Iraqi insurgent groups have different goals
Some want secular rule, others want to create a 'haven for terrorists.'
Although the US-led coalition has handed over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government, attacks from insurgents are expected to continue. And while there is mounting evidence that the insurgents attacks are
being coordinated, the groups that comprise the insurgent forces often have dramatically different goals.
The Asia Times reports on the group that has until recently been the main force behind the insurgency, the Baathists – remnants of Saddam Hussein's former administration. In an interview last week with some of the members of that group (two former generals and a former colonel), the
Times reports that these men believe the "
big battle in Iraq" is yet to take place.
The objective was 'to liberate Iraq and expel the coalition. To recover our sovereignty and install a secular democracy, but not the one imposed by the Americans. Iraq has always been a progressive country, we don't want to go back to the past, we want to move forward. We have very competent people,' say the three tacticians. There will be of course no names as well as no precise numbers concerning the clandestine network. 'We have sufficient numbers, one thing we don't lack is volunteers.'
The
Times also reports that these men claim the insurgency was planned before the US-led coalition attacked in March of 2003 ("The war was lost in advance, so we prepared the post-war"). They say they do not have any weapons of mass destruction, but they do have access to almost "50 million conventional weapons." While they do take credit for the killing of several foreigners, the group's leaders said it was not responsible for either last October's attack against the Red Cross in Baghdad, or the bombing of the UN compound last year that killed more than 20 people.
'We have never issued an order to attack the UN and we had a lot of esteem towards the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello [special UN representative who died in the attack], but it's not impossible that the authors of this suicide attack come from another resistance group. As we have explained, we don't control everything. And we must not forget that the UN is responsible for the 13 years of embargo we have endured.'
Time magazine reports that a driving force behind the insurgency is the religious militants who want to turn Iraq into an Islamist state, and ultimately
a "haven" for terrorists. These groups are often closely aligned with the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist
Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, and
Time reports that most follow the strict Wahhabi strain of Islam. (
Reuters reports Monday that the
US is denying that Mr. Zarqawi was captured over the weekend.)
Time reports that the goal of the Islamist insurgents is broader than just forcing the US to leave. They want Iraq to be the new Afghanistan: a place where the next generation of "jihadists" can be trained for Al Qaeda and similar groups.
At the back of the room are a few men from Saudi Arabia, who stand silently as one of the sheiks, the group's leader, addresses [a reporter from Time magazine] in Arabic and stilted English. The war in Iraq, he says, is one of liberation, not just of a country but of Muslim lands, Muslim people, Islam itself. There is no room for negotiation with the enemy, no common ground. What he and his men offer is endless, righteous resistance. 'Maybe this war will take a long time," he says. "Maybe this is a world war.' Regardless of the differing goals of the two groups of insurgents,
The Asia Times and
Time reports both point to the same incidents as key moments in the insurgency: the US
offensive in Fallujah in March, and the
alleged abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
The Christian Science Monitor interviews Mjr. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, "
a controversial figure in the prison-abuse probes" and the man currently in charge of Abu Ghraib.
The Sunday Times of Australia reports on how
some former prisoners held at Abu Ghraib have joined the insurgency following their release from the prison.
The New York Times reports on how "average Iraqis" are joining the insurgency. Angry at the "occupation and its failures," these Iraqis
often act on their own and without direction against US troops and others. The
Times reports they act with "a zealousness born of anti-colonial ambitions."
The Los Angeles Times reports that experts and some US military commanders say the insurgency is "
increasingly potent" and it "may be too late to turn back the militant tide." They also say that Sunni Muslim insurgents are seen as the "stronger long-term threat."
The Strait Times reports on the new levels of "
strength and tactical skill" the insurgents have been using against US and Iraqi forces in the past two weeks.
USA Today reports on the
Iraqi security forces that will now take on a larger role against the insurgency.
Time magazine
looks at Iyad Allawi, the new prime minister of Iraq.
Agence France-Presse says Mr. Allawi will announce "
new measures" Monday and Tuesday aimed at the insurgents. Among the measures the interim-government is considering is a
declaration of martial law in areas in Iraqi where the insurgents are strong. Allawi has already said that he plans to
reconstitute divisions of the old Iraqi army in an effort to battle the insurgents (and perhaps draw support away from them.)
Fareed Zakarai, international affairs writer for
Newsweek, writes that the US made two fundamental mistakes in Iraq that
allowed the insurgency to grow: First, it used far too few troops in Iraq, which meant that insurgents never felt "intimidated" by the US-led coalition.
But the second important mistake has been to discount the size of the insurgency and its local support. For many in the administration it was an article of faith that Iraqis would welcome the American occupation. So it was impossible for them to accept that ordinary Iraqis could be helping the guerrillas. That's why Donald Rumsfeld always dismissively referred to Iraqi militants as a bunch of "dead-enders." Administration officials objected to the use of terms like "insurgents," and claimed that most of the troublemakers were foreign terrorists. Mr. Zakaria says that while declaring martial law might help for a while, Allawi will "have to do something the US never did: talk to the insurgents."
Also...
•
Promises, promises: the true cost of freedom for the Iraqi people (
New Zealand Herald)
•
Pope calls for torture ban (
News Australia)
•
Why US must face its role as torturer (
San Francisco Chronicle)
•
The truth on torture (
New York Post)
•
A manufactured scandal (
National Review)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Tom Regan
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