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ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, June 30, 2009 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he’s heartened that al-Qaida hasn’t been able to reignite sectarian violence in Iraq despite its acts of violence leading up to today’s deadline for U.S. troops to leave Iraqi cities. Commanders on the ground anticipated for weeks that al-Qaida and other extremists would take advantage of the U.S. troops’ compliance with the U.S.-Iraq status of forces agreement to launch attacks, Gates told reporters returning to Washington with him after a change-of-command ceremony at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany. While capitalizing on what they perceive...

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2009 – Iraqi forces, aided by coalition advisors, arrested suspected terrorists June 28 in operations in Iraq, military officials reported. Iraqi special operations forces and coalition advisors arrested a suspected terrorist in Baghdad. The suspect is believed to be the low-level commander of an insurgent group responsible for coordinating a local resident’s murder and an attack against Iraqi army forces. Elsewhere, Iraq’s 7th Regional Commando Battalion, assisted by coalition advisors, arrested two suspected terrorists in Ninevah province. One of the men is suspected of being a financier for a terrorist cell, and the other is believed to...

I redid my video due to the sound being pulled off my original Youtube video. This video contains info on Salman Pak. This Saddam/Iraq-Al Qaeda connection was not made easily available by the Mainstream Press, Democrats or 911 Commission. Please share it

The British Army’s SAS Regiment, which played a vital role in defeating al-Qaeda in Iraq, is now arriving in Afghanistan in one of the biggest deployments of UK special forces since the Second World War. Two squadrons from 22 SAS are being sent to Afghanistan now that Britain’s combat role in Iraq has been wound up, to carry out clandestine operations against the Taleban. The deployment of the SAS, which will be joining the Special Boat Service (SBS) already serving in southern Afghanistan, represents a mini-surge of troops to add to the 700 regular British soldiers going out for a...

Senior intelligence officials yesterday acknowledged that two al-Qaeda operatives, Abu Zubaida and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, had been questioned about alleged links between al-Qaeda and Iraq when the two men underwent CIA interrogation in 2002 and 2003. But the officials denied that the questioning on Iraq had included waterboarding. "The two top priorities driving so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were information on the locations of al-Qaeda leadership and plots against the United States," one intelligence official said yesterday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the subject publicly. "Questions were asked about Iraq, but the notion...

TG-132 SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON-- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today targeted the support network of al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI) by designating Syria-based Sa'ad Uwayyid 'Ubayd Mu'jil al Shammari (aka Abu Khalaf) under Executive Order 13224. E.O. 13224 targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. AQI is a Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. "We will continue to aggressively implement the international obligation to target al-Qa'ida-linked terrorists, like Abu Khalaf, who threaten the safety of Coalition Forces and the stability of Iraq," said Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Abu Khalaf...

Last October, as the Bush administration was touting a dramatic drop in the number of suicide bombings in Iraq, four young Tunisian men left their homes for Libya and then on to Syria. There, they were met at the Damascus airport and taken to a safe house. Six tedious months passed until their handlers felt that it was safe to move the men again. In April, they were smuggled across the Iraqi border; within days, two were dead, among the suicide bombers who have killed at least 370 Iraqis in a wave of spectacular attacks over the past several weeks....

April 9, 2009 General Ray Odierno: we may miss Iraq deadline to halt al-Qaeda terror (Karim Kadim/AP) President Obama has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by August 2010 The activities of al-Qaeda in two of Iraq’s most troubled cities could keep US combat troops engaged beyond the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal, the top US commander in the country has warned. US troop numbers in Mosul and Baqubah, in the north of the country, could rise rather than fall over the next year if necessary, General Ray Odierno told The Times in his first interview with...

Sheik Hamid al-Hayess is not optimistic. A burly man with a thick black mustache and closely knitted brows, he is one of the founding members of the Anbar Awakening. The grouping of Sunni tribal sheiks in the once al-Qaeda–infested western province turned against the insurgents and sided with the U.S. military, providing the model for what became a nationwide campaign known as the Sahwa. But that model is in trouble. "The Sahwa has been infiltrated by al-Qaeda," he says somberly. "A civil war is coming." If it happens, this time the lines in the sand will more likely be between...

.."60 percent of the detainees who were released and returned to these areas have returned to fighting."

In announcing the US’s plans to withdraw from Iraq, and going as far as setting a date, President Obama has literally given away the Iraqi store. Citing progress, the continually improving Iraqi training cycles, and Afghanistan the United States has given the terrorist organization plenty of times to order new drapes and carpeting.

