Jan 01 2008
Celebrations In Iraq, Bin Laden Must Have Major Hangover
For the seventh straight month the violence has dropped in Iraq – even in the face of a call for increased violence for the months of December and January and Bin Laden’s . The death toll in December for the US (now 21 with the month over) was so low it barely came in second to the lowest month on record. And even as the news media repeats a 2 month old claim that 2007 was the deadliest year in Iraq (we hit that mark 2 months ago amid the massive decline in violence) the Iraqis celebrated their victories over al-Qaeda and their new, brighter future. Viva the new Iraq! Welcome to 2008, probably the year al-Qaeda’s back is broken. And let’s not forget 2007 was the year Muslims stood up against al-Qaeda, not only in Iraq but also in Lebanon:
In Lebanon the Al- Qaeda linked Fatah al Islam militants fought the Lebanese army for 106 days during the summer but lost badly . The fighting took place at the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el Bared in North Lebanon . Their leader Shaker Al Absi ( pictured) escaped and is now in Syria where he came from. Most of the militants were either killed or jailed …out of about 750 militants only about twenty were able to escape.
Army General Michel Suleiman became very popular after defeating the terrorists and was recently nominated to be the next president but Syria which reportedly has helped Fatah Al Islam smuggle its weapons into Lebanon is blocking the election of Suleiman.
I wonder what kind of New Year’s Eve Bin Laden and al-Qaeda had? His forces destroyed and on the run, retreating back to the lawless provinces where they have also faced defeat (especially in Swat) and rejection by many of the locals. Bin Laden’s forces are now seen as the enemy of millions of Muslims in Iraq and Lebanon and Afghanistan. I wonder what he finds hopeful in his little hide out this New Year? Has he learned yet that his dreams of bloodshed only bring nightmares of defeat the next day? It has not been his year, no matter what record number of people (mostly Muslims) he has killed.
Update: Anyway, the year 2007 was good for Iraq overall and promises to bring in a much brighter future in 2008:
The number of insurgent attacks now stands at its lowest level since January 2006, with IED (Improvised Explosive Device) bombings down by 60 per cent, and civilian deaths plummeting.
Casualties among Iraqi security forces have also declined significantly, and the Iraqi army has now taken over responsibility for security in nine of Iraq’s 18 provinces.
In contrast, the foreign jihadists who have wreaked so much havoc in the country in the past four years are taking a heavy hit, with 40 al-Qaida leaders killed or captured in October alone.
The economy is also looking up, with Iraqi crude oil production exceeding pre-war output for the first time.
According to US Treasury statistics, there are now more than 40,000 registered businesses in Iraq, an increase of 500 per cent since the days of the Saddam regime.
If this trend continues for another 10 months the success in Iraq under President George Bush will be stunning.
The other side of the coin.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/
2007/12/ap_afghanistan_casualties_071231/
um…al queda just totally turned pakistan into turmoil. i think you are talking about al queda in mesapotamia…an organization that didn’t even exist until we ivaded and occupied that sovereign nation. so i can see whay you have your pom poms out…sure it was the worst year of the war – but it was the second best month – and we’ve only borrowed two trillion dollars to do it. sis boom bah.
al-Qaeda created some chaos – they have not won anything yet. they created chaos on 9-11 here, in the UK, in Spain, in Bali….
And all of them are still there and standing.
You can’t be easily spooked by AQ unless you want to play into their plans.
aj,
by playing into “their plans” i can only assume you mean the plans of the white house and the fear-mongerer in chief, and the fear-mongerer in chief wanna be -rudy g.
Yeah, that’s right norm – it is all just a bad dream and 9-11 never happened!
Too funny.
it is a bad dream…but unfortunately 9.11 did happen. we just haven’t had an effective policy to deal with that. we did manage to get rid of saddam though, something the neocons had been trying to do since last century…and it was sure worth borrowing 2 trillion dollars for.
norm: Criticism made in hindsight is easy.
I dont see leaving Saddam in place as such a hot idea.
Regarding Sanctions: either they were crumbling, and he could resume wmd production … or they would be strengthened , prolonging the death spiral of the Iraqi people and thier society.
We could be facing a nuclear Saddam by now… and Saddam was working with any terrorist group that wanted to work with him.
The world is much safer with that out of the picture.
It’s not our fault Iraq descended into violence. It’s the Arabs/Irans fault… They decided on that course of action. It’s not like we have magic powers that can stop people from doing what they want to do.
Were mistakes made? Sure.. name one war that started out good?
The Civil War was a disaster for a while.
I’m glad our military pulled this off (so far)… rub the disgracefull Nancy Stretch Pelosi and Harry Reids words right in their seditious faces. It’s a damn shame our country has to have such worthless people as leaders… our military people deserve much much better because our military people are head and shoulders more brave and honorable than any defeatist Leftist.
they are also head and shoulders more brave and honorable than chicken-hawk righties.
Yes norm! Excellent analysis!
You’re so persuasive and show such mastery of facts and historical depth.
