In a much publicized article in
The Atlantic Monthly, William Langewiesche wrote:
For the most part, . . . the insurgents' attacks are less nihilistic than they are logical and precisely focused, whether against the American coalition and its camp followers or their Iraqi agents and collaborators. The truth is that however vicious or even sadistic the insurgents may be, they are acutely aware of their popular base, and are responsible for fewer unintentional "collateral" casualties than are the clumsy and overarmed American forces. (emphasis added, "Letter from Baghdad," January/February 2005)
That's an important point worth reiterating, as some Americans favor
"an alternative occupation," mistakenly believing that foreign soldiers of an army of occupation are kinder and gentler, less likely to kill civilians, than Iraqi insurgents are.
Langewiesche also makes another significant point: "The Iraqi security forces are riddled with insurgents, not because the vetting is poor, or because agents have been planted, but because hatred of America has grown within the ranks just as it has in Iraqi society at large" (January/February 2005). There goes the American dream of Iraqification.
FULL TEXT:
http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/01/from-full-spectrum-dominance-to-full.html.