Iran . aL Qaeda vector

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USA TODAY, Secret author? iGNORANT

With al-Qaeda on the run, Bush turns focus to Iran

The Iraq war has featured a changing cast of U.S. adversaries. Saddam Hussein. Sunni insurgents. Foreign fighters. Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

In the latest shift, the two top U.S. officials in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, focused in this week's congressional testimony on "special groups" — Iranian-backed militias — as the greatest long-term threat to Iraqi democracy.

(Photo - In Basra: An Iraqi army colonel says these weapons found during a raid were made in Iran / AFP/Getty Images)

On Thursday, President Bush endorsed the officials' troop recommendations and again recast the enemy. Iraq, he said toward the end of his speech, is "the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to America in this new century: al-Qaeda and Iran."

There's no question that al-Qaeda and Iran represent threats. But to conflate the two is disingenuous and misleading:

THIS IS A NEWS ORG. THAT IS MISSING THE FACTS, AND PUTTING OUT A MISLEADING OPINION. THERE IS A DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN IRAN AND AL QAEDA .G

* Al-Qaeda in Iraq is an enemy, pure and simple. It is an offshoot of the al-Qaeda network of Sunni Muslim fanatics that attacked the United States on 9/11, killing 3,000 people. It must be rooted out of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and anyplace else it establishes its malignant presence.

This is an easy sell to the American public, and, in the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq, the news is good. It's on the run, in part because of the U.S. troop surge and in part because local Sunnis have turned against its medieval brutality.

* Iran and Iranian-backed militias are a different matter. Iran is a strategic adversary that hasn't attacked the U.S. homeland. Its engagement with Iraq, its neighbor, is inevitable. Iran's strategy in Iraq appears to be to back many different groups of its fellow Shiites, including the Iraqi leadership.

AND aL QAEDA SUPPORT, MONEY, ARMS, AMMUNITION, AND MEDICAL SERVICES, TRAINING, IED's, EVEN DIPLOMATIC COVER. G

As Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., pointed out with some irritation at Tuesday's hearings, Iran's hard-line, anti-U.S. president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was greeted in Iraq recently with red carpet treatment and kisses.

Dealing with Iran, and the militias it backs, is not as straightforward as dealing with al-Qaeda. Iran is a country, not a terror network. It's a rising power in the region, vying for influence with the United States. It has the potential to make great mischief, both in Iraq and through its sponsorship of Middle East militants.

AND DEVELOPEMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.G

In fact, the United States and Iran are facing off in a duel almost as complex as that between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This requires a whole range of tools, beyond Bush's bellicose warning on Thursday that Tehran "has a choice to make." One key is to reinforce the sense of nationalism among Iraqi Shiites, many of whom are wary of too much Iranian influence, don't want to be sucked into the extremism of Iran's ayatollahs and have lingering resentment from the Iran-Iraq war.

Sunni al-Qaeda and Shiite Iran pose different challenges and require separate strategies. About the only thing they have in common is that neither would have a foothold in Iraq today had the United States not invaded and then mismanaged the aftermath.

PURE FABRICATION, NOT CONNECTED TO REALITY, THE AUTHOR SHOULD HAVE SOME FAMMILARITY WITH IRAQ BEFORE WRITING SUCH AN UNEDUCATED OPINION FOR USA TODAY.

"Sunni al-Qaeda and Shiite Iran...neither would have a foothold in Iraq today had the United States not invaded and then mismanaged the aftermath."

THE LACK OF LOGIC AND IGNORANCE OF THAT STATEMENT SHOULD CAUSE SOME FIRINGS AT USA TODAY.

IF USA HAD MANAGED THE AFTERMATH PERFECTLY, AL QAEDA AND IRAN WOULD HAVE STAYED OUT? THERE IS NO CAUSAL EFFECT EVEN REMOTELY RELATED.

ITS LIKE SAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF WWII IF USA HAD STAYED OUT OF EUROPE HITLER WOULDN'T HAVE A FOOTHOLD IN SPAIN? JUST IGNORANT.