Let me guess… you have a college degree.
well i was ignoring your cheerleading-disguised-as-analysis but since you asked…
1). according to the david kay/iraq survey group report sanctions and inspections were working and had been effective in keeping saddam from having wmd. 2). there is no serious indication whatsoever that “…we could be facing a nuclear saddam by now…” (you chicken-hawks tried that with iran as well…luckily we didn’t have to lose 4ooo troops and borrow 2 trillion dollars to find out you were wrong about that too.) 3). it’s easy for you to say that it’s not our fault that iraq devolved into chaos…gee how would we know? but the reality is that we invaded and occupied another sovereign nation that posed absolutely no threat to us with a total lack of adequate long-term planning or attention to OUR OWN reports that said what happened was going to happen…that’s what you now choose to call hindsight. 4). by the white house’s own stated goals the escalation is not working. sure, security has improved due in large part to iran asking al sadr to step down for a time being and the nearly-complete ethnic cleansing. but that was not the goal of the escalation…it was a tactic to accomplish the goal that has not been accomplished. by the way i’m also not sure the goal of the occupation was to give iran another ally in the region. but that’s what has happened.
so much for your mastery of facts and historical depth.
have a nice day.
I love how it actually ANGERS folks like norm when someone does NOT lay the blame of all evil on the United States.
I wonder what mental disorder is that compells so many folks like norm to seethe in contempt against his own country, and his fellow Americans.
What makes him overlook the culpability of our enemy to be responsible for the atrocities they committt… Is it racism? Do Muslims not count as competent human beings with agendas and goals of their own?
And why is it that folks like norm are so great at dwelling in the past… bloviating over every purported minute mistep.
And yet they are ALWAYS silent about what to do moving forward. They offer ZERO solutions and for a lot of them, indicate no understanding of what Jihad even is.
Yeah,, have a nice day norm.. until it’s time for your two minute hate again.
Remember Colin Powell’s “Pottery Barn” analogy? We’ve been sitting on a huge pile of broken pot shards over there for five years now. Somebody found two bits that match, and the wingnuts start screaming, “Look, we’re making progress! Baghdad Bush was right all along! Hurrah!”
Still drinking that kool-aid?
Tommo,
Nice Chicken Little dance – no wonder Liberals can’t get anything done! Complex issues scare and confuse them. And then they lash out in embarrassment at those who can.
vince…
um…if you actually looked at it you would realize that you, and the original post, made a litany of claims…i have only responded to and corrected your factual errors. and be careful…i do not for one minute blame the united states. i blame a handful of short sighted visionless power hungry fools and their blind supporters. contrary to what people like you think it is not a mental disorder to question authority…actually it is a patriotic duty. an actual mental disorder would be to see a stunning success in iraq. iraq has become an ally of iran. how in the world is that success in any way shape or form? please…someone explain that to me. i was against the mis-adenture in iraq, as were many, from before it started. i said to keep up the fight in afghanistan and chase al queda until they were decimated. now you say i offer zero solutions? people like you instead made wild un-substantiated claims about a nuclear iraq and mushroom clouds over new york. now if i call you on your ridiculousness i am dwelling on the past and bloviating on misteps. no pal…there are and always have been plenty of folks out there with solutions and proposals and ideas. the problem has been that the so-called leaders of your cult have not and are not willing to listen to anyone elses ideas. take for instance the bi-partisan hamilton-baker report. ignored. the 9/11 commision? obstructed. you can call it hate in order to rationalize the incredibly awful things you have supported because you are so afraid of people who don’t look like you and don’t sound like you and don’t believe what you believe and whom you clearly can’t begin to comprehend. but it’s not…hate is a worthless emotion. what i have is completely rational and utter contempt for a handful of visionless simplistic incompetent partisan hacks who have hijacked this country and sent it down a terrible path, and their supporters who are unwilling or unable to question it. so now we have lost 4000 soldiers and borrowed over two trillion dollars and december was the second least violent month in almost 5 years in a country that posed no threat to us. congratulations.
Do you feel better? I have to assume you wrote that for your own emotional needs.. a giant block of text uninterrepted by line breaks or even capital letters wasn’t written with the reader in mind.
Osama bin Laden is as safe as he has ever been (saince he was allowed to get away in Tora Bora). His al Qaeda has, according to American military estimated, returned to “pre 9/11” strength. He can project his power, with the help of a resur5gent Taliban, anywhere he wants to in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the United States is in a quagmire in Iraq, with the White House giving itself “High Fives” because the violence is “only” at 2005 levels (this for an occupation that Donald Rumsfled predicted would last no more than “six months”. And will be for the next decade as the three-way civil war in Iraq continues. At a cost of mroe than $3 billion PER/WEEK.
And the United States, that once stood for higher ideals, now excuses itself because “we don’t torture our prisoners as badly as they do”.
In my opinion, Osama bin Laden could not have prayed for a better outcome when he sent those ninteen hijackers on their mission to the US so many years ago.