Al-Qaeda is dwindling in Afghanistan and Iraq »
Posted By libsRfunny 1 year, 1 month ago in NewsThe most interesting discovery during a visit to Jalalabad, where Osama bin Laden planted his flag in 1996, is that Al-Qaeda seems to have all but disappeared. The group is on the run, too, in Iraq, and that raises some interesting questions about how to pursue this terrorist enemy in the future. "Al-Qaeda is not a topic of conversation her
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libsRfunny1 year, 1 month ago
Obama's and Democrats' worst nightmare: More good news from Iraq and Afghanistan. How can this be? A year ago Reid, Pelosi and the liberals on Propeller/Netscape swore the war was lost! Now they just grumble and swear.
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bobo-in-texas1 year, 1 month ago
They aren't known as the Retreat & Surrender Caucus for nothing.
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quackpot1 year, 1 month ago
I have yet to see any reliable estimates of al-qaeda-iraq strength. I have asked repeatedly here, but nobody seems to be able to be able to provide even a ball park number.
If the numbers are so hard to come by, how can a person judge the significance of a decrease?
---I wonder since the U.S. has no plans to reduce it's troop size.
---I wonder since the U.S. has no plans to reduce the dollars spent.
Does this mean that al-qaeda-iraq was not that important to begin with?
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quackpot1 year, 1 month ago
This is NOT a nightmare, it is GREAT news.
I am only puzzled by Mr. Bush's plans to keep u.S. troop levels constant.
I am only puzzled by Mr. Bush's plans to keep war funding constant.
I am only puzzled as to why the Iraqis can't, after five-plus years, take over a greater share of policing Iraq.
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Dionys1 year, 1 month ago
If we're going to depend solely on numbers then we have to look at the long picture. What it comes down to is that not only are the numbers of al-Quaeda much higher than they were before Bush invaded Iraq (i.e. higher than ZERO), but they're given daily boosts for recruitment through the actions of American soldiers commanded by (ostensibly) BushCo.
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Nixie1 year, 1 month ago
So sad that the Democratic Party has positioned themselves so that good news for our country is bad news for them. Disgraceful.
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pc251 year, 1 month ago
FTA
"evidence from the field suggests two conclusions:
First, Al-Qaeda isn't a permanent boogeyman; it's losing ground in Iraq and Afghanistan because of US counterinsurgency tactics, especially the alliances the Americans have built with tribal leaders and the aggressive use of Special Forces to capture or kill its operatives. ......shouldn't require a big, semi-permanent US military presence in Iraq or Afghanistan. Local security forces can handle a growing share of responsibility
Second, the essential mission in combating Al-Qaeda now is to adopt in Pakistan the tactics that are working in Iraq and Afghanistan. This means alliances with tribal warlords to bring economic development to the isolated mountain valleys ........."
seems to be a lot of covert operations going on that we never hear about....
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Teagen1 year, 1 month ago
Then you haven't been paying any attention to our briefings. We've admitted to finding a hard drive with literally a command structure outline of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. We've successfully used the intel over the last year hitting almost every stronghold, safe house and bomb making plant listed. American and Iraqi troops have done a great job winning the hearts of the locals too. Now when suspected insurgents are around instead of hiding locals identify them and call for help.
Another issue the press forgets are the positives we've been doing. Contrary to the lies of the left, more people now have running water, sewers and electricity. During Saddam's time, even downtown Baghdad didn't have real sewers. If you were a village not related to his tribe, you might not even have a city well with clean drinking water. He was a real SOB in keeping his people down. Most Iraqis understand we want to leave as much as they want control of their own country.
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anioklyComment removed: User banned.
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1-2-Oscar1 year, 1 month ago
The destruction of al-Qaeda strongholds in Afghanistan and Iraq will NOT make it easier to defeat radical terrorism. In fact, one of the strengths of such enemies is their ability to exist and operate in so many places simultaneously.
To date we can claim to have made some progress in both of the countries where US military forces are directly involved, but the radical Islamists have established a new (and perhaps more persistent) stronghold cross the border in Pakistan. We have, through aid to our allies, perhaps weakened them in the Phillipines, but we have certainly lost ground in Malaysia. Further, we have accomplished virtually nothing in Somalia, Mauretania, Indonesia, along the Argentine-... border, Nigeria, Algeria, or among the Islamic nations of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc.). Killing al-Qaeda is like pulling vines--you never seem to get all the roots, and they keep popping up where you think you've cleared them away.
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libsRfunny1 year, 1 month ago
So why bother at all, huh? Brilliant bit of thinking there lol
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Teagen1 year, 1 month ago
You're wrong, but I suspect you're used to that. The locals are fighting alongside us. They know who belongs and who doesn't. We've won the hearts of the little guys and they're the ones taking the fight to the terrorist. The average Iraqi is tired of the attacks and murders. They're mad and not taking it anymore. When they find a insurgent, they're reporting them to the Iraqi or American forces. The fear they had towards police and army during Saddam's time is gone. It's been replaced by anger at those being supplied from Iran. The one problem is the leadership of Iraq. They're is a lot of corruption but I suspect this will be remembered over the next series of elections. I think Iraq is on the right track.
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PsychoHosebeastComment removed: User banned.2 Replies
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Teagen1 year, 1 month ago
Talking to our enemies? We've won the hearts of the locals and common people. They're very much like us. They want many of the same things Americans do. Clean water, good jobs, good schools, safe communities, a little plot of land to call their own. Like in America it's the little guy who will do most of the working, fighting and unfortunately the dying to win this thing. This is the same group that the Iranian insurgents and Saudi AlQeada made really mad. You see, they're all too chicken to actually face the Iraqi Army or American forces. They like soft targets. Schools, markets, road side bombs and the like. Any where they can hide a bomb. Generally they'll have 2 or more planted. The first one is to hurt civilians, the second and third are to target police and rescuers. Real brave.
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Wolfie20071 year, 1 month ago
I saw another news report regarding this and the point was made that the people that Al-Qaeda usually requites are not joining up. Seems they have found reasons to look forward to having a life. This is the result of what we and our allies have been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Endoscopy1 year, 1 month ago
Part of that is the fact that pictures and stories of our soldiers helping the hurt and scared people are being seen where these people are recruited. All of a sudden they see we are not the monsters that the super libs and terrorists like to paint our military. Our military is made up of the best in the country and we need to recognize what they are doing and that they are showing the world that we care about people.
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pcknowledge1 year, 1 month ago
Teagan
The only people who believe you are people who have never been to Iraq. Iraq was much more peaceful under Saddam then it has been since we invaded Iraq.
Saddam was a brutal Dictator. But, destroying a country & killing thousands of innocent civilians is not exactly the right approach to bring about "peace." Iraq has been in a state of complete chaos since our invasion. Iraq's infrastructure is completly destroyed. The entire country is in shambles. Children are not able to attend school, grown men are unemployed, and women are scared to step out of their homes. Our troops are having a difficult time distinguishing between Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, Iraq's military & Al Qaeda. Bombs are flying off everywhere. Any "rosy picture" of Iraq is a bunch of complete BS. Al Qaida never had a presence in Iraq prior to our invasion. Our troops have been placed in a dangerous wasteland with not enough resources to take care of their own.
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abntv1 year, 1 month ago
So you have been to Iraq. You have talked to the troops. You have seen "bombs flying off everywhere". Why do we need the news media..we have you delivering a completely unbiased report
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abntv1 year, 1 month ago
Yeh,,,,and I know a guy that knows a guy that has a brother that is related to a guy that was there.
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pcknowledge1 year, 1 month ago
Years ago R(D)umsfeld shook hands with Saddam. Years later
R(D)umsfeld wants Saddam dead. We still haven't learned that our meddling around in the various ME regions causes nothing but "collateral damage."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/189525347/
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mmrhe1 year, 1 month ago
Call it what you want. I call it negotiation. It works and if you can't handle that reality you're probably too bogged down in Bush/Cheney Dogma.
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