|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889 |
All this still doesn't make your earlier statement fact only speculation.
99 Contour Sport SE MTX
KKM filter, B&M shifter
No res, BAT kit
Green car silver hood (because silver is faster)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228 |
Yes, let's take first hand experience, someone who has seen and lived within the scale of the insurgency, worked alongside the populace, and had daily intel briefings for over a year, and toss all that aside, right?
95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD
2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic
2004 Honda VTX 1800N1
There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,220
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,220 |
I don't see how the statement that "every male over the age of 17 has an AK-47" could be so argumentative. Sandman didn't say that every able-bodied male was an insurgent, just that everyone could possibly be one because, chances are, they're armed.
We take for granted in our country that few are armed and even fewer are trained to adequately use them (backwards statement, but true) but in most nations, particularly those where infighting is the norm, a rifle (or numerous) in every household is far from unusual.
Even in many major industrialized nations it is traditional, if not a requirement, that every able-bodied male be armed and trained to defend his country. A number of governments, particularly European ones, issue an assault rifle to every male citizen in their country. I don't see the stretch in making the assumption that people would be armed in a country that has been at virtually constant war in some form for over 20 years. I know I'd have a few AKs sitting around my house.
2003 Mazda6s 3.0L MTX
Webpage
2004 Mazda3s 2.3L ATX
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228 |
95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD
2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic
2004 Honda VTX 1800N1
There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,889 |
So how many of the 25 million people did you get to meet?  C'mon you're in a live combat area, do you think you might encounter more armed and aggressive people then say in a non-combat area.
99 Contour Sport SE MTX
KKM filter, B&M shifter
No res, BAT kit
Green car silver hood (because silver is faster)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228 |
Wow, so any time we do a poll here in the states, we have to call all 300 million? Point is that I have been all over Iraq, performed many and varying missions (including medrets where we go out to villages and spend all day giving out free medical care and talking to the populace), and so I have a fairly accurate representative sample of what is there.
I expect that there are as many or more AKs in Iraq as there are males 17 and over.
Further, we have yet to secure the borders with Iran and Syria. Iran particularly, with their historical bent toward Democracy, does not want Iraq to succeed. That would be a virtual death knell for the mullahs. Given this, I don't believe there is any way to get an accurate assessment of the number of insurgents, as they come and go as they please. They are not an army, and thus have no easily identifyable uniforms, and can slip in and out of the populace nearly at will. This makes it difficult to identify and fight them.
From the DAILY intelligence reports I received for over 14 months in country (the content of which I obviously cannot discuss here), from my EXTENSIVE experience within Iraq, I am confident in my statements here. Further, given that experience and intelligence, I am the de facto subject matter expert on this issue for CEG, thank you very much.
95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD
2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic
2004 Honda VTX 1800N1
There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 198
CEG\'er
|
|
CEG\'er
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 198 |
Originally posted by Sandman333:
Yes, let's take first hand experience, someone who has seen and lived within the scale of the insurgency, worked alongside the populace, and had daily intel briefings for over a year, and toss all that aside, right?
My point was NOT to be argumentative or to dispute your experience - you raised the issue and challenged me to do the math - I did that in good faith.
Reread my "did the math" post and you'll see that I left myself open to the possibility that you are right and more than 4 million Iraqi's are armed; and that would make Iraq a very dangerous place.
I did, however, find that number too high to simply accept off hand - and so, apparently, does your government.
And so I checked to see what the U.S. government was saying about the size and scope of the insurgency, and gave you back their numbers - I didn't make them up and I have no agenda except to try and slice through the hype and the exaggeration and get to the truth.
Your government's account differ with yours - and so I take offense that you call me ignorant - I merely pointed out that your account conflicts witht the CIA; and I tried to do that respectfully. It's not like I was citing Michael Moore as my source.
So, it's you versus the U.S. government. If you have a problem, it's with them.
And if you have a problem with me challenging your numbers and asking for substantiation - maybe you should have that backup before making claims that at face value are pretty wild.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228 |
ugh.... <insert sound of head hitting desk here>
95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD
2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic
2004 Honda VTX 1800N1
There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 198
CEG\'er
|
|
CEG\'er
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 198 |
Originally posted by Sandman333:
ugh.... <insert sound of head hitting desk here>
Apparently there are a lot of officials lieing about this.
"The exact elements attacking the US-led coalition's nation-building effort remain unclear. Since the declared end to major combat operations on 1 May 2003, the continuing attacks against Coalition troops, civilian contractors, aid workers, new Iraqi security forces, as well as the infrastructure, have undermined efforts to reconstruct and stablize the country, carried the total American troop fatality level over 1,000, and led many in the U.S. and elsewhere to question whether the country can be pacified at all without a longer commitment than most consider palatable. Attention has been paid to Saddam loyalists, Iraqi nationalists, foreign Jihadists, militant Sunni and Shia Muslims, and ordinary criminals, with officials trying to assess the nature, goals, funding, and capabilities of the insurgents, the degree of cooperation or conflict between the groups, and links between the insurgency and international terrorist networks and foreign governments.
On 14 November 2003 General John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, estimated the number of fighters operating against US and allied forces at no more than 5,000, and said the insurgency remained a loosely organized operation. Abizaid said there "is some level of cooperation that's taking place at very high levels, although I'm not sure I'd say there's a national-level resistance leadership." He also said "the most dangerous enemy to us at the present time are the former regime loyalists" operating in central Iraq. According to Abizaid, "The goal of the enemy ... is not to defeat us militarily, because they don't have the wherewithal to defeat us militarily. The goal of the enemy is to break the will of the United States of America. It's clear, it's simple, it's straightforward. Break our will, make us leave before Iraq is ready to come out and be a member of the responsible community of nations."
Almost a year on, with kidnappings and beheadings by Islamic militants, large cities still not under the control of coalition forces months away from planned elections, and with security problems requiring the diversion of funds from reconstruction projects, assumptions were being reconsidered and estimates revised. The New York Times reported on 22 October 2004 that senior American officials believed that â??hard-core resistanceâ? comprised between 8,000 and 12,000 people, with the number jumping above 20,000 when â??active sympathizers or covert accomplices are included.â? Moreover, officials believed around 50 militant cells were drawing on â??unlimited moneyâ? through underground networks supplied by people connected with the former regime, as well as wealthy Saudis and Islamic charities. Though some groups had the ability to carry out attacks in regions other than their own, and there may be some degree of cooperation between regions, it is believed that insurgent activities are organized regionally and that no national insurgent network exists.
rest of report here
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228
Hard-core CEG\'er
|
|
Hard-core CEG\'er
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,228 |
Funny how that number keeps increasing as time goes on, and also how we hear reports that we have killed 500 here, 200 there, 70 there, and yet that number keeps growing.......
It doesn't take a rocket scientist.
95 Contour SE ATX V6- SOLD
2001.5 VW Passat GLX V6 Tiptronic
2004 Honda VTX 1800N1
There are no stupid questions.
There are a LOT of inquisitive idiots.
|
|
|
|
|
