Posted on 03/25/2005 2:06:57 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Many of Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab insurgents would lay down their arms and join the political process in exchange for guarantees of their safety and that of their co-religionists, according to a prominent Sunni politician.
Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein, who heads Iraq's main monarchist movement and is in contact with guerrilla leaders, said many insurgents including former officials of the ruling Ba'ath party, army officers, and Islamists have been searching for a way to end their campaign against US troops and Iraqi government forces since the January 30 election.
Firstly, they want to ensure their own security, says Sharif Ali, who last week hosted a pan-Sunni conference attended by tribal sheikhs and other local leaders speaking on behalf of the insurgents.
Insurgent leaders fear coming out into the open to talk for fear of being targeted by US military or Iraqi security forces' raids, he said.
Sharif Ali distinguishes many Sunni insurgents, whom he says took up arms in reaction to the invasive raids in search of Ba'athist leaders and other humiliations soon after the 2003 war, from the radical jihadist branch associated with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Unlike Mr Zarqawi's followers, who are thought to be responsible for the big suicide bomb attacks on Iraqi civilian targets, the other Sunni insurgents are more likely to plant bombs and carry out ambushes against security forces and US troops active near their homes.
Sharif Ali said the success of Iraq's elections dealt the insurgents a demoralising blow, prompting them to consider the need to enter the political process.
I like the strategy we've been using. Kill the bastards.
ping Thank you
Seems to be working pretty good so far.
Firstly, they want to ensure their own security, says Sharif Ali
They blow up old women on street corners, but now they want somebody to look out for their own security.
Cowardly pricks.
Hang 'em High!
These harmless little fuzz-ball Baathist dead-enders are not like those terrorists. They just plant teeny-tiny, hardly-worth-mentioning car bombs. More like firecrackers than real bombs, they are. I'm sure the Financial Times would not mind having one of these bombs go off in the lobby of their building, even. It might damage the paint, but surely nobody would get hurt!
It depends on their records. If they've spent years torturing and murdering people, then it's not a good bet that the friends and families of their victims will give them a free pardon.
"Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger, in Texas we call it 'walking'."
I don't get this at all. If the rank-and-file slink back home and stop attacking people, who will find them? The few leaders who are known to us (except Zarqawi) can easily negotiate a settlement by turning in the weapons and agreeing to stay out of trouble.
This whole article makes no sense to me.
It means the heat's on. The decision is the Iraqis', of course. And they don't seem to be in a forgiving mood, at least at the moment. Too much blood, too many bodies.
"ormer officials of the ruling Ba'ath party, army officers, and Islamists have been searching for a way to end their campaign against US troops and Iraqi government forces since the January 30 election."
Bwhahahahahahhahahahahaha!!!
I know, they can join the political process in Algeria.
No, no, don't be afraid. Come on out...you don't even have to put down your guns (heheheh).
Those insurgents seemed to have found themselves in a genuine "quagmire."
Exactly. When your opponent is on his heels it is the perfect time to strike harder. As he begins to doubt himself and questions his cuase, up the levy and make the cost even higher. The only way to quell a guerilla opponent is to demoralize him.
I think you have to systematically remove his reasons for fighting. Make it very costly to excercise his options. By having the elections, we made their cause functionally obsolete. We need to make it clear now more than ever that we are coming to kill you if you continue to resist. The AKs will go back in the mud huts and they will integrate into society once again. That is the Baathists anyway. The Islamists are rabid killers, monsters who saw heads off in the name of their god. These vermin should simply be exterminated.
They can seek asylum in France....
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