nonconformist
Miserable
Okay, I'm gonna do thios as simply and factually as possible: these will befacts and cold, hard numbers about the situation. Whatever conjecture and evaluation, by me especially, shall be in Italic.
Feel free to throw in anything you find useful.
Iraqi Insurgents celebrate the Coalition troops being ordered to stand down, Fallujah, May 1, 2004.
"Who" is the Insurgency?
Te Insurgency is not a solid, cohesive group, but rather comprises a number of loose groups, some of which have a similar ideology or objective, ranging from Islamists to Communists.
This should be a brief overlook of all of them.
Ba'athists
Basically Saddam loyalists, whose broad goal is to return Saddam and the Ba'ath party to power.
The Ba'athist have, since Saddam's capture, moved towards appealing to religious sentiment.
Some of these "organisations" (such as Feyadeen Saddam) have a violent past of quelling dissent in Iraq.
Nationalists
While similar in some respects to the above category, they are not identical.
Nationalists, who are overwhelmingly Sunni, are strongly populated by ex-army.
They oppose and fight the coalition on nationalist principle, or as a result of the failure to restore Iraq to pre-Saddam efficience with respect to the infrastructure etc.
A number want to return to the Sunni-dominated politics which ostracised Shias.
However, there are a number of Shias that fall under this category, most of which are left wing.
Mehdi Army/Moqtada al Sadr supporters
Comprised mostly of impoverished, unemployed youths, thesea re supporters of the radical Shia Cleric al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr mobilised his army in August 2004, and the fighting witht hem climaxed in the Holy City of Najaf, while defending the Shia's metophorical Vatican.
The Mehdi Army believes that the Coalition troops are foreign occupiers, opressors, as well as not living under Sharia law.
They oppose splitting up Iraq under ethic and religious lines.
Sunni Nationalists/Ansar Al-Islam
Islamists who wish a return to Sharia Law, and oppose non-muslim influence.
While intolerant to foreigners, they do not seem to wish to opress Shias.
Kurds have a high presence among these.
The US has accused that tyhey are tied to Al Quaeda.
Al Quaeda/foreigners
Al Quaeda has the highest profile, and are the most violent and ruthless of all factions.
They are responsible for beheadings and bombings, and are extremely, extremely intolerant to any foreigners.
They have high presence in some places-even having the balls to line the main highways with their black flags, with guards along the way.
They are said to number no more than 3000.
Criminals who work for money
Patriotic Communists, split from the official Communist Party
Non-violent groups
Out of these major groups, only "Al-Quaeda"and al-Zarqawi seem to actually condone the use of violence against civilians-for a number of other groups,
Cold, hard figures
Estimate of minimum number of Insurgents in Iraq: 30,000
Estimate of maximum number of Insurgents in Iraq: 200,000
Estimate of minimum number of Insurgents belonging to al-Sadr's Mehdi Army:3000
Estimate of maximum number of Insurgents belonging to al-Sadr/Mehdi Army: 10,000
Percentage of Iraqis who "strongly supported" al-Sadr during militant phase: 32%
Percentage of Iraqis who "somewhat supported" al-Sadr during militant phase: 36%
Number of seats al-Sadr won in Dec. 2005 elections: 32
At any one time there are a possible 15-20,000 Insurgents in Iraq.
US army estimate of number of Insurgents in Fallujah prior to assault:3000
Number of Insurgent bodies found after assault on Fallujah
A few hundred
Estimated number of foreign Jihadists in Iraq: 3000
Percentage of captured Insurgents that are Iraqi according to Major General Joseph Taluto, head of 42nd Infantry Division: 99.9%
Out of 1000 insurgents captured in Fallujah, number that were non-Iraqi: 15
Out of 1300 Insurgents arrested in five months of 2005, the number that were non-Iraqi according to The Telegraph: 0
Number of foreign Insurgents captured at a battle according to Iraqi Army Captain after battle in september 2005: 150
Number of reports of the battle corroborating this: 0
Percentage of attacks aimed at civilians (Nov 2004): 4.1%
Percentage of attacks aimed at Coalition troops (Nov 2004): 75%
Percentage of kidnapped foreigners later released peacefully: 80%
July 2005 poll of how many support Insurgency: 45%
July 2005 Poll of support for Coalition: 15%
Later poll of support for attacks against Coalition: 45%
Percentage "strongly opposed" to foreign presence: 82%
January 2006 poll on support for attacks against Coalition: 47%
Amongst Sunnis: 88%
On attacks against civilians: 7%
Percentage who want the US to withdraw:87%
Percentage who believe the US will withdraw if asked: 23%
Percentage who believe the US will build permanant bases in Iraq: 80%
Sources:
BBC
Wikipedia.
