All Along I Thought It Was Freedom

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2005 – Insurgents in Iraq attack any sign of progress because “progress is their enemy,” said DoD officials today.

Officials spoke about terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s claim to have kidnapped … the chief of Egypt’s mission in Iraq. “… [I]t suggests … that al Qaeda has targeted those countries that are trying to cooperate in the success of Iraq’s emerging democracy,” said Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita during a press conference today. […]

Officials in Baghdad said that insurgents attack any sign of progress the Iraqi government makes. “It’s an insurgency that does not have Iraq’s democratic future in mind,” Di Rita said. “It has something much bleaker and much darker (in mind).”

… The insurgents see the presence of Middle Eastern diplomats as progress for the Iraqi government, said an official in Baghdad. More below:

… If the Iraqis make progress on electricity, the insurgents dynamite power pylons or electrical sub-stations. If the Iraqis make progress on forming local governments, the insurgents target those supporting the effort. …