MAYBE THEY ARE SAYING SADDAM WOULD STILL BE IN CHARGE OF IRAQ IF USA HAD NOT INVADED? BUT THEY DID NOT SAY THAT, BUT MAYBE THAT IS THEIR HYPOTHESIS BUT ARE TO COWARDLY TO JUST SAY THEY PREFER SADDAM TO A DEMOCRATIC IRAQ?

SUCH TRASH. YELLOW JOURNALISM AND ANTI-AMERICAN,

GERALD

ANTHROPOLOGIST

.

Posted at 12:22 AM/ET, April 11, 2008 in Iran - Editorial, Iraq - Editorial, Military issues - Editorial, Politics - Editorial, Terrorism - Editorial, USA TODAY editorial | Permalink

What is Kimberly's point?

Hundreds of U.S. Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans commit suicide ( BS ) By Kimberly Hefling, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"WASHINGTON - Hundreds of troops have come home from war, left the military and committed suicide. That is the finding of preliminary Veterans Affairs Department research obtained by The Associated Press that provides the first quantitative look at the suicide toll on today's combat veterans. The research reveals at least 283 combat veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the end of 2005 took their own lives. The numbers, while not dramatically different from society as a whole, are reminiscent of the increased suicide risk among returning soldiers in the Vietnam era.....SOURCE: MORE:"

The numbers, while not dramatically different from society as a whole,

The numbers, while not dramatically different from society as a whole,

The numbers, while not dramatically different from society as a whole,

So if they had not gone to war the suicide rate would be the same for this group....

Which means there is NO Evidence that the WAR contributed to the Suicide RATE.

IT STAYED THE SAME...

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS STORY?
It does give support to enemy propaganda on this subject.

"The numbers, while not dramatically different from society as a whole, are reminiscent of the increased suicide risk among returning soldiers in the Vietnam era"
Well what was it, were Vietnam's suicide RATE the same as for the public population?
There is no INCREASE in the RATE???
Sounds like al Qaeda spin...G


And it misleads the public that only sees the headline.

What happened to critical thinking among the news reporters?
Do they read their own work? Where is the responsible reporting?
When did it become "politically correct" for USA news to be anti-American?

Gerald
Kimberly I will gladly post your reply, maybe I'm missing something.

UNBELIEVABLE!

Mathaba.Net holds themselves out as a national news source???
Africian news agency?

We don't usually confirm or deny or respond to submissions due to shortage of resources. This is however to let you know a few reasons we've decided not to publish this article, even though we do publish controversial opinion pieces from time to time. One is that we do not accept that Al-Qaidah is anything these days beyond an Anglo-American (Zionist) media fiction. The real hands behind these terrorists in unclear. Another is that this article states that Muslims created Al-Qaidah,( not true ) we hold that US (Zionist) intelligence created it. There are other points to do with religion and so forth, especially we are mindful that Muslims although constituting a huge number of members of a single faith proportionately their involvement in terrorism is miniscule compared to others - this has even been evidenced by statistics released officially by police in Europe which we published. Therefore articles which keep putting Islam and terrorism into one piece, is reinforcing a fiction.

Best wishes,

>The Mathaba.Net Team

Again UNBELIEVABLE!
They say "At Mathaba we provide an example that people can be united in their goals while maintaining healthy differences of culture, nationality and opinion." ( UNLESS YOU DISAGREE WITH THEM ON AL QAEDA, THEY SEEM TO HAVE THE ONLY CORRECT OPINION )
AND:
"Through Mathaba's contributors and resources, we hope to encourage quality and thought provoking works.":( BUT NOT ABOUT AL QAEDA )
AND
"Mathaba is dedicated to bringing news and information to the public" ( BUT NOT ABOUT AL QAEDA )
AND
"Mathaba is a news agency and an online news network. Articles are contributed by authors, correspondents and analysts. Mathaba News is recognized by major web publications in the news industry." ( THAT RECOGNITION SHOULD BE RECONSIDERED )
http://www.mathaba.net/about/

Except when it comes to al qaeda,
And they charge for their censored view of the news, Silver and Gold versions.