Iraqi resistance could be broader than U.S. claims

[Khephra]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - During the past 30 days, more than 2,300 attacks have been directed against civilians and military targets in Iraq, in a pattern that sprawls over nearly every major population center outside the Kurdish north, according to comprehensive data compiled by a private security company with access to military intelligence reports and its own network of Iraqi informants.

The sweeping geographical reach of the attacks, from Nineveh and Salahuddin provinces in the northwest to Babylon and Diyala in the center and Basra in the south, suggest a more widespread resistance than the isolated pockets of insurgency described by Iraqi government officials.

The number of attacks has risen and fallen over the months. The highest numbers were in April, when there was major fighting in Fallujah, with attacks averaging 120 a day. In contrast, the average is now about 80 a day.

Yet for different analysts, the same numbers could lead to opposite conclusions.

http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2420130

[cthrumatrix]

1. "we have good intelligence"..... it's really showing

the number of attacks is astounding

[Jacobin]

2. Ya mean like this?

(graphic snagged from another LBN thread from NYT)

"Just a few dead enders, criminals, former baathists....." Donald 'I Do Quagmires' Rumsfeld

[leftchick]

9. now I know what was in this Pandora's box!

that chimpy* was warned not to open! :grr:

[Richardson08]

3. Lies,lies,lies but Allawi said 14-15 of the provinces are safe and he is

such a brave man who is risking his life

If I hear that one more time,I am going to puke

[durablend]

14. I wonder...

If Allawi is bumped off before OUR election, what does that do to *'s credibility (what little shred of it he actually claims to have)?

[wishlist]

4. Scott Taylor, Canadian hostage, said insurgency is strengthening

I saw Scott Taylor, the Canadian war correspondent who was kidnapped and released recently in the Mosul-Tal Afar area, on Deborah Norville's show last night. He said that the Iraqi police there are in collusion with the insurgents and Americans have no control there. He is emphatic that the insurgency is pervasive and getting stronger and explains this in this print interview with Amy Goodman:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/22/1422225

[leftchick]

10. I saw that too!

He needs to be on more tv shows to get the message out!

[democracy eh]

12. from another Scott Taylor interview - Scope of the Insurgency

this guy has fortitude,

note he was originally kidnapped (got passed around) in the north, near the Turkish border by insurgents of Turkmen decent - not the Tikrit Sunni Arabs, Ba'ath loyalists, foreign fighters or Sadr's army. This movement is moving like a cancer that is consuming the country and is neither truthfully acknowledged nor recognized by the Bush administration. they see the world through very simplistic glasses - terra'ists, brown skin people. anti-Iraqi forces, anti-freedom. It makes me blow my lid. Bush is getting temporary mileage by playing the Kurdish card, but it will not last and will result in elements of the Kurds turning on the US/Iraqi Puppet government or Kurd vs. non-Kurd civil war urghhhhhhh!!! :grr:

http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=3606

"The Scope of the Insurgency

CD: Based on your experiences, what can you say about the composition of the resistance in that part of Iraq? What are their motivations and goals?

ST: The core of the resistance was made up of Islamic religious fundamentalists. Most are Turkmen, but note that they are not Turkmen nationalists. According to the leader, who told me that their group is in fact part of Ansar Al-Islam, Osama and Al-Zarqawi are their brothers. So religion supercedes nationalism. While many of the fighters may be Turkmen, they are fighting for Allah, and they are cooperating with anyone else, be it Kurd or Arab, similarly motivated by jihad against the Americans.

CD: So after all the American talk about Islamic terrorism thriving in Iraq, this was the real thing, huh?

ST: When I saw the level of organization and apparent troop numbers, and how everyone is prepared to die – these guys aren't bullshitting. All the stuff we were told before the war about how the Ba'athists would all gladly die for Saddam, well that obviously didn't turn out to be the case. But these guys, these fundamentalists, are fighting to die. This is a very potent weapon. Worse, the American invasion has actually created this terrorism because it substantiated over time all the ugliest scenarios that the radical clerics were warning about. People being crushed by tanks, U.S. soldiers breaking down doors, violating the sanctity of the home, abusing civilians, etc., seeing all this go down has an effect. And so the strong anti-American attitude of the clerics started to seem justified to previously disinterested local people by events on the ground, and you have religion emerge as the single cause capable of uniting members of ethnic groups who'd previously been fighting only one another."

[henslee]

5. If poss. Kerry should uncover some real #'s and drop them during debate..

It would instill confidence that he has an inside track. I know his team must have an inside track. Dropping some real time, fresh intel on the public and Junior would be sweet.

[Wright Patman]

13. Kerry would be termed

'defeatist' by the whore commentators after the debate. Also, what would he say after that? "I, John Kerry, will defeat the insurgency by reinforcing the troops and sending more over there." Do you think his base wants to hear that? I damn sure don't.

* is probably right to keep trying to spin a victory in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. His base still believes we are winning the war and doesn't want to hear otherwise. They really do believe him rather than their "lyin' eyes."

[henslee]

19. Regarding the rosey war picture, I just think it has to stop. Its a lie.

[Roland99]

6. NY Times article:

Iraq Study Sees Rebels' Attacks as Widespread
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/international/middleeast/29attacks.html?hp

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 28 - Over the past 30 days, more than 2,300 attacks by insurgents have been directed against civilians and military targets in Iraq, in a pattern that sprawls over nearly every major population center outside the Kurdish north, according to comprehensive data compiled by a private security company with access to military intelligence reports and its own network of Iraqi informants.

The sweeping geographical reach of the attacks, from Nineveh and Salahuddin Provinces in the northwest to Babylon and Diyala in the center and Basra in the south, suggests a more widespread resistance than the isolated pockets described by Iraqi government officials.

