Posted on 01/14/2006 8:32:19 PM PST by FairOpinion
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2006 – Al Qaeda's influence in Iraq is unraveling, a senior U.S. general based in Baghdad told reporters today during a satellite news conference at the Pentagon. "Al Qaeda is increasingly in disarray and we have pursued, captured and killed a large number of them," Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commanding general of Multinational Corps Iraq and the 18th Airborne Corps, said.
That news, Vines said, accompanies escalating participation of capable Iraqi security forces in the fight against both foreign jihadists and home-grown terrorists.
"Iraqis are increasingly in the lead," Vines said. "The capacity of the Iraqi security forces is exponentially greater" than a year ago.
Much terrorist influence was removed from Iraq last year, Vines said, as the result of several U.S. military offensives targeted against insurgents operating in Anbar province and along the Iraq-Syrian border.
The Anbar area was a hotbed of terrorist and criminal activity, other U.S. military officials have said, with smugglers assisting foreign terrorists in crossing the Syrian border into Iraq, and on into the Euphrates River Valley or Baghdad.
Terrorists also intimidated Sunni Arabs and other groups living in Anbar province in efforts to keep them from participating in the political process of the new Iraq, Vines said.
Vines said foreign fighters now comprise a small portion of terrorist activity in Iraq, with the majority being disaffected Iraqis who'd been followers of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. Other terrorists simply don't want U.S. or other foreign troops in Iraq, the general said.
Asked by a reporter about the whereabouts of enemy forces engaged during last year's fighting in Anbar province, Vines responded: "Many of them are dead." The general also said some Iraqis who are tired of violence and other terrorist interference in their lives have begun to attack al Qaeda operatives.
Citing recent intelligence reports, Vines reiterated, "There are a fair number of indicators that tell us, currently, al Qaeda in Iraq is in disarray."
"Does it have the capability to regenerate? Unfortunately, it could," he said. "But we must keep the pressure on."
Vines soon will return stateside after nearly a year's tour of duty in Iraq. His successor is Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who will lead the U.S. Army's 5th Corps in Iraq.
In 2004-05, Chiarelli, then a major general, commanded the 1st Cavalry Division in Iraq.
Well, President Bush played that card in a risky manner if your assessment is correct. The 2004 election wasn't exactly a landslide, but now that W has 3 more years I hope that the war is fought in a manner to win it and the borders are controlled in a more fierce fashion.
I read today on Iraq the Model that the Sunni tribal shieks have turned completely against the terrorists. They have joined the fight, this includes the shieks in Ramadi.
They won't have a head to put panties on.
Risky? Yes, I agree. I think that the US is beginning to close the Iraq borders as they did around the Iraqi elections. Bush is beginning to fight for public opinion too. We should be seeing soon more info about Alqeada ties to Saddam and maybe some more on WMD too.
The flypaper strategy worked well coupled with the Arab notion that although the US has technical superiority its soldiers can't fight man-to-man. We train our soldiers to shoot well. The terrorists were given their weapons with little target practice. We creamed them and they left the battlefield littered with dead with cell phones and laptops which get turned over to our intel.
I'll bet that earthquake late last year, took care of many terrorists, trainees, camps, and places of refuge. It probably let others in the community know they were there.
Forgot to add, Pakistan.
Too early to call if that means anything or not.
In the meantime, we enjoy the quiet.
That's the brilliance of it all. He engaged them elsewhere rather than in the U.S. and they've been kept pretty busy. They've also been depleted some.
And a formerly oppressed nation is tasting freedom at the same time.
Pretty good play in my book.
A lot of us wondered why the administration was so silent about Iraq. WE knew we were winning, but they kept quiet.
The stupid leftists and MSM kept pounding that we were losing, making us look weak, and the terrorists, being encouraged by the left..........as they always are..........flooded Iraq with foreign fighters, which are now being wiped out.
Flypaper. INDEED!
What worries me is that Zarqawi & Co. may figure that they can make more progress against the Great Satan in America than in trying to convince Iraqis to throw us out.
As the Iraqis come to believe in their own democracy, the terrorists may find America (including Latin America) a more receptive population for their message than the Middle East.
Remain locked and loaded!
Leading means taking risks. President Bush leads, and will have a legacy that the debauched one can only dream of.
He will go around saying what a great President he was, but history will prove that he accomplished nothing...... other than being impeached as a slimy liar.
I have read of that actually happening - Iraqi civilians fed up with their neighborhoods being used as bases by the terrorists have taken them out on at least a couple of occasions.
Latin America does seem ripe for something like this.
I would not be surprised if in the ensuing earthquake rescue operations, a number of SOF A teams plus perhaps some SEAL teams and even SAS and Delta lads "stayed behind" for some long-term "snoop and poop" operations coupled with some discrete targeting. Sort of like when lads from SOG, or in-country LRRP types would go in with an air assault near the Laotian border and "stay behind" after melting into the jungle with the infantry. Difficult, extremely dangerous missions, but with big payoff.
Good. I hope so. My first thought when that earthquake happened was, "I'll bet it's to flush out the terrorists." As far as the people presently saying no terrorist are there, well...they're just afraid if they admit anything they or their family will be history. Those terrorist people are just a hidin' in dark corners everywhere, like little cockroaches.
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