On Sunday 2005-02-20 20:36, d.brin wrote: > 1/ Why do CIA Director, Porter Goss, and the head of the Defense > Intelligence Agency, Lowell Jacoby, HATE AMERICA? > > > "Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new > anti-U.S. jihadists," CIA Director Porter J. Goss told the Senate > Select Committee on Intelligence. > > "These jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced and focused > on acts of urban terrorism," he said. "They represent a potential > pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and > networks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries." ...
I am not immediately worried that the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq will directly or immediately destabilize adjacent Arab countries. Given virulent anti-Shia sentiment among Sunnis from Pakistan and all points West to Morrocco that communal violence in Iraq could exacerbate violence against Kurds in Syria, and against Shias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Gulf states (especially Saudia and Bahrain), Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Pakistan already has a major problem with hate crimes against its Shia minority. In short, communal war in Iraq could worsen already tense relations between Iran and its neighbors. Sunni Arabs are looking to repeat their defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan in Iraq with asymmetric urban warfare replacing asymmetric mountain warfare and with America replacing the USSR, at least extremists are and the non-extremists would not shed a tear about the USA losing. Only in the unlikely event the Anglo-American, Arab Shia, and Kurdish coalition loose to the Iraqi Arab Sunnis would the Arab Sunni insurgents be able to move on to directly destabilize neighboring Sunni states. > "Our policies in the Middle East fuel Islamic resentment," Vice Adm. > Lowell E. Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told > the Senate panel. "Overwhelming majorities in Morocco, Jordan and > Saudi Arabia believe the U.S. has a negative policy toward the Arab > world." Yes but war or no war overwhelming majorities from Morocco to Oman have had and will have negative attitudes toward US regional policy. Anglophones and Arabs simply have incompatible interests in the Arabophone region at both the regional level and at the level of its constituent states. The war has just made a perennially bad US public relations significantly worse. Big deal, so what. We devistated Vietnam and the Vietnamese are willing to forgive and forget. Arabs seem to hate us no matter what we do. <snip/> > Our Iraq war has become a recruiting tool and training ground for > terrorists? What kind of liberal propaganda is this? Don't Goss and > Jacoby care about SPREADING FREEDOM? > I am certain the the administration will soon have them back on message. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
