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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yoshie says</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>"What's clear
is that those who have taken up arms against the<BR>occupation are divided
multiply: some are Shi'i militiamen, like the<BR>Mahdi Army; others are Sunni
guerrillas of diverse political<BR>tendencies; and yet others are foreign
jihadists. Among them, the<BR>only faction whose political program we know
even a little about is<BR>the Mahdi Army. The conditions in Iraq are so
dangerous that it is<BR>impossible for us to get reliable accounts about who's
who of<BR>combatants in Iraq."</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>But it seems
more likely that the lack of clarity is in the movement, not in the conditions.
I think you are imposing a logic of resistance and oppression to conditions that
do not support it. Of course it is true that Western propaganda paints every
resistance as sectarian, just as it seeks to divide and rule. But here it does
seem to be the case that what divides the Iraqis is more pertinent than what
unites them.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>You say they
take up arms against the occupation, but they seem to take up arms against each
other. Is this a bloody process of political clarification, like the FLN's
struggle against the Messalists in Algeria, at the outset of the war against
France? I don't think so (though, like you say, we are all a bit ignorant
here). They are not clashing over strategy, but over territory. They
are emboldened by the coalition's declining authority, but that has not led to
the emergence of a decisive leadership, just a bloody
competition.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>I don't accept
any responsibility (I don't identify so closely with the British government as
you seem to the the American). I do think that the coalition is the greatest
problem. I don't think one can set conditions on how the Iraqi people should
exercise their right to self-determination. But until there is an Iraqi
resistance (as opposed to internecine violence) I don't feel the need to wish
one into existence to support it.</FONT></DIV>
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