Posted by
on Thursday, February 08, 2007 1:37:40 PM
Dr. Rusty Shackleford @ My Pet Jawa reports that the offensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq is shaping up to be a resounding success. In the last forty-eight hours we have seen six major al-Qaeda leaders captured, dozens killed, and an IED network broken up via airstrikes.
A key aide to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the man who took over command of al-Qaeda forces after al-Zarqawi met an unfortunate end, was captured, and in his interrogations, he admitted to seeing al-Masri yesterday. AJ Strata @ The Strata-Sphere is on this story:
Iraqi security forces detained an aide to the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq in a raid early Thursday at a gas station south of Baghdad, state-run television and a security official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the aide to Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was one of two men arrested in the dawn raid.
The two suspects ran a gas station in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, on behalf of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the official said, adding the returns from selling gas and other oil products on the black market were being used to finance the operations of local al-Qaeda in Iraq cells.
The official, who was involved in the raid, did not identify the two men, but added that the al-Masri aide had confessed to meeting the terror network leader the previous day in the Mahmoudiya area, but that he could not tell investigators of his current whereabouts because he was constantly on the move.
Heh. It sucks to be al-Masri, especially now that we have one of his key aides. That person may not know where he is at, but we know he is in the area. It is only a matter of time before we catch him, and as AJ notes, this trail is very fresh.
Two more leaders were caught by Iraqi and United States forces, and these guys were running an IED operation:
Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists believed to have ties to an al-Qaida improvised explosive device cell during a raid Wednesday morning in West Taji.
Intelligence reports indicated one of the detainees has significant ties to a local IED cell and had connections to recent anti-Coalition Forces activities.
Ground forces entered the targeted building and detained the two suspected terrorists without incident. Upon searching the house, ground forces found evidence of explosives material hidden inside the building and buried around the exterior. They also found several weapons and materials commonly used to make IEDs.
In order to prevent the residence from being used for future sanctuary to terrorists, ground forces destroyed the building with strategically-placed charges. Before placing the charges, Ground forces escorted two women and nine children outside the house and to a neighbor’s home in order to ensure their safety.
That is going to put a serious dent in al-Qaeda's IED operations. So does this, which is reported by Dr. Shackleford:
Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Wednesday targeting an al-Qaida in Iraq-related vehicle-borne improvised explosives devices network near Arab Jabour. Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of VBIED attacks in the Baghdad area. They are also responsible for IED and sniper attacks conducted against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and Coalition Forces. Building destroyed, everyone inside presumably dead.
Additionally, Dr. Shackleford includes these two juicy morsels:
A facilitator of foreign fighters was captured by the Iarqi Army on the Syrian border. And foreign fighters tend to mean al Qaeda.
Not to be outdone by the IA, the U.S. struck two houses where foreign fighters had gathered—-13 jihadis dead. An “individual” associated with foreign fighter facilitation was in the targeted area.
No ownder why the Democrats are whining in Congress. We are winning, and their strategy of withdrawal is not resonating within the administration, or with their constitutents. This offensive is making a lot of headway, and we are taking the fight back to al-Qaeda instead of sitting on our laurels trying to placate the Iraqi government, and their concerns. Yes, we will take steps to minimize civilian casualties, but we cannot fight a war if our hands are tied. Now they are not, and we are winning.
Marcie