SO, WHAT ARE THEY???

Criminals, insurgents or militants? First, some more of an old, sad story:

Iraqi PM outraged over alleged civilian casualties
updated 4:07 p.m. EDT, Sun October 21, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met Sunday with the top U.S. military commander in Iraq to voice his outrage over the reported deaths of Iraqi civilians during a Sunday morning military raid in Baghdad's Sadr City, a government spokesman told CNN.

Now, from the above article, we get to the shifting nomenclature:

"Special Groups are Shiite extremist militant groups trained, funded and supplied primarily by Iran through the Islamic Revolutionary Guards -- Quds Force," said U.S. Army Lt. Justin Cole.

"Special Groups have evolved over the past three years into insurgent elements using a cellular structure and operating independently."

"Special Groups operate throughout Iraq," Cole said. "They plan and execute bombings, kidnappings, sectarian murders and more against Iraqi citizens, Iraqi forces and coalition personnel."