Questions I'd Like to Ask...

Questions I'd like to ask: President George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, General Richard Myers

If part of the strategic rationale for going to war with Iraq was, as you have said in your 2004 Republican Party nomination acceptance speech, to "strik[e] the terrorists abroad, so we do not have to face them here at home" - a notion you have reiterated many times, such as in this quote taken from a speech you gave during a visit with U.S. troops in Baghdad: "You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country." (AP) - why then was our military unprepared for and so surprised by the insurgency in Iraq (a consequence of occupation many in your administration said was unlikely - Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz for example) which is, in part, made up of foreign jihadists- namely, al-Qaeda in Iraq, responsible for most of the bloodiest attacks there- sponsored in part by foreign funds [read quotes below] and who wage war using all-too-familiar (though, admittedly, not easy to defend against) terrorist tactics; in other words, why was our military strategy in Iraq NOT focused on fighting terrorists if they are the ones whom we went there to fight? Furthermore, according to some of the sources quoted below, the majority of insurgents are actually NOT foreign, but Iraqis themselves, what does this say about your above-mentioned strategy?

"The regime has longstanding and continuing ties to terrorist groups, and there are Al Qaida terrorists inside Iraq." Source: George W. Bush Delivers Weekly Radio Address, White House (9/28/2002).

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_insurgency.htm Moreover, officials believed around 50 militant cells were drawing on “unlimited money” through underground networks supplied by people connected with the former regime, as well as wealthy Saudis and Islamic charities.

Shahwani said the Baath, with a core fighting strength of more than 20,000, had split into three factions. The main one, still owing allegiance to jailed dictator Saddam Hussein, is operating out of Syria.

London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates roughly 1,000 foreign Islamic jihadists have joined the insurgency

Of the remaining 20 percent of violent attacks –those with political motivation- four-fifths are believed attributable to native insurgents as opposed to foreigners.

In December 2004 US General George Casey warned that sympathizers of the insurgency within Syria had been allowed to provide funding, weapons and information to Iraqi insurgents and continued to be a source of infiltration by foreign volunteers. The following February, Iraqi television broadcast taped confessions of alleged insurgents, who claimed to have been trained in Syria, possibly by Syrian intelligence officials. Yet while coalition forces often suspect Syria of assisting insurgents, Syrian denials are adamant and hard evidence is lacking.

Defense Minister Hazem Sha'alan claiming in mid-2004 that there was "clear interference in Iraqi issues by Iran" and that the latter supported terrorism in Iraq. The recalcitrant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is widely perceived as an Iranian proxy, while in a television interview, Muayed al-Nasseri, commander of Saddam's "Army of Muhhammad," said his group received weapons and cash form both Iran and Syria.

WRITTEN TESTIMONY TO THE HOUSE SUBCOMMITTE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, EMERGING THREATS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.
Peter Khalil, Visiting Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy - The Brookings Institution

Both Iran and to a lesser extent Syria pose threats to Iraqi security but these are by no means or likely to be in the conventional sense. Both Syria and Iran have used different modes of asymmetric interference in Iraq’s internal affairs to weaken and destabilize Iraq in this transitional period. The pervasive use of Syrian and Iranian intelligence operatives in Iraq, either actively facilitating or turning a blind eye to Baathist financing arrangements for insurgent networks within Syria, lack of cooperation on border security (not tightening borders), allowing foreign jihadists to enter into Iraq across their territory and elements of the Syrian regime facilitating funding of insurgents either unofficially or through clandestine official channels.

[CONFLICTING REPORTS ON ORIGIN OF MAJORITY OF INSURGENTS]
DATE= 11/29/04TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORTTITLE= IRAQ / SECURITY (L-O) NUMBER=2-320767BYLINE=GREG LAMOTTE...Voice of America

senior political adviser to the Interior Ministry, Sabah Kadhim...says it is believed most of the foreign fighters are entering Iraq through Syria. And, although he says Tehran has never officially acknowledged that insurgents are entering Iraq from Iran, he says there is significant information to suggest they are.