Since there is are lots of generalities thrown around in different threads, I thought I would post this interview with John Vines about the Iraqi insurgency. I was certainly refreshed by the candid nature of the discussion rather than the talking points and hot button issues we are used to hearing from politicians. Lots of this same info is reported daily, and this interview appeared on PBS about a week ago, but I thought it was good, short, and to the point. You could watch cable news for a week and a half straight without getting a summary this good. US General on Winning in Iraq One of my pet peeves is the throwing around of the word "terrorist". I'm not saying that the insurgency is not using terrorist tactics, but it really doesn't help anyone but American politicians to continue to broadly label insurgents as "terrorists". Furthermore, it really is a problem for American people to label all the various insurgency groups in Iraq with the same label as Chechen separatists, domestic Al Quaeda sleeper cells, and Hamas. Sure they all use terrorists tactics, but since it is impossible to just "kill the terrorists" all over the world, it seems detrimental to keep using the word so frequently. Here is an exerpt where is breaks down the insurgency groups and motives.
