al-Qaeda is frustrated. So frustrated with the lack of purity in Iraq it has been on a relentless campaign of mass killings. But not mass killings of Americans or Westerners. Mass killings of Muslims, the very people al-Qaeda purports to represent. Today we see the bottomless brutality of al-Qaeda on display again as it attacks a children’s’ hospital:

A suicide car bomb exploded across the street from a children’s hospital in the Iraqi city of Hilla on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 69, police and medical officials said.

“Most of the wounded were women and children, and the blast destroyed 15 vehicles and about 20 nearby shops,” said Lieutenant Eid al-Shammari of the local police.

Doctor Mohammed Dhia, head surgeon at the Hilla hospital confirmed the casualties, adding that 25 of those wounded had serious injuries, including severe burns.

There is clearly something mentally and morally wrong with whoever is behind the bloody strategy of mass killings for news headlines. The only good thing to come out of all this death and destruction is the Muslim world is seeing the true nature of the beast. They are seeing that everyone is a target to al-Qaeda and that they are not ‘Muslim’ in the broad sense of the world. They are brutal totalitarians hiding behind the facade of spiritual awakening.

So are these daily massacres a success? Clearly not in the minds of the Iraqis who have turned on al-Qaeda across the country. We are rapidly approaching a key moment in humanity’s history. One which we have seen before. Will humanity rush to embrace the carnage of a few deranged people, or will it step back from the brink and change course – as it has done many times before. We shall see. But the Iraqis now hold the keys to all our futures.

When Iraq finishes expunging al-Qaeda from its streets it will represent something very powerful in the Arab and Muslim Middle East and surrounding regions. Iraq’s population has one of the highest literacy rates in the area – one of the few things Saddam did right (so that he had a powerful people to beckon to his will). Their stories of brutality by al-Qaeda will spread as they are now. Wave after wave of them rippling through the cities and towns and villages. As too will their stories of rising up and slaying the beast which is al-Qaeda. These stories will include the Americans, those sometimes bungling but well intentioned and fierce people who stood by the Iraqis in their time of need. It will become part of the lore how the self absorbed, uncaring portion of America tried to run away from the fight, but the warriors stood firm. al-Qaeda will become the modern Nazis, the evil that can turn people into the cruelest of beings.

This is not speculation. The details will take the path they take, but the overall theme will be retained. Iraqis, who could become one of the most modern and powerful states in the Middle East once their talent and energy are tapped in a free and open democracy, will be the ones who will be admired in the Arab/Muslim cultures. While UAE and Saudi Arabia have a head start on being the shining city in the sand, Iraq has always had the potential to give them a run for their money.

The Muslims of the Middle East know the choices and the potential futures they face. And they see al-Qaeda’s desperation turning the streets bloody with the lives of their people – not Americans. al-Qaeda is responsible for more deaths than anyone since Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot I would wager. And America, under George Bush, has done what it has done many times over – freed millions of people from violent oppression. We still shed our blood to remove mass bloodshed. We did it on a small scale in Kosovo and the states of the former Yugoslavia.

After 9-11 we realized we had an entire region to transform, which I predicted we would do. We had $200 Billion a year in surplus SS revenues being used to pay off debt or fund pork. After 9-11 it became crystal clear we had been neglecting our obligations to the world and its trouble spots. We realized that freezing the status quo of brutal oppression only increased the pressure that would one day blow back on us, and to do more of the same would insight the region to rise up against us. But in facing our enemy in his lands, we pulled the PR mask from him and exposed the brutal animal underneath. Now, after 6 long years since 9-11 and 4 years of effort in Iraq we are about ready to see the results we have been too doubtful to even hope for.

The military has plans to stay in Iraq with force levels near what we see today for another two years. It may not take that long, but I am sure that is the outside timeframe. And the Iraqis are taking this opportunity of increased security and backlash against al-Qaeda to work out their current differences (watching the left-right political battles in this country should remind people Democracies are stable – not quiet). If the backlash continues against al-Qaeda, and I cannot see how any people could forgive these animals for the mass murders they have inflicted, then I think it is a matter of time before Iraq finally rises out of the ashes of their past decades of hell.

As I said, we will see soon enough. I see desperation in al-Qaeda’s actions this year. I see Zawahiri begging for recruits at the same time as Iraqi Sunni’s were taking oaths on the Koran to fight al-Qaeda to the death. I see the attacks on Muslims as a desperate attempt to stem the uprising against al-Qaeda. No longer focused on America, al-Qaeda is now lashing out an enemies much closer. And I see al-Qaeda trying to hold onto what little base of operations they have in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I see Zawahiri in a fight for the salvation of his warped ideology, so desperate he is going “all in” against our Texan President:

In a revelation, the Newsweek magazine claims in its upcoming issue that the recent suicide attacks in Pakistan following storming of Lal Masjid by the army to flush out militants were ordered by Zawahari.

After years in which Zawahiri seemed constantly on the run, his alleged orchestration of last week’s attacks would be further evidence that Qaeda and Taliban forces are newly empowered and have consolidated control of a safe haven along the Pakistani border, it said.

The magazine, which interviewed Pakistani and Talibani officials recently, said the anti-Zawahiri faction in Al-Qaeda fears his actions may be jeopardising that safe haven.

“Within the terror group, questions are being whether Zawahiri is growing too powerful, and has become obsessed with toppling Musharraf,” the magazine said quoting two jihadis it interviewed last week.

Mustering their forces or gathering for one last push? Again, we will know soon enough. The only reason to lash out at Musharraf is because it is not safe to sit by and watch al-Qaeda lose so badly in Iraq. To lose in Iraq because the Muslim street rose up against al-Qaeda’s massacring of Muslims would be a defeat of epic proportions for the Islamo Fascists. Zawahiri needs a win to offset this debacle at a minimum. Instead of focusing his efforts on winning Iraq, which clearly is moving outside his reach, he may be trying to find a win in Pakistan. al-Qaeda was never quite strong enough to take Iraq by force, but they had some chance if they held sway over the people. With that gone it is a question of what to do next?

I doubt al-Qaeda is strong enough to take Afghanistan, let alone Pakistan. I see a gathering of forces for one last attempt to turn a population to their side. But I do think Zawahiri has little choice but to do something. They need a success. And I cannot see massacring Muslims as being a success for al-Qaeda. not in Muslim circles.