Mar 01 2007
Whooping Up On al Qaeda In Iraq
The pathetic irony of the day is both al Qaeda and the Dems thought the post 2006 election world would be so different. Al Qaeda had finally seen the surrender monkies take control of Congress and assumed it was only a matter of week’s before the US would surrender Iraq. And Dems thought they had Bush in a corner and weakened, and would be able to make good on the desires of the Islamo Fascists and run from Iraq as one of their ‘first accomplishments’. So funny how the best laid plans can go right out the window.
Instead of surrendering Bush cleaned house, brought in more aggressive military leadership, and doubled down with a massive surge aimed at the areas of Iraq where 80% of the strife was coming from. Everyone was caught off guard by this bold move. The Shia Militias ran, the Sunni’s joined up to fight the insurgents, the Iranians got caught supporting the Islamo Fascists and al Qaeda is getting pummeled
Iraqi security forces killed dozens of al Qaeda militants who attacked a village in western Anbar province on Wednesday, during fierce clashes that lasted much of the day, police officials said on Thursday.
Sunni tribal leaders are involved in an escalating power struggle with Sunni al Qaeda for control of Anbar, a vast desert province that is the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf said foreign Arabs and Afghanis were among some 80 militants killed and 50 captured in the clashes in Amiriyat al Falluja, a village where local tribes had opposed al Qaeda.
Hat tip to reader “roonent1” for the link to this news. The important news for the Dems is to remember we cannot apply this kind of pressure and gain this kind of success with our collective tails between our legs heading for the borders. And if our military is becoming cautioulsy optimistic (as it appearsis happening) that this surge could work, then I pity anyone who tries to tie the hands of our armed forces when they think they have better than a fighting chance to get this right. The Dems need to sit down and give our brave men and women a chance – and unconditional support.
Yup!
Islamic State of Iraq Suffers Crushing Defeat…
Here you go JohnVia CNN: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Eighty militants were killed and 50 were captured in fighting between Iraqi security forces and militants in Anbar province, the violent area west of Baghdad, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Thursday…….
Another problem our media has is with their analysis of military capability and problems within our forces. They love to point out how thinly stretched our forces seem to be, they complain about the number of casualties, and they point to the duration and frequency of deployments as a problem. Well, al Qaida has those problems multiplied by a gazillion.
We have a little over 1 million active service members. Including Guard and Reserve, we have about 2.6 million. al Qaida has nothing near those numbers. Our fighters deploy for a year often getting a leave midway though their deployment. Their “troops” are there for the duration and have, in many cases, been away from home for years. They are led by individuals that must hide and whose communications with their field “commanders” is limited.
But that isn’t the worst of it. The local population is now turning on them. The local police who used to run from their acts of intimidation is now holding their ground and fighting back. The local civilian population are turning them in, informing on their weapons caches, and sometimes joining in the fight by capturing and turning in al Qaida fighters. The Iraqi Army is now making strong headway against the dead-enders of all stripe.
But even that isn’t the worst of it. The worst part is something AJ touched on in his posting. After years of fighting and sacrifice they thought their victory was in the bag. They saw the Democrat’s win in November as reason to smile, to celebrate, to refresh their spirit. Now all of that is collapsing around them. There is nothing more crushing to the spirit than to get your hopes up and only see them dashed. al Qaida in Iraq is now doomed. They have no place to go. The local population has turned on them. The “tipping point” we were told would happen a couple of years ago has finally happened now. The Iraqi police and military are gaining in confidence and ability with each passing day. The government is finally addressing the corruption and infiltration and even going after militias belonging to political groups within the government.
This is, I believe, the begining of the end.
good assessment Crosspatch, I remember saying when it was clear that the surge was going to happen that it would be very clear by the end of March what the outcome would be. I still believe that.. I too think it is the beginning of the end.
CrossPatch, I hope so. Then the copperheads will wither away.
“Then the copperheads will wither away.”
No, they will try to say that they were really for the surge before they were against it and trot out the reams of speeches where they spoke about us not having enough troops in Iraq. They will attempt to divert everyone’s attention from what they said in the most recent couple of months and pretend they have been asking for more troops all along and if Bush had only listened ….
In other words, they are going to find a way to spin it their way no matter what the outcome. BUT, the important thing is the American psyche. We love to see the underdog come back and win. If Bush turns out to have been correct and Iraq stabilizes, I believe there are going to be a good number of Americans who will simply stop listening to what the Democrats have to say. The Democrats will be exposed for what they are … disagreeing with the administration simply for the sake of disagreement. If the Administration says more troops are needed, the Democrats will say we need less and then find a way to rationalize that viewpoint. If Bush says they can come home, the Democrats will say it is too soon. But if our troops win this one, the Democrats are going to have a very difficult time of it because they crossed a certain line this time. They told the public that Iraq was hopeless and we have to leave. If Bush is right on this, his numbers are going to turn around much like Reagan’s did after “Reaganomics” began to work and the economy turned around after the Carter disaster. The press looked pretty silly after making fun of it … even George HW Bush called in “Voodoo Economics” during the 1980 presidential campaign. I am not saying the W is another Reagan, just saying that if after being bashed for so many years, that he turns out to vindicate his strategy, public opinion of him is going to swing greatly in his favor and the Democrats are going to be left looking stupid and not having an issue to take to the 2008 elections.
I happened to notice this at the end of a Reuters article on this operation:
That is a VERY positive sign. Remember that the former Iraqi army didn’t swear an oath to Iraq, they swore their allegiance to Saddam. With Saddam having recently caught his neck on something while falling, it is probably safe to put these guys back into their positions. Now some people with real experience can be put into running things. And, they are secularists for the most part without connections to the various religious factions. A good sign.