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Back in 2006 (I believe) a video was posted (I though on Hot Air) that explained the whole Iraq war strategy in a single 4 or 5 minute clip. I featured jihadi's rushing to Iraq because they felt it was the central battle of the War on Terror. And a Map explaining how Iraq was in the key strategic position in the Middle east bordering 6 other strategically important Mid-East States. I just can't recall enough to find it and I need it for a presentation.

April 10, 2008 -- A GAMBLE that proved too costly. That's how analysts in Tehran describe events last month in Basra. Iran's state-run media have de facto confirmed that this was no spontaneous "uprising." Rather, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tried to seize control of Iraq's second-largest city using local Shiite militias as a Trojan horse. Tehran's decision to make the gamble was based on three assumptions: * Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wouldn't have the courage to defend Basra at the risk of burning his bridges with the Islamic Republic in Iran. * The international force would be...

SENT TO KILL: Saudi Arabia is the single largest source of suicide bombers, who are trained outside of Iraq and then dispatched to fill orders from al-Qaeda cells there. The summary went on to describe the majority of the fighters as having six to 12 years of schooling, with very few having gone to college. Most come from families in the poor or middle classes and have six to eight siblings. "In these large family groups, individuals seek ways to `make their mark,' to set them apart. In many ways, entering jihad gives sons a way to show themselves unique...

Saudis biggest group of al Qaeda Iraq fighters: study By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most al Qaeda fighters in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia and Libya and many are university-aged students, said a study released on Wednesday by researchers at the U.S. Army's West Point military academy. The study was based on 606 personnel records collected by al Qaeda in Iraq and captured by coalition troops in October. It includes data on fighters who entered Iraq, largely through Syria, between August 2006 and August 2007. The researchers at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center found that 41 percent of the...

More than 40% of the foreign fighters who entered Iraq to join the insurgency in the past year were citizens of Saudi Arabia, America's key partner in the Middle East, according to detailed information seized from a camp used by them. Documents and computers found by the US army at Sinjar, on the Iraqi-Syrian border, revealed that the other single largest group came from Libya, which is now being rehabilitated as a reliable western ally. [snip] US military officials believe that 90% of such bombings are by foreigners. The captured data has been described as an intelligence treasure trove that...

BAGHDAD, Nov 12 (KUNA) -- American forces have arrested five Iranians near Al-Khales town in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, on Monday, an Iraqi security source said. The source, requesting anonymity, told KUNA the US troops, accompanied by support Iraqi forces, arrested the five Iranians after they made sure they entered Iraqi without passports thus illegally. The source did not elaborate, but US and Iraqi forces are frequently arresting Iranians entering the Iraqi territories illegally claiming they wanted to visit the shrines of the Shiites. Diyala is near the Iranian borders.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Coalition forces wounded one suspected terrorist and detained 19 others today during operations to disrupt foreign terrorist networks in central Iraq. -- Southeast of Fallujah, coalition forces targeted an associate of an al Qaeda network responsible for insurgent activities in the region, including car-bomb and improvised-explosive-device attacks. As coalition forces arrived at the target building, they were engaged by two armed men. The ground force engaged and wounded one of the men. The second surrendered. -- Coalition forces conducted three coordinated operations south of Samarra targeting associates of an al Qaeda senior leader involved in...

US Forces Kill 25 Iranian-linked insurgents in Iraq Air Strikes October 05, 2007 AFP Andrew Gully BAGHDAD -- A double US air strike near the Iraqi city of Baquba on Friday killed around 25 suspected Iranian-linked insurgents, the military said, but Iraqi officials said women and children were among the dead. A US military statement said the operations targeted an Iranian-linked commander believed to be smuggling weapons across the border from Iran, accused by the Americans of fuelling the sectarian conflict in Iraq. US aircraft killed an "estimated 25" insurgents and destroyed two houses after a heavy firefight near Baquba,...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2007 – A top al Qaeda leader who coordinated efforts of foreign terrorists in Iraq was killed this week, a senior official in the region announced today. (Video) A photo released by Multinational Corps Iraq officials of foreign al Qaeda leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, who was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a foreigner who brought al Qaeda terrorists into Iraq, was killed Sept. 25 in an air strike on a building south of Baghdad where he was...

Fewer Foreigners Crossing Into Iraq From Syria to Fight Drop Parallels Dip in Al-Qaeda Attacks By Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 16, 2007; Page A19 The number of foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria has decreased noticeably in recent months, corresponding to a similar decrease in suicide bombings and other attacks by the group al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials. "There is an early indication of a trend," said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, in an interview. Border crossings from Syria that averaged 80 to 90 a month have...

