Turning on al-Qaeda in Baquba

Time ^ | 6/21/07 | Franco Pagetti

[bnelson44]

I helicoptered today into Baquba, the centerpiece of the current U.S. offensive in Iraq, with Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno —and then drove via Stryker brigade into the center of the fight for a briefing. It was midday, and the sun was so hot that both sides in the battle seemed to be taking a siesta. Only a few small explosions could be heard in the distance; there was no small arms fire. Odierno—a supertanker of a man with a shaved head who looks like ancient turtle—met with a group of battalion commanders in the ruins of a medical center that had been blasted, by someone, several years earlier. Situation maps were leaned against a white ceramic tile wall; the officers sat in campaign chairs, hunched in a tight semi-circle; bottles of cold water were passed around.

The news from the battle was good. That was no surprise: in a guerrilla war like Iraq, every engagement that can be described as a "battle" is inevitably won by the superior force, which is part of the frustration. Baquba, the capital of Diyala province just northeast of Baghdad, had been infiltrated by al-Qaeda over the past year—between 400 and 500 al-Qaeda fighters were estimated to be in the city when the U.S. forces attacked on Monday, and now those who remain are surrounded, in a slowly tightening cordon. These sorts of operations have taken place multiple times in multiple cities during this war, to little effect—usually the terrorists slip away, as they did in Falluja in 2004, only to turn up elsewhere. That may well happen again this time. But there is one promising development in Baquba.

[bnelson44]

After the briefing I asked Colonel Antonia if he'd asked the Sunnis why they had turned against al-Qaeda. "They said it was religious stuff," he said. "AQI demanded that the women wear abayas, no smoking and they preached an extreme version of Islam in the mosque. They'd also spent the winter without food and fuel because of the violence al-Qaeda was causing. One guy said to me, 'We fought against you because you invaded our country and you're infidels. But you treat us with more dignity than al-Qaeda,' and he said they'd continue to work with us. I've been involved in many operations here and this is a first—usually everybody's shooting at us. This is the first time we've had any of them on our side." (In web postings, the 1920 Revolutionary Brigade has denied it is cooperating with the Americans.)

Odierno later told me similar anti-al-Qaeda rebellions were happening throughout the country, including some neighborhoods of Baghdad. "Iraqis notice things. They noticed what happened when we began to support the Sunni tribes against al-Qaeda in al-Anbar. And al-Qaeda seems to have overplayed its hand."

[cardinal4]

'We fought against you because you invaded our country and you're infidels. But you treat us with more dignity than al-Qaeda,' and he said they'd continue to work with us.

Hopefully this sentiment will be felt and understood by more and more Iraqis..

[Allegra]

Warplanes are roaring over Baghdad again...

Second night in a row we've heard a lot of this.

[pissant]

“usually the terrorists slip away, as they did in Falluja in 2004, only to turn up elsewhere.”

Considering we nailed about 2000 of them in Falluja, that’s a mistatement.

[bnelson44]

The sound of freedom

[ghost of nixon]

actually many of them turned up in hell...

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Hey Kiddo,,,Be Safe...

[Dog]

You stay safe..

[tanuki]

Thank you for posting. This gives the best ground level view of Baquba I’ve seen so far. Not to be a sourpuss, but I just can’t believe this is in Time.

[prairiebreeze]

One guy said to me, 'We fought against you because you invaded our country and you're infidels. But you treat us with more dignity than al-Qaeda,'

Not very comforting considering how Mohammed's brand of iron-fisted brainwashing has been firmly in place for roughly 1500 years or so and we've only had a few short years to try to make a difference among the muzzies. Also I have to wonder if the long winter without food and fuel had more to do with his current opinion than anything else.

Regardless, this infidel thinks you'd better get and stay wised-up Mr. Muslim Male.

Or you'll be living under the likes of Usay and Qusay again. Or even worse.

[TBP]

The tribal leaders in Abquba and in Anbar are working with us. The Iraqi armuy (you know, the one the libs and Bill O’Reilly say won’t stand up for themselves) took the lead in Baquba and did a very effective job.

In Anbar, Al Qaeda is almost wiped out. A place where there were once an average of 37 attacks per day now averages less than one.

The other side has been pressing for a ceaasefire, something you don’t do if you’re winning. (Bush will probably give it to them too, just as LBJ did in Vietnam, so they can regroup and rearm.)

IOW, we’re winning and it scares the pants off the Dimmycraps, who are completely focused on losing this war so they can win the next election.