May 29 2006
Closing In On Zarqawi
Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq Zarqawi must be getting really nervous. Another of his aides (I think that makes three in the last month or so) has been captured, this time in Baghdad:
Iraqi security forces have captured a senior aide of al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Baghdad, a Defence Ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Defence Ministry spokesman Kassim al-Mosawi said that Kassim al-Ani, one of the most wanted people in Iraq, was arrested on Sunday evening.
“The Iraqi army forces arrested three terrorists who belong to al Qaeda, one of them is a senior aide of Zarqawi in Baghdad,” Mosawi said.
“He was one of the most wanted ones,” he told Reuters, adding that Ani was suspected of being behind many attacks in the Iraqi capital.
Another Zarqawi aide who was hiding out as a member of the Iraqi border control efforts on the Jordanian border was also just recently arrested and was apparently singing like a song bird. This recent news is just one month after news of a major roll up of Zarqawi aides in Iraq and where we just missed Zarqawi himself. Seems there are a lot of senior Al Qaeda being captured all of a sudden in Iraq.
I suspect there will be more to come. Iraqis are tired of their foreign visitors and their rampant bloodshed.
I wish they would get these guys. I know it will not stop all the violence for a long time but today there were 40 people killed in Iraq, 2 of them were with CBS and one American soldier.
Sometimes I wonder how many suicide bombers there can be. Surely there is a finite number. After all there are no repeat attacks.
Killing that Sunni chieftain that was allied with the Americans was not a very smart move. Hopefully the end is near for Zarqawi.
Iraq: The Good, The Bad, And The Horrible…
First, the good:
Our good friend AJ notes the capture of another high-ranking al-Zarqawi aide, in a pattern that seems to indicate we’re closing in.
Next, the bad:
Our condolences to the families of the slain CBS crew, and best wishes for a full …
Also noticed an article at the Washington Times that mentions the number of troops in Iraq is unlikely to drop but the mix of kinds of troops is changing. A couple more combat brigades are going to come out and be replaced with trainers. According to the Washington Times article, we currently have 6 fewer combat brigades in Iraq than we had in January and are likely to pull another two out.
The beauty of Rumsfeld’s reconfiguration of our military into a more modular force is that numbers in and of themselves don’t mean as much anymore. We can change the configuration of the force as needed by unplugging modules that aren’t needed and replacing them with other modules to meet mission requirements. As Iraqis take over more of the combat roles, we can fill training, engineering, and logistics roles. As the Iraqi force builds a tail to match it’s teeth, the troops can be withdrawn altogether. This conversion from a combat to a training force is a great indication that things are continuing to move forward.
Aj
May I humbly suggest you google, or search engine of choice “Task Force 145” or “TF 145”.
Rapid response, kick butt and take names.
Merlin, I recently received a lengthy not-for-mass-distribution article about TF 145 from another retired spook with whom I correspond regularly. “Kick butt, take names” is an understatement.
Merlin,
I believe the earlier post I linked to was about an article covering that same Task Force!
Actually it is kick but take names, kick new name, take names ..
repeat as necessary