Many Updates Below

The Surge was not just an effort to bring in a lot more troops to walk the streets and man checkpoints. It was meant to clear or purge large areas of the Islamo Fascists so as to reduce the violence in and around Baghdad – where 80% of the violence was taking place. It is a very large operation where the Diyala campaign, called Arrowhead Ripper, is just one element:

Operation Phantom Thunder, the name of the overarching operation to secure the Baghdad Belts, is now in its fifth day. As noted yesterday, Phantom Thunder is a corps-level operation, with multiple U.S. and Iraqi divisions engaged on multiple fronts. Iraqi Security Forces and Multinational Forces Iraq are engaged in intense fights in four main theaters: Baghdad proper, and the belts regions consisting of Diyala and southern Salahadin provinces to the north, northern Babil province to the south, and eastern Anbar province to the west of Baghdad. The fighting has been the most intense in the city of Baqubah, the provincial capital of Diyala.

The good news is the Iraqi-US forces have established themselves in configurations which are surrounding the al-Qaeda (and sympathizing groups’) strongholds so that there is no place for the Islamo Fascists to go. The fighting is most intense in Baquoba, the capitol city of Diyala Province and the second declared capitol city of al Qaeda’s moder caliphate (Ramadi in Anbar was their original claimed capitol – which they lost a few months back when Anbar turned on al-Qaeda):

The large portion of the media attention has focused on the battle in Baqubah, as this is where the brunt of the heavy fighting is occurring. Baqubah is the provincial capital of Diyala as well as al Qaeda’s proclaimed capital of its rump Islamic State of Iraq. Hundreds, and upwards of 1,000 al Qaeda fighters are believed to be holed up in the city in prepared fighting positions. The city has been mined with IEDs and booby-trapped homes, and seeded with snipers.

…

Both Michael Gordon and Michael Yon, who are embedded in Baqubah, reported U.S. and Iraqi troops are receiving valuable intelligence from the residents of Baqubah. “A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed,” Michael Yon wrote. “Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so that’s not working so well for al Qaeda.”

I predicted a few months back that al-Qaeda’s brutality would be its undoing and apparently I was right. al-Qaeda cannot exist of the local population is so angry it celebrates their destruction and is willing to take up arms against them. We have gone from what could have been a US surrender to al-Qaeda through a Congressional collapse of spine (nothing more) a few months back to a campaign were the Arab/Muslim street is now rising up against al-Qaeda and showing why the Democrats (or Surrendercrats as I call them) were incredibly wrong on Iraq. Al-Qaeda could have become the beacon of the Muslim world if we had left Iraq, but now they are being destroyed, in large part, by a backlash in the Muslim world.

The reporting on other elements of Phantom Thunder show similar reuslts:

Multinational Division Central, the newly created command to deal with the southern Baghdad Belts, has two concurrent major operations ongoing in its area of operations. Marne Torch is focusing on the city and surrounding regions of Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad. Commando Eagle is focusing on the Mahmudiyah region southwest of Baghdad.

“To date, Marne Torch and Iraqi army units have detained more than five dozen suspected extremists and destroyed more than 17 boats on the Tigris River that are responsible for transporting accelerants into Baghdad,” Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release. “U.S. forces killed five insurgents, discovered and destroyed 12 improvised explosive devices, and detained 13 wanted individuals.”

…

Multinational Forces West has yet to release the name of the ongoing operations in eastern Anbar province. But the scope of the operation in eastern Anbar is now clearer. In an Associated Press interview with Brigadier General John Allen, the deputy commander of Multinational Forces West, the hot spots in the province were identified.

Brig. Gen. Allen noted there are three main focal points: Fallujah, Karma, and the Thar Thar region.

…

As the major offensive is ongoing in the belts, the pressure is being kept up on Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army as well as al Qaeda’s network throughout Iraq.

The story has tons of links which knit together the big picture. The Iraqi-US forces are finally engaged in the Surge (which shows why anyone who claimed the Surge was a failure – before it started – was pretty much an idiot) and this intensity is supposed to be sustained for about two months.

Sadly it is impossible to completely cordon off an entire city so that a handful of people cannot get out. And that seems to be the case in Diyala, where al-Qaeda leaders have fled the battlefield (guess they are not interested in 70 virgins):

BAQOUBA, Iraq: U.S. troops are scouring houses and vehicles to root out hundreds of al-Qaida militants believed holed up in western Baqouba, which has become the center of a massive military offensive, a commander said Friday.

…

“They’re clearly in hiding, no question about it. But they’re a hardline group of fighters who have no intention of leaving, and they want to kill as many coalition and Iraqi security forces as they possibly can,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press and another news agency.

