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| Iraq-Jordan |
| The Only Battles That Count |
| 2005-01-11 |
| January 11, 2005: Can the anti-government forces in Iraq win? Some pundits think so. But do you really think the Shia and Kurds will allow Saddam's thugs to bully their way back into power? The Kurds and Shia Arabs have 80 percent of the population, control of the oil, and American troops to back up their efforts. Iraqis indicate, to anyone who will listen, that they have no intention of folding under Baath pressure, and a growing desire to come down hard on the Sunnis who support the violence. The Kurds and Shia have names, because Saddam's thugs didn't wear masks when they ran things for three decades. Guess who is going to lose? But that thought is what is driving the resistance. The Baath Party thugs know what they will have to face eventually, if they don't regain control of Iraq. The Baath and al Qaeda campaign against the police and government officials results in spectacular and newsworthy attacks each day. But there are still 7,000 new police and National Guard undergoing training, and another 25,000 waiting to start their training. The attacks are concentrated in two provinces; Anbar (where Fallujah is) and Nineveh (where Mosul is). Because the attacks are killing mostly Iraqis, the attackers are not very popular, even among Sunni Arabs. The police are getting more tips about anti-government activity. This includes information about where roadside bombs are planted, or where gunmen are hiding out. Although the Arab media makes a big deal about how impossible it will be to run the elections, the Iraqi people don't think so. To the average Iraqi, the elections mean the difference between a free and prosperous future, or more Baath Party tyranny. Candidates for the new parliament have the most to lose, especially in Sunni areas. Baath and al Qaeda have threatened these candidates with death, and in Sunni Arab areas, there are plenty of Baath Party gunmen to carry out the threats. The war in Iraq is a routine of patrols, raids and intelligence collecting for American and Iraqi forces. The Baath Party and al Qaeda fighters scout targets, recruit new fighters (using money, threats or the promise of rewards if Baath gets back in power) and carry out attacks. There are dozens of little battles each day that you never hear about, but this is where the war is being fought, and decided. When the histories of the Iraq campaign are written, it's these raids, patrols and intelligence collecting efforts that will be recognized as the "battles" that decided the outcome. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 2b roger that ... we are in agreement ... more positive news everywhere would be great ... |
| Posted by: legolas 2005-01-11 12:12:13 PM |
| #8 legolas - well not really - because you are right when it comes to centcom.mil. I was just touching on a pet peeve of mine, that the e-mail updates only focus on death and deployment. Whey not an occassional story about a hero or school built or a job well done. You know the reporters subscribe to it too. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-11 12:03:00 PM |
| #7 2b I guess we'll have to disagree ... at centcom.mil I read articles about weapons caches recovered , terrorists detained and I see pictures of troops doing great things ... sure there is some bad news mixed in ... that is the nature of war. |
| Posted by: legolas 2005-01-11 11:58:51 AM |
| #6 Good upbeat post. The MSM and even Fox dwell on the terror and not the good things going on. It is as George Bush the elder said: "No one cares to read about crime that is prevented (although I'm not so certain)." The media dwells on what is sensational and is a "news alert." Three weeks after the tsunami, we hear less and less about it. Elections will occur in Iraq and these elections will reshape the mideast. That is the story. The stakes are high. Freedom is very powerful. It is difficult for a country that has been under the boot of Saddam for 30 years to move towards independence. The former Baathists sense they are losing power. The jihadists sense they are losing their opportunity for a Taliban like terrorist regime. |
| Posted by: John Q. Citizen 2005-01-11 11:47:10 AM |
| #5 well...I have to disagree, legolas. The only thing I ever see on my military.com e-mail list is death and deployment. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-11 11:44:13 AM |
| #4 centcom.mil does a pretty good job at daily updates of the coalition force accomplishments |
| Posted by: legolas 2005-01-11 11:40:10 AM |
| #3 I wish the positive results of these small battles would be posted. All we here about is the Iraqi NG and civilian casualties along with US and coalition dead and wounded. I guesstimate we have over 10,000 hard boyz locked up. That's all fine but this is a war of attrition. We need to kill the enemy since "reconciliation" is not an option. How many have we killed? Any ideas? The number I've come up with is 8,800. |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2005-01-11 11:21:04 AM |
| #2 I wish the positive results of these small battles would be posted. All we here about is the Iraqi NG and civilian casualties along with US and coalition dead and wounded. I guesstimate we have over 10,000 hard boyz locked up. That's all fine but this is a war of attrition. We need to kill the enemy since "reconciliation" is not an option. How many have we killed? Any ideas? The number I've come up with is 8,800. |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2005-01-11 11:20:42 AM |
| #1 In a macro sense, the war is already over. The majority of the Iraqi people want to and are willing to vote. In order to reverse this, these baathist remnants would actually need to take over the government - with Syrian and Iranian help. And once these elections are over, that would mean that Syria and Iran would have to go to war with "Iraq". |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-01-11 9:39:01 AM |