Al-Qaeda in Iraq 'reduced by 75%'/Osama Whines

DuH2 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Three-quarters of al-Qaeda in Iraq has been destroyed over the last year, the Interior Ministry in Baghdad has said.
Iraqi and American commanders said the improvement in security in the country over 2007 had been remarkable.

But top US commander Gen David Petraeus warned al-Qaeda remained the greatest threat facing the country and security gains could easily reverse.

It came as a tape purportedly by Osama Bin Laden urged Iraqis to reject the US aim of a national unity government.

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq," the internet audiotape said.

The recording in the name of the al-Qaeda leader also warned Sunnis in Iraq not to join the US-allied tribal councils fighting his organisation.

'On the run'

Iraqi interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Kareem Khalaf said the disruption of the al-Qaeda network was due to the weeding out of security force personnel with ties to militias.

He said: "[Al-Qaeda] activity is now limited to certain places north of Baghdad. We're working on pursuing those groups, that is the coming fight."

His claim that 75% of the group's hideouts in Iraq had been eliminated could not be independently verified. He also said assassination attempts were down 79% since June.

The fall in violence over the year coincides with the surge in US troop numbers authorised by President George W Bush.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7164520.stm

Quote:

Bin Laden Issues Warning on Iraq, Israel

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against fighting al-Qaida and vowed to expand the terror group's holy war to Israel in a new audiotape Saturday, threatening "blood for blood, destruction for destruction."

Most of the 56-minute tape dealt with Iraq, apparently al-Qaida's latest attempt to keep supporters in Iraq unified at a time when the U.S. military claims to have al-Qaida's Iraq branch on the run.

..

Quote:

Bin Laden said Sunni Arabs who have joined the Awakening Councils "have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and shame to their people. They will suffer in life and in the afterlife."

...

Quote:

In the audiotape, bin Laden denounced Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the former leader of the Anbar Awakening Council, who was killed in a September bombing claimed by al-Qaida.

"The most evil of the traitors are those who trade away their religion for the sake of their mortal life," bin Laden said.

Bin Laden said U.S. and Iraqi officials are seeking to set up a "national unity government" joining the country's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq, which would be a wall of resistance against American schemes to divide Iraq," he said.

He called on Iraq's Sunni Arabs to rally behind the Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent umbrella group led by al-Qaida. Besides the Awakening Councils, some Sunni insurgent groups that continue to fight the Americans have rejected the Islamic State.

Bin Laden said Sunnis should pledge their allegiance to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the little known "emir" or leader of the Islamic State of Iraq. U.S. officials have claimed that al-Baghdadi does not exist, saying al-Qaida created the name to give its coalition the illusion of an Iraqi leadership.

"Failure to give allegiance to the emir after he has been endorsed leads to great evils," bin Laden warned. "Emir Abu Omar would rather have his neck severed than betray the Muslims ... Emir Abu Omar and his brothers are not one of those who accept compromise or meeting the enemy halfway."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

Maybe the lefty types should remind both that 'al Qaeda in Iraq' doesn't exist......or is such a small %..

JP5 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 03:09 PM

Ohhhh....I feel his pain......NOT!!!!

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq," the internet audiotape said."

That's pretty clear and what some of us have said all along: he seeks to establish an Islamic state in Iraq. That's one more reason why we cannot leave and create a vaccum that he and his followers will most definitely fill.

Hard-Driver · #3 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 08:31 PM

So what I see is that the Sunnis in Iraq realized they were going to loose a civil war and that the radical elements of Al Qaeda, which were NEVER popular, even in the Sunni areas, were bad for their self interest. So the Sunni leaders turned on those that would have them killed or martryed in a loosing cause..

Great, this is progress in Iraq....

I just wonder why the right wing think this progress proves anything other than the Iraqis are doing what they need to do.

Notice thaqt it is the Iraqis taking responsibility for their own futures that is why things have gotton better there.

There is no credit to be given to the Surge or to Bush. The credit should be placed on the Iraqi leaders who turned against the violence and the stopped allowing the small minority of radicals to hide amongst them.

DuH2 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 08:54 PM

What Civil War?

'Civil War' is just a convenient shroud to apply when stating "lets run away from al Qaeda in Iraq&Friends" wouldn't work.

Most Iraqis reject the concept.

Quote:

March 2007
Resilient Iraqis ask what civil war?

DESPITE sectarian slaughter, ethnic cleansing and suicide bombs, an opinion poll conducted on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq has found a striking resilience and optimism among the inhabitants.

The poll, the biggest since coalition troops entered Iraq on March 20, 2003, shows that by a majority of two to one, Iraqis prefer the current leadership to Saddam Hussein’s regime, regardless of the security crisis and a lack of public services.

The survey, published today, also reveals that contrary to the views of many western analysts, most Iraqis do not believe they are embroiled in a civil war.

Officials in Washington and London are likely to be buoyed by the poll conducted by Opinion Research Business (ORB), a respected British market research company that funded its own survey of 5,019 Iraqis over the age of 18.

The 400 interviewers who fanned out across Iraq last month found that the sense of security felt by Baghdad residents had significantly improved since polling carried out before the US announced in January that it was sending in a “surge” of more than 20,000 extra troops.

The poll highlights the impact the sectarian violence has had. Some 26% of Iraqis - 15% of Sunnis and 34% of Shi’ites - have suffered the murder of a family member. Kidnapping has also played a terrifying role: 14% have had a relative, friend or colleague abducted, rising to 33% in Baghdad.

Yet 49% of those questioned preferred life under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, to living under Saddam. Only 26% said things had been better in Saddam’s era, while 16% said the two leaders were as bad as each other and the rest did not know or refused to answer.

....

