Coalition Forces Capture, Kill Terrorists in Iraq

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2007 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed and captured terrorists, weapons caches and bomb-making materials during operations in Iraq over the past two days. Intelligence reports directed Iraqi and coalition forces to a residence in Baghdad where they captured an individual believed to have ties to a secret cell terrorist network. The network is known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosives from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training.

In other operations, coalition forces in Baghdad today targeted al-Qaeda in Iraq, detaining 18 suspected terrorists and destroying a cache of weapons and bomb-making materials.

The soldiers were operating from information gleaned from a May 21 operation. The forces detained five individuals with suspected ties to the al-Qaeda network. One individual said he had attended an IED-making class in a building nearby.

The coalition forces moved on to that building and found a cache of weapons, explosives and improvised explosive device-making materials. The cache contained three fully assembled IEDs, two artillery rounds, multiple IED triggers, eight rifles and assorted IED components.

In Mosul, coalition forces detained six individuals in two separate raids targeting al-Qaeda cell leaders in the city. Outside Fallujah, coalition forces picked up four more suspects.

Yesterday, coalition forces killed two terrorists and captured three suspects near Taji, northwest of Baghdad. One of the suspects is believed to be an al-Qaeda senior leader whose group supplies vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices for use in the Taji area. The group is also known to be responsible for indirect fire and IED attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces.

Coalition forces operating near Karmah yesterday found a cache of weapons and explosives, including 10 homemade bombs, a 55-gallon drum of ammonium nitrate, 200 anti-aircraft rounds and an anti-aircraft artillery mount and a dump truck outfitted with a detonation cord. Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists and safely destroyed the weapons cache on site.

What's really eerily unsettling is how the message that Al Qaeda is in Iraq has finally seeped its way into the thick skulls of the mainstream media (such that it appears matter-of-factly, rather than buried under "allegedly" or "Bush claims that.." in stories like this), and yet they still don't bat an eye or consider it odd in the slightest when Democrats spout their nonsensical position that we need to "redeploy" troops out of Iraq in order to fight the "real terrorists", Al Qaeda.

I guess I just didn't expect that. I always figured that once it become conventional wisdom and fully understood by the common person that Al Qaeda was in Iraq and cared about Iraq, we would no longer have to hear idiotic positions such as "redeploy to fight Al Qaeda" go unchallenged. I guess I was wrong, because (bizarrely, and illogically) the conventional wisdom now seems to be that the more Al Qaeda stirs up trouble in Iraq, the more urgent the necessity for us to "redeploy" out of Iraq to fight Al Qaeda.

How anyone believes that without having their brain explode is beyond me, but there it is.

I have a question of the WOT. Evidently a poll was taken recently and 26% of Muslim males approved of suicide bombings. My question is this: “Do you approve of the recent liberation by U.S. forces of the 42 hostages, some of whom had been tortured for months?”

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