What motivates Iraqi militants?

[vidal monsoon]

In an address to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, General Richard Dannatt confirmed what many have suspected for years, that most Iraqi militants are decent people motivated by economic concerns and nationalist opposition to the US-led occupation of Iraq.

So, because as an Army we are enemy focussed, some words on our adversaries in southern Iraq. The militants (and I use the word deliberately because not all are insurgents, or terrorists, or criminals; they are a mixture of them all) are well armed – probably with outside help, and probably from Iran. By motivation, essentially, and with the exception of the Al Qaeda in Iraq element who have endeavoured to exploit the situation for their own ends, our opponents are Iraqi Nationalists, and are most concerned with their own needs – jobs, money, security – and the majority are not bad people.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Ab...gicStudies.htm



Earlier, Captain John Fleming, spokesman for the multinational forces’ detainee operations, expressed a similar view.

Interestingly, we’ve found that the vast majority are not inspired by jihad or hate for the coalition or Iraqi government — the vast majority are inspired by money. The primary motivator is economic — they’re angry men because they don’t have jobs. The detainee population is overwhelmingly illiterate and unemployed. Extremists have been very successful at spreading their ideology to economically strapped Iraqis with little to no formal education.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/wo...in&oref=slogin