'Terror On Wane,' 'Al-Qaida On Run' And Other Headlines You Won't See

IBD ^ | May 22, 2008

[Kaslin]

Mileposts: As President Bush's term winds down, signs are there that the war on terror is being won. The conflict in Iraq is ebbing, and worldwide terror attacks are down. When will someone call it what it is? VICTORY.

---

Back from the front, Gen. David Petraeus called on Congress Thursday to begin considering a drawdown of U.S. troops after five years of war. Violence in Iraq has plunged to its lowest levels since 2004, and al-Qaida is a tattered shadow of its formerself — key leaders dead, successors weak and recruiting down.

"My sense" Petraeus said, "is I will be able to make a recommendation (in the autumn) for further reductions."

This is no Saigon-style exit, but a coming victorious end of a long conflict. U.S. forces have pounded al-Qaida into irrelevance.

Using highly disciplined Special Forces strikes, advanced intelligence and communications, and local allies in the right places, 155,000 U.S. troops have been crushing a vicious enemy motivated by no rational forces in a war with no precedent.

They are winning against all odds, overcoming not just terrorists, but other obstacles such as a lumbering Pentagon bureaucracy and weak-kneed Western intelligentsia whose media toadies trump every military error and harp on every isolated bad deed.

Now proven wrong, these same critics retaliate by ignoring what is a very big story.

[Senator Goldwater]

Ballgame.

[A.Hun]

I hope the democrats (and a lot of “conservatives”) choke on the crow they are going to have to eat.

[jveritas]

WE WON.

God bless our brave troops and President Bush.

[dalebert]

bump

[A.Hun]

WE WON.

Yes we did! I would not be surprised if Petraeus recommends a large draw down of troops in September.

God bless our brave troops and President Bush.

Amen!

[polymuser]

God bless all our servicemen and women, their leaders, our Commander-in-Chief, their families and supporters of these great Americans.

I look forward to returning servicemen becoming active in our political system. I understand lot of them are pretty p-o'd over their misrepresentation by our D-media.

[maine-iac7]

Some good news out of Afghanistan as well - the infamous Spring Surge that was so horrific the past 2-3 years - especially for our troops in the isolated mountains of the north eastern border against Pakistan - the worst and most dangerous of the fighting - is quieter this year...even tho' the Talis had planned to hit worse than ever, using the valley as a straight path to Kabul. Instead, they're getting their clocks cleaned...

They are still fighting up in the Valley known as Taliban Central - and some fierce fighting - but not constant, day after day....

But you won't hear that in the MSlimeMedia -

Also, Petreaus will be taking over the fighting in AFghanistan come fall as well...and he knows how to fight this new kind of war...

[Selmore]

Hussein may just break out his flag pin

[givemELL]

All good news. However, a potential new threat comes from Iraq. Al-Qaeda, as we know is a Sunni movement against the West...and, the Shiite movement is mainly from Iran, however, a new report today posted on www.jihadwatch.org relates the Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah al-Sistani, formerly favoring the US, as now issuing fatwas legitimizing the attacking of US forces in Iraq...hope this does not come to pass...the Shiite forces of al-Sadr of Sadr City have been quite enough already...here is the report on Sistanis’ activity ...we can, must and should deal with this as well.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2008/05/021138print.html

May 22, 2008
Report: Iraq’s al-Sistani quietly issuing fatwas in support of armed conflict with U.S.-led forces

“A longtime official at al-Sistani’s office in Najaf would not deny or confirm the edicts issued in private, but hinted that a publicized call for jihad may come later.”

A call for what, now? That would make it sound like it has something to do with religion — one Religion of Peace in particular. And you know how the State Department frowns on that. “Powerful Iraqi cleric flirting with Shiite militant message,” by Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra for the Associated Press, May 22:

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric has been quietly issuing religious edicts declaring that armed resistance against U.S.-led foreign troops is permissible — a potentially significant shift by a key supporter of the Washington-backed government in Baghdad.

The edicts, or fatwas, by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani suggest he seeks to sharpen his long-held opposition to American troops and counter the populist appeal of his main rivals, firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia.

But — unlike al-Sadr’s anti-American broadsides — the Iranian-born al-Sistani has displayed extreme caution with anything that could imperil the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The two met Thursday at the elderly cleric’s base in the city of Najaf south of Baghdad.

So far, al-Sistani’s fatwas have been limited to a handful of people. They also were issued verbally and in private — rather than a blanket proclamation to the general Shiite population — according to three prominent Shiite officials in regular contact with al-Sistani as well as two followers who received the edicts in Najaf.

All spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Al-Sistani — who is believed to be 79 or 80 — has not been seen in public since a brief appearance in August 2004, shortly after returning from London for medical treatment for an unspecified heart condition. But his mix of religious authority and political clout makes him more powerful than any of Iraq’s elected leaders.

