The US Military is in high gear hunting down terrorists in Iraq and trying to find the three soldiers kidnapped late last week. I am surprised at the progress on both fronts – to be honest. Iraq is a big place with lots of people, yet we have found (and killed) the mastermind of a previous ambush on US troops and have found people who were involved in the recent kidnapping who are providing intel:

A U.S. spokesman said Sunday that troops killed a Shiite extremist believed to have masterminded a brazen January attack in Iraq in which four U.S. soldiers were killed.

Azhar al-Duleimi was killed Friday in a raid in north Baghdad, Maj. Gen., William Caldwell told CNN’s “Late Edition.”

Caldwell said U.S. troops had been pursuing al-Duleimi “relentlessly” since the Jan. 20 attack in which English-speaking gunmen wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons attacked a joint military command headquarters in Karbala.

…

An Iraqi army intelligence officer, who said he helped interrogate two suspects detained in recent days in Mahmoudiya, said they confessed to participating in the raid. Mahmoudiya is the largest town in the search area.

They said 13 insurgents conducted the surprise attack and then escaped in two groups. The leader of the group, along with some gunmen, took the kidnapped soldiers to an unknown destination, he said.

Clearly these leads are being passed to us from the locals. How did anyone find two of the 13 raiders in a few short days without tips? How is it the guy infamous for masquerading as friendly soldiers in an ambush is finally located? The fact is the local people are fed up with al Qaeda and not providing the cover al Qaeda needs to survive in Iraq. And it also shows why the US military never gives up on our soldiers. Their perseverence and dedication to finding the missing soldiers is also key into finding the trail before it goes cold. And it sends a clear signal to the enemy – you will always pay a heavy price for attacking our people. Always. Hopefully the Surrendercrats can understand why that message is important to maintain.