Mar 21 2008
Terrorists Fleeing Iraq – Victory May Be At Hand As Rats Abandon Fight
Boy, I just get finished with a long post on the war on terror and I run across this story which is just stunning. It seems the Islamo Fascist rats are leaving the sinking ship:
A growing number of foreign fighters are leaving or attempting to flee Iraq as U.S. and Iraqi forces have weakened al-Qaeda and forced its members from former strongholds, U.S. military officials say.
The trend reflects a broad disenchantment among foreign fighters, particularly since al-Qaeda has lost sanctuaries in parts of Baghdad and Anbar, a Sunni province west of the capital, U.S. military intelligence officials say.
“They’re being told in their countries of origin by facilitators that, ‘Hey, we’re basically winning the war against the apostates,’ ” said Brig. Gen. Michael Flynn, intelligence director for Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East. “They go there and find out it’s not quite the case.”
Foreign militants constitute about 10% of al-Qaeda’s strength in Iraq, but Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said they make up about 90% of the suicide bombers.
The departure of some fighters doesn’t mean al-Qaeda is quitting the fight, said Brig. Gen. Brian Keller, the chief intelligence officer for the U.S. command in Iraq. “We’re just starting to see more and more fissures in the morale and leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq,” he said.
Recently, families of about 20 Algerians in Iraq who the military suspects are foreign fighters contacted the Algerian government and said the men were seeking safe passage out of Iraq. The Algerian government contacted the Iraqi government to seek information about the group, Keller said.
The Algerians have not surfaced, but Keller said separate intelligence shows they exist.
The number of foreign fighters entering Iraq has declined to about 40 to 50 a month from a high of about 120 a month last year, according to Multi-National Force-Iraq. Most enter from Syria.
No wonder Bin Laden called out for fighters and donations and al-Qaeda in Iraq has had to go to using widows as suicide bombers (see previous post). I know the liberals cannot or will not wrap their minds around this – but even the terrorists are starting to see Iraq as a lost cause – for our enemies. Not for us. With the fighters giving up the fight and trying to get back home from the battlefield, with Bin Laden begging for funds and fighters, and with Iraq’s next round of national elections coming up in Oct – why are we claiming Iraq is a failure and cannot be won?
I guess it all depends on what your definition of ‘victory’ is, but I am pretty sure when the other side starts leaving the battlefield and going home that is a victory.
HOO-RAH…WE’VE ALMOST ELIMINATED THE RPOBLEM WE CAUSED!!!! and at the paltry sum of 400 troops and trillions of dollars. HOO-RAH!!! no mention of iran’s strengthened hand in the region. or the strengthening of the al queda that actually attacked the us in 2001. or the damage that borrowing trillions from china and $4 gtas has done to us. but…HOO-RAH!!!
Norm: The debt that we piled up in the past ten years pales in significance to the $ 50 TRILLIAN in debt owed to the SSI and Medicare trust funds due to the fraudualant system the Democrats established
i know the republicans are concerned about ssi and medicare…i can tell because bush keeps borrowing surpluses from it to cover his debts. any idea what the actual deficit is if that number is included? no… i didn’t think so. during the 2000 campaign bush agreed to not spend ss surpluses. of course that agreement went out the window right after the inauguration. just one more case of actions speaking louder than words. but interesting attempt to change the subject. VICTORY HOO-RAH!!! if we were winning we could pull out. we aren’t. if you weren’t just partisan hacks you would get it.
Norm: How is the text of the Koran put together? No googling.
Norm,
We’ll draw down as the victories solidify. We are not trying to leave, we are trying to win, then leave. Duh!
aj…define win. and in your definition include irans strengthened position in the region at our hand, as well as al quedas return to strength. thanks.
Norm: Actually you’re part of the reason why Iran feels emboldened.
Your statements have an impact. How does it feel when our enemies are strenghtened by the knoweldge that you’re doing everything you can to weaken American resolve?
actually vince the policies you support have aided and abbeted the enemy. what you are doing is called projection.
LOL! Norm, Iran is not any more powerful than it was before – unless they get those nukes. And al-Qaeda is defeated and being rejected by Islam across the rejoin. Stop fantasizing and come back down to earth!
iran has a new ally in the region…thanks to the policies you promote. that strengthens their position in the region. al queda…the al queda that attacked the us…not al queda in iraq…has returned to strength…thanks to the policies you promote. so go ahead and LOL…i’ll take is as the nervous laugh of someone knows deep down that they are wrong.
AQ has lost Iraq, lost in Lebanon, lost in Algeria and is retreating to Pakistan where it is getting taken out. LOL! (and that is all about how foolish you are, nothing nervous on my side).
Norm, you are clearly wedded to some fantasy you wish to come true which just isn’t happening. al-Qaeda is losing support, losing recruits and fighting Muslims just to stay alive.
