Insurgents vs Terrorists: A Debate not finished IMO

[MMMMMM]

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And MMMMMM, Bush says we are fighting the terrorists in Iraq and we must defeat these terrorists. Pehaps this or other rhetoric has convinced you of your quote above. However, foreign fighters constitute 5-10% of the insurgency by all accounts regardless of no matter how active that small percentage is, so stop suggesting otherwise. We are NOT fighting the war versus Al-Queda in Iraq in any direct way.


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How did you manage to so completely miss my point in the thread where I addressed this? I even SAID that foreign fighters comprised only a small percentage of the insurgency. The POINT was that most all of the very recent attacks had been the work of foreign terrorists. Moreover, the former Sunni insurgents even offered to stand guard to protect the voters in Sunni regions from attacks by foreign terrorists. I elaborated upon, and even reiterated most of this, in that thread as well.

So please don't tell me to "quit pretending": how about instead you read carefully and critically (if it helps, just pretend you are going to have to answer SAT questions on what you are reading. Actually, that is the way EVERYONE should ALWAYS read EVERYTHING (hello Cyrus! and a few others;-))...but I do understand if occasional hasty errors are made--I've made some myself too, you know;-) In the thread you are referencing, I was very explicit in more than one post, so how you managed to miss/forget that before posting this is a bit baffling).

[twowords]

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And MMMMMM, Bush says we are fighting the terrorists in Iraq and we must defeat these terrorists. Pehaps this or other rhetoric has convinced you of your quote above. However, foreign fighters constitute 5-10% of the insurgency by all accounts regardless of no matter how active that small percentage is, so stop suggesting otherwise. We are NOT fighting the war versus Al-Queda in Iraq in any direct way.


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How did you manage to so completely miss my point in the thread where I addressed this? I even SAID that foreign fighters comprised only a small percentage of the insurgency. The POINT was that most all of the very recent attacks had been the work of foreign terrorists. Moreover, the former Sunni insurgents even offered to stand guard to protect the voters in Sunni regions from attacks by foreign terrorists. I elaborated upon, and even reiterated most of this, in that thread as well.

So please don't tell me to "quit pretending": how about instead you read carefully and critically (if it helps, just pretend you are going to have to answer SAT questions on what you are reading. Actually, that is the way EVERYONE should ALWAYS read EVERYTHING (hello Cyrus! and a few others;-))...but I do understand if occasional hasty errors are made--I've made some myself too, you know;-) In the thread you are referencing, I was very explicit in more than one post, so how you managed to miss/forget that before posting this is a bit baffling).

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Fine, I can concede all that. My point was meant for the undoubtedly high percentage of Americans who proudly proclaim that we are "fighting the terrorists in Iraq," which is hardly the story. I'm quite glad you are not in this group M.

There is little doubt that the real "terrorists" (which refers to international Al-Queda-affiliated terrorists) would never be tolerated in Iraq if the US left, much less would it become a terrorist state or a breeding ground for terrorism. For that to happen the Iraqi government with hundreds of thousands of troops would have to fall apart along enthnic lines. If that will happen if we leave in 2006, then it would happen if we left 5 years later as well. The nationalism is there or its not, we cannot create it.

The most important point I was adressing was the uselessness of the term "War on Terror," as one poser noted the term "terrorist" is only useful for confusing people about who we are fighting and why. Clearly it has confused Bluff into viewing vastly different groups as the same, and extending the war.

[Grisgra]

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The most important point I was adressing was the uselessness of the term "War on Terror," as one poser noted the term "terrorist" is only useful for confusing people about who we are fighting and why. Clearly it has confused Bluff into viewing vastly different groups as the same, and extending the war.

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"The war on terror, you can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror."

It's HARD WORK, telling things apart, treating things differently, you know -- HARD WORK!

[Cyrus]

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CNN
Oil tanker drivers walked off the job amid insurgent threats, forcing the closure of an oil refinery north of Baghdad. Because so many haulers are not working, the refinery was shut down.


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