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Role of Foreign Fighters in Iraq Debated

(AP/Washington Post) The brutal sophistication of Tuesday's bombings in Karbala and Baghdad pointed to a foreign influence on an insurgency that is still mainly homegrown, said Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division which controls Baghdad. "It's far more than a supposition and far less than empirical evidence" to say Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a suspected anti-U.S. militant with ties to al-Qaeda, had a hand in the Tuesday blasts, Dempsey said. "It's a very educated guess." However, he called the idea that foreign fighters were flooding Iraq "a misconception." Military commanders examining the aftermath of the bombings say most of the attackers are still believed to be Iraqis, perhaps allied with foreigners. Insurgent attacks in Baghdad have dropped from 15 a day to about five.
2004-03-05 00:00:00
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