From the first post (from Mcluhan, lange, not me - learn to read more carefully):
"Iraq's insurgency counts more than 200,000 active fighters and sympathisers, the country's national intelligence chief told AFP, in the bleakest assessment to date of the armed revolt waged by Sunni Muslims. ... Shahwani said the number includes at least 40,000 hardcore fighters but rises to more than 200,000 members counting part-time fighters and volunteers who provide rebels everything from intelligence and logistics to shelter."
From your post:
"Their number is between 20,000 and 30,000, in all of Iraq, distributed in the Sunni area. And the people who live in this area and emotionally support them, are about 200,000 without offering them money or logistic support. As an example, they don't give any information about their activities if they have this information."
So, what's the big scoop? Both agree on a number of 200,000 who live in that area and *at least* emotionally support the opposition. Both agree that there are somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 hard-core fighters among that 200,000. The only serious disagreement - if you want to call it that - is what level of support the rest of the 200,000 provide. Are they merely philosophically and emotionally aligned, or do they provide logistical and financial support? To support 30,000 hard-core fighters requires a reasonable infrastructure. It's impossible to believe that a decent number of the remaining don't provide more than mere lip-service to the fighters.
The author of your link admits that, even if they do provide more than lip service, they don't admit it.
Anything else?
"Iraq's insurgency counts more than 200,000 active fighters and sympathisers, the country's national intelligence chief told AFP, in the bleakest assessment to date of the armed revolt waged by Sunni Muslims. ... Shahwani said the number includes at least 40,000 hardcore fighters but rises to more than 200,000 members counting part-time fighters and volunteers who provide rebels everything from intelligence and logistics to shelter."
From your post:
"Their number is between 20,000 and 30,000, in all of Iraq, distributed in the Sunni area. And the people who live in this area and emotionally support them, are about 200,000 without offering them money or logistic support. As an example, they don't give any information about their activities if they have this information."
So, what's the big scoop? Both agree on a number of 200,000 who live in that area and *at least* emotionally support the opposition. Both agree that there are somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 hard-core fighters among that 200,000. The only serious disagreement - if you want to call it that - is what level of support the rest of the 200,000 provide. Are they merely philosophically and emotionally aligned, or do they provide logistical and financial support? To support 30,000 hard-core fighters requires a reasonable infrastructure. It's impossible to believe that a decent number of the remaining don't provide more than mere lip-service to the fighters.
The author of your link admits that, even if they do provide more than lip service, they don't admit it.
Anything else?
