Yesterday’s Washington Times reported on an operation in Baghdad called Raging Bull, which was an Iraqi led operation made up of commandos:

South of Baghdad, joint U.S. and Iraqi forces launched operation "Raging Bull" in search for 100 gunmen who have been holed up in the area of Salman Pak and al-Madaen. An Iraqi security source said 150 members of an elite Iraqi force and dozens of U.S. troops joined hands in the operation and managed to capture 40 gunmen in the first hours.

Today, Agence France-Presse reports a raid in Baghdad turned up “Jassem Al Thur and 13 accomplices”, who are believed to have been behind the bombing of the Palestine Hotel.

While it is not explicitly stated, it appears the raids south of Baghdad which were reported in the AFP article and Operation Raging Bull are one in the same. AFP reports the Wolf Brigade, Iraq’s elite police commando unit, led the raids south of Baghdad.

[Colonel Ali Abu Al Hassan, commander of the Wolf Bridage] said the arrests took place overnight on Monday-Tuesday following raids by the commando unit against “a terrorist hide-out” in Sayafiah, south of Baghdad. Firefights with insurgent gunmen had lasted 36 hours, Hassan added, and led to the seizure of two car bombs, one of which was disguised in a garbage truck.

A dumptruck was also used in the Palestine Hotel bombing.

If the numbers are correct, over fifty accomplices in the Palestine Hotel attack were rolled up in less than a week after the execution (the failed suicide attack took place on October 25th). The perpetrators of past terror attacks across the globe used to wait years, if ever, before meeting justice.

In today’s Iraq, their shelf life is often weeks or months, as the Iraqi Security Forces have intimate knowledge of the people, places, culture and language. al Qaeda is not the only player gaining knowledge and experience in Iraq; Iraqi’s security and intelligence services are also going through the crucible of war and honing their skills. For this reason, al Qaeda fears the rise of the Iraqi Security Forces, and rightfully so.