Abu Risha's assassin caught
This speaks volumes to the ineptitude of AQI right now. Not only are they being rolled up in Iraq, not only have the Sunnis turned against them (and new information shows that the Shi'ites are fed up with them and the roving militias, as well), but their op-sec on the assassination was compromised, and the assassin has been captured:
(HT: Captain Ed)
Meanwhile, the US military said it had captured a suspected al-Qaeda militant believed to have been behind the killing last week of Sunni tribal leader Abdul Sattar Abu Risha.
He was killed in a bomb attack near his home in the city of Ramadi, Anbar province, on Thursday.
Sheikh Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as Anbar Awakening, an alliance of clans that had turned against al-Qaeda militants in Iraq.
He met US President George W Bush two weeks ago in Anbar.
The council has been working with Iraqi and US troops to push al-Qaeda fighters out of the province, once a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency against the US occupation.
A US military statement named the captured suspect as Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli and said he was captured near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad, on Saturday.
"Intelligence reports indicate Jumayli is involved in a plot to kill key leaders in the Anbar Awakening," the statement said.
The US military statement said Jumayli was also responsible for "car bomb and suicide vest attacks in Anbar province, and is closely allied with senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region".
Of course, the BBC reports on the death and bombings in Iraq before they report this (if it bleeds, it leads), but it doesn't change the fact that we got him, and based on intelligence we obtained from local Iraqis. Now AQI announced yesterday that they were going after the Sunni tribal leaders that turned against them in an effort to force them back into the fold. It's not the smartest tactic to use, and that speaks a great deal about how badly AQI is suffering right now in Iraq.
The surge is doing it's job. It's giving AQI nowhere to run, and giving absolute confidence in the Sunni tribes that have turned against AQI. The effects have been devastating to AQI to the point where they are left with nothing but suicide bombers to confront the Iraqis. They refuse to confront US and coalition forces directly, knowing that they are outmanned, outgunned, and out-maneuvered at nearly every turn.
With British and Iraqi forces on the Iraq/Iran border in an attempt to stop the arms shipments coming into Iraq, AQI terrorists dying by the lot, and very few in Iraq willing to help them anymore, AQI is in trouble. Given the fact that we discovered who assassinated Abu Risha so quickly also shows just how badly AQI is doing in a country where, up until about nine months ago, they had virtually won the war. The surge changed things, and AQI is seeing the collapse of their strategy in Iraq.
Publius II
(HT: Captain Ed)
Meanwhile, the US military said it had captured a suspected al-Qaeda militant believed to have been behind the killing last week of Sunni tribal leader Abdul Sattar Abu Risha.
He was killed in a bomb attack near his home in the city of Ramadi, Anbar province, on Thursday.
Sheikh Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as Anbar Awakening, an alliance of clans that had turned against al-Qaeda militants in Iraq.
He met US President George W Bush two weeks ago in Anbar.
The council has been working with Iraqi and US troops to push al-Qaeda fighters out of the province, once a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency against the US occupation.
A US military statement named the captured suspect as Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli and said he was captured near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad, on Saturday.
"Intelligence reports indicate Jumayli is involved in a plot to kill key leaders in the Anbar Awakening," the statement said.
The US military statement said Jumayli was also responsible for "car bomb and suicide vest attacks in Anbar province, and is closely allied with senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region".
Of course, the BBC reports on the death and bombings in Iraq before they report this (if it bleeds, it leads), but it doesn't change the fact that we got him, and based on intelligence we obtained from local Iraqis. Now AQI announced yesterday that they were going after the Sunni tribal leaders that turned against them in an effort to force them back into the fold. It's not the smartest tactic to use, and that speaks a great deal about how badly AQI is suffering right now in Iraq.
The surge is doing it's job. It's giving AQI nowhere to run, and giving absolute confidence in the Sunni tribes that have turned against AQI. The effects have been devastating to AQI to the point where they are left with nothing but suicide bombers to confront the Iraqis. They refuse to confront US and coalition forces directly, knowing that they are outmanned, outgunned, and out-maneuvered at nearly every turn.
With British and Iraqi forces on the Iraq/Iran border in an attempt to stop the arms shipments coming into Iraq, AQI terrorists dying by the lot, and very few in Iraq willing to help them anymore, AQI is in trouble. Given the fact that we discovered who assassinated Abu Risha so quickly also shows just how badly AQI is doing in a country where, up until about nine months ago, they had virtually won the war. The surge changed things, and AQI is seeing the collapse of their strategy in Iraq.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 7:35 PM
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