Time to throw in the towel?
 

I thought things were going so badly....

These folks see don't see the point of continuing..http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7b2a3b4e-9d...00e2511c8.html

"Iraq's insurgents ‘seek exit strategy'
By Steve Negus in Baghdad
Published: March 25 2005 16:55 | Last updated: March 25 2005 16:55

Many of Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab insurgents would lay down their arms and join the political process in exchange for guarantees of their safety and that of their co-religionists, according to a prominent Sunni politician.


Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein, who heads Iraq's main monarchist movement and is in contact with guerrilla leaders, said many insurgents including former officials of the ruling Ba'ath party, army officers, and Islamists have been searching for a way to end their campaign against US troops and Iraqi government forces since the January 30 election.

“Firstly, they want to ensure their own security,” says Sharif Ali, who last week hosted a pan-Sunni conference attended by tribal sheikhs and other local leaders speaking on behalf of the insurgents.

Insurgent leaders fear coming out into the open to talk for fear of being targeted by US military or Iraqi security forces' raids, he said.

Sharif Ali distinguishes many Sunni insurgents, whom he says took up arms in reaction to the invasive raids in search of Ba'athist leaders and other “humiliations” soon after the 2003 war, from the radical jihadist branch associated with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Unlike Mr Zarqawi's followers, who are thought to be responsible for the big suicide bomb attacks on Iraqi civilian targets, the other Sunni insurgents are more likely to plant bombs and carry out ambushes against security forces and US troops active near their homes.

Sharif Ali said the success of Iraq's elections dealt the insurgents a demoralising blow, prompting them to consider the need to enter the political process. "


Maybe it's an unintended consequence but a fortunate one. Get with it or get left behind?

I call bullshit. Pure and simple.

However, they have a proportional represintation system, so, with only 20 percent of the popular vote, and legistlative power, again, I call bullshit. Being on the same level as the kurds is not something they want.

They will be fighting for a long, long time.

I wish they had consulted us before they decided to pull out. We could have helped them turned the tide.

Sincerly,
America's Mainstream Media

What does that even mean?

I think he's trying to say the media is responsible for making people not very fond of this war, thats got to be it, when in doubt blame the media, not the people running the show in the government, give me a break find a new scapegoat, like maybe the person who sent people over there in the first place

If this is true, who takes the first step? It seems to me neither group is willing to really sit down and talk. Sure, America doesn't want to lose soldiers, and the rebels don't want to lose more arab's, but who concedes first? Do we meet and negotiate? America doesn't negotiate with terrorists.

America shouldn't take the first step in my opinion, like you said we don't negotiate with terrorists, nor should we negotiate with insurgents they choose their bed to sleep in, it's on them. I think we need to take a hard stance on this, they need to show us something, god forbid it ends up like a Hamas/Al Aqsa-Israel situation where they only want to come to the table because they are running low on supplies, morale, and organization.

"Yeah we will make peace, but only until we are able to fight more effectively. Then we will go back to killing american-Iraqi forces until you again turn the tide, and then when we want to go back to the table and you refuse, you will be portrayed as the bad guys for not talking with us and working it out "peacefully"."

That's my take on it. Let the insurgents figure it out, make them be the ones to make concessions before we show anything for them, if they renig on any of it, staple their balls to the wall and shoot them in the face.

What do you mean " again turn the tide"? Did we turn the tide when I wasn't looking? The insurgency is still as strong as it ever was. That's why it's a problem. If we were dealing with it correcttly (whether winning, or negotiating), I think it'd be all over the news that there is an end in sight. I just see the death toll rising.

If it is has strong as it ever was, then what's the point of the article? They are getting broken down, they know they are fighting a losing fight.