Who is al Qaeda in Iraq?

[NNN0LHI]

[bdamomma]

1. .............

:shrug:

are they calling Iraqis who want to protect their country against the occupiers(us) al Qaeda?

[Virginia Dare]

4. Yes, any Arab in Iraq who doesn't ally themselves with the U.S...

is Al Qaeda according to repubs and freepers.

[librechik]

2. it's just a po drop box and a corporation number

like bushco in bermuda

[TwilightGardener]

3. Sunni insurgents and foreign fighters "loosely affiliated" with the real AQ in

Afghanistan and Pakistan--whose presence is overestimated and who are not welcome by the Iraqi people.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Mercenaries in the employ of ?????????????

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

6. Journalists? We just picked up another one and pronounced him

an enemy combatant.

[Hydra]

7. They are the Ministry of Truth's current bogeyman

which evolved from their previous favorite- "Al-Qaeda international, run by Osama Bin Ladin and presumed nuclear"

Really, it's a bit of a letdown, not unlike the endless sequels that come out of hollywood now and then.

[genie_weenie]

8. A false front

in which the Government can confuse the people by lumping all the guerilla forces in Iraq into this fear-inspiring War on Terror tie-in group called AQI.

[gratuitous]

9. What a cinchy question

Anyone killed by the U.S. military in Iraq is Al Qaeda.

Got any more questions?

[JackBeck]

10. Less than 8% of those attacking our men and women.

Some might say less than 4%, but nonetheless, a very tiny minority of people fighting our troops, who happened to not be there before we started this war.

[Pogue.Mahone]

11. We DO...

make a differentiation between homegrown insurgents and foreign fighters. at least in the .mil. a lot of these foreign fighters are aq recruited and trained and a lot are just "loosely affiliated", young jihadists looking for a quick trip to heaven by killing infidels and apostates.

there are some (an ever shrinking number) iraqi aq-affiliated forces but aq has pissed off a lot of suuni's with their indiscriminate bombings and their "outsider" arrogance. we see a lot of "ralliers" to the central govt who are now just as happy to kill aq as they were us a few months ago.

non-affiliated homegrown insurgents mostly belong to local warlords/tribal chiefs and are former saddam troops. for the most parts, they've stood down and are waiting to see what we do and how we do. most have decided to throw their lot in with the local govts and, to a lesser extent, the central govt.

AND then of course, there is the mahdi army of mookie in the south (don't know as much about them). they're shi'ia muj allied to muqtada al-sadr and are trained/equipped by iran. they're not well liked by the shiia majority but they seem them as their best line of defense against aq and suuni forces (and sometimes govt forces!).

then, finally, there are the criminals and opportunists who are allied to no one and anyone.

just a quick thumbnail sketch...fun fun fun in the cradle of civilization!

[madokie]

12. special ops

would be my bet after all who has a vested interest in keeping this slaughter going if not for the bush cabal, who

[The Stranger]

13. Paul Wolfowitz wearing a smock and a fake beard.

[spanone]

14. whoever bu$h* wants to be....anyone who's not 'with us'