Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Petraeus & the 'Central Front' Myth

By Robert Parry
September 12, 2007

As Gen. David Petraeus outlined plans for a long-term U.S. military occupation of Iraq, he relied heavily on two arguments favored by his civilian superiors in the Bush administration but not supported by the facts – that al-Qaeda views Iraq as the “central front” in the war on terror and is eager to drive American forces out.

Iraq “has been regarded by al-Qaeda senior leadership – AQSL – as the central front,” Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 11. “They’re trying to give us a bloody nose which would be an enormous shot of adrenaline in the arm of the international jihadists.”

Read on.

1 comment:

clearcreek said...

Curious about your conclusory statement about the "occupation" of Iraq. From what I can tell from wikipedia, there is no occupation now as defined by the commonly accepted definition of "military occupation".

Additionally, the occupation ended in 2004.

see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_occupation

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_occupations

I know how sad it is when facts get in the way...

Best wishes!