I'M CONFUSED, AGAIN

I was puzzled before by the military's new emphasis on "criminals" in Iraq and now there seems to be a blatant inconsistency between Petraeus and other officers.

First, Petraeus makes a distinction between sectarian and non-sectarian crimes:

Petraeus said the reduced threat from Al Qaeda had given way to nonsectarian crimes - kidnapping, corruption in the oil industry and extortion.

"As the terrible extremist threat of Al Qaeda has been reduced somewhat, there is in some Iraqi neighborhoods actually a focus on crime and on extortion that has been ongoing and kidnapping cells and what is almost a mafia-like presence in certain areas," he said.

Then others tie the same crimes directly into the non-mafia insurgency:

TIKRIT, Iraq — Iraqi insurgents and sectarian militias are funding their deadly activities by muscling in on Mafia-style rackets involving everything from real estate and oil to cement and soft drinks, U.S. commanders say.

"If you think that the majority of money is coming from outside the country to fund the insurgency, you'd be wrong," said Army Lt. Col. Eric Welsh, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, in the northern city of Mosul. "I think a majority is being done right here . . . under the disguise of legitimate storefront operations."

To make things even more confusing, MNF-I seems to draw a distinction between Al Qaeda and all other sources of violence. These other sources are now called "criminal":

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi security forces continue to make progress against al Qaeda and other criminal elements, thanks in large part tothe efforts of concerned citizens throughout the country, a senior military official in Baghdad said during a briefing today.

In his first briefing since taking over as chief of Multinational Force Iraq’s communications division, Navy Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith ... “Progress made against al Qaeda and other criminal elements has led to decreased attacks against coalition and Iraqi security forces and Iraqi citizens,” he said. “Attack levels are continuing a downward trend that began in June.”