Military spokesman absolutely wrong about al Qaeda in Iraq

I think that this is a very important issue to know. Bush and his people have been talking more and more about al Qaeda being the main problem in Iraq solely to tie the Iraq War to 9/11. We need to all be aware of what they are trying to do. Be aware also that 90% of U.S. deaths come from Sunni insurgents.


Military spokesman absolutely wrong about al Qaeda in Iraq
by AJ in DC · 7/12/2007 05:15:00 PM ET

The Post reports that the chief spokesman for the U.S. military yesterday called al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) "the principal threat" to Iraqis.

This is, quite simply, completely and totally false.

Anyone who claims that the so-called al Qaeda in Iraq group is the "principal threat" to anything in that nation -- whether its citizens, the government, the political process, or any specific ethnic or sectarian group -- is either grossly ignorant of the realities of the Iraq war or blatantly lying. I honestly have no idea which it is in this case, though it's worth noting that the chief U.S. military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, was employed as a Special Assistant to the President prior to his current appointment.

Most reliable estimates put the fundamentalist/jihadist/al Qaeda actors in Iraq at around 3-5% of the total insurgency, with virtually no approximations exceeding 10%. I really cannot overstate how misleading it is to focus on al Qaeda when the driving forces of the conflict are average, native, very pissed-off -- but not religious fundamentalist -- Iraqis. The vast majority of the Sunni population is relatively secular (more secular, in fact, than Iraqi Shia), and even tacit support of jihadists is founded in anti-American sentiment. Even the sectarian violence is fueled more by localized conflicts between Sunni and Shia families, tribes, and militias than by al Qaeda.

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It's deja vu: To make the case for war in Iraq, the Bush administration misled the public about the relationship of Iraq to terrorism. Now, in an effort to bolster support for continuing the war, it is trying to link staying in Iraq with our efforts against global terrorist groups (which are, incidentally the strongest they have been since 9/11, largely because this administration put our intelligence and military resources into Iraq).

more -

http://www.americablog.com/2007/07/military-spokesman-absolutely-wrong.html

we don't know WHERE the majority of our casualties are coming from. The majority of US casualties are caused by IED's while they're on patrol. Somebody convince me that there's a "Sunni" of "Shiite" or "Al Quaida" label on whatever remnants are left of the bomb. Everyone in the world uses the same explosives thanks to our ambitious and ever capitalistic Military Industrial Complex. It's a "for profit" business don't ya know. They don't care where that profit comes from.

I'm just saying that they get to choose the "bad guy" in any of these cases with a glaring lack of any evidence and of course the average sheeple just buy it.

There are tens of thousands of career government employees. When I see a post, or have a conversation during the course of which someone uses those words, my red flag goes up. "No, not that I'd put it past them" says to me that you'd paint every Democrat or progressive who draws a gubmint paycheck with the same broad brush. Are we now so cynical that we'd believe the WHOLE of the government is complicit in every bad act? Is it possible that every boogieman we see lurking in the shadows could be a Democrat or progressive who's been intimidated to the point of trading thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of lives for their own livelihood? You have no idea how that pains me.

Therein lies my problem with the 9/11 conspiracy theorists and those who see election fraud every time their candidate loses. Many thousands of Democrats and/or progressives would have to be complicit, and that I will not swallow, no matter how much sugar might be mixed with the bitter pill that kind of thinking represents.

I know this is off-topic but I myself have worked for a Registrar of Voters since '05 and my title has been "Poll Worker Trainer Lead". I've been responsible for the training of over 6,000 Poll Workers in every countywide election during that time, which includes hiring those trainers who go into the field to conduct training, as well as the production of their training materials. Every time I see someone talk about "election fraud" and make it seem like anyone could pull it off, I take it as a personal affront to not only myself, but my co-workers as well. I'm so offended by it, and it affects me so deeply that people like me are looked at so cynically, that I've decided to hang it up, and retire. On an unrelated note, last week I was a little tipsy and bragged about being ABLE to retire at my age, and got hammered for it here on this board.

I can assure you, not ONE of the people I work with has an interest in stealing an election, nor would it be possible for your average county worker to pull something like that off. Not in MY county anyway. By extension, I believe that making an argument that uses "they", or "them", without explicitly identifying WHO you are talking about is not only WRONG, but pushes people like me, who really really loves what he/she does, and does it to the best of her/his ability, to the point of giving up and looking for some other way to put food on the table.

The Bush Family Evil Empire and/or the military industrial complex that owns them.

It's a geographic and Islamic sect metric.

I can tell you almost every soldier killed in Al Anbar was killed by Sunni's, the geography and demography confirm that.

Ditto for Salahdin, Nineweh, At Tamim, and most of the deaths in Diyala

In those 5 provinces with their high Sunni population rate and the lack of evidence of insurgents travelling far from their homes to commit attacks, it is easy to see that Sunnis are responsible for almost all deaths north of Baghdad.

For 2003 and most of 2004 Shiites were not fighting us, the Medhi Army uprising changed that equation, careful analysis of Icasualties would support this officials statement.

Maybe not 90% killed by Sunnis, but more than 75%, if you do the research you come to this conclusion........

What I can't do is buy anything this administration says anymore. and things related like "it has Al-Qiada's signature all over it" is BS propaganda even if it might be correct. They should just report the hard facts:

"This bomb was in ------ province which is a sunni stronghold. Experts believe it could have been an "Al Qaida" weapon due to the similarity in the evidence to other Al Qaida bombs, etc. etc. etc"

I just want the facts out of their mouths for a change and not the patriotic lie machine. They use oour soldier's deaths as propaganda for their own nefarious causes every day and you know it. I appreciate you bringing your expertise to the discussion.

the insurgents as al Queda because that sells better. Pure and simple.

If there is al Queda in Iraq, it's because we created it. It wasn't there before the war, but now it is.

But the majority of violence is due, not to the (almost) mythical al Queda, but because there are a lot of people so pissed off they'll do anything to get us out. Plus, they have no jobs, no electricity to speak of, little food, etc.

We have also unleashed the hell of the sectarian rivalries. Traditional religious and tribal conflicts. It's not all "al Queda". There may be some of that, but this is the new "branding." It's propaganda.

To get "Joe Six-Pack" to focus on one "enemy". Someone he can "identify" with. And "al Queda" = 9/11.

It's like the way they did it in WW2 -- they got us mobilized us against the "Japs" and the "Krauts".

it did boil down to those two enemies, throw in some Vichy fighters and Italians for a while. Iraq is free roaming gangsterville right now and we're one of the mobs.