The type of attacks ran the gamut: car bombs, time bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, small-arms fire, mortar attacks and land mines.

"If you look at incident data and you put incident data on the map, it's not a few provinces, " said Adam Collins, a security expert and the chief intelligence official in Iraq for Special Operations Consulting-Security Management Group Inc., a private security company based in Las Vegas that compiles and analyzes the data as a regular part of its operations in Iraq.

The number of attacks has risen and fallen over the months. Mr. Collins said the highest numbers were in April, when there was major fighting in Falluja, with attacks averaging 120 a day. The average is now about 80 a day, he said.

[mbperrin]

7. 'could be?" "suggests"

"General Cornwallis, the data suggests that there could be some serious insurgency out there."" Nonsense, man, these colonial insurgents are no match for a real army."

Cue "The World Turn'd Upside Down".

[w4rma]

8. "U.S. claims" = Bush, but then they'd be hurting *'s election. (nt)

[Raster]

11. We are about to be handed our asses in Iraq, for a multitude of reasons.

The situation is worse than anyone is reporting.

[ausiedownunderground]

15. Iraqi Resistance appears pretty heavy as we speak

Tonights news in OZ was full of reports of extremely heavy fighting between the Resistance and US troops across most of the country. Extremely heavy fighting going on right in the middle of Baghdad. It appears that both sides have taken heavy casualties. Film footage was shown of a US Humvee convoy taken out by an IED and i mean "Taken Out"!! These things are massive. 2 Humvees completely destroyed - No survivors - they were charred. The attack was then followed up by a massive amount of machine gun fire and what appeared to be RPG attack.
There were also reports of the resistance using Strela anti-aircraft missiles against US airplanes and apaches - Thats not a good sign for the future.
Further reports of mass graves of US soldiers discovered in Ramadi and Fallujah and the possible capture of 4 US soldiers by the Resistance forces in Bagdhad - Thats not good either.
Unfortunately for the US troops in Iraq it looks like the War has just begun.
However it has also been reported that the british hostage - Mr Bigley looks like hes going to be released - Finally some good news! However discussing this with some friends over here it could be that the Iraqi Resistance is trying to drive a wedge between the US & the rest of us still left fighting over there. US hostages get beheaded, while others get spared?

[jmcgowanjm]

16. Exactly: Iraqi Resistance Report 09/ 25-27 /04

Strela must be the c5k's these guys keep talking about.

And prepare to here alot more about al-Yusufiyah
and especially al-Latifiyah.

al-Latifiyah seems to be or was some kind of
fuel depot distribution center for US about
25 K South of Baghdad.

In another attack Sunday afternoon, Iraqi Resistance
fighters
attacked a US supply convoy 3km from al-Latifiyah,
destroying two
civilian trucks carrying provisions for the US military. Two
US
soldiers aboard the trucks were killed in the
ambush.

Six US troops, 13 Iraqi stooges killed in al-Latifiyah
combat Sunday.

Six US troops and 13 Iraqi puppet soldiers were killed
when
Resistance fighters forcefully repulsed an American attempt
to
encircle the al-Latifiyah area, 25km south of Baghdad
Sunday. The
al-Latifiyah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that
the SU
troops assisted by Iraqi stooge soldiers and covered by
Apache
helicopter gunships and F-16 fighter bombers attempted
to encircle
al-Latifiyah but Resitance fighters fought back
ferociously,
destroying two Humvees, three personnel carriers belonging
to the
Iraqi puppet troops and one green Mitsubishi pickup
also belonging
to the puppet forces.

The fighting, that occurred at 6:30pm local time left, by
a
preliminary count, six US soldiers and 13 Iraqi puppet
troops dead.
The number is likely to rise, however, according
to
the
correspondent.

[jmcgowanjm]

18. Collective punishment comes to al Karmah

Al-Karmah residents live in agony after US forces besiege
town, cut
off all water and electricity to "punish" them for Sunday
morning's
After two Resistance bombing operations in the al-Fallujah
area on
Sunday took the lives of some 35 American aggressor
troops, the US
side attempted to teach the citizens of the town of al-Karmah
(6
miles northeast of al-Fallujah) a lesson by cutting off their
supply
of water and electricity. The al-Fallujah correspondent of
Mafkarat
al-Islam reported that the area now is living in agony
without
water or electricity, even as US forces encircle the area
where
Sunday's massive attacks took place. Two Resistance
car bombs
exploded Sunday morning at the headquarters of the
Iraqi
puppet "national guard" where the US forces were changing
their
guard. Thirty-five US troops were killed and eight Humvees,
and twoBradley armored vehicles destroyed.

[gratuitous]

17. Whatwhatwhat?

The Bush administration may not be giving the public a full and honest appraisal of the situation in Iraq? Knock me over with a sledgehammer!

[struggle4progress]

20. kick

:kick:

[NNN0LHI]

21. "Iraqi resistance"? That is change for an American newspaper n/t

[Coconut Buddha Ape]

22. It's simple math...

To figure out the scope of the insurgency, take the entire country, then subtract out the secure areas.

That, uh, leaves most of the desert, and, um, parts of the green zone.

I think people have hit the nail on the head when they notice that the Admin is ceding territory in order to keep down casualties. Bush wants to keep deaths down and pump out propaganda in order to convince the easily duped public that WE ARE WINNING. But, win or lose, expect the US and Iraqi death toll to rise once the elections are over and we rub the electoral sleepy-dust from our eyes.

Bush will want to hand Kerry a live grenade if he loses. And if he wins, he will want to show the world that he means business in Iraq. Either way, this shitstorm is still brewing.