The stories of al-Qaeda’s problems are starting to avalanche as Iraq turns the corner, causing a domino effect across the Muslim world in terms of al-Qaeda’s falling credibility and respect. The wave of good news is so strong I can only synopsize and link to the stories these days. So here we go:

Coalition forces keep rounding up al-Qaeda leaders as the leads from previous captures provide the intel to pick up other targets and gain more leads. al-Qaeda cannot hide among the populace of Iraq anymore which makes the whole process easier.

The other source of leads are the Iraqis themselves who are turning in weapons and bomb caches. Which in turn leads to the huge drop off in violence seen in Iraq. Another new statistic on the changing tide in Iraq is this tidbit: “And on Nov. 16, Iraq experienced just 33 terrorist incidents, he pointed out. “This is the lowest number of any attacks in a single day in Iraq in nearly three and a half years,” Smith said.”. Recall that there were long periods in October without combat deaths:

During a five-day stretch between October 19 and 23, there were no deaths among coalition forces. Although three US servicemen died from “non-hostile causes”, this was the longest period without combat deaths for nearly four years. And, between October 27 and 29, there were three more days without coalition deaths.

But back to the great news coming out of Iraq today. Another story highlights how concerned Iraqi citizens are leading US and Iraqi forces to large caches of very dangerous weapons:

U.S. troops uncovered and destroyed a weapons cache containing seven pressure plates Nov. 16 and 17 in the area of Mahdiryia. The plates are used to detonate a form of improvised explosive device (IED) that is specifically targeted against Coalition and Iraqi troops on foot patrol.
The cache find was the first indication of these “dismounted” IEDs being used in the area of Mahdiryia. They are already heavily used by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) the communities of Hawr Rajab and Arab Jabour to the north.

Soldiers from Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery (FA) Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, out of Fort Stewart, Ga., were led to the weapons cache by a member of the Concerned Local Citizens group in the vicinity of Patrol Base W-1.

Pressure plates are the things that give the shape-charged IED’s their deadly punch. The story highlights a half ton of destroyed munitions thanks to Iraqis changing sides and fighting along side America and against al-Qaeda.

This other story is intriguing and also puts the lie to the liberals doom and gloom defeatism. It turns out al-Qaeda had two ways to gain fighter: oppression and bribes.

Abu Nawall, a captured al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, said he didn’t join the Sunni insurgent group here to kill Americans or to form a Muslim caliphate. He signed up for the cash.

“I was out of work and needed the money,” said Abu Nawall, the nom de guerre of an unemployed metal worker who was paid as much as $1,300 a month as an insurgent. He spoke in a phone interview from an Iraqi military base where he is being detained. “How else could I support my family?”

U.S. military commanders say that insurgents across the country are increasingly motivated more by money than ideology and that a growing number of insurgent cells, struggling to pay recruits, are turning to gangster-style racketeering operations.

Turns out Bin Laden’s ideology apparently is not all that strong or enticing as advertised. Which means there are probably even fewer dead enders willing to die for al-Qaeda’s failure in Iraq.

Here is another story on the Thanks we should be giving this weekend for the turn of events in Iraq. Expect more of these sentiments in the coming days. While Dems pray they can somehow surrender Iraq to al-Qaeda, most Americans will be thanking the Lord things have turned the corner and we can see victory within our sights.

But al-Qaeda is not just losing in Iraq. They are being routed elsewhere. We know they have been challenged successfully in Lebanon. But few know they also have apparently been routed in Algiers as well. They are losing leadership faster there than in Iraq. Seems the Muslims in Algiers are also turning al-Qaeda’s butchers into authorities.

And it seem they have also been running into trouble in Libya of all places:

In addition to garnering the “rendition” of Libyan Islamists from places like Afghanistan, Thailand, and Hong Kong, Libya is participating in an American effort to track Islamist militants across the Sahara. Libyan intelligence agents, meanwhile, have helped American interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo, according to The Economist.

…

These include internal threats to Qaddafi’s regime, like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and external challenges—namely, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Based in Algeria and a holdover from the civil war that ravaged that country throughout the 1990-s, the Islamic Maghreb continues to launch terror attacks across North Africa, and is closely affiliated with Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Incursions by elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, long a threat to stability in Hosni Mubarak’s neighboring Egypt, were also likely on the agenda.

Colonel Qaddafi certainly had good reason to want to meet with Townsend: He has survived at least two assassination attempts by Islamic extremists in recent years.

Boy, if al-Qaeda is losing Libya they must be on the way out.