Foreign Fighters Add to Resistance in Iraq, U.S. Says

During the recent Iraq war, there were reports of foreign fighters sneaking into the country to aid Saddam Hussein’s forces. Now, as the U.S. army struggles to control post-war chaos, American commanders say foreigners are still being recruited by Hussein loyalists. A lack of American presence in some parts of the country has allowed these loyalists, many fueled by the belief that the dictator is still alive, to regroup. And new fighters are crossing the border into Iraq to aid attacks on the occupying army and force a U.S. withdrawal from the country. Although American officials do not believe that the fighters are under the control of a single leader or group, the influx of foreign militants is “obviously unhelpful”.The development also raises the broader question of the impact of the Iraq war on the Middle East. Instead of Iraq serving as the model of a democracy, as hoped by Washington, will it now become the focal point of Arab hostility? -YaleGlobal