How did the fighting start in Iraq?
A. Right after the American invasion, it seemed that attacks on U.S. troops were mostly a symptom of general chaos. But by late summer 2003, an organized, nationalist resistance, led by Baathist officers fired by the U.S. authorities, had emerged. (The term “insurgents” is generally reserved for the Sunni-dominated guerrillas; Shiite militias such as the Mahdi Army have also grown in the wake of the invasion, and have fought U.S. troops at times.) Until recently Washington insisted that the Sunni insurgents were a few “dead-enders” who could be contained and defeated within the “Sunni triangle”; in fact, the resistance has gained strength year after year, and its fighters have been responsible for nearly all of the 3,000-plus American troop deaths in Iraq. Both Sunni and Shiite groups now increasingly target ordinary Iraqis.
