Monday, April 19, 2010

Bang! Bang! You're Dead! Both of You!

Top al Qaeda Leaders Killed in Iraq Raid, including the nebulous and nefarious Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

Hah!!
"Both men were found in a hole in the ground."
[---]
"Mr. Maliki said computers and letters were found that included communication between the men and Osama bin Laden."
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“The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency,” said Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, in a statement. “The Government of Iraq intelligence services and security forces supported by U.S. intelligence and special operations forces have over the last several months continued to degrade A.Q.I. There is still work to do but this is a significant step forward in ridding Iraq of terrorists.”
Pardon me for being a cynical, though. Al Maliki is taking credit. What fortunate timing!

Perhaps a deal was made in the formation of alliances now going on to form a government. Pealing the not-so-committed terrorists away from the hard-core is a good thing, though. I wonder if the letters from bin Ladin will yield any actionable intelligence. Just think. "The One", who only a few years ago wanted Americans to lose in Iraq, can now take credit.

The fact that the secret prisons (see second link) are being openly discussed and criticized in a free Iraqi press speaks volumes about George Bush's project and the commitment of ordinary Iraqis to continue what has begun on April 9th, 2003.

And don't you think it's interesting that they were found in a hole near Tikrit, the same way and the same general location as Papa Saddam. Coincidence, anyone?

PS: Talisman Gate has an excellent summary of the capture of these two monsters. 
"This is a marvelous achievement. It will be very difficult for the Islamic State of Iraq to tell its underlings that al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir are still alive, even if it manages to reproduce the voices associated with their past broadcasts. It would be too easy to denounce the speakers as imposters. The circumstances of their death together, plus their earlier identification, makes this story extremely hard to refute. Commentators on the Al-Faloja jihadist discussion boards are in disbelief. There's really no way for the jihadists to do damage control here, especially at a time when all they wanted to demonstrate by their recent waves of bombings was their own survivability."  
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"Remember, al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir are directly responsible (…often openly boastful) for tens of thousands of murdered Iraqis, tens of thousands of injured Iraqis, tens of thousands of displaced Iraqis, and hundreds of US and Coalition casualties."
Note to Bush Derangement Syndrome sufferers. It wasn't Bush who was responsible for those murders.
"Those in the Western and Arab media who have lamented the loss of life in Iraq, and often blame the Americans for it, should be joyous today that these two mass-murderers have been held to account for their reign of savagery. But I doubt that will happen."

[---]
"So there you have it, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the two most significant leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq after Zarqawi, are no more. This is a massive blow to the jihadists, and a sign that U.S.-Iraqi intelligence and operational cooperation has reached a very mature stage.

Congratulations to all those who made it happen, and congratulations to the hundreds of thousands of victims of terrorism in Iraq; they have been avenged."

He also takes a well deserved swipe at Maliki.
"I would like to add one thing: the honorable thing for the Iraqi government to do is to name a main thoroughfare in Baghdad after the American soldier who died in this operation. There have been bad and tense days between Americans and Iraqis, mostly stemming from outside meddling as well as unnecessary misunderstandings, but destroying the jihadist leadership yesterday should be remembered as a day of triumph and gratitude in the long term relationship between the U.S. and Iraq. Many thousands of U.S. citizens died in this worthy fight, but nothing is more poignant and clear as to who the bad guys were, and who the good guys are, than killing off al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir in a combined U.S.-Iraqi operation. One would hope that Iraqi politicians have the guts to lead, and to tell the Iraqi public that we have a moral debt towards the Americans, rather than cowtow to the noisy anti-America mob. Today would be a good day to show Iraq's gratitude towards America. Maliki mentioned the US role in his press conference, but did not express any thanks."
Hear! Hear!

PPS: What'd I tell ya!

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