One continual battle I have with lefties on a particular board is about the nature of the insurgency. I always believe that the they were an amalgam that existed before the war and continued to fight afterwards. For example, I've always believe these guys were just Al-Qaeda in drag. (I won't go over the well trodden ground of the links between Iraq and terrorism.) My lefty counterpart always believed these two groups (Former Regime Elements and Foreign Fighters as they are called) hate each other but made common cause against us as we were the greater evil. Well, now the NYT, that Neocon news organ of the GOP is reporting Red on Red fighting. Marines See Signs Iraq Rebels Are Battling Foreign Fighters tells us volumes. The UN official admits there has been a rift for a long time and it's getting worse. I suspect the Iraqi nationals now see that the Americans may be here and not wanted, but they aren't killing people in mosques and the like. They want the US out but they know bombing us and attacking us isn't the way to get us to leave. I have believed for some time that the "insurgents"/terrorists have lost this war, but they're still fighting it. That is the "death throes" that Cheney is talking about. Sometimes when you're on a team that is losing by 30 points with 2 minutes left, you still try to score. Why? Because it's what you do. You don't quit, you play to the end. That's a matter of pride. Much like that team with no hope of winning, these guys are trying Hail Mohammed passes as the clock runs down because they have no other choice. To quit now would be worse than death. The former regime elements know they will be tried, convicted and hanged if they lay down their arms. They cannot flee either. They'll be hunted wherever they go. This is their last stand. May it be a short one.

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