Iraq's Rebellion Develops Signs of Internal Rift

[Blackaxe]

Tension appears to be rising between the homegrown Iraqi resistance and the foreign Islamist fighters who have entered the country to destroy the American military here. This is one reason, experts speculate, that Iraq has not had the kind of spectacular attack meant to spread terror and defy the American agenda for a long two weeks, even during the transfer of formal sovereignty back to the Iraqis.

Evidence has emerged in sniping between groups on Arabic television and Web sites, and in interviews with Iraqi and American officials, as well as members of the resistance and people with close ties to it. All speak of rising friction between nationalistic fighters and foreign-led Islamists over goals and tactics, with some Iraqi insurgents indicating a revulsion over the car bombs and suicide attacks in cities that have caused hundreds of civilian deaths.

But such friction does not mean there is a "submission by the resistance," said Dhary Rasheed, a professor at the University of Baghdad who lives in Samarra, a center for the resistance. "It is a phase of reconstruction and re-evaluation in order to push the operations out of the cities," so as "not to have innocent people killed."

Large car-bombings — thought to be carried out more often by foreigners, who make up a tiny percentage of the rebels — have "disgraced the reputation of the resistance," Professor Rasheed said. "And the resistance has worked just like the government has been trying to, to curtail the influence of the foreigners."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/international/middleeast/11INSU.html?hp

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. When it comes down to it,

natives will work together to repel foreigners from their land. As long as the US was in charge, it was 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. But now the Iraqis are sensing a change-not only in the Iraqi government but in the resistance. Iraqi resistance fighters want to be in charge. They don't want to give up their country to yet another foreign invader, even if they like their outlook better than the US.

[Concordance]

2. Propaganda ...

Poor quality propaganda at that. The fact US army still uses mortars in close combat says a lot. Mortars are only used in complex ground offensives, and are quite unreliable, precision-wise, no matter what the army says. Either that or it could be that the army is running out of heavy artillery ammo, has no fuel for the Apaches, or there is a serious moral, logistics and manpower depletion problem with front line infantry. None of the things I think are true. And all the things listed (infantry, Apaches, heavy artillery) would be better than mortars. No, Iraqi war is still a war. Fallujah is standing proof of that.

[bemildred]

3. Yeah, complete bullshit.

Trying to drive a wedge in the resistance with Allawi's
"national salvation" death squads.

[Cocoa]

4. they don't even know who the resistance is

they have no intelligence, in either sense of the word.