Quote of the Day.

Bill Ardolino is an independent journalist in Iraq. He normally posts his stories at his blog, INDCJournal, but Long War Journal sometimes carries his pieces. They posted one yesterday, an interview a local translator, a Fallujan, on several topics, but especially the invasion and occupation, with special emphasis on Fallujah. I recommend you read the whole thing. There's a lot of good information there. (You'll like it, Markadelphia, I promise! Much grist for both sides.) But this passage I found particularly quotable:

INDC: But what motivated al Qaeda to do that though? Why would they start killing those innocent people?

Leo: I think the major goal was chaos ... to make big chaos. And everyone knows [that the radical mujahadeen] were pushed [into Iraq] from beyond the borders: Iran particularly, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Nobody wants Iraq to stabilize, to be a good country and a democratic country, because democracy will affect them, and they are dictatorships. There is a prince in Kuwait, there is a King in Arabia, there is what everyone calls a republic, but it’s not a republic, it’s a kingdom in Jordan. And Iran, Iran wants to take over the whole area, if possible. So they see an opportunity to take over Iraq, and they take it. That’s what everyone thinks, just like what I’ve said.

Gee, it sound's like he's reading from Karl Rove's Bush Doctrine Manual.

This second quote is a close runner-up:

INDC: One thing I’m curious about is, what do the Fallujans think of the Marines as fighters? Do they respect them, hate them, fear them? I know that your culture is very proud and tough. You fight. What do they think of the Marines?

Leo: You know, al Qaeda and other mujahadeen say that the Americans are not tough, they are just cartoon soldiers, just like characters in cartoon films, but most of the people see the fact that they are tough people. And they are so patient. And they can fight outside of their country overseas, and I don’t think al Qaeda or someone else can fight like Marines, overseas and so distant from home.

But if we pull out because of the defeatist Democrats, then al Qaeda and the other mujahadeen will know that they can defeat us politically - and our defeat is all that matters. They learned that lesson from Vietnam.