Foreign terrorists operating in Iraq -- US general

[NNN0LHI]

There is a joke in that headline somewhere.

What is terrorism? Terrorism is a crime that effect innocent men, women and children everywhere. We must develop courage to say that not only some individuals and groups are involved in killing of innocent people, but some states have been actively involved in "state terrorism" killing and sabotaging in the name of imperial gains. The obvious purpose of state terrorism is to control the population through intimidation and occupation. Occupation is the worst form of terrorism because it leads to multiplicity of terrorism. It is, in other words, important for the media people to be as neutral and well-informed as humanly possible. It is their duty to access information from all sources, and not just the ones that emerge and stay in their "comfort zones".

...Hamid Mir
Editor
Daily Ausaf, Pakistan...

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B96422.htm

BAGHDAD, July 28 (Reuters) - The commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq says the country is becoming a magnet for foreign terrorists targeting Americans as Washington reported a big rise in information in its hunt for Saddam Hussein.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, whose troops usually blame the attacks on die-hard Saddam loyalists, said the sophistication of the raids had increased over the last 30 days.

"This is what I would call a terrorist magnet where America, being present here in Iraq, creates a target of opportunity if you will," Sanchez told CNN.

Sanchez did not elaborate on the nationalities, but said there was no evidence any country was sponsoring the fighters.

"The key that we must not lose sight of is that we must win this battle here in Iraq. Otherwise America will find itself taking on these terrorists at home," Sanchez said.

more

[Jacobin]

1. No S***, and they are wearing the American uniform

Name calling Bozos.

[aquart]

2. See, the Iraqis really love us.

It's just those damn outside agitators.

[IndianaGreen]

3. General Sanchez better look at himself in mirror

and he will see one of the foreign terrorists he spoke about. I will say that 5 dead and 8 wounded, all Iraqi civilians, will endear Sanchez and his troops to the people of Iraq:

Troops from a special unit hunting Saddam burst into a house in the smart Baghdad neighbourhood of Mansur on Sunday, but there was no sign of him.

A U.S. soldier at a nearby hospital said five bodies and at least eight wounded had been brought in from the scene of the raid. An Iraqi policeman said all the dead had been in cars fired on by troops as they drove through the area.

The owner of the villa, tribal chief Rabeeah Amin, said the soldiers had broken down the door and ransacked the villa.

[saigon68]

11. JUST KILL THEM ALL--- NEW MOTTO OF OPER. "IRAQI FREEDOM"

What a rush---

You suspect Sadaam is in the house.

You and your men smash the door down,
go inside and machine gun every one hiding there to death.

No one will mind, no one will object, you will be rewarded.
(IE: the brothers grimm each had upwards of 30 bullet wounds)

Kinda sounds like what Hitler's SS did to the Jews in Warsaw.

This is what is going on.

[GregW]

4. Well ... Bush is a 'uniter', right?

Looks like he's managed to unite the whole word against us.

[gulliver]

5. How long until Iraq is less dangerous than before the war?

It seems to me that this is an awful admission for the General to make. Did we consider the possibility that the removal of an iron-fisted dictator would create an anarchistic breeding ground for terrorists of all persuasions? I wish someone would address this question. Is Iraq now less of a threat than it was before the war? That's the kind of question that has to be asked as we find out more and more that Bush was exaggerating (and exaggerating the certainty of) the Iraqi threat.

[Rex]

6. WTF?

-"The key that we must not lose sight of is that we must win this battle here in Iraq. Otherwise America will find itself taking on these terrorists at home," Sanchez said.-

HELLO...did he forget about 911? Bring our troops home, NOW!

[NNN0LHI]

7. And in my humble opinion 911 happened because of the First War...

...for Kuwait because that is when the US began flexing their military might in that area and it began to look like US forces were never leaving afterwards. And we really were not leaving the area ever either. We never learn.

Don

[Rex]

10. I believe in LIHOP, I'm just kinda shocked that this guy

seems to forget that we are already fighting terrorists here on our shores (we hear it all the time from Ridge, Ashcroft etc). Just another weak excuse from the BFEE as to why we are in Iraq.

[whathappened]

8. shoot

they don't even need to make the long trip to america to get to us now , we just keep sending them more people to shoot everyday in iraq , when will nimnuts get this in his head , he is fighting all the arab nations over there just by being in iraq

[Eloriel]

9. This is going to be interesting, because

some DUer posted that a Lt. Col. finally admitted on a recent TV show that no occupying army has ever won against a sustained insurgency.

And really, how DO you win something like this? Kill everyone?

We could always nuke the place, I suppose.

Eloriel

[Devils Advocate NZ]

12. They may be foreign, but they're NOT terrorists...

This is another case of that good old propaganda machine (AKA the media) letting a Bush admin liar get away with it.

So let's set the record straight: US soldiers and occupying forces, whether they be apparently civillian or not (ie Halliburton employees) are legitimate military targets, and therefore attacks on them are NOT legally defined as terrorism.

US troops who shoot up civillian cars in occupied territory however are legally commiting terrorism, so the only foreign terrorists on Iraqi soil are US troops.

[Drifter]

13. There are a hell of a lot more ...

terrorist operating within our borders (the good ole' USA), than any country in the world.

Cheers
Drifter

[Sagan]

14. What a f*&%$ing surprise!

I called this before the first tanks rolled across the border. Surely, if a dumbass like myself could have figured it out, you'd think the Bushistas would have...

Morans...

[Star]

15. Josh Marshall wrote about this yesterday

An interesting progression ...

But doing it as the Bush administration now intends is something like going outside and giving a few good whacks to a hornets' nest because you want to get them out in the open and have it out with them once and for all.

"Practice to Deceive"
Joshua Micah Marshall
Washington Monthly
April 2003



Being based in Iraq helps us not only because of actual bases; but because the American presence there diverts terrorist attention away from elsewhere. By confronting them directly in Iraq, we get to engage them in a military setting that plays to our strengths rather than to theirs'. Continued conflict in Iraq, in other words, needn't always be bad news. It may be a sign that we are drawing the terrorists out of the woodwork and tackling them in the open.

"Bring Them On"
Andrew Sullivan
andrewsullivan.com
July 3rd, 2003



Separately, Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, commander of coalition ground forces, told CNN that "we still have a long way to go" before eliminating resistance.
Iraq had become "a terrorist magnet," drawing some anti-American extremists from abroad to "a target of opportunity."

"But this," General Sanchez added, "is exactly where we want to fight them."


"U.S. Must Act on 'Murky' Data to Prevent Terror, Wolfowitz Says"
International Herald Tribune
July 27th, 2003

Are we all straight now on what the plan is?

-- Josh Marshall

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/