al-Qaeda is on a two month bombing effort to demonstrate to Iraqis they must succumb to al-Qaeda’s will or else. It is a desperate act which will strengthen the Iraqi Muslim opposition to al-Qaeda – reaffirming their status as enemy of Islam, not its future. The brutality and the atrocities committed by al-Qaeda in Iraq turned the Muslims of Iraq from followers into enemies. And it seems al-Qaeda has no other plan than to keep following this path to self destruction, now that they have attacked the leadership of one of the Sunni insurgent groups known to still resist America’s presence in Iraq:

Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents early Wednesday blew up the offices of the so-called people’s councils in the Iraqi city of Baquba, killing three council members and wounding two, Voices of Iraq news agency cited security sources in Diyala province as saying.
Fighters blew up the headquarters of an anti-al-Qaeda group called the 1920 Revolution Brigades in the Jirf al-Malh area of Baquba by planting explosives and bombs, the sources said.
Baquba, 57 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, is the capital of Diyala, which has seen a major security offensive launched by US and Iraqi forces backed by clan police squads against radical Iraqi insurgents linked to al-Qaeda.

The 1920 Revolution Brigade is not a group al-Qaeda should be antagonizing. It has no love for American forces, but an attack on its leadership will simply push it and its members closer to Americans in order to enlist their support in destroying al-Qaeda.
This act of stupidity (as all of al-Qaeda’s acts of blind violence are) repeats a pattern we saw in Anbar and other areas when al-Qaeda is being routed. Its as if al-Qaeda wants to send a farewell reminder of why it was good for the local Iraqi Muslims to throw off the jack boot of al-Qaeda prior to their final bow. We shall see what affect it has, but the leaders in the city of Baquba and in Diyala Province think al-Qaeda is finished there:

Head of Salvation and Reconciliation Council in Diyala Province Shakar Hamoud Al Shumari considered that the end of Al Qaeda is imminent in Baquba while stressing the necessity of uniting against Al Qaeda presence in the city.

al-Qaeda has been on a bloody rampage in the areas where they have retreated to in the face of the US Surge and the Iraqi Awakening. They have attacked numerous places over the Christmas holidays (33 all told yesterday). But when you put this in context of a society of 20+ million, with an army of around 150,000 and 80,000 local volunteers the numbers just aren’t enough to do more than garner the interest of the ghoulish Western Media.
The fact is al-Qaeda continues to get decimated – they are losing this battle of attrition. The US confirmed the killing of a key al-Qaeda leader yesterday, and released a video of an al-Qaeda group being killed by a missile targeting their car. This combination of decimating the al-Qaeda forces left in Iraq and al-Qaeda’s continued atrocities rallying more and more Iraqis to hunt them down and kill them is leading to only one future: victory in Iraq for the US and a crippling defeat for al-Qaeda.
To go from the hero worship al-Qaeda enjoyed after 9-11 to the anger and hate they created in the Muslim communities of Iraq is an incredibly turn around for al-Qaeda. It is a smashing defeat of their image as the future of Islam and their supposed invulnerability against America. al-Qaeda seems to be good at only one thing – making deadly enemies. That is not a recipe for success.

UN Caught Negotiating With The Enemy In Afghanistan, US Increases Presence In Pakistan
The UN and its allies who harbor liberal fantasies about murderous Islamo Fascists all of a sudden becoming reasonable and peaceful people are learning a cold hard lesson in Afghanistan: don’t talk with Afghanistan’s enemies about peace without their permission:

TWO European envoys have been ordered to leave Afghanistan after they allegedly held secret talks with the Taliban, as British spies are believed to have begun brokering peace deals with the fundamentalists.
The expulsion of the envoys — the European Union’s second most senior official in Afghanistan, Michael Semple, and a Briton working for the United Nations — has created an international furore and complicated a war in which Australia has just pledged to remain involved for the long haul.
Spies from Britain’s MI6 are thought to have held at least six meetings with key Taliban figures in order to negotiate a peace deal in Afghanistan’s south-eastern Helmand province.
The revelations are an embarrassment to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who just a fortnight ago denied in the British Parliament any such talks were taking place.

(More here). Brown is clearly no Blair. He ran from Basra and is now trying to talk his way out of Afghanistan. He seems to be the second coming of Neville Chamberlain – looking to lick the jackboot of the modern Hitlers. The fact is there is a massing of Islamic terrorists in the region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the talks that are ongoing and which are of true import are the ones on how to annihilate this growing scourge against humanity:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Pakistan for talks with his counterpart Pervez Musharraf, with the two countries struggling to keep a lid on Islamist insurgents on their border.
The rugged tribal region has been in the international spotlight since the September 11 attacks on the United States, and the two US-backed leaders have regularly accused each other of not doing enough to rein in militants.
Both countries have seen a sharp increase in militant violence. This has been the bloodiest year of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, while Pakistan has seen almost one suicide attack per week, on average, this year.
It will be the first meeting between Karzai and Musharraf since August, when they attended a tribal assembly to address the threat of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants, and Karzai’s first visit to Pakistan since February 2006.
“This is an important visit and will help strengthen growing good relations between the two countries,” Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told AFP.
He said the leaders would discuss cooperation in the US-led “war on terror” and the general situation in the region.