Iraqi policemen shot dead four US soldiers and their local interpreter in the main northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, an interior ministry official said. "Four US soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by two Iraqi policemen who opened fire at them in the Dawasa district of (central) Mosul and then fled," the official told AFP, declining to be named. The incident took place during a US army visit to the Mosul headquarters of the Iraqi police in charge of protecting the city's bridges, police said. The bullet-riddled body of the interpreter was taken to the local mortuary. It...

SNIPPET: "Curious, The Mouth asked Multi-National Forces-Iraq in Baghdad a series of questions last November about Iranian subversive activity. Read the questions and answers after the jump. - James Gordon Meek Q: Are Iranian-made Explosively-Formed Penetrator bombs still coming into the country? A: We continue to find caches that include Iranian weapons - many in their original packaging - including Explosively-Formed Penetrators and 107mm, 122mm, and 240mm rockets. Q: How many EFP incidents occur on average per month now? A: Approximately 3-7 per month. Q: Have the EFP attacks decreased at all? A: Yes, we are seeing a reduction in...

I would like to devote my time to research and post such research that would put to rest any doubts or misinformation about the validity of a link between Iraq's leadership under Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda terrorist network. What I need most is links or references to official documents, relevant source non-biased source materials, and or confirmed quotable information. What isn't needed are posts from other conservative bloggers or "news" sites that are inherently biased towards defending their view. Any help would be appreciated.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that Special Forces troops killed an al Qaeda suspect in cold blood and cut off his finger during an overnight operation near Baghdad earlier this month. The U.S. Army is investigating the killing of Iraqi bomb-making suspect, Hardan al-Jaburi. The December 10 raid, on a house in the Salman Pak district, 15 miles south of Baghdad, targeted suspected bomb-maker Hardan al-Jaburi. In a statement, the U.S. military said al-Jaburi, armed with an AK-47, confronted troops conducting the raid. "Perceiving hostile intent, the forces engaged the armed man, killing him," the...

RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) — Six Iraqi policemen and seven Al-Qaeda militants were killed when the militants attempted a pre-dawn breakout from a police station in the western city of Ramadi, police said."During an exchange of fire between prisoners trying to escape and police officers in the station, six policemen and seven prisoners were killed," provincial police chief Tareq al-Dulaimi said.Three prisoners managed to escape and one was re-arrested, Dulaimi said, adding that another four policemen were wounded in the shootout that occurred at 2 am (2300 GMT Thursday) at Forsan police station in the centre of Ramadi.Ramadi police have imposed...

I spent the last two weeks of last month as an embedded reporter with the United States Army in Baghdad and was disappointed to see that, despite the overwhelming success of the surge, Iraq is as rundown and dysfunctional as ever. Yes, the country is less violent now than at any time since the U.S. invaded in 2003, but Iraq is still Iraq. Many Americans and Iraqis I spoke to feel a sense of dread and foreboding about what will happen when American forces soon begin to withdraw. Without the presence of American soldiers as peacekeepers, Gen. David Petraeus' brilliant...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq apprehended an alleged key member of the Kataib Hezbollah network and two other suspects during an operation early today in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district. Officials believe Kataib Hezbollah is a surrogate group for the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Acting on intelligence information, coalition forces targeted an alleged Kataib Hezbollah bombing cell leader believed to be responsible for recent attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces and Iraqi citizens. Coalition forces approached a residence in search of the suspected terrorist. The wanted man identified himself to forces, and was apprehended without incident,...

BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, with Coalition force advisors, captured two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq cell members and a Jaysh al-Mahdi Special Groups cell leader during separate operations in Iraq Nov. 29. Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics conducted an operation capturing a JAM-SG cell leader. The individual is believed to be the leader of the A- Imam JAM-SG cell operating throughout the Babil province. The cell is allegedly responsible for conducting numerous attacks against Coalition force bases as well as improvised explosive device attacks on CF convoys. In Balad, elements from the 4th Iraqi Army captured two Ansar al-Sunna...

BAGHDAD – 12 Iraqi policemen were killed and 35 IPs and civilians were wounded when two improvised explosive device detonated at approximately 1 p.m. Dec. 1 in eastern Baghdad. The first IED blast occurred outside the Baghdad IP Academy in Rusafa and the second blast, a car bomb, exploded 150 meters north of the entrance and was specifically targeting first responders. The attacks occurred within a minute of each other. Iraqi Security Forces and Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, responded to the attack to help secure the site. The injured were...