U.S. Officials Meet Iraq Insurgent Groups

[leftchick]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials have met figures from some Sunni Arab insurgent groups but have so far not received any commitment for them to lay down their arms, Western diplomats in Baghdad and neighboring Jordan said Wednesday.

<snip>

The meetings, described as being in the initial stage, have not included members of al-Qaida in Iraq or like-minded religious extremists, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Contacts have taken place in western Iraq, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, according to two diplomats based in the Jordanian capital, Amman. One of them said talks might shift to Egypt "at some point."

U.S. officials have said establishing a dialogue with the insurgents was difficult because of the lack of a unified command structure among the various groups and the absence of a leadership capable of speaking for most of them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060208/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[BoneDaddy]

1. I'm confused...

They consider the insurgents "terrorists"
yet they say they don't deal with terrorists.

I guess it depends upon the label that they use, when they want to use it, on whomever they want to bestow it,and then they can change the rules whenever they want.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Sometimes when the polls are really loooooooow, the democrats

are akin to terrahists.

[wtmusic]

3. Funny how terrorism got the terrorists just what they wanted

Apparently the majority of Iraqis aren't buying our vision for the future.

[enigma000]

5. The Iraqi government calls them terrorists

I think the Americans call them insurgents. Provides the opportunity for compromise.

[poverlay]

9. Don't be confused, be enraged. Our government has once again

betrayed us.
We all know that negotiating with terrorists is a self-defeating strategy. Of course this administration can't handle what they've created in the Middle East, and they're using despicable, useless, and desperate measures to simply try and contain their deadly blunder.

[Barrett808]

4. This is the end game

Whenever you see a group of "detainess" released, you know a deal was struck with the insurgency. Basically, the idea is to try to withdraw under a negotiated cease-fire. Withdrawal under fire is oh-so-messy.

[coalition_unwilling]

11. Witness Napoleon in Russia or Hitler in Russia or U.S. in Vietnam

Think of Iraq as Bush's Stalingrad and you'll have a pretty good idea of how this is going to play out.

[Barrett808]

12. Truly. n/t

[HuffleClaw]

6. negotiating with TERRORISTS

but of course, they aren't calling 'em terrorists anymore, not since they started talking with them that is.

[Disturbed]

7. The Insurgency in Iraq is quite diversified.

The Bush Regime finally realizes that negotiating with the enemey is the only way that any sort of peace agreement can be reached. The Shi'ites and Kurds will have to do some compromising if the non al Q Insurgency is going to agree to a cease fire.

[Chrisduhfur]

8. I see a problem with this though.

As you said, the insurgency is very diversified with different people fighting for different reasons. There are some who simply are not happy with the way the situation is, there are some who are nationalist fighting off the invaders and there even some who are using it as a chance to kill Americans & other westerners. While I can see how they can negotiate and deal with the first set and maybe even the second set of people, there is no way that any deals will be made with the outsiders who are coming in.

Plus there is also different groups with the main groups mentioned above. So, I dunno, I mean it's a means to end I suppose but there is no way in hell this will stop the insurgency.

[Barrett808]

10. Resulting in this: "US military to release 450 detainees in Iraq"

US military to release 450 detainees in Iraq
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2096823