AP: Iraqis Say Saddam Not Leading Attacks

[htuttle]

SAMARA, Iraq - A former Iraqi general who claims to be part of the insurgency against U.S. troops says the guerrilla war around this "Sunni Triangle" city is being waged by small groups fighting on their own without direction from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) or others.

He and two other Samara men, who said they are in separate guerrilla units, insisted in interviews with The Associated Press that their fight isn't aimed at returning Saddam to power. They said it's about ending the U.S.-led occupation and restoring Iraqi rule.

"I am fighting for my country — not Saddam Hussein — to get rid of the infidels. Very few people are fighting for him. They gave up on him at the end of the war," said one of the men, an unemployed electrical engineer.

(snip)

All three said their guerrilla groups are fighting without instructions from Saddam or any other contact with Iraq's former leader. They also said there is no shortage of potential fighters among Iraqi males, most of whom have at least rudimentary military training from compulsory army service during Saddam's rule.

(more at link)
Yahoo News

[0007]

1. ''I am fighting for my country — not Saddam Hussein''

We're not the only one in the world that would fight for our country.

[leftchick]

2. it is not Vietnam, it is not Vietnam, it is not Vietnam...

.....yeah right.....

<snip>The engineer said it takes U.S. helicopters at least 12 minutes to respond to an attack. "We counted. By the time they get there we would be long gone," he said.

A father of four, he said weapons are readily available from Iraqis who looted arsenals in the chaos after Saddam's regime collapsed. He said his group has machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, SPG-9 anti-tank missiles and Strela anti-aircraft missiles.

In an interview arranged by the engineer, the merchant said he mostly coordinates operations of his guerrilla group but has joined in several attacks, most recently on Nov. 9. In that attack, he said, a convoy of "CIA (news - web sites) cars" was ambushed with machine gun fire.

"I do whatever I am capable of to fight the Americans," he said at his home where photos of Saddam were plastered on the walls. "I hit anything I can. We Iraqis know everything about weapons — mortars, guns, RPGs, you name it."

The businessman, who said he has 14 children, said his group has about 30 members.

The other two men declined to estimate the number of fighters in Samara. "All I can say is that the number of mujahedeen (holy warriors) is increasing and not decreasing," the general said.

Ignoring his wife's pleas to stop talking about his activities, the general said his group is in contact with guerrilla cells in Fallujah and other parts of the Sunni Triangle and sometimes receive arms from them. The engineer said his unit is not in touch with fighters outside Samara.

The general said the fighting won't stop until U.S. and other troops get out.

"We don't care who replaces them," he said. "The important thing is to throw out the occupation."

:(

[Mal]

5. I agree with his wife

The guy talks too much. It's hard to stop yourself, but bragging will get you killed.

[htuttle]

8. LOL

I was thinking the same thing.

I bet she threw some low elbows at his midsection...

:)

[David__77]

3. Why would they "fight for Saddam" Hussein?

It makes no sense. Once Hussein was deposed, what's the point. It's not as if Ba'athism was an ideology or had an ideal. It was about power. The junior rankers probably are more interested in starting their own movement in their own image.

[peterh]

4. Yeah..yeah…yeah…we already kinda knew that…

But invoking Saddam portrays a much better image to run with…you know, like…Saddam and al Qaeda….Saddam and 9/11….Saddam and Clinton….you get the picture….now go away general, you’re not what we’re trying to sell….

:eyes:

[tinnypriv]

6. Most surreal graf:

"Meeting with a reporter at the house of an acquaintance, he said he had only a half hour to speak because he was on his to way to ambush an American convoy on the Samara-Tikrit highway"

:wow:

[gratuitous]

7. Ah, what does he know?

King George the Infallible and his Imperial Administration has already said that the "insurgents" are fighting for Saddam. So it must be, and so it is. Shazam.