has been another matter that a lot of war opponents were concernend about, and now we will see how well this all pans out. I fear it will make things even worse, but, I guess you have it all figured out!

[Tempest]

7. You're crazy if you think the Turks will make the situation better

The Iraqi Ruling Council voted UNANIMOUSLY against allowing the Turks into the country as part of the coalition force.

Do you really think Bush will go against the wishes of the Ruling Council?

Do you really think Iraq will allow Bush to go against the wishes of the council without turning the entire country into a battle zone?

[leftchick]

8. "dead-enders"?

I think you are refering to people, from all walks of life, opposed to the occupation of their country from foreign invaders, who there to steal their natural resources. Now you, with the rummy-dum-dumb talking points, sound like you need to go back to your tv and watch some more faux news to keep feeling all warm and fuzzy about merkin imperialism.

[Oilwellian]

9. Even Chalabi disputes your claims

Maybe you can ask why this administration didn't know what Chalabi predicted. I also noticed you failed to mention those who are crossing a very porous Iraqi border.

In the latter event, the energies of Iraqi people would be focused on affirming their Iraqi nationalism in the face of a foreign occupier, reminiscent of the 1920 revolt against the British. The painful memory of Saddam would be swiftly put aside. Extended US military rule would also unleash religious extremism in Iraq. After all, one significant feature of Ba’athist rule has been the suppression of other forms of political expression. The ideological currents in circulation in the area could also find fertile ground in Iraq, especially if they are homegrown. The rise of nationalism, on a local and regional level, would hijack whatever positive momentum has been set in motion, and fuel the recruiters of religious terrorism.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-2-73-963.jsp