In line with the Al-Jazeera story: It always surprised me that when it was revealed that CNN was soft pedaling the torture and abuses in Iraq to protect their own people, there wasn't more of an outcry.

So, we are to strictly count U.S. military boots on the ground, but the opposing figure is allowed to include anyone providing intelligence, logistics or shelter? Apples to apples, please. I'll take the 40,000 figure when being compared to the actual U.S. military presence.

It would also be interesting to see how Mr. Shahwani breaks down those 40,000 hardcore fighters: Sunnis located in the triangle; Saudis; Iranians; former Baathists. He says that Baathists make up 20,00 of them, but does that refer to active fighters or the less-brave logistics and intelligence people? Is his big number counting people who live in Sunni areas who would otherwise support Iraqi democracy but who inform out of mortal fear?

This article smells like AFP. I like how they refer to the "might" of the insurgency, which seems to have been spectacularly ineffective so far at accomplishing its goals.

I was wondering why when I heard that the suicide bomber was a Saudi Arab, Fox didn't make more of it. They just breezed right over that bit of info.

Had me upset -- and they wonder why we (want to) profile - geez

2nd item today had me upset -- the Swedish comparing their horrible loss to 9/11 --
Tsunami -- horrendous NATURAL disaster
9/11 -- Arab caused, horrendous attack

Announce that you are terribly outnumbered, outgunned and losing the war, how Goddam stupid can you get? With an Iraqi "intelligence chief" like that how can the bad guys lose? The Iraqis have been a terrible disappointment in their fight against the radicals, and with morons like this at the helm I can see why.

Good post Kevin. I agree there is tons of good news unreported, but if we dont get an accurate glimpse of the whole picture we are stumbling blindly.

We have never sealed the borders and in fact never really made a realistic attempt to. Too few troops, and a lack of political will. That was our decision, we live with the consequences.

Sorry, my friends in country tell me that these "Sunni" numbers are VERY MUCH "hype". The True Sunni numbers are much, much less. Iran and Syrian military and intelligence people, on the other hand.....h-m-m-m, well, we will see!

Cheryl:

I think the correlation that Sweden is trying to make to 11 Sept is the massive loss of life (the largest tragedy in the history of the country) - and how the society has to deal with its grief and loss of people. Though no terrorists are involved, the shock is just as dumbfounding as 11 Sept. With a nearly 3000 people missing, the loss of life is nearly the same as the two twin towers. Coming from a national population of about 9 million it's even more impactful.

11 Sept has been turned into a metaphorical tool on three accounts: the grieving scale, the immensity scale, and the asinine scale. Sweden is batting 67%, which is better than some examples over the last 3 years where 11 Sept was cited.

That 200,000 may sound like a lot, but that's in a population of over 25 million. That comes out to about 0.985% "fighters and sympathisers." Less than 1% of a population does not constitute a substantial opposition. 80%+ of the country was opposed to Saddam for 20 years, and nothing ever came of it. 0.985% doesn't worry me. The only thing that could possibly defeat the U.S. military in Iraq is the pinko commie opposition to freedom back home.

Outnumbered? Give me a break. The U.S. hasn't fought a war in which we were NOT outnumbered since...well...Spanish-American War, 1898? Get a grip, people. Our military is accustomed to being outnumbered. That's what they train for.

Actually, the fact that the bomber was no an Iraqi but a Saudi fits in with my own understanding of the situation. We are not fighting an insurgency, we are fighting foreign terrorists. Ahmed Said Ahmed al-Ghamdi would much rather had a glorious death like Mohamed Atta, flying another plane into another building in another American city.
The War on Terror has a great deal to go, but judging by the quality of the operations, al Qaeda is losing badly in everything except cheap publicity.

As a balance to the numbers of insurgents, there is this story on the Iraq National Guard starting mass arrests of suspected insurgents:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7218119

Note this is from Reuters, rather than the eternally depressed Allied Press.

I suspect, in the command & control part of the terrorist organization, that there are no more than a few thousand individuals. I would not be surprised to learn than many or most of these are "former" Ba'athiswith a majority being former generals, intelligence officers or Ba'athist party officials.

While I have little doubt that many terrorists (aka the people doing the shooting) are foreigners, it seems logical that the insurgency would not have the traction it does without aid from Iraqi sympathizers. I regard these as mostly people who have lost power who are still clinging to the belief that a return to power is possible.

"... the country's national intelligence chief told AFP, in the bleakest assessment to date..."

I agree with commenters above questioning the sources:

AFP = Agence FRANCE Presse
Iraq's national intelligence chief... Baghdad Bob?

If (big IF) AFP is reporting him verbatim, then what kind of an Intelligence Chief is this? If such numbers were true, it belongs in his secret report to his boss, not advertised to the world. What other purpose can such a report have other than to attempt to demoralize his own side? Whose side is he on?

Reminds me of the aborted October surprise planned by the lefties in the CIA - to issue and leak a doom-and-gloom NIE Report, as reported by Jack Wheeler & Worldnetdaily.com.