Iraq's armed guerillas are usually portrayed in vague and shadowy terms, allowing political commentators to cast them in whatever image is deemed convenient. Even the correct word to designate them says more about the commentator than the militants themselves. Those who wish to demonize them call them "terrorists"; those who wish to cheer them on call them the "resistance"; while the majority of the mainstream media cut it down the middle by calling them "insurgents"—while still providing little detail about who they actually are.

Now a front-page Dec. 2 New York Times story (online at the International Herald Tribune) actually provides a breakdown of the insurgency's major constituent entities, and an analysis of its strategies and structure, drawing on the research of the SITE Institute (for Seach for International Terrorist Entities).

The SITE Institute identifies five major groupings, each made up of numerous small, largely autonomous cells that operate under its umbrella. From largest to smallest: al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Ansar al-Sunna, the Victorious Army Group, the 20th of July Revolution Brigade and al-Rashideen Army.

Recent reportage raises some disturbing questions about the abduction of the four activists from the Christian Peacemaker Teams now being held hostage in Iraq—Tom Fox, 54, of Virginia; Norman Kember, 74, of London; James Loney, 41, of Toronto; and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, also of Canada. (See our last post on the case.)

ISM Press release:

December 3rd, 2005 | Posted in Press Releases
International Solidarity Movement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Since the first video of the four Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
members being held hostage in Iraq was released a few days ago,
Palestinians all over the West Bank and Gaza have been calling for
their release unharmed. The CPT is well known for its work against the
occupations in both Iraq and Palestine. It is probably most well known

The best-case scenario for the Bush administration in Iraq now is a modicum of stability under a Shi'ite-dominated regime more loyal to Tehran than Washington. In the January 2005 elections, voters trounced the US proxies, the secular Shi'ites of Iyad Allawi's CIA-groomed Iraqi National Accord, in favor of the Tehran-backed radical Shi'ites of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. So "regime change" in Iran is now necessary for the US to maintain effective control over Iraq as well. But how, given that Bush has already got his hands more than full with an increasingly unpopular quagmire? The answer is obvious: US imperialism's regional pit-bull, Israel. From the Jerusalem Post, Nov. 30:

Schools and offices were shut down in Bangladesh Dec. 1 in a strike called by lawyers after suicide bomb attacks at court buildings killed nine people. Lawyers and police said the attackers are singling out the judiciary to sow fear before it puts militants detained for other bombings on trial. Police have arrested 22 people for the bombings in the southern port city of Chittagong and Gazipur, a town outside the capital.

The attacks were the latest in a wave of attacks by Islamist militants since Aug. 17 when they exploded some 500 small bombs across the country. Two people were killed and nearly 100 wounded. The militants are said to belong to two outlawed Muslim groups, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh. These attacks are the first suicide bombings in Bangladesh.

Rather inconvenient news at a time when Bush is hailing a "clear strategy for victory" (Bloomberg, Dec. 1) and "real progress" (Guardian, Nov. 30) in Iraq.

RAMADI, Iraq, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iraqi militants attacked a U.S. base and a local government building with mortar rounds and rockets in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Thursday, before holding ground on several central streets, residents said.

This Dec.1 report (condensed here) from the Tico Times, Costa Rica's English-language newspaper, notes a World Court case between the Central American country and its northern neighbor Nicaragua over the strategic San Juan River that forms the border:

With historical tensions again flaring between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Rodrigo Carreras, Costa Rica 's ambassador to Nicaragua, is calling for understanding and tolerance between the neighboring nations.

Kudos to G. Peter Jemison of New York state's Seneca Nation, for keeping this bit of history from going down the Memory Hole. Maybe this legacy says more about the political tradition the US is now exporting to Iraq than the interminable empty phrases about "freedom." From Indian Country Today, Nov. 30: