Home > Senior US military chief admits insurgents are "good, honest" Iraqis

Senior US military chief admits insurgents are "good, honest" Iraqis

by Open-Publishing - Friday 10 June 2005
5 comments

Wars and conflicts International USA

’Good and honest’ Iraqis fighting US forces

By Phil Sands, Staff Reporter
Tikrit:

A senior US military chief has admitted "good, honest" Iraqis are fighting American forces.

Major General Joseph Taluto said he could understand why some ordinary people would take up arms against the US military because "they’re offended by our presence".

In an interview with Gulf News, he said: "If a good, honest person feels having all these Humvees driving on the road, having us moving people out of the way, having us patrol the streets, having car bombs going off, you can understand how they could [want to fight us]."

General Taluto, head of the US 42nd Infantry Division which covers key trouble spots, including Baquba and Samarra, also said some Iraqis not involved in fighting did support insurgents who avoided hurting civilians.

He said: "There is a sense of a good resistance, or an accepted resistance. They say ’okay, if you shoot a coalition soldier, that’s okay, it’s not a bad thing but you shouldn’t kill other Iraqis.’"

However General Taluto insisted the US and other foreign forces would not be driven out of Iraq by violence. "If the goal is to have the coalition leave, attacking them isn’t the way," he said. "The way to make it happen is to enter the political process cooperate and the coalition will be less aggressive and less visible and eventually it’ll go away."

His comments come in stark contrast to the assertions of other top US figures, who persist in claiming all insurgents are either Baathists or Al Qaida terrorists.

General Taluto also admitted he did not know how many insurgents there were. "I stay away from numbers how can I quantify this? We can make estimates by doing some kind of guesswork," he said.

"I think there is a small core of foreign fighters. I don’t know how big that is but there is some kind of capability here, and it’s being replenished.

"Then there is a group of former regime personnel they’re the facilitators. They make all the communications, move the money, they enable things to happen. Their goal isn’t the same as the foreign fighters but they’re using them to do what they want to do.

"Then we have the foot soldiers. Some are doing it for the money. Some are doing it because they’re offended by our presence and believe we are a threat to their way of life. There are various levels."

He added: "Who knows how big these networks are, or how widespread? I know it’s substantial enough to be a threat to the government and it will be for some time."

General Taluto said "99.9 per cent" of those captured fighting the US were Iraqis, but was also adamant most people in Iraq wanted a free, democratic and independent country.

He predicted attacks would continue to surge in intensity, as key milestones were reached, including the upcoming constitutional referendum.

http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=168406

Forum posts

  • Well, that makes me feel much better that it is "good, honest Iraqis" killing American soldiers instead of "mean, lying Iraqis". It makes such a huge difference to me as I am sure it does to the familes of the slain soldiers. While I am sure Major General Joseph Taluto was not meaning to be flippant, he made it sound like these American lives were lost for a good reason instead of them being just acts of rage and violence by terrorists who are hindering the peace process. To call them "good, honest Iraqis" is offensive for the real Iraqis who are working towards freedom and a peaceful country.

  • The General is right about some things and wrong about others. He believes that if the Iraqis roll over and play dead the coalition will simply go away. WRong. Bush is building 4 huge permanent air bases there. PERMANENT! So that he can use Iraq as a staging area to conquer Iran, Syria and perhaps other countries that incur his holy wrath. He is building the largest embassy in the world in a small country, so thousands of his Christians can dominate the Iraqis and bully them.
    The General is right that "good honest Iraqis" are fighting American forces. That is something the Bush warhawks have never admitted. They call any Iraqi who resists the Bush forces as "thugs" "terrorists" "insurgents" "bandits" and other complimentary terms. They cannot admit any good honest Iraqi would resist the holy spiritual blandishments of Saint George Bush with his wonderful appeals to "peace", besides FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, and LIBERTY. If anyone thinks Bush will pull his troops out and leave Iraqi oil to the Iraqis, they must be nuts. HE will find some way to keep Millennium Corporation there, thousands of "contractors" and soldiers there and hundreds of Christian missionaries to proselytize the Iraqis under the guise of "Peace."
    Americans who resisted King George during their Revolution were also labelled "thugs" and other nice terms. And both King Georges, past and present, refuse to recognize that patriotism is not limited to white Christian Republicans from Alabama and Georgia.

  • Now they get it! The American and the coalition forces have killed numerous Iraqi civilians! What would be the reaction of an American citizen to an occupant who murders, kills and tortures?

    The brave Iraqi restistance are the real heros and earns any support!

  • LOL! Thanks for the laugh. It’s a good start to my weekend.

  • "That the aggressor, who puts himself into the state of war with another, and unjustly invades another man’s right, can, by such an unjust war, never come to have a right over the conquered, will be easily agreed by all men, who will not think that robbers and pirates have a right of empire over whomsoever they have force enough to master, or that men are bound by promises which unlawful force extorts from them.

    Should a robber break into my house, and, with a dagger at my throat, make me seal deeds to convey my estate to him, would this give him any title? Just such a title by his sword has an unjust conqueror who forces me into submission. The injury and the crime is equal, whether committed by the wearer of a crown or some petty villain.

    The title of the offender and the number of his followers make no difference in the offence, unless it be to aggravate it. The only difference is, great robbers punish little ones to keep them in their obedience; but the great ones are rewarded with laurels and triumphs, because they are too big for the weak hands of justice in this world, and have the power in their own possession which should punish offenders." John Locke - 1632-1704