THOSE WOULD BE THE FOLKS TED KENNEDY THINKS ARE WINNING...:

Rumsfeld: U.S. Met With Iraq Insurgents (THOMAS WAGNER, 6/26/05, Associated Press)

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged Sunday that U.S. officials met with insurgents in Iraq, after a British newspaper reported two such meetings took place recently at a villa north of Baghdad.

Insurgent commanders "apparently came face to face" with four American officials during meetings on June 3 and June 13 at a villa near Balad, some 25 miles north of Baghdad, The Sunday Times reported.

When asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about the report of the two meetings, Rumsfeld said, "Oh, I would doubt it. I think there have probably been many more than that."

Three militant groups distanced themselves from the reports, denying that they had ever negotiated with U.S. or Iraqi officials to end the insurgency.