Posted on 11/01/2007 1:15:48 AM PDT by Tennessean4Bush
“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.
Colonel Ricky Gibbs, the American brigade commander with responsibility for the Rashid District in south Baghdad today told me, “So goes South Baghdad goes Baghdad.” General Petraeus had told me similar things about the importance of South Baghdad. In fact, Rashid is quickly developing into what might be one of the final serious battlegrounds of the war.
During the meeting, another member of the Iraqi Islamic Party said that al Qaeda has changed its strategy now that fomenting civil war between Sunni and Shia has backfired. Al Qaeda has shifted targets, now trying to generate friction between tribes. This time, however, the tribes are onto the game early, and they are not playing.
Sheik Omar, who has gained the respect...
(Excerpt) Read more at michaelyon-online.com ...
ping
We should declare Victory in Iraq soon, and take the fight to Iran already!
Yon is awesome as always
Al Qaeda is wiped, but the Mahdi Army still needs to be closed down.
But then, that does point to Iran.
Yes, by Iran I mean also Iranian bots in Iraq. The JaM thugs need the same treatment AQ received.
Now that Iraq is in line, it’s time to think about Congress.
Al Qaeda hasn’t been defeated there!
Okay, I’m half kidding...
>> Congress... Al Qaeda hasn’t been defeated there! Okay, I’m half kidding...
You’re not kidding as much as I wish you were. It’s embarrasing and disgusting that our Congress poses a tougher problem for our servicepeople than the real enemy does.
Couldn’t agree more...
Some of those folks are lucky I wasn’t President, because I would have had my Justice Department draw up criminal indictments.
Long, long overdue. By overlooking these crimes, we weaken the law. What will it mean for treason then, if treason is acceptable behavior?
It will mean that prosecutions for treason are then always prosecution of acceptable behavior, and always therefore are, at base, poltical.
The ultimate victim of such nonsense is our nation and our civilization.
I agree John. Thank you.
The Democrat party and the DBM were always the greatest danger in Iraq...
you’d need your AG nominated first
nominee approved
No doubt about it, President Bush is the first important historical figure of the new millennium.
I believe that Iran will be taken out through an air campaign before President Bush leaves office.
I hope General Petraeus will seal the Iraq-Iran borders before going after JaM and the snake's head, al Sadr that is.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917509/posts?page=33#33 It's imperative that al Sadr and his lieutenants don't escape to Iran.
When we defeat the JaM, it will signal the end of most of the US military heavy lifting and taking out Iran will quiet the ME almost immediately.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1917509/posts?page=33#33
This guy is a gem, and 100% reader supported. What a wonderful and invaluable pursuit he’s doing and I hope he gets a big job when he comes home. I just donated $25.
Interesting article. I had not read Michael Yon before.
Two comments: (1) It is very encouraging to see Iraqis starting to reject Al Qaeda, taking an active role in pushing them out. I agree with a comment Neal Boortz made that I’ll believe Muslims are serious about opposing terrorism when they are out in the streets tracking down these instigators. So perhaps a ray of hope.
(2) I don’t expect to see this sort of news being printed in the New York Times or broadcast on NPR/BBC types. And we know why it won’t...
Interesting report.
I think it was inevitable that they’d turn on the outsiders eventually, mostly Saudis and North Africans.
The bigger question is whether this indicates a genuine pacification among Shi’a and Sunni or if they’re merely clearing away the terrorist middlemen for an upcoming fight between the major tribal/religious factions in Iraq.
I hope they set aside their differences and concentrate on rebuilding Iraq. Its oil wealth, properly exploited, can make a good life for all in this misfounded relic of the British empire.
We can play a large part by signaling that we'll protect the Sunni and Kurdish minorities. After winning in Iraq, taking our Iran's Military infrastructure, navy, air force and nukes, the outside threat will diminish, except for working out Kurdish problems with Turkey.
By protecting our new, hopefully not temporary, Sunni allies, there will be no reason for outside interference by Sunni Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Golf States, Jordan and Egypt.
The sooner internal peace is established in Iraq, the faster we leave.
Golf —————> Gulf
LOL
How about that my FRiend, that is the most excellent news indeed :)
Yon ping.
Well, after thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed or injured by these terrorists the Iraqis have turned on them and are reporting them and even killing them themselves. Now we can see things turning around and the bad guys are losing. Of course at the time no one believed me. During the Vietnam war the VC hid amongst the populace the same as Al Q is doing but in the case of Iraq the ocean is drying up and there is no place to hide anymore.
LOL!
There are a number of stories on his blog that are must reads. I strongly recommend taking time to browse through.
Iraqi Islamic Party says, “Al Qaeda is Defeated.” Michael Yon Bump!
There was none from Iraq, which was subjected to an invasion and years of terrorism, that killed and injured thousands of civilians a month.
With an air campaign that avoids civilian targets and no invasion, I don't think a human tragedy will occur.
If the Mullahs fall, then any and all humanitarian aid will be pouring in from everywhere to prevent any large-scale civilian suffering.
The Surge has Worked and Victory is at Hand in Spite of the Rats.
Pray for W and Our Victorious Freedom Fighters
no I’m talking about an Iranian military response to an air war-they’ll go into iraq in large numbers and mess everything up
The fault lines are not really as simple as people have made them to be between Shia, Sunni, and Kurd. I doubt you will see a real fight of significant magnitude. I think people are too consumed with trying to get on with their lives.
(http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/the-perfect-evil-coming-to-roost.htm)
This is what the air campaign is for to start with. The Iranian army bases and infrastructure will be wiped out. Any Iranian army units that dare to advance towards Iraq in open desert will be wiped out from the air.
I don’t think that human waves a la the Iran-Iraq war will materialize because most of the Iranians hate the Mullahs. If that happens, however, we’ll get the chance to annihilate the Jihadi part of the population and give them their martyrdom on a lead platter.
I agree with you. In addition, in the absence of al Qaeda, al Sadr and other agitators with foreign agendas, it’s highly unlikely to get into a civil war.
you can’t just bomb people from the air with no ground presence. they will constantly try to infiltrate and severely test the border. I don’t think they are that stupid to just line up for our bombs
That might just unite the Iraqis more than anything we could do. I say, let 'em come on over... we have plenty of cluster bomblets.
They lined up for Saddams army in the 80s.
As I mentioned in an upthread post, we should seal the Iraq-Iran border before we start anything against Iran.
yes it has to be a prereq and changing iran’s regime must be a prereq before leaving iraq.
I guess it’s too late to call quagmire?
Lol
Iran couldn't beat Saddam Hussein's army, and they fought for 10 years (losing 1 million men on each side).
Iran uses the same air defense systems as does Syria...which can't stop Israeli jets from bombing anywhere inside.
Basically, Arab and Persian dictators seem to have egos that can't be matched by their armed forces.
Al Qaeda is broken, and not just in Iraq. Al Qaeda can't strike Israel...can't hit the U.S. again...can't do squat in Egypt...lost Somalia...lost Afghanistan...lost Lebanon...lost Liberia...lost Libya and its WMD programs, etc.
More or less, now, we're on the same page. LOL
If the regime isn’t axed by some disgruntled generals and the population, it will be powerless for years to come. However, I don't think it'll last that long.
IMO, the Mullah's fall isn't a prerequisite. Remember Iraq, it was intact and "ready" for us when we invaded. It didn't make any difference.
Of course, I'm not saying that we're going to invade Iran to change the Mullah regime. It can stay, impotent and powerless.
I’m not talking about tanks and planes. Iran knows they can’t beat us there. But they can make Iraq a very nasty place for our troops after a massive infiltration
I’m sorry, wastedyears, #44 was for ari-freedom. :-)
“Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.”
A little warning for the elite left wingers in Congress, America and Europe, who have supported the Islamofascist Serial Killers, aka al Qaeda. You may be hunted down and brought to Iraq in the future for your War Crimes.
we invaded iraq. they didn’t fall just because we had a bombing campaign
I already addressed this in #44, the one you're answering. Powerless regimes are powerless to do anything including ordering their people to commit suicide en masse!
It’s not necessary to invade Iran and/or drop the regime. It’s necessary to de-claw it, though!
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