Feel free to throw in anything you find useful.
Iraqi Insurgents celebrate the Coalition troops being ordered to stand down, Fallujah, May 1, 2004.
"Who" is the Insurgency?
Te Insurgency is not a solid, cohesive group, but rather comprises a number of loose groups, some of which have a similar ideology or objective, ranging from Islamists to Communists.
This should be a brief overlook of all of them.
Ba'athists
Basically Saddam loyalists, whose broad goal is to return Saddam and the Ba'ath party to power.
The Ba'athist have, since Saddam's capture, moved towards appealing to religious sentiment.
Some of these "organisations" (such as Feyadeen Saddam) have a violent past of quelling dissent in Iraq.
Nationalists
While similar in some respects to the above category, they are not identical.
Nationalists, who are overwhelmingly Sunni, are strongly populated by ex-army.
They oppose and fight the coalition on nationalist principle, or as a result of the failure to restore Iraq to pre-Saddam efficience with respect to the infrastructure etc.
A number want to return to the Sunni-dominated politics which ostracised Shias.
However, there are a number of Shias that fall under this category, most of which are left wing.
Mehdi Army/Moqtada al Sadr supporters
Comprised mostly of impoverished, unemployed youths, thesea re supporters of the radical Shia Cleric al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr mobilised his army in August 2004, and the fighting witht hem climaxed in the Holy City of Najaf, while defending the Shia's metophorical Vatican.
The Mehdi Army believes that the Coalition troops are foreign occupiers, opressors, as well as not living under Sharia law.
They oppose splitting up Iraq under ethic and religious lines.
Sunni Nationalists/Ansar Al-Islam
Islamists who wish a return to Sharia Law, and oppose non-muslim influence.
While intolerant to foreigners, they do not seem to wish to opress Shias.
Kurds have a high presence among these.
The US has accused that tyhey are tied to Al Quaeda.
Al Quaeda/foreigners
Al Quaeda has the highest profile, and are the most violent and ruthless of all factions.
They are responsible for beheadings and bombings, and are extremely, extremely intolerant to any foreigners.
They have high presence in some places-even having the balls to line the main highways with their black flags, with guards along the way.
They are said to number no more than 3000.
Criminals who work for money
Patriotic Communists, split from the official Communist Party
Non-violent groups
Out of these major groups, only "Al-Quaeda"and al-Zarqawi seem to actually condone the use of violence against civilians-for a number of other groups,
Cold, hard figures
Estimate of minimum number of Insurgents in Iraq: 30,000
Estimate of maximum number of Insurgents in Iraq: 200,000
Estimate of minimum number of Insurgents belonging to al-Sadr's Mehdi Army:3000
Estimate of maximum number of Insurgents belonging to al-Sadr/Mehdi Army: 10,000
Percentage of Iraqis who "strongly supported" al-Sadr during militant phase: 32%
Percentage of Iraqis who "somewhat supported" al-Sadr during militant phase: 36%
Number of seats al-Sadr won in Dec. 2005 elections: 32
At any one time there are a possible 15-20,000 Insurgents in Iraq.
US army estimate of number of Insurgents in Fallujah prior to assault:3000
Number of Insurgent bodies found after assault on Fallujah
A few hundred
Estimated number of foreign Jihadists in Iraq: 3000
Percentage of captured Insurgents that are Iraqi according to Major General Joseph Taluto, head of 42nd Infantry Division: 99.9%
Out of 1000 insurgents captured in Fallujah, number that were non-Iraqi: 15
Out of 1300 Insurgents arrested in five months of 2005, the number that were non-Iraqi according to The Telegraph: 0
Number of foreign Insurgents captured at a battle according to Iraqi Army Captain after battle in september 2005: 150
Number of reports of the battle corroborating this: 0
Percentage of attacks aimed at civilians (Nov 2004): 4.1%
Percentage of attacks aimed at Coalition troops (Nov 2004): 75%
Percentage of kidnapped foreigners later released peacefully: 80%
July 2005 poll of how many support Insurgency: 45%
July 2005 Poll of support for Coalition: 15%
Later poll of support for attacks against Coalition: 45%
Percentage "strongly opposed" to foreign presence: 82%
January 2006 poll on support for attacks against Coalition: 47%
Amongst Sunnis: 88%
On attacks against civilians: 7%
Percentage who want the US to withdraw:87%
Percentage who believe the US will withdraw if asked: 23%
Percentage who believe the US will build permanant bases in Iraq: 80%
Sources:
BBC
Wikipedia.
) - as politicians, journalists and political scientists know, which statistics you choose to show, in which order, and which you choose not to show, allow you to strongly direct the conclusions the reader is making.
