Does anyone just what the hell is going on in Iraq?

[Poiuyt]

I'm looking for a Cliff Notes version of the Iraq War. Can anyone provide an quick explanation or point me to a web site?

If you read the current news reports, it would seem like we're only fighting al Qaeda in Iraq. Yet I read a few months ago that al Qaeda comprised only about 2-3% of who we're fighting there, and that 90% of U.S. deaths were from the Sunni insurgents. Is this retaliation from Saddam's supporters? Does AQ have any connection with the Sunnis?

The government in Iraq is now primarily Shiite. Does that mean we've taken sides with the Shiites? Does Iran support the Shiites? How does Muqtada al-Sadr fit in here. He's Shia, but very anti-American.

So just who are we fighting over there? Everybody? Are all the different factions taking pot shots at us? Are we taking sides and supporting one group over another? Is it just a civil war for control of Iraq and we just happen to be in the way?

Too confusing

[PurityOfEssence]

1. As William Goldman said about show business: "nobody knows anything"

His second rule is that "nobody knows anything".

The bothersome fact is that the administration that led us into this evil world-dominating morass didn't even TRY to know anything.

We're trying to reclaim Baghdad by making many small outposts and patrolling regularly, except that now we're doing our big splurge in the suburbs to take out other targets. We're doing this, we're doing that, and we're not doing anything particularly decisively.

It's a mess. We've basically installed the Shiites because we're so afraid of the Sunnis.

To achieve victory, one has to have an image of what victory would be, and I don't think they do.

We are not the primary concern of the warring parties, or there'd be a lot more U.S. dead; they're more concerned with offing each other. If they get sick of us and decide to bury the hatchet, all hell will break loose. Judging from the extreme enmity that has them blowing up each others mosques right now, I don't see any substantive truce between them in the near future.

I don't know what's going on other than that, and neither do most people, including those allegedly in charge. It's a nasty, complex mess with civilians dying and suffering endlessly as their society itself is being ripped apart. Leaders and civic luminaries are being constantly killed and replaced, families are being disrupted, fundamentalism is breaking out, rampant crime is the norm, sewage is everywhere, electricity and gasoline are in short supply, hope is fleeting and uncertainty is everywhere. Many of the best and brightest have fled, which makes the medical and social systems even worse, and the fabric of society is frayed to the disintegration point. Historically, conditions like these tend to lead to overthrows and extreme dictatorships out of desperation.

Meanwhile, we play whack-a-mole and then scamper back to our little fortresses.

Our forces are wearing out their vehicles and equipment, and with the increased number of troops, our supply problems are getting worse. Bridges and overpasses are being blown (although that seems to have stopped just recently) which just makes the logistics worse.

At some point, the semblance of order will break down even more.

Anyone who says he/she knows what's going to happen next is either clairvoyant or deluded. We can, however, narrow down the possibilities a bit, and I think you see what they are.

What we've done is despicable and reckless, and we're not going to stop.

[catmandu57]

3. That's a good analysis POE

I'd say you have an understanding of the way things are, if only we could get the entire nation to see it this clearly, we would be leaving yesterday, do you mind if I save this for reference?

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Our beloved administration/military knows full well they are losing the PR battle and that most

citizens want us out of Iraq. Therefore, they started earlier this year to describe all 'battles' as fights with al-Qaeda. That way, they can continue to tie Bush's Folly in Iraq with his 'Global War on Terror'. Unfortunately, the media plays along and there are still hordes of Americans too stupid to understand that Iraq didn't suddenly, in the midst of a civil war, become infested by 10's of thousands of al-Qaeda fighters tied to bin Laden.

[shadowknows69]

4. For a little truth from the soldier's mouths

you can check my journal and the taxicab reports.

[annabanana]

5. Corpomedia sure is conflating those " insugentalqaidamilitia"

with surpassing ease, and no one is asking them why.