al-Qaeda
Posted at 11:00am on Dec. 28, 2007 Al Qaeda Opens a New Front
Does Bhutto’s Death Mean the End of Iraq?
By Mark I
Al Qaeda’s military commander in Afghanistan claims that the terror group coordinated the effort that led to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, Pakistan yesterday. In a telephone interview with Asia Times Online (NSA boys, did you get this one on tape?), Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said that the killing was part of an al Qaeda plan to destabilize Pakistan by hitting at “precious American assets” there.
”We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat mujahideen. This is our first major victory against those who have been siding with infidels in a fight against al-Qaeda and declared a war against mujahideen.”
Al-Yazid goes on to describe a fairly elaborate effort at tracking and targeting Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf involving indigenous extremist groups acting on orders from al Qaeda. California Yankee reports that US Intelligence agencies have not yet confirmed that al Qaeda was responsible. But couple the claim with reports from earlier this month that defeated al Qaeda forces were moving out of Iraq and heading back to Afghanistan, and it begs the question: Does Bhutto’s death mean that the Iraq war is essentially over?
Read on…
Posted in Afghanistan | al-Qaeda | Benazir Bhutto | Iraq | Pakistan | Pervez Musharraf | War | War on Terror — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:15pm on Nov. 8, 2007 Harry Reid Finds Success in Iraq
Senator Knows Why the Violence is Down; and It’s Not Because the Surge is Working
By Mark I
On the floor of the Senate Tuesday, during leadership time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) made a statement on the occasion of the year 2007 becoming the deadliest year for US troops since the Iraq War began. One might find this an odd cause for recognition on the floor of the Senate, but not Sen. Reid. For him, the sacrifices of our brave troops provided an opportunity to both score political points against the war and, perhaps more importantly, denigrate the successes they are achieving every day as part of the troop surge.
From Reid’s official statement:
Yesterday we reached another tragic milestone in Iraq. With the death of five young Americans, 2007 has now been the deadliest year for our troops of the entire war. Our thoughts are with the families of these five latest American victims of the Iraqi civil war. Our hearts go out to the families of all 3,854 young men and women who have lost their lives and to the tens of thousands more who have been gravely wounded.
This war has caused so much suffering here in America where our losses continue to rise, where our treasury has been depleted for generations to come, and where our military is battered, scarred and stretched to the limit. And let us not forget the suffering in Iraq – where we learned today that 2.3 million civilians are now displaced, fleeing from their homes, their neighborhoods, their schools and places of worship.
Two-thirds of the displaced are young children, under the age of 12. This humanitarian crisis rages on with no end in sight. By any of the most critical benchmarks, President Bush’s flawed strategy on Iraq is not making America more secure. We are seeing no signs of meaningful progress on political reconciliation, which is the key to success in Iraq.
But the official statement does not include a key passage that the Senator saw fit to include in his remarks on the floor. In that passage, Sen. Reid expands on the argument of Rep. David Obey (D-WI) from Monday in which he said that violence is down in Iraq because US troops have “run out of people to kill.” Reid sees another reason, and it has nothing to do with the heroic sacrifices of the troops.
Read on…
Posted in al-Qaeda | Harry Reid | Iraq | Liberals | troop surge — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »
