A war fought far from reality - Iraq

A war fought far from reality - Iraq

"W. Andrew Terrill, professor at the Army War College's strategic studies institute - and the top expert on Iraq there - says: 'I don't think that you can kill the insurgency.' According to Terrill, the anti-US insurgency, centred in the Sunni triangle and holding several cities and towns, is expanding and becoming more capable as a consequence of US policy.

'We have a growing, maturing insurgency group,' he says. 'We see larger and more coordinated military attacks. . . . The idea that there are 'x' number of insurgents, and that when they're all dead we can get out, is wrong. The insurgency has shown an ability to regenerate itself because there are people willing to fill the ranks of those who are killed. The political culture is more hostile to the US presence. The longer we stay, the more they are confirmed in that view.'"