As al Qaeda continues to fight in Iraq, it exposes its true nature to the Iraqi people, and to the rest of the world… if only the world would pay attention. Chester points us to an interrogation of Abed, a member of al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Islam. Abed’s band of murderers routinely practiced rape and […]
Al Qaeda’s middle managers continue to take a beating. Two senior commanders, one in Saudi Arabia, and one in Turkey, have been removed from action. The dismantlement of al Qaeda’s middle managers – its most senior field operatives with extensive knowledge, training and contacts in the jihadi world – is crucial to reducing al Qaeda’s […]
The multiple bombings throughout Bangladesh highlights the scope of the war, al Qaeda’s global reach and their reliance on local jihadi groups to extend their reach. Bangladesh has no troops in Iraq, is not an occupied country, nor does it have close ties to the West, yet Islamist terrorism exists all the same. Bangladeshi security […]
Iraq’s political process temporarily stalled due to wrangling over the content of the constitution. The requested one week delay in submitting the constitution to the Iraqi assembly by the August 15 deadly is chalked up to disagreement over the role of Islam, women’s rights, federalism and the disbursement of oil revenues. Robert Mayer of Publius […]
With the fourth anniversay of the hot war between al Qaeda and the West approaching, it is interesting to see how al Qaeda’s strategy and objectives have evolved since the United States committed to engaging in open warfare. The Word Unheard points us to an article in Spiegel Online by a Jordanian journalist Fouad Hussein, […]
“We have had enough of his nonsense. We don’t accept that a non-Iraqi should try to enforce his control over Iraqis, regardless of their sect — whether Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs or Kurds.” – Sheik Ahmad Khanjar, leader of the Sunni Albu Ali clan, referring to Abu Musab al Zarqawi Red-on-red incidents between al Qaeda and […]
A major reason Iraqi Security Forces are deemed “not operational” (in New York Times parlance) is their inability to sustain their own logistical support system. At the risk of beating the dead horse, it is important to stress that the majority of Iraqi units are able to conduct combat operations, but are restricted from fully […]
The question of the readiness of the Iraqi Army to take a major role in fighting the insurgency is often asked, and reports from the media have been less than helpful in answering this question. As we have seen, the mantra from the professional media has been that ‘few Iraqi Army units are fully operational’ […]