Quote:

Another surprise was that only 27% believed they were caught up in a civil war. Again, that number divided along religious lines, with 41% of Sunnis believing Iraq was in a civil war, compared with only 15% of Shi’ites.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1530526.ece

A manufactured(aka fake) 'Civil War' to aid in the rhetoric of running out.

Denying the effect of the Surge is discrediting yourself..

Bush gets a TON of credit for going agianst your crowd lambasting of the Surge and even some more sane people critiques and pushing forward with it. The Surge has UNDENIABLY garnered massive benefits for Iraq and the USA.

He was right..you where wrong.
Now instead of admitting your mistakes and giving Bush&the Surge the credit it is due. You change the goal posts and continue harping for defeat.
Thats ok..your entire side is pulling that crap atm and its falling flat with people.. almost universally ...do to a reality even the media cannot avoid anymore.

Stay the Course

nonsqtr · #5 (**permalink**) 12-29-2007, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP5

Ohhhh....I feel his pain......NOT!!!!

"Our duty is to foil these dangerous schemes, which try to prevent the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq," the internet audiotape said."

That's pretty clear and what some of us have said all along: he seeks to establish an Islamic state in Iraq. That's one more reason why we cannot leave and create a vaccum that he and his followers will most definitely fill.

So what?

Who cares?

Let him have his little fascist state. What difference does it make?

It's not like there ain't a thousand other fascist states out there.

I fail to see why Iraq is important anyway? Who cares if it becomes an Islamic caliphate?

You know, there's 8 year old girls being gang raped by government soldiers in Darfur - it happens every day, so like, what's so important about Iraq?

SenaxFlatulus · #6 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonsqtr

So what?

Who cares?

Let him have his little fascist state. What difference does it make?

It's not like there ain't a thousand other fascist states out there.

I fail to see why Iraq is important anyway? Who cares if it becomes an Islamic caliphate?

You know, there's 8 year old girls being gang raped by government soldiers in Darfur - it happens every day, so like, what's so important about Iraq?

Using your form of "logic" let's apply it to your analogy shall we?

... gang rape:

So what?

Who cares?

Let them have their little sex slave market. What difference does it make?

It's not like there aren't a thousand other gang rapes out there every month.

I fail to see why Darfur is important anyway. Who cares if it becomes another 3rd world whorehouse?

You know, there are millions of innocent citizens in Iraq that just want their freedom so they can live in peace, but they need our help. On the other hand, gang rapes in Darfur happen every day, so like, what's the big deal about Darfur?

Non... perhaps you should rethink your analogy just a bit huh?

Hard-Driver · #7 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuH2

What Civil War?

'Civil War' is just a convenient shroud to apply when stating "lets run away from al Qaeda in Iraq&Friends" wouldn't work.

Most Iraqis reject the concept.

....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1530526.ece

A manufactured(aka fake) 'Civil War' to aid in the rhetoric of running out.

Denying the effect of the Surge is discrediting yourself..

Bush gets a TON of credit for going agianst your crowd lambasting of the Surge and even some more sane people critiques and pushing forward with it. The Surge has UNDENIABLY garnered massive benefits for Iraq and the USA.

He was right..you where wrong.
Now instead of admitting your mistakes and giving Bush&the Surge the credit it is due. You change the goal posts and continue harping for defeat.
Thats ok..your entire side is pulling that crap atm and its falling flat with people.. almost universally ...do to a reality even the media cannot avoid anymore.

Stay the Course

I have changed the goal posts.... oh that is rich... LOL. So the change from WMD and Saddams links to Al Qeada were never the goal posts.... Ba ha ha ha.

Look, Al Qeada is not liked in Iraq. Never was, never will be. There is zero chance of them establishing a Islamic State in Iraq.

Now you can try to give all the credit to Bush... blah blah blah. The fact of the matter is that the change in the situation in Iraq is because of the Sunni leaders deciding to work with the government to stop the extremists and the Shia militias, especially the Mahdi Army deciding to call a cease fire.

So the fact IRAQIS turned against the violence is the cause for the reduction, not Bush.

The reality is that the US needs to leave and turn over security in Iraq to the Iraqi government. That is it. Now all the warmongers try to claim this would be a disaster, but never really claim why. Occasionally they claim it will become an Islamic state or that Iran will take over or something. This is just a bunch of fear mongering to justify their war mongering. Take the US troops out of Iraq and then the Iraqi government will be able to take control. This is how Iraq is going to find a "new way forward" and end up a stable and peaceful state.

Sadistic-Savior · #8 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Using your form of "logic" let's apply it to your analogy shall we?

... gang rape:

So what?

Who cares?

He's already said he doesnt care. Not our problem. nonsqtr is an amoralist. He doesnt like morality.

stekim · #9 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 07:41 AM

There is an interesting logic at work with "al Qaeda in Iraq". Until we invaded Iraq there was no "al Qaeda in Iraq". They sprouted up and licensed the al Qaeda name in response to our silly invasion. So we are working to defeat an enemy that we ourselves created. Brilliant I tell you. You really can't make this stuff up.

lunecat · #10 (**permalink**) 01-10-2008, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stekim

There is an interesting logic at work with "al Qaeda in Iraq". Until we invaded Iraq there was no "al Qaeda in Iraq". They sprouted up and licensed the al Qaeda name in response to our silly invasion. So we are working to defeat an enemy that we ourselves created. Brilliant I tell you. You really can't make this stuff up.

Alot of these Al Qaeda in Iraq types are Foreign Islamic fundamentalist that hate the West and are now no-longer of this earth - thanks to US and allied troops. The enermy was always out there - but like a doctor drawing off the puss from an infected limb - these Foreign terrorist were drawn to Iraq from over the World to fight and die.

The infection still exists and better to get it all out now, than just leave it to fester for a few more years when it will be back to its full strength again!

Stay the course

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