The fact you cannot see this doesn’t mean anything more than your blind to your ego – which clearly cannot face up to how wrong you have been.
BFD – not everyone gets life.
aj…
i think you need to do some research before you accuse others of fantasies.
i’m still waiting for your definition of winning…and the moving of the goalposts i’m sure it will include.
Norm,
Do you need it spoon fed to you? Read the posts and comments man!
Norm, in case you haven’t noticed al-Qaeda is a transnational organization. The idea that they only exist in one place is one of the most disingenuous things ever argued. It would be like saying that we shouldn’t have fought the Nazis in North Africa because those weren’t the real Nazis.
And as for Iran being “strengthened” maybe you should break out the ruby slippers because just wishing something to be true and repeating it non stop doesn’t make it true.
norm knows how to do only one thing.. criticize the past. use his keen skills of 20/20 hindsight to say how everything is wrong.
But he has nothing to say about the future. He’s basically here to attack..and that’s it.
norm: you’re not that imporant. your little “ideas” have been said a million times over…
sorry aj…i have not seen a definition of winning. i see you claiming victory…but on your planet it is an ethereal thing…let the goalposts move to match the situation.
sherman you need to find out more about aqi.
you all make claims but have nothing but semantics and craven rationalizations to back them up.
Norm,
You don’t see a lot of things! Let’s see, we have routed Saddam’s forces, we have seen multiple free elections (and one more now coming in October). We have seen Sunnis rise up against al-Qaeda and chase them out of just about every area in Iraq, we have seen Iraqis reject al-Qaeda’s violent ways, we have seen AQ lose in Lebanon, Afghanistan and Pakistan – minus a few last refuges. We have seen Islamic fundamentalists lose elections in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have seen many muslim nations turing on al-Qaeda, we have seen reconciliation in Iraq across the board (with more to do, but a lot done), we have seen violence disappear where AQ has been vanquished…
And AQ has done what now??? Retreated to Pakistan to gather for the final blow?
Dude – your ego has you so blind it truly is hilarious. Talk about running around with your mental fly down.
Definition of winning for Norm:
A free Iraq who is an ally in intel on the globah Islamic jihad movement, who is western tolerant (they’ll never love us….), and a partner in world trade.
As far as your statement:
“thanks to the policies you promote. that strengthens their position in the region. al queda…the al queda that attacked the us…not al queda in iraq…has returned to strength…thanks to the policies you promote. ”
I’m afraid you and ilk will are now due to accept some responsibility for violence and slow progress in Iraq. All documented by a couple of Harvard researchers who are genuinely chagrined at their findings…
Read in entirety the PDF report available online: Is There an “Emboldenment” Effect? Evidence from the Insurgency in Iraq
Now, to address your next beef, assuming you actually read the studies results… no, I do not advocate clamping down on free speech.
However I do think that anti-Iraq freedom rhetoric should be toned down to civility by our elected officials, and that the balance of media reports should be more balanced and not either all negative… or zippo, nada, nothing when progress is being made.
Free speech also carries with it repercussions and responsibility. And it’s about time for the loud naysayers to take some of that responsibility for the increased violence… which has also contributed to the slower progress (because Iraqis don’t trust the US to stick around and finish the job and will be abandoned prior to having the ability to secure itself).
There really is no sense debating with those who just do not want to see….
To see that we have an ally and base in the middle of the Middle East.
To see that we have sent a message to the terrorists, as Tom Friedman, no friend of this administration has said, that we WILL FIGHT for what we treasure, our beloved freedom.
To see that we have rescued MILLIONS from tyranny (this used to be an ideal of the Left but they have long lost it)
To see that we are surrounding Iran like a pincer (can we say “Casparian Guard”)
To see that we have significantly thwarted the flow of deadly arms around the world with every major country in the world participating…quietly. Not braggadociously. (sp? LOL)
To see that we are sending a message to all those that crave freedom that we will stand with them…they can trust George W. Bush not to abandon them, even at great personal cost to himself.
To see that America is a great and noble country that DOES NOT OCCUPY OTHER COUNTRIES.
To see that democracies DO NOT OCCUPY OTHER COUNTRIES.
And lastly, I have yet to have a liberal answer this for me: After we ran the terrorists out of Afghanistan, where did they think the terrorists would go? Home? To their caves, playing nice? Or would they go to another terrorist friendly country…or one in chaos that they could then take over as they did in Afghanistan? And did the liberals think so little of the terrorists that they thought they would not adapt and not use sophisticated technology to try to defeat us?
And do the liberals not understand the nature of this unboundaried War on Terror, that each battle is one of many theaters in the War?
The answer for some is, yes they know. They just can’t stand it that a republican was in the White House to be the hero of it all.