Posted on 01/27/2007 4:08:59 PM PST by jmc1969
DEATH SQUAD leaders have fled Baghdad to evade capture or killing by American and Iraqi forces before the start of the troop “surge” and security crackdown in the capital.
A former senior Iraqi minister said most of the leaders loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, had gone into hiding in Iran.
Among those said to have fled is Abu Deraa, the Shi’ite militia leader whose appetite for sectarian savagery has been compared to that of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed last year.
The former minister, who did not want to be named for security reasons, backed Sunni MPs’ claims that Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, had encouraged their flight. He alleged that weapons belonging to Sadr’s Mahdi Army had been hidden inside the Iraqi interior ministry to prevent confiscation.
Maliki said last week: “I know that senior criminals have left Baghdad, others have left the country. This is good — this shows that our message is being taken seriously.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too
And up in the nursery an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "cuckoo"
Cuckoo, cuckoo
Regretfully they tell us Cuckoo, cuckoo
But firmly they compel us Cuckoo, cuckoo
To say goodbye . . .
Cuckoo!
. . . to you
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu
So long, farewell, au revoir, auf wiedersehen
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye -- Goodbye!
I'm glad to go, I cannot tell a lie
I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly
The sun has gone to bed and so must I
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
THREE interesting things have happened since President Bush announced plans to "surge" U.S. troops in Iraq.
First, al-Qaeda appears to be retreating from Baghdad. A military intelligence officer has confirmed to Richard Miniter, editor of Pajamas Media, a report in the Iraqi newspaper al-Sabah that Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has ordered a withdrawal to Diyala province, north and east of Baghdad.
Mr. Masri's evacuation order said that remaining in Baghdad is a no-win situation for al-Qaeda because the Fallujah campaign demonstrated the Americans have learned how to prevail in house-to-house fighting, Mr. Miniter said.
(snip)
A strategic withdrawal makes good sense from al-Qaeda's point of view. It's better to live to fight another day. The intelligence officer who was Mr. Miniter's source thinks Mr. Masri is a more formidable opponent than was his predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who, ironically, met his end after an encounter with an F-16 in Diyala province.
But al-Qaeda's leaving Baghdad will give the Iraqi government and the Americans a chance to assert control in contested neighborhoods, which will make it difficult for al-Qaeda to return.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/COLUMNIST14/701270382/-1/NEWS24
Abu Deraa is an alSadr minion. But it is AQ chief al-Masri who called for the retreat into Diyala province...
See above.
I'm with you!
And I think it would be fair to say the insurgency has been stronger than anybody anticipated.
It's a legitimate, worthy military opponent with guns and bombs, provided in large part by Iran and Syria. Iran arms the Shiite militias, Syria funds the Sunni resistance. I'm always amazed at the Main Stream Media in the US who claim that there are no al Qaeda elements in Iraq. Somebody apparently forgot to tell al Quada who proudly trump their presence there on a daily basis.
All with one goal, make life miserable there so to chickens on the left in America give up and go home. They get satellite TV and see CNN. They know damn well what is going on politically within our country.
Thank you La Enchiladita for your link and post.
OPINION: It is always good news when Al Qaeda retreats, is captured, or killed in battle.
Unfortunatley, Al Qaeda is part of the global jihad. The global jihad is a community held together by the internet.
He's still wanted:
http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/index.cfm?page=masri
Correct, Cindy. And they have their own television networks, too, even tried to set one up here in the U.S. you may recall.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/arabsat_begins_to_broadcast_in.php
"Al-Zawraa hit the airwaves on November 14. According to Middle East-based media monitor Marwan Soliman and military analyst Bill Roggio, it was set up by the Islamic Army of Iraq, an insurgent group comprised of former Baathists who were loyal to Saddam Hussein and now profess their conversion to a bin Laden-like ideology.
"...On Friday 26 January BBC Monitoring observed Al-Zawraa TV, a Sunni satellite channel that targets viewers in Iraq and the Middle East, transmitting on Badr 4, one of the Arabsat satellites, at 26 degrees east.
Al-Zawraa also continues to be carried on the Egyptian-run Nilesat satellite.
Arabsat, based in Saudi Arabia, is an intergovernmental organization established originally by the Arab League. Saudi Arabia is the main stakeholder."
ON THE NET...
I'll add your link to my list.
THANKS La Enchiladita.
They're all cowards, HERE THAT ISLAMIC TERRORISTS, YOU'RE ALL COWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!
You sure have been following the story... I am not surprised!
Yes, that's the network that extended its tentacles into the U.S. I'm going to investigate that link... thanks!!
Unfortunately for us, there is an old saying.."He who fights then runs away, lives to fight another day." I think that we screwed up (again) by talking for two months about a "troop surge" in Baghdad. If you were a bad guy, would you stick around to get killed?! Hell no! I want us to win, but we are managing this war..like managers. What a cluster.
You're very welcome.
Right, not only we're fighting an unconventional war, but what's worse is that politicians and media do not want or pretend not to understand this. It's not a conventional "territorial" war where you "clear and hold" and then move, we've done that in first 3 weeks in Iraq - that war has been over for a long time.
Problems are: 1. Definition of "winning" and "losing" (hint: losing starts when we stop supporting Iraq democracy and start leaving... we're winning, but that's not how it's defined now by the Dems/media)
2. Definition of who the enemy is and who we are (or should be) really fighting in Iraq (hint: it's aQI and Iranians, not a "violence" between Sunnis and Shias as defined now by the Dems/media)
3. What to do about centuries-old internecine bloodshed (hint: don't interfere, watch who gets killed, help kill/capture HVTs when possible, don't send more troops unless generals on the ground think it's necessary for specific purposes but not "clear and hold"/"surge" in large civilian centers as it's impossible, a fool's errand)
4. Way forward (hint: political solution here at home lies in properly defining "winning" and "losing" in Iraq and consequences of losing; military solution to Iraq's problems and many other problems in ME after fall of Saddam's regime lie in Iran, not in Iraq - treat the problem/disease, not the symptoms... i.e. Iran may need a large dose of antibiotic for things to calm down in many other places in ME, particularly in Iraq)
Ooops. You were just joking. I'm sorry I didn't get the reference. But judging from other comments, some people actually think this is a sign of cowardice, rather than a rational response to U.S. strategy.
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