Major Gen. Taluto in Iraq says 99.9 % of those captured fighting the US are Iraqis

[MORTARDUDE]

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-break...2755-6408r.htm


Two years after President George W. Bush proclaimed "mission accomplished" in Iraq, some thoughtful officers are beginning to question who the insurgents actually are. In a recent interview the head of the US 42nd Infantry Division which covers key trouble spots, including Baquba and Samarra Major General Joseph Taluto said he could understand why some ordinary Iraqis would take up arms against U.S. forces because "they're offended by our presence." Taluto added, "If a good, honest person feels having all these Humvees driving on the road, having us moving people out of the way, having us patrol the streets, having car bombs going off, you can understand how they could (want to fight us). There is a sense of a good resistance, or an accepted resistance. They say 'okay, if you shoot a coalition soldier, that's okay, it's not a bad thing but you shouldn't kill other Iraqis.'" Taluto insisted however that the other foreign forces would not be driven out of Iraq by violence, observing, "If the goal is to have the coalition leave, attacking them isn't the way," he said. "The way to make it happen is to enter the political process cooperate and the coalition will be less aggressive and less visible and eventually it'll go away." Taluto's comments are sure to raise hackles at the Pentagon, which insist that all insurgents are either Baathists or al-Qaida. Taluto observed that "99.9 per cent" of those captured fighting the U.S. were Iraqis.

[BLUEHAWK]

I don't see an inconsistency in stating that 99.9% of captured are Iraqi, and the Pentagon saying that the enemy is Baathist or Al-Qaeda.

As I understand it, the insurgents are most likely to be coming from the West, which may be the reason our operations in that area have stepped up? I don't see them coming in great numbers from Turkey, or Iran or Saudi Arabia... though some may get through. Jordan and Syria are the most probable launch lines.

Also, so far as I have been able to tell, the enemy are still killing far more of their own people than they are of ours, no matter where they come from... which is another good arguement for continuous training and arming of Iraqi police and military.

[Gimpy]

only "good arguement" was NOT to go into the war to begin with!

[MORTARDUDE]

Ummmmm. excuse me...this admistration who sponsored this misbegotten adventure...has said over and over and over again that these are "foreign fighters".( I trust u know what this means ! )..this man on the ground says different...who will you believe ???

Larry

[BLUEHAWK]

Originally posted by MORTARDUDE Ummmmm. excuse me...this admistration who sponsored this misbegotten adventure...has said over and over and over again that these are "foreign fighters".( I trust u know what this means ! )..this man on the ground says different...who will you believe ???

Larry

Ahem... the United States Congress, duly elected or otherwise, authorized the administration, duly elected or otherwise, to do as it pleased.

By their votes, and by the command of the administration, we are at war.

This is as it should be, unless and until things change.















abolish
electoral college
gerrymandering
closed primaries
sovereign immunity

[Chas H]

So it's OK Dubya screwed up. Did the Congress authorize Bush to lie?

[MORTARDUDE]

It was my, perhaps wrong impression, that we were supposed to declare war thru the US Congress..as well, if you will do the research, I believe "W" has violated the "War Powers" act.

Larry

[BLUEHAWK]

Originally posted by MORTARDUDE It was my, perhaps wrong impression, that we were supposed to declare war thru the US Congress..as well, if you will do the research, I believe "W" has violated the "War Powers" act.

Larry

The President abided by the precise wording of the War Powers Act, a very small little seldom-noticed phrase contained therein, which EVERY President since passage of that Act has known empowers them to do as they please.

Let us play, "Find the Phrase."

[urbsdad6]

Bottom line for me is there should never have been a war started but because intelligence appears to have been fixed around policy that makes invoking war OK?

Doc Urb

[phuloi]

You people make me want to puke.
So,as the super power and the leader of the free world,the United States of America is to sit idly back within her shores and meekly observe a tyranical beast systematically murder and rape his own populace?You`re all so entranced with your Blame America First bullshit and your hatred for W that you can`t see the forest for the trees.I always thought you liberals were supposed to be the party of compassion.So,where`s all your warm and fuzzies for the half million poor bastards that Saddam gassed and butchered,huh?Compassionate my ass!