Insurgency

In the same press conference that Rummy slipped the tongue and let loose a few droplets of doubt, Gen. Myers said the Insurgency [capital "I"] has maintained its members, levels of attack, and cultural momentum:

The insurgency in Iraq is "about where it was a year ago," in terms of attacks, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said but he said American and Iraqi troops are gaining ground in the two-year-old conflict.

Common Dreams refutes this claim and says that, in fact, it is the Insurgency that has claimed new territory.

A year ago? Well, in the few months leading up to the handover of power, the Insurgency drastically increased, many thinking it was because of the hatred of occupational American troops.

"Hey you ungrateful heathens! Okay, look: we gave you back your country- last June we handed it right back to you, okay? And then look, you had these elections, and hey if you could just convince your little elected officials to do some work instead of assassinating them... maybe you could straighten it all up..."

Or are we dealing with something completely different? It seems to me that a sustained violent operation like this that has held its own and potentially even grown over time has to be considered something else. Insurgency may be what we call it, but I'd wager that there are some that will call it a "Movement." This is an ideological movement- they are fighting against everything they see as invasive and occupational- and that everything is American interests. Fortunately, they do seem to be in the minority, but this won't be a matter of routing the active members- this will be a long-term ideological fight which, those of us who were looking forward during the buildup to the invasion, have been loathing but expecting throughout this entire process.