Misconceptions on the Insurgency in Iraq

Lori Mylroie of the New York Sun reports that there are a variety of misconceptions that the American public have about the Iraqi insurgency. “Americans generally see the enemy in religious terms, dominated by Islamic militants, such as the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,” she says. For Iraqis “the principal enemy is the former regime, and the central issue is not so much religion, but power and authority.”

In her article, Mylroie reports that the new Iraqi government has just released a list of the top 41 individuals involved in the insurgency there. “Iraq’s most wanted list is dominated by Baathists,” Mylroie reports. An Iraqi intelligence officer confirmed this report, saying that “Baathists were responsible for the violence, whether directly or indirectly, through their penetration of al Qaeda.”

“Iraqi officials—who know their own society far better than Americans—maintain that if they can defeat the Baathists, the jihadis will be relatively easy to deal with.” Mylroie says that “Americans need to pay attention to what Iraqi officials say and do, not only for the consequences inside Iraq, but also for the implications of the broader war on terrorism.”

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