The Left thinks Iraq is a killing field for Americans. Actually, it is a killing field for our enemies, at a very great but vitally important sacrifice. That reflects a grand strategy, tailored to the peculiar nature of the global terror threat. You don't shoot poisonous fire-ants with a BB gun; you just set an ant trap. Ant colonies are highly "distributed" biological societies, much like the world-wide web. They can't be killed with a BB or a pressure hose; even pouring flaming gasoline on an ant hill won't work. Instead, you destroy ant colonies by attracting hungry ants to...

This list contains the names and countries of 139 suicide bombers in Iraq. The bombers came from the following countries: Saudi Arabia (53), Iraq (18), Italy (8), Syria (8), Kuwait (7), Jordan (4), Libya (3), Egypt (3), Tunisia (3), Turkey (3), Belgium (2), France (2), Spain (2), Yemen (3), Lebanon (1), Morocco (1), Britain (1), Bengal (1), Sudan (1) and Unknown (18). (Source: Adapted from "Suicide Bombers in Iraq" by Mohammed M. Hafez) (Go to link to see list)

Sunni extremists from Saudi Arabia make up half the foreign fighters in Iraq, many suicide bombers, a U.S. official says. BAGHDAD — Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran, accusing it of helping insurgents and militias here, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers. About 45% of all foreign militants targeting U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians and security forces are from Saudi Arabia; 15% are from Syria and Lebanon; and 10% are from North...

Tehran's Blood-soaked Hands July 11, 2007 The Washington Times As American and Iraqi casualties mount, U.S. military commanders have become increasingly willing to criticize Tehran's role in fueling the violence in Iraq — something senators would do well to bear in mind this week while going on about the need to withdraw or "redeploy" American troops there. According to Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, Tehran had a direct role in a Jan. 20 attack on the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in which five American soldiers were killed — four of them murdered after being abducted by Iranian-backed radicals who wore...

HERAT: More than 20 armed men crossed the border from Iran into Afghanistan and entered a town, a police commander said in the first such blunt claim by a high-ranking Afghan official. Colonel Rahmatullah Safi - police commander in the three western provinces of Farah, Badghis and Herat - said according to intelligence information, the group of armed militants crossed the border Monday in Farah's Anardara district. "Two pickup trucks with over 20 armed people riding in them crossed the border from Iran to Afghanistan," Safi said in his Border Police headquarters, 15 km outside Herat city. He said according...

WASHINGTON, June 25 (UPI) -- Iranian involvement in fomenting instability in Iraq is said to be increasing, and is not limited to providing sophisticated roadside bombs and armaments. U.S. forces in Iraq have captured a small number of extremists who have been trained recently in Iran in mortar and rocket operations, according to a top U.S. commander.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces have been spotted by British troops crossing the border into southern Iraq, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday. Britain's defence ministry would not confirm or deny the report, with a spokesman declining to comment on "intelligence matters". An unidentified intelligence source told the tabloid: "It is an extremely alarming development and raises the stakes considerably. In effect, it means we are in a full on war with Iran -- but nobody has officially declared it." "We have hard proof that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have crossed the border to attack us. It is very hard...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi forces have captured a key al-Qaida suspect wanted in the bombing of a Shiite shrine that brought the country to the brink of civil war, the country's national security adviser said Wednesday. The official identified the arrested man as Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali, a Tunisian also known as Abu Qudama. The national security chief said Abu Qudama was seriously wounded in a clash with security forces north of Baghdad few days ago. Fifteen other foreign fighters were killed in the confrontation, he said. Mouwafak al-Rubaie said the ringleader in the operation, an Iraqi he identified...

The Taliban are coming back to the front By James Rupert The United States and its allies have been forced to launch their biggest military operation of the war in Afghanistan because in the 55 months since ousting the Taliban movement from power, they neglected to establish minimal security or governance in the country’s south, analysts say. That failure has let the Taliban walk back in through an open door, say Afghan and foreign officials in Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar. Afghan officials estimate thousands of Taliban guerrillas, many recently infiltrated from Pakistan, are in the five southernmost...

HUNDREDS of foreign Islamic fighters are gathering in Afghanistan ahead of the deployment of 4,000 British troops to the country in the spring. British intelligence sources have told The Scotsman Islamic radicals sympathetic to al-Qaeda see Afghanistan as their new frontline and are starting to shift the focus of their anti-western campaign from Iraq. The fighters, including Jordanians, Yemenis, Egyptians and Gulf Arabs, stepped up their campaign two months ago with a series of suicide bombings against NATO peacekeepers, United States troops and Afghan government leaders. "Attacks in Afghanistan are now running at more than 500 a month - it's...