[speechlesstx]

As it is properly known...

US: Top al-Qaida in Iraq figure captured

BAGHDAD - The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said.

"Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."

Another one bites the dust - sounds like progress to me. Did everyone get that last line? "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people." Are the Democrats and their all-nighter stunt trying to assist in that goal?

Headline of the day in my paper, for a Washington Post piece:

U.S. leaving may cause trouble

Ya think?

Next, the left seems to have some inexplicable faith in the UN as "the world's best hope," yet I hear nothing from them on a role for the UN in Iraq. I also hear nothing on the International Compact with Iraq, which lays out a "five-year national plan that includes benchmarks and mutual commitments from both Iraq and the international community". Why is that? Wouldn't it be damaging to the Democrats' agenda for Americans to know the UN is expecting at least 5 years for things to work out in Iraq while they're saying September is too long to wait?

[tomder55]

Here was my reply to a question about yesterday comedy club act in the Senate on another site :

To save time the Huffpos and Kossaks should just go to the podium and speak for themselves instead of using their Democrat stooges to do their talking for them . Yesterday's stunt was one of the Senates historic low points.


Here's the other you think in your post :

the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Sort of knocks a gaping hole in the Washington Compost's view :

U.S. intelligence analysts, however, have a somewhat different view of al-Qaeda’s presence in Iraq, noting that the local branch takes its inspiration but not its orders from bin Laden.

Exit Strategies - washingtonpost.com

The Coalition concedes the Iraqi insurgency is largely made up of Iraqis but al Qaeda directly controls the organization with outside jihadists , its cash, and its campaign of co-opting or murdering the Iraqi leadership of other insurgent groups .This has allowed al Qaeda to take the leadership of the Islamic State of Iraq. This information by al-Mashhadani confirms that virtually every argument the Compost advanced for minor, al Qaeda involvement in Iraq is incorrect.


Some of the insurgent groups formed an alliance to opposed al Qaeda’s establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq for ideological reasons.

Counterterrorism Blog: More Cracks Emerging in Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq"

Al Qaeda in Iraq targeted the leaders ,killing many of them. Since then, the leaderless Ansar al Sunnah and others have been absorbed into Islamic State of Iraq.

Michael Yon's reports have said repeatedly that al Qaeda was on the run. They have been pushed out of Anbar Province, they have been run out of their capitol in Baqubah, they are in the process of being run out of their last area they controlled in the Rashid district of Baghdad and they are having to find hiding places in less-hospitable places like Mosul and Kirkuk.

If the Coalition could similarly create an unfixable breach between the Sistani controlled Shia and those of Mookie al-Sadr the puppet of Iran then we could conceivably start the draw down that the Democrats lose sleep over.

[speechlesstx]

to save time the Huffpos and Kossaks should just go to the podium and speak for themselves instead of using their Democrat stooges to do their talking for them . Yesterday's stunt was one of the Senates historic low points.

That would make C-Span more interesting. You might be interested in reading the "Week out of Focus: Washington, Iraq and Al Qaeda" report by Stratfor in light of all the caterwauling over the latest al Qaeda reports. They don't seem to think al Qaeda is 'reborn' the way it's being portrayed and find recent administration reports confusing.

What made this odd is that the administration is not known to concede failure lightly. During the same week, it continued to assert the more dubious proposition that it is making progress in Iraq. Why, therefore, was it releasing such pessimistic reports on al Qaeda, and why was Chertoff saying his gut tells him an attack this summer is possible? Why make the best-case scenario for Iraq and the worst-case scenario for al Qaeda?

There is nothing absurd about a gut call in intelligence, and much of the ridicule of Chertoff was absurd. Intelligence analysis -- particularly good intelligence analysis -- depends on gut calls. Analysts live in a world of incomplete and shifting intelligence, compelled to reach conclusions under the pressure of time and events. Intuition of experienced and gifted analysts is the bridge between leaving decision-makers without an analysis and providing the best guess available. The issue, as always, is how good the gut is.

We would assume that Chertoff was keying off two things: the NIE's assertion that al Qaeda is back and the attacks possibly linked to al Qaeda in the United Kingdom. His gut told him that increased capabilities in Pakistan, coupled with what he saw in England and Scotland, would likely indicate a threat to the United States.

One question needs to be asked: What should be made of the NIE report and the events in the United Kingdom? It also is necessary to evaluate not only Chertoff's gut but also the gut intuitions of U.S. intelligence collectively. The NIE call is the most perplexing, partly because the day it appeared Stratfor issued a report downplaying al Qaeda's threat. But part of that could well be semantics. Precisely what do we mean when we say al Qaeda?.

