Myers Sees Rise in Iraq Insurgent Violence

[Rose Siding]

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The insurgency in Iraq, dominated by Saddam Hussein loyalists and foreign fighters, is increasingly being fueled also by organized crime and criminals-for-hire, the top U.S. general said Tuesday.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters traveling with him that U.S. and U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces are making progress in stabilizing the country, but he predicted that insurgent violence would surge in the weeks ahead as a national assembly is seated and more building blocks of a transitional government are put in place.

"So there's a long way to go," Myers said, before Iraq is stable enough to defend itself without the presence of U.S. troops, which now number about 148,000. He declined to say when a U.S. withdrawal might begin.
...
On his first visit to Iraq since the Jan. 30 elections, Myers stopped at Camp Victory, a U.S. base near the Baghdad International Airport. He said in an interview that more of the people being captured by U.S. and Iraqi forces appear to be criminals.

"There are elements of this insurgency that are a lot more criminal in nature than they are true insurgents," he said before flying to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he met with Lt. Gen. David Barno, the commander of all U.S. forces in Afghanistan, senior Afghan generals and President Hamid Karzai. Myers also was briefed on U.S. and coalition efforts to eradicate the opium trade that has been Afghanistan's main cash crop.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-iraq-myers,0,7312935.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[bemildred]

1. Myers is a cretin.

"So there's a long way to go,"

"There are elements of this insurgency that are a lot more criminal in nature than they are true insurgents,"

I wonder if "true insurgents" are like "conventional hijackings".

[peacebird]

2. wrong again Myers - it's fueled by po'd Iraqi civilians

"The insurgency in Iraq, dominated by Saddam Hussein loyalists and foreign fighters, is increasingly being fueled also by organized crime and criminals-for-hire, the top U.S. general said Tuesday."

Somehow he totally misses the point. If there ever WAS a period when the US occupation forces COULD have turned the situation around, it was in the months immediately after the assault began. BUT because Rummy wanted to do Iraq on the cheap there were not enough boots on the ground to provide safety and security for the citizens, and there wasn't enough effort spent rebuilding vital infrastructure.

Now it is way late and our heavy handed measures (Abu Ghraib and Fallujah for starters...) have alienated the majority of the population and turned Iraq into a terrorist breeding ground. (So sayeth the wise men of the intelligence communities around the globe - even here)

[TahitiNut]

3. They still can't distinguish between crimes and acts of war.

They call it whatever's convenient. They treat human beings, not based on facts, proof, or due process, but on whatever whimsical malevolence moves them. Fucking sociopaths! :grr:

[daleo]

4. Organized crime requires a market to satisfy

At bottom, there must be some economic foundation to organized crime. That is either a black market function (drugs, prostitution) or a parasitic function (extortion, protection). I fail to see what the source of the money would be to uphold organized crime. If anything, organized crime would be only too happy to jump in bed with the occupation to get a cut of the oil wealth. As usual, these claims lack-common sense foundation. Simple nationalism is a much more potent motivation.

[cliss]

5. "General" Myers is dreaming.

Rumsfailed's little lackey must have gotten a lobotomy. Notice how the little weasel contradicts himself:

"Myers sees rise in Iraqi insurgent violence"

"US trained Iraqi security forces are making progress in stabilizing the country"

Myers probably thinks of himself as a "Renaissance Man". Able to live with complete contradictions, all in one speech.

What a weasel.

[Disturbed]

6. Soon most of the Insurgency will be ciminals,

not Insurgents. This way the U.S can charge them with crimes with the
laws as the U.S deems appropriate. The U.S. will no longer an Occupation Force but a Force of Law and Order. Changing this approach is a ploy to pacify Iraq.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. "to eradicate the opium trade"

When pigs fly! What do they propose to replace this with? Pico tea leaf bushes or a Orick Vacuum factory? I think this whole mid east deal is a bigger problem than they want to admit.:+

[SKKY]

8. Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada...

...How many times to we have to hear the same garbage.