BBC: US 'kills key Iraq al-Qaeda man'

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 14:28 GMT | BBC Staff

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

US 'kills key Iraq al-Qaeda man'

Abu Maysara was said to be a senior figure in al-Qaeda in Iraq

A man killed during fighting in Iraq last month was a key figure in the al-Qaeda in Iraq movement, the US military has said.

Abu Maysara, a Syrian, was a senior adviser to the group's leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, a statement said.

Abu Maysara died during a raid near Samarra and was identified using DNA evidence, the military said.

Separately, US military officials say they regret the killing of an Iraqi civilian during operations on Monday.

The militant Abu Maysara and five other people died during a fire fight that broke out when US forces surrounded a house used to disseminate al-Qaeda in Iraq propaganda in Samarra, 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

He is thought to have played a key role in the group's media network and is said to have escaped from prison in March.

Warnings 'ignored'

Monday's civilian death occurred during operations against suspected al-Qaeda militants in the town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

Another three civilians were shot and wounded during the incident.

A US spokesman said the civilians had been in a vehicle that approached troops at high speed, ignoring warnings to stop.

Last week a number of other civilians were killed by mistake in at least two separate incidents in Iraq.

[goldstategop]

In other news, Mama Boss Pelosi and Dingy Harry continue to be devastated at the news of Al Qaeda's reverses.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the Blogosphere(Strata-Sphere):

Top al-Qaeda Leader In Iraq Killed

************************EXCERPT***************************

Of course when we see the top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq killed it is always not an Iraqi. This latest dead leader, Abu Maysara, was a Syrian:

*************************snip*************************

The militant Abu Maysara and five other people died during a fire fight that broke out when US forces surrounded a house used to disseminate al-Qaeda in Iraq propaganda in Samarra, 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

He is thought to have played a key role in the group’s media network and is said to have escaped from prison in March.

Abu al-Masri - the al-Qaeda leader after Zarqawi, was of course Egyptian, not Iraqi. There apparently are no Iraqis leading the fight for al-Qaeda in Iraq, they are all too busy leading the fight AGAINST al-Qaeda. Google Abu Maysara and you find lots and lots of propaganda pieces from the man (here, here, and here for example). Clearly we have taken out a key recruiter and spinmeister for al-Qaeda.

That leaves the job of declaring victory for al-Qaeda in Iraq up to the far left Democrats in Congress and their rabid supporters. I am sure they are more than willing to keep promoting al-Qeada’s imminent success in Iraq.

Posted by AJStrata on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 10:35 am.

[Spruce]

BBC cannot just report this good news. They simply MUST include the unrelated reports of civilian casualties. Twice.

[tomnbeverly]

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi will be sitting in comfortable chairs in warm living rooms surrounded by family and friends this holiday season while they leave our best and bravest out cold in Iraq with no money for food or medical supplies, no support for the very troops that they with their IWR votes sent into harms way and now that we are actually on the right course for victory have sold out for thier own political advancement from thier fringe wacko leftists. If I was Bush IAW with the Constitution art II I would recall Congress into special session to address the American people on why they refuse to fund our troops this holiday season.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

“In other news, Mama Boss Pelosi and Dingy Harry continue to be devastated at the news of Al Qaeda’s reverses.”...Yes! “Their war” is also going badly.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More from the Blog:

We Can Now Measure al-Qaeda’s Presence In Iraq

***************************EXCERPT***********************

We have seen months of declining violence in Iraq as al-Qaeda’s one time allies - and continuously victims - have turned against them. Now al-Qaeda has decided to go for broke in Iraq and increase their massacring of fellow Muslims. They must think this is the only way to avoid defeat, since their defeat in Iraq would cripple their credibility and support across the Middle East:

The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaeda-linked group forced on the defensive by its former tribal allies, ordered a renewed bombing campaign against Iraqi security forces in a Web message on Tuesday.

***************************snip************************

Is al-Qaeda a force to be reckoned with or a spent movement heading into oblivion? We will know one way or the other through December and January. If al-Qaeda is able to muster a comeback it will sadly show up in the death toll figures for Iraqis and Americans. However, if they are a spent force then that too will show itself in the same figures as little to no change in the current trend showing regular reductions in the violence.

al-Qaeda has laid it all on the line. But they must know the Americans and Iraqis are prepared and ready for them. The final battle seems to be on.

Posted by AJStrata on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 11:41 am.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Iraq has turned into a QUAGMIRE. A QUAGMIRE, I tell ya!

For al-Qaeda, that is.

[blam]

"BBC cannot just report this good news. They simply MUST include the unrelated reports of civilian casualties. Twice."

Yup. I 'caught' that too. Sickening liberal news organizations.

[Stonewall Jackson]

They have to end their articles on a positive note. /s

[Tennessean4Bush]

I thought this was interesting: We can now measure AQI (also linked in above post)

[NordP]

And yet again, FR is one of the few places you'll EVER hear about this.

Thanks for your posting!

[NordP]

And yet again, FR is one of the few places you'll EVER hear about this.

Thanks for your posting!

[FreeAtlanta]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out Dingy and the witch are not secretly shipping arms or arranging arms transfers from Iran to the insurgents.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Somehow, this seems to have MISSED my local news. Nowadays, the only IRAQ news they seem to report is when a local boy dies. They relish reporting that.

American success is rarely if ever mentioned.

[rfp1234]

[jveritas]

Thank you very much for the ping. I have been reading on terrorist forums about this speech by Abou Omar Al Baghdadi that the terrorists call him “The Prince Of Faithfuls” where he said that “The ISlamic State in Iraq” has established the “Al Sadik” brigade to fight the forces allied against Al Qaeda including the Sunnis tribes who have been fighting AL Qaeda in the last few months.

PS: Abou Omar AL Baghdadi is an actor hired by Al Qada in Iraq to give an Iraqi face for them, he basically read the speeches.

[denydenydeny]

Big loss for them. An apparently fair-skinned, blue-eyed Syrian like this guy could have passed for a Western European anywhere. Give him a false passport and he could have done major mischief. It gives you an idea of how deeply we are cutting away at their leadership.

[q_an_a]

For all the stuff people write about the war - we see so little about how safe it has been for the many leaders. It was once common for people like Patton to die of a land mine - after the war or Stonewall Jackson to die during his ware, but in Iraq we see many fewer troop deaths and even fewer to the officer corp. I have seen - on PBS - the tributes to the fallen and there have been many officers, but not many generals. Part of what I am implying is that our enemy does not have the ability to attack hard targets and I am glad.

[elhombrelibre]

Great news spelled out on Iraq ping.