Could the attacks on our soldiers be retaliation for Iraqi's we killed?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0310/31/nfcnn.04.html

<snip>And Don, we have a question from Dale in Florida on the telephone.

Dale, go ahead.

CALLER: Yes. I read that our military has killed about 6,000 Iraqis since the war began. Could some of the attacks on our soldiers be retaliation from the families and friends of those Iraqis killed?

SHEPPERD(MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Dale, I suppose that that could be the case. And it's true that numerous Iraqi civilians have been killed. I don't know if the number 6,000 is accurate or if it's more or less than that. And it's a terrible tragedy; it happens in every war. And none of it, I can assure you, was intentional.

We believe that most of the attacks coming against our troops are what we call FRLs, former regime loyalists. The Ba'athists, the bad guys, the Fedayeen Saddam, the Special Republican Guard remnants and the Republican Guard remnants that were left over from the war and not killed during the war, that's who we think is responsible for most of the attacks.

And we're also watching for jihadists, Ansar Al-Islam, al Qaeda, others coming into the country. And they now appear to be numbering in the hundreds, not the thousands. But we're watching that very carefully, Dale.

more