Is the term insurgency a misnomer?

Trajan Octavian Titus · 10-28-05, 11:51 PM

The term insurgent has been used to describe the terrorists within Iraq, however, I am still under the impression that these are foriegners coming into Iraq and while some of the enemy may be made up of Sunni hold outs from the Baathist regime I believe the majority of them are foriegners crossing the borders from Syria and Iran. Now for those of you who don't know the term insurgent is used to describe home grown combatants attempting to take down the government of their nation. So my question is not the word insurgent the wrong term to be used? Should we not call these foriegners in Iraq terrorists rather than giving them undue credibility in using the term insurgent which is generally used to describe home grown militia type rebel forces? Why or why not?

scottyz · 10-29-05, 12:42 AM

It's not really clear to me who or what we're fighting in Iraq. Everytime they're suppose to be on the ropes they get a new burst of energy and come back swinging. I remember early on that Allawi had stated only 30% of the resistance in Iraq was foreign. I imagine there are now more foreign fighters in Iraq.

Kandahar · 10-29-05, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottyz

It's not really clear to me who or what we're fighting in Iraq. Everytime they're suppose to be on the ropes they get a new burst of energy and come back swinging. I remember early on that Allawi had stated only 30% of the resistance in Iraq was foreign. I imagine there are now more foreign fighters in Iraq.

Actually, there are less. The most recent estimate is that only 4-10% of insurgents in Iraq are foreigners (Christian Science Monitor).

As for the poll, there's no reason that they can't be considered both insurgents and terrorists. The terms are not mutually exclusive. They are fighting to destabilize their current government (90-96% of them anyway), so the term "insurgent" can be considered accurate. However, civilians are the primary targets, so the term "terrorist" is also accurate.

Trajan Octavian Titus · 10-29-05, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kandahar

Actually, there are less. The most recent estimate is that only 4-10% of insurgents in Iraq are foreigners (Christian Science Monitor).

As for the poll, there's no reason that they can't be considered both insurgents and terrorists. The terms are not mutually exclusive. They are fighting to destabilize their current government (90-96% of them anyway), so the term "insurgent" can be considered accurate. However, civilians are the primary targets, so the term "terrorist" is also accurate.

True, however, I have heard these percentages you are talking about before and I find them to be inaccurate at best, I mean how exactly did they come up with these figures, what did they do go out and poll the terrorists, I mean it's not as if they can go out and do a survey with these people now can they? Just food for thought.

Caine · 10-29-05, 02:44 AM

If people like Newsweek can get interviews with them, I don't think it is entirely impossible to obtain this sort of information.

On the other hand, Yes, I agree it does sound difficult to obtain information of this sort, even if they did get this info from the insurgents, is it credible? Are they being honest?

Trajan Octavian Titus · 10-29-05, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caine

If people like Newsweek can get interviews with them, I don't think it is entirely impossible to obtain this sort of information.

On the other hand, Yes, I agree it does sound difficult to obtain information of this sort, even if they did get this info from the insurgents, is it credible? Are they being honest?

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