It is hardly a coincidence that the violence drops in Iraq and rises in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Terrorist forces are not on a par with national forces – at least not yet. The terrorists are massing for one final push at taking over Pakistan and getting hold of nuclear weapons. The fact is they may be massing for their final destiny with Allah. Contrary to the popular media story line, these regions have their share of opposition to al-Qaeda and Taliban methods and beliefs. As with Iraq the stories of vicious atrocities against fellow Muslims is starting to take a toll on the image of these hoodlums:

Ali’s story is similar to many Afghanis’. In the 1980s, his father fought against the invading forces of the former Soviet Union. But after driving the Soviets out in the late ’80s, a civil war erupted in Afghanistan, which eventually brought the Taliban to power.
As Shiite Muslims and ethnic Hazaras, Ali’s family suddenly went from Afghan patriots to persecuted minority.
They fled across the border to Kuetta, Pakistan where the family applied for refugee status hoping to resettle in the United States.
Ali won’t discuss how his father died, but when he did, Ali was left to care for his mother and two younger siblings. Barely a teen, Ali went into business for himself, weaving and repairing rugs – working nearly 80 hours a week for subsistence wages.
But the Taliban would not leave the Hazara people alone. During a Shiite religious celebration shortly after U.S. forces brought the War on Terror to the Taliban, suicide bombers killed 150 Shiites and wounded many more in Kuetta. Ali was in the thick of it.
“When they attacked us, after that, we took a couple of cars and went to town and announced we need guns,” Ali said. “Everyone brought guns from their house.”
Finally, after four years of waiting, Ali learned his family had a sponsor in the U.S. They arrived in Hamilton County in May 2003 thanks to Catholic Social Services.

These battles between elements of Islam has not abated to this day. There are some groups who prefer peace over oppression. In fact it is heating up in the area where al-Qaeda may be making their final stand:

Clashes between rival Shia and Sunni groups in a tribal region in northwestern Pakistan have intensified after Taliban fighters infiltrated into the area to back one of the factions.
The violence, which has left at least 15 people dead and nearly 50 injured in Kurram Agency since the weekend, has further spread after Taliban militants entered the area from nearby tribal regions.
The civil administration of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has sought more troops to control the situation, media reports said on wednesday.

One thing is for sure, events are coming to a head this US election year. As I posted many times before (see here and here) Pakistan is allowing more US forces into the country to ‘train’ and take the lead in certain military operations. The latest news confirms something major is brewing in Pakistan:

US will expand its military presence in Pakistan in the New Year, under a new agreement negotiated last month, Pentagon sources say.
The first US personnel could be on the ground in Pakistan by early in the New Year, according to Pentagon sources.
The sources have said reaching a different agreement with Pakistan had become a priority for the new head of the US Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson.

The Iranian press, quoted above, sees this move as hostile to other countries in the region (Iran of course). But the US media is a bit more realistic:

Beginning early next year, U.S. Special Forces are expected to vastly expand their presence in Pakistan, as part of an effort to train and support indigenous counter-insurgency forces and clandestine counterterrorism units, according to defense officials involved with the planning.
These Pakistan-centric operations will mark a shift for the U.S. military and for U.S. Pakistan relations.

…
According to Pentagon sources, reaching a different agreement with Pakistan became a priority for the new head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson. Olson visited Pakistan in August, November and again this month, meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman Gen. Tariq Majid and Lt. Gen. Muhammad Masood Aslam, commander of the military and paramilitary troops in northwest Pakistan. Olson also visited the headquarters of the Frontier Corps, a separate paramilitary force recruited from Pakistan’s border tribes.
The locations toured hint at things to come. al-Qaeda may still have one last shot left in them. I agree with Austin Bay they are getting to the point where al-Qaeda has no choice but to go all out and try for a modern Tet Offensive to turn their pending defeat into victory. Lord knows there are enough useful idiots in the SurrenderMedia and leftward fever swamps ready to help them try. But in this case there is no state backing al-Qaeda (i.e., North Vietnam), nor any large super powers backing them (communist China and Russia). What they face is ever mounting US forces from NATO and the shifting of America’s best and most dangerous right to their front door. While al-Qaeda may try for a big bloodbath to help Democrats try and win the 2008 election, the effort will fall short and the American people will respond opposite to al-Qaeda’s wishes.