Word: rebels
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...become a rallying point for terrorist recruitment throughout the Middle East. It was recently revealed that a classified C.I.A. report is predicting that Iraq may be on the verge of descending into civil war. Perhaps partially due to those fears, the U.S. announced aggressive new plans to take back rebel-held areas such as Falluja in advance of the country’s election, which is scheduled for January. Those operations will likely be bloody, which may further jeopardize America’s position in the broader war on terror...
...remarks on Capitol Hill Wednesday that securing an election would require more troops. In the best case scenario those would be newly-minted Iraqi troops or soldiers sent from other foreign countries, but he couldn't discount the possibility that more Americans may be needed. Pitched battles in rebel-held population centers also have a habit of turning the neutral civilian population against the U.S. and its Iraqi allies, as the experience of Najaf and Fallujah have shown. Then again, the risk of not holding the election on schedule may be even greater, since Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, spiritual leader...
...What Iraqis Want In Michael Ware's report on fighting in a rebel stronghold in the heart of Baghdad [Aug. 30], he described the insurgents as "bearing the mark of professional soldiers and sophisticated terrorist groups." Captain Thomas Foley, the American commander on the scene, said, "I don't know who it is. I really don't know what they want." What would Foley want if the circumstances were reversed? We have bombed the cities of the Iraqis, destroyed their homes and killed thousands of their family members. Apparently, our proud religiosity and self-righteous superiority have blinded...
...fighting--can't win the war. In Iraq today, brute force is a wasting asset, as Major General Peter Chiarelli, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, knows firsthand. On a hot late-summer day, his soldiers entered Baghdad's Sadr City slum to quell attacks from militiamen loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Chiarelli's troops came under fierce fire as dozens of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) pounded their vehicles, and roadside bombs blew the tracks off a tank. For four hours, the two forces battled until the outmatched gunmen melted into the shadows. "We killed folks. There...
...best hope now is to train and deploy a new Iraqi army with enough firepower to regain control of rebel-held areas. The U.S. says some 145,000 Iraqi soldiers will be fully trained and battle ready by year's end. But in places like Fallujah, the goal of creating a viable indigenous army is a long way off. Hundreds of Iraqi recruits have deserted the ranks for fear of being killed by anti-U.S. militants. Others have shown reluctance to fight their countrymen. But U.S. commanders don't have many other options. "Until we have trained soldiers," says...