If the NIE report meant to say this group has reconstituted itself, it would be startling news. One of the ways this group survived is that it did not recruit new members directly into the core organization. One of the ways Palestinian terrorist organizations have been destroyed is by allowing new personnel into the core. This allowed intelligence agencies to vector agents into the core, map them out and destroy them. Al Qaeda was not going to make the same mistake, so it was extremely reluctant to expand. This has limited its operations. It could not replace losses and therefore weakened as it was assaulted. But it did protect itself from penetration, which is why capturing surviving leaders has been so difficult.

If the NIE report is true, then the NIE is saying al Qaeda not only has been recruiting members into the core group, but also that it has been doing so for some time. If that is true then there have been excellent opportunities to penetrate and destroy what is left of it. But we don't think that is true, because al-Zawahiri and others, possibly bin Laden, are still on the loose. Therefore, we think the NIE is saying that the broad paramilitaries are active again and are now located in Pakistan.

[tomder55]

Yeah I get the Stratfor e-mail updates . Will not pay for Premium membership. As reputable as they are ,they are just one of many intel. Cites I source. I find them frequently wrong about issues involving Iran in particular .

I did not suggest that the al Qaeda has allowed new members into the core group. The organization is pretty much decentralized but Ayman Al-Zawahiri is still in central command . The NIE is a composite of 16 American intel. Agencies . What does Stratfor know that they don't ?

As for Chertoff ;his gut reaction is the result of a bad burrito . I have lost confidence in him

[speechlesstx]

As for Chertoff ;his gut reaction is the result of a bad burrito

Ah, that explains a lot. He must have been eating in the Democrat's lunch room.

[Mario3]

Guys don't you find it funny that Iraq was a very secular nation and was not run by religion until the Americans stepped in? We started those people to fight against each other. It's kind of funny that Iran and America are funding the same party to come into power in Iraq... but then why would two enemy parties push for the same party to come into power in iraq. I think everyone should see Zeitgeist - The Movie, 2007 it's Zeitgeist the movie and it explains a lot and you will never be the same again. The beginning is boring but it gets soooooo good. Progress isn't being made but it is being made if you watch fox news.

[excon]

sounds like progress to me.

Hello its:

Yup, progress... Snicker, snicker...

Reminds me of a story. There was this girl drowning in a lake. A guy went in to rescue her. He couldn't swim very well, and he only made it halfway the first time. Well, she was still drowning so he went in again. This time he got three quarters of the way there before turning back.

Well, the girl croaked... Bummer. If she could have just held out a little longer……. After all, the guy was making "progress".

excon

[tomder55]

Mario;I fail to see where your negative comments have any relevance to the topic but I will engage in your tangent .

Are you saying that the lot of women has gotten worse in Afghanistan since the Taliban were booted?? Was that in Zeitgeist also ?

The part I would agree with you is that it is more difficult to transform a culture. But at least that is the direction they are headed in.

[Mario3]

No it wasn't in zeitgesit Tomber. And you are right that the beginning of the film of Zeitgeist is full of theory, but then it gets factual. You might start crying when the facts set in.

[speechlesstx]

Guys dont you find it funny that Iraq was a very secular nation and was not run by religion until the Americans stepped in? We started those people to fight against eachother. it's kind of funny that Iran and America are funding the same party to come into power in Iraq...but then why would two enemy parties push for the same party to come into power in iraq. I think everyone should see Zeitgeist - The Movie, 2007 it's Zeitgeist the movie and it explains a lot and you will never be the same again. the beginning is boring but it gets soooooo good. progress isnt being made but it is being made if you watch fox news.

What does Christianity, 911 and The Federal Reserve have in common?

LOL, so 9/11 was a conspiracy between Christians and the Federal Reserve? And here I thought Bush was behind the whole thing. Sounds like these filmmakers have a had a bit too much of this...

[tomder55]

Groan... you mean this zeitgeist movie is about the Federal Reserve ? No Tri-lateral Commission or Masons ? And here I thought I would be watching something new.

[excon]

Hello again. Its:

If you want conspiracy, go see this:

Flash » The End of the World

excon

[Mario3]

He's interested in the Masons. I'm not sure about the masons, but I think you can Google it. Sorry I can't help you there - that's a little too much conspiracy for me

[Zero]

Progress must be being made in Iraq after all Iraq have just won the Asian Soccer Cup see http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot.../6920434.stm:D