…

U.S. commanders have acknowledged, however, that while some element of surprise was preserved in the offensive that began Monday, al-Qaida’s sophisticated intelligence gathering meant top militant leaders knew an attack was imminent.

More than three-quarters of the senior al-Qaida leaders holed up escaped as American soldiers launched an offensive earlier this week, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. ground forces commander said on Thursday during a one day trip to the battlefield.

“We believe 80 percent of the upper level (al-Qaida) leaders fled, but we’ll find them,” Odierno said. “Eighty percent of the lower level leaders are still here.”

While it is not good the leaders escaped, the left their people behind to die. That is not considered ‘good form’ in the Middle East. And where will these people go? If their fighters are being rounded up and the locals are ready to kill them on sight where in the world are these cowards going to go? I doubt they will be resurrecting any large fighting forces in Iraq after turning tail in Baquoba. I would gather they (and any remnants that survive the Surge) will be limping into Iran or Syria.

The Islamo Fascists cannot lose two of their claimed capitol cities in Iraq and retain enough credibility to entice people to go die for their cause. The Islamo Fascists are becoming the enemy of the Muslim street. They are being defeated and running from the fight. When they collapse it will be not be some long drawn out event but it will be like a thunderclap. The bottom will fall out of the insurgency and Iraq will FINISH its turn towards a democratic future and an ally of the US and West. The fact the Arab/Muslim street is turning on al-Qaeda makes this almost (nothing is for certain) inevitable. Once they reject al-Qaeda and embrace the current government they will expect to see results, and they will work to try and create the opportunities and garner some of the rewards. If the Iraqis are finally making their decision on which path to go, I have no doubt they will embrace it with energy and determination.

Update: Michael Yon’s latest on the battle for Baqouba is up. I could not help but note how, in yesterday’s installment (linked above), Yon relayed how the SurrenderMedia was completely caught off guard regarding these operations. It is stunning sometimes when a little ol’ blogger like me can see what is building up while CNN, Reuters, AP and others miss the obvious. That is what happens when you staff your organization from only the liberal fringes I guess. Anyway, today’s report from Yon is just positive as yesterdays – and it shows we are out to kick butt:

The combat in Baqubah should soon reach a peak. Al Qaeda seems to have been effectively isolated. The initial attack on 19 June achieved enough surprise that al Qaeda was caught off guard and trapped. They have been beaten back mostly into pockets and are surrounded and will be dealt with. Part of this is actually due to the capability of Strykers. We were able to “attack from the march.” In other words, a huge force drove in from places like Baghdad and quickly locked down Baqubah.

…

Our guys are winning. Al Qaeda is about to be strangled and pummeled to death in this town, …

Diyala Province caught my eye way back in March. The military was making noise back then that Diyala would be the scene of some major activity. Back in March I noted how al-qaeda’s brutality would be there undoing, and how the Surrendercrats would pay a price if the Muslim/Arab street rose up. I have been watching and posting on Diyala since March predicting that Dilaya would be the pivot point in Iraq. It would be this war’s Battle of the Bulge where al-Qaeda makes its last stand and loses. For anyone interested on what I have been posting on Diyala I created a category on the subject with all my posts. Let’s just say I become more confident in my earlier predictions each day we see the reporting from Diyala.

Update: As more news media wake up and finally get into Diyala and start reporting, the news is now coming fast and furious. And ugly:

Baquba is the capital of Diyala province. The region has long been an al Qaeda hotbed, but attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces have soared here since a four-month-old U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad and operations elsewhere prompted many al Qaeda militants and other gunmen to seek sanctuary in Diyala.

The campaign is part of a broader offensive involving tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers pushing on with simultaneous operations in Baghdad, and to the south and west of the capital.

Tough fighting is expected over the next 45-60 days, U.S. military officials have said, sketching a rough timeline for the combined operations.

…

Bednarek said U.S. forces were making some grisly discoveries as they scoured Baquba.

He said residents led soldiers to a house in the western part of the city that appeared to have been used to hold, torment and kill hostages. Soldiers destroyed it.

“When you walk into a room and you see blood trails, you see saws, you see drills, knives, in addition to weapons, that is not normal,” Bednarek said.

Is it really any wonder the Muslim street is rising up against the Islamo Fascists? Is there any doubt this would not be the kind of decision any people would make when faced with the choice of bloody brutality or democratic reform? And as the Muslim World sees what al Qaeda does to other Muslims, is it expected that the Muslim world will embrace these fascists? Or will they seek revenge upon them?