Composition of Iraqi insurgency
Tom:
The concept of the poor little grocery clerk who suddenly decided to start building car bombs when Iraq was invaded is a myth. The terrorists in Iraq weren't created, they were relocated.
If they weren't in Iraq, they'd be in Afghanistan. Or somewhere else.
Of the people fighting coalition and Iraqi government forces since the fall of Baghdad, as well as those engaged in sectarian violence within Iraq, what percentage of these belligerents are various non-Iraqi Jihadists? Also, what percentage of the suicide bombers and those engaged in high-profile kidnappings are non-Iraqi? And of all the fighters detained in Iraqi, what percentage are non-Iraqi?
Additionally, what percentage of the ransom kidnappings and the violent raiding of convoys are perpetrated by criminal gangs?