General: Only 5,000 Insurgents in Iraq

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031113/D7UPRGPO0.html


WASHINGTON (AP) - The forces opposing the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq total no more than 5,000 insurgent fighters, the top American general in the region said Thursday.

Gen. John Abizaid said that despite the relatively small numbers, the insurgent forces have considerable training, funding and supplies.

Abizaid said the largest and most dangerous portion of the opposition forces consists of loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein. Foreign fighters also pose a threat and are entering Iraq through porous borders, Abizaid said.

<snip>

Compare and contrast to the article below from the CIA, released today, which states the number as 50,000. Jebus, is Diebold counting terrorists now too?

n/t

sell you a bridge?"

Are you a fellow violinist?

:hi:
dbt

Oh yeah. They've got this many litres of anthrax, and this much botulism, and so many chemical warheads, and that many mobile weapons labs (look, we've even got a mockup) and 5,000 insurgents.

How stupid do they think we are?

Don't answer that. :)

and south of Baghdad, in the Iraq region" says Rumfilled.

"We know who they are and where they are and they are 'dead-enders' and Baathists and Saddam loyalists, and and and and"

oh, he means the Iraqis. Only 5000 and they can't keep them down. This must be Bush's military.

General: We'll get that Kaiser by christmas.

Didn't the Pentagon say "We don't do body counts." when referring to civilian or even Iraqi Army deaths? Now they know exactly how many guerillas there are?

But truth is a rare item in the Bush administration - or coming from the US Media.

Sorry, I'll try to be more specific. I can count, honest. ;-)

"Light at the end of the tunnel" fantasy fuzzy math, last in vogue during that last exercise in massive creative qualitative statistical analysis known as Vietnam.

to keep the CIA number down below the fold, or out of the story altogether. This way, our Great Patriotic Media can report this story and ignore the CIA report, while being able to say they didn't ignore the story.

That's how they got the number. I did see another estimate this morning of 50,000.

Whereas 50,000 is the number that just shoot at us and haven't been trained in bombmaking,yet.

General on TV saying that the resistence is not some well-planned scheme by Saddam. (They want to be sure that they don't give Saddam any credit whatsoever for having any brains.)

Yet, they want the Iraqi people to believe that it is Saddam and his henchmen so that they will turn against those who are resisting the occupation.

so which is it? Is it Saddam or not?

Pity they had run down to the shops when we leveled the joint.

This is a country with my state's (CA) population. 5,000 is a lot, especially when coupled with an obvious social base of support. I think that the number may be accurate in terms of actually armed and trained individuals. But this cannot be fought in terms of attrition because there is a fertile wellspring of new recruits when needed.

They probably don't want to include the vast majority like these guys that took out the Chinook. That would mean that, gads dare I say it, ordinary Iraqi citizens are tossing more than just flowers our way.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1080989,00.html

While the US authorities maintain that resistance attacks are carried out by former Baathists and supporters of Saddam, they continue to ignore the tribal nature of the insurgency which has grown steadily over recent months. Deeply conservative clans like the 50,000-strong Albueisi have codes of honour which they complain the American army ignores at checkpoints and during raids on houses.

They also believe that the Koran demands jihad against foreign invaders. Asked how many American lives should be taken if one of their own is killed, the answer is: 'As many as possible.'

Last week an American Chinook helicopter was shot down by a heat-seeking missile a few kilometres from Sarab's house, killing 16 soldiers. It could have been worse, the neighbours say. Resistance fighters were ready to fire another missile at a second Chinook when they were stopped by worried locals.

Merriam-Webster defines the term as one who revolts against civil authority, or an established government, similar to a rebel.

This implies illegality, where a "resistance fighter" , "freedom fighter, etc. implies someone trying to repel foreign invaders.

Then we have sedition, insurrection, guerrilla, terrorists, patriot and other terms.....

It is interesting to see the plethora of differant terms used and who uses them.

In the past they inflated the Russians to appear as giants compared to the CIA's estimations, now they shrink the appearance of the resistance to their recolonizing of Iraq. Silly and petty, but predictable track record of highly insulated dreamers (how can such dangerous fanatics be able to run the world?).