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Banned
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Originally Posted by reconmike
You see Host just because you cant google something does not mean it is not "fact", now your a talking about someone on the ground in Iraq, and dismissing his facts as there are more outside insurgents on the ground than you can google, well my son in law just returned from his second tour there and he has told me the same thing, plus numerous friends I have that are higher ranking troops have told me the same.
Who says you to determine what is "feelings or faith based" information?
I guess experience has no effect on learning, if it can not be googled.
Just sometimes people know what they know because they lived it, and experience "IS" the best teacher.
So just keep demanding "facts" by the click of a search engine, while I will take someones experiences over a NYT or Washington posts op-ed piece anytime.
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reconmike, it might help for me to tell you that "google" was not involved in locating the following information. I went to U.S. military sites and looked for 2006 statements of U.S. generals. The following is the info that the generals told reporters, and then made available to our troops as "news briefings" and to the general public. It seems pretty clear that the generals on the ground in Iraq,,,,including the commander of our forces in northern Iraq, stated the exact opposite of what you stated in your post.
I am showing you why I consider what you post on this subject is "feelings", and not fact. There is a consistant record in statements from our generals, from 2003 until now...that "foreign fighters" make up an insignifigant number of those who participate violently in the Iraqi insurgency, or who are fighting against U.S. troops in Iraq. General Thomas Turner said that we <b>"still find very limited evidence of foreign fighters".</b> The generals have consistantly told the press the same thing during all of the last four calendar years.
If what you believe is accurate, wouldn't forces as skilled and effective as those that the U.S. fields in Iraq, be able to show mounds of "evidence", in the form of the bodies of KIA foreign fighters, and the wounded and other captured ones, also? They haven't been able to come up with evidence that
foreign fighters are fighting alongside the Iraqi insurgents in any signifigant numbers....because, in all probability, they are not in Iraq in a signifigant number...just 800 to 1000, in an insurgency estimated to be 20000 in number.
So....that is 4 or 5 percent, as the generals have said....and that is an indignifigant number...and it has not chamged since 2003.
That is the way it is, reconmike...anecdotal evidence from what you've heard from individual soldiers who have spent time in Iraq, notwithstanding.
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http://www.defenselink.mil/transcrip...120-12351.html
Presenter: Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Turner, II, commander, Multinational Division North and 101st Airborne Division January 20, 2006
News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Thomas Turner II
(via Teleconference from Iraq)
JIM TURNER (Press operations deputy director): Good morning, General Turner. This is Jim Turner at the Pentagon. Can you hear me?
GEN. TURNER: I can.
MR. TURNER: Good morning. Our briefer today is Major General Thomas R. Turner, II, commander of Multinational Division North and the 101st Airborne Division. He and his command are responsible for ongoing security operations in northern Iraq. This is his first visit with us from Iraq, and he is here to provide us an operational update.
General Turner has an opening statement and then will take your questions. Remember he cannot see us, so please identify yourself when asking your questions.
So General Turner, welcome, and thanks for joining us today........
...........MR. TURNER: Joe.
Q General, this is Joe Tabet with Al Hurra TV. Would you give us a clear idea about the insurgency that you are facing, their tactics? <h3>How many foreign fighters are involved in the operations?</h3> And do you still believe -- my second question -- do you still believe that the Sunnis are supporting the insurgency in your area?
GEN. TURNER: If I understood the questions right, the first one was, do we still have foreign fighters fighting in Iraq? And the second is, are the Sunnis still supporting them?
Yes, I think <h3>we still find very limited evidence of foreign fighters in our area of operation, and there are some Sunni groups that make alliances of convenience based on capabilities or as they proceed. But I think we will probably see fewer and fewer Sunni organizations aligned with terrorists and foreign fighters.</h3>
I think the Iraqi people fully realize that the goals of al Qaeda are not compatible with the Iraq of the future that they envision.....
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Quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2...0228_4340.html
American Forces Information service
Terrorism Biggest Threat to National Security, Officials Say
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2006 – Terrorism remains the pre-eminent threat to U.S. national security and interests abroad. But if progress continues at the current pace in Iraq, the terrorists can be defeated there and the U.S. can gain a foothold in the war on terror, a top U.S. official said here today........
........The insurgency in Iraq is complex and resilient, but coalition forces have been able to significantly impact al Qaeda in Iraq by killing or capturing many of its leaders, Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said at the hearing. The coalition has been able to restrict the flow of personnel, money and material and degrade operations, he said.
<b>Sunni Arabs form the core of the insurgency in Iraq, Maples said, and fewer foreign fighters are joining their ranks.</b> Insurgent leaders exploit social, economic and historical grievances to recruit support, and are willing to use familial, tribal and professional relationships to advance their agenda, he said.
The insurgents' philosophies and actions are adding urgency to a debate within Islam about the role of religion in government, Negroponte said. As this debate evolves, Muslims are becoming more politically aware and active, he said, but the majority doesn't lean toward extremism.
"Most Muslims reject the extremist message and the violent agendas of the global jihadists," he said. "Indeed, as people of all backgrounds endorse democratic principles of freedom, equality and the rule of law, they will be able to couple these principles with their religious beliefs, whatever they may be, to build better futures for their communities."
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