Mosul faces flourishing insurgency

Mosul faces flourishing insurgency
By Sean Kimmons , Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, September 13, 2008

MOSUL, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi soldiers blame insurgents for security woes in a troubled Sunni area within this city’s center. Residents of the area, the Zanjali neighborhood, point their finger at the soldiers for most of their problems.

But both groups agree on why the insurgency has thrived in the city: a weak economy that has produced an unemployment rate of around 75 percent.

Iraq’s government has been slow to dole out promised funds to Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital. Reconstruction efforts have suffered from the lack of money, forcing many Iraqis to turn to insurgency as a means to support families, U.S. soldiers say.

"It’s not making anybody’s job easier," said U.S. Army Maj. Thomas Feltey, executive officer for 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. "There’s a glitch in the system somewhere."

"When you have a strong economy, they are less prone to take on an attack," Feltey, 37, of Kearny, N.J., added.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57378