Monthly Archives: February 2006

The pros & cons of al Qaeda funneling both novice and experienced jihadis into Iraq

Radioblogger has the transcript of last evening’s discussion with Hugh Hewitt on the situation in Iraq.

The bombing at the Golden Mosque has not instigated civil war in Iraq

Fighting in Doura district of Baghdad seems to be locus of fighting; QRFs established to address hot spots

A status report on the violence in Iraq and prospects for civil war; Sadr’s role

Refinery in Saudi Arabia attacked following the destruction of the Golden Mosque in Samarra

Over two days after the destruction of the dome of the Golden Mosque, is the violence surging or abating?

Reviewing the leading indicators that Iraq is sliding into a full scale civil war.

al Qaeda likely conducted attacks; attack can lead to civil war or provide opportunity for Sunnis and Shiites to unite; al Qaeda may have made yet another miscalculation

Pakistan sentences Islamists to death; Zawahiri taunts Musharraf; Prophet protests rage

Colonel Stephen W. Davis is the regimental commander of Regimental Combat Team -2, 2nd Marine Division, serving in AO Danger in Western Iraqi. His area of operation is comprised of the Qaim Region on the Syrian Border to the Triad cities of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana, as well as Rutbah, Anah, and Khan Al Baghdadi. I embedded with RCT-2 from November 26 to December 17th of 2005.

U.S., Afghanistan step up pressure on the Pakistani government to dismantle the Taliban terrorists operating in the tribal belt

Coalition forces disrupt al Qaeda plot to disrupt communications and assassinate tribals

The Iraqi Army conducts two separate battalion sized operation & gain control of a bigger slice of the battlespace

The U.S. Military and al Qaeda both have a vested interest in learning how to properly fight an insurgency

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point releases al Qaeda documents and recommends a strategy for “Exploiting Al-Qaeda’s Organizational Vulnerabilities”

Is the Taliban in control in Waziristan? Pakistan’s influence in the tribal belt is tenuous at best.

Jafari picked to be new PM; Iraqi Army continues to take the lead & conducts night air assault; Rutbah becomes a ” vital logistical node for the insurgency”

A quick look at Iraq’s long border with Syria and Jordan

The Iraqi people step up to the plate, and more Red-on-Red fighting Further details emerge about the developing rifts between the native elements of the Iraqi insurgency and al Qaeda and their Islamist allies. Army Major General Rick Lynch, the spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, acknowledged the infighting has occurred in Anbar province; “Many times […]

Al Bawaba reports “US, Iraqi forces closing on al Zarqawi” in northern Iraq

23 terrorists escape from custody, including the leader of the attack on the USS Cole and 12 others

Unrest Continues in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Taliban claims to have set up the “Islamic Republic of Waziristan”

The status of the insurgency in the province formerly known as the “Wild West” Iraq’s Anbar province has been, along with Baghdad, one of the most violent in Iraq. Over one-quarter of Coalition deaths originated in the cities and towns along the Euphrates River, from Fallujah in the east to Husaybah on the Syrian border. […]

More fighting in Helmand; drug trade plays a role The battles between the Taliban and Afghan Army and police units, backed by U.S. forces, enters the third day in the troubled southeastern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. Six Afghan policemen are killed in a roadside bombing near Kandahar as U.S. air forces conduct strikes in […]

The city of Ramadi has seen some progress of late in the fight against the insurgency. While Ramadi, the provincial capital and largest city in Anbar, is perhaps one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq, the government has been working to gain local support and cleave off the domestic nationalist elements of the insurgency […]