For American officials, he represents a key stabilizing force in Iraq for refusing to support a full-scale Shiite uprising against U.S.-led forces or Sunnis — especially at the height of sectarian bloodletting after an important Shiite shrine was bombed in 2006.

It is impossible to determine whether those who received the edicts acted on them. Most attacks — except some by al-Qaida in Iraq — are carried out without claims of responsibility.

It is also unknown whether al-Sistani intended the fatwas to inspire violence or simply as theological opinions on foreign occupiers. Al-Sadr — who has a much lower clerical rank than al-Sistani — recently has threatened “open war” on U.S.-led forces.

The U.S. military said it had no indications that al-Sistani was seeking to “promote violence” against U.S.-led troops. It also had no information linking the ayatollah or other top Shiite clerics to armed groups battling U.S. forces and allies.

A senior aide to the prime minister, al-Maliki, said he was not aware of the fatwas, but added that the “rejection of the occupation is a legal and religious principle” and that top Shiite clerics were free to make their own decisions. The aide also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fatwas are theological opinions by an individual cleric and views on the same subject can vary. They gain force from consensus among experts in Islamic law and traditions.

In the past, al-Sistani has avoided answering even abstract questions on whether fighting the U.S. presence in Iraq is allowed by Islam. Such questions sent to his Web site — which he uses to respond to followers’ queries — have been ignored. All visitors to his office who had asked the question received a vague response.

The subtle shift could point to his growing impatience with the continued American presence more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion.

It also underlines possible opposition to any agreement by Baghdad to allow a long-term U.S. military foothold in Iraq — part a deal that is currently under negotiation and could be signed as early as July.

Al-Sistani’s distaste for the U.S. presence is no secret. In his public fatwas on his Web site, he blames Washington for many of Iraq’s woes.

But a more aggressive tone from the cleric could have worrisome ripples through Iraq’s Shiite majority — 65 percent of the country’s estimated 27 million population — in which many followers are swayed by his every word.

A longtime official at al-Sistani’s office in Najaf would not deny or confirm the edicts issued in private, but hinted that a publicized call for jihad may come later....

Posted at May 22, 2008 8:54 PM

[A.Hun]

LOL...Shrillary will be claiming she was right for supporting the war all along....

[LibLieSlayer]

The POS was wearing a Flag Pin during an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts. He was in his Red, White and Black mode.

LLS

[eyedigress]

I recall after 9/11 learning just how extensive and powerful Al-Quaida had become during the 90’s. Leading them to their hell-hole in Iraq was a very good plan.

[P.O.E.]

I don’t think for a minute that terrorism is dead.

[ApplegateRanch]

Don’t crow too soon.

The Lefties in Congress, State, the press, and elsewhere can still manage to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory.

[TADSLOS]

I don’t think for a minute that terrorism is dead.

It's not, by a long shot. We'll collapse the kit bag in Iraq later this year. Politicians being what they are will simultaneously call it sweet victory or shamed defeat. In the meantime Iran will make its play against the Iraqi government, unless we take care of them too, in the very near future.

We still have a loong way to go in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Waziristan, the horn of Africa and Indonesia. There's also plenty of islamic terror groups to uproot in Europe and South America, not to mention the cells still operating inside our own borders.

The Iraq campaign may be nearing successful completion but it is not the beginning of the end. The end of the beginning, perhaps. This is the long war, and Americans, historically, are not patient with war- but our islamist enemies are.

[A.Hun]

The Lefties in Congress, State, the press, and elsewhere can still manage to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory.

I believe GWB has beaten them all. They don't have enough time to affect his policy much.

[cookcounty]

After 3 years, they finally hit on the idea of putting the counter-insurgency people out front to do the counter-insurgency. D-oh!

Month of May: US casulties at .73/day. LOWEST of any month since the war began.

--You saw it first at FR.

[driftless2]

"crow"

Libs never choke on crow. To illustrate my point I'll conduct a brief experiment. Conservative to lib: What do you have to say about the Iraq War now that we've virtually crushed Al Qaeda? Lib response: what war? and what are we going to do about the oil companies and the millions of Americans who are are starving in the streets? Next question.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

That report has suspicious antiwar reporters working overtime....

From hotAir:

Sistani inching towards declaring jihad against U.S.?

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

By HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA”

Hmmm, I dunno. Go over to google news and do a search on “HAMZA HENDAWI” but select “2006″ and you will see that practically every single article written under that byline (and under HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, of which there are several) are anti-American. I am not sure I would believe it. Reading it on the AP wire and that it comes out of the AP’s Baghdad bureau pretty much assures that it is agit-prop.

crosspatch on May 22, 2008 at 7:44 PM