News – The U.S. military on Friday denied Iraqi government claims that the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was captured and said a man with a similar name had been arrested in the northern city of Mosul. Iraqi authorities had announced Thursday that police commandos captured Abu Ayyub al-Masri in a raid in the northern city of Mosul.
Does anybody have a reliable figure - or even reliable ball park figure for just how many al-qaida-iraq members there are?
As far as I have been able to discern, the membership is actually quite small and has been relatively constant since after the invasion (it was zero before the invasion).
"Does anybody have a reliable figure - or even reliable ball park figure for just how many al-qaida-iraq members there are?"
The U.S. Military has been taking a census... one or two at a time. It was determined to be best to kill them (or detain them indefinitely) as they are counted so that we don't count them twice.
Those are not organizations as we understand organizations. Most are one thing by day and Al Qaeda by night. The point is to keep killing them as quickly and as surgically as possible... and demonstrate that we will not be deterred by ours getting killed... so that eventually their inner cost-benefit calculus will be overwhelmed. Stabilizing Iraq is as much a question of will as it is of tactics.
"cost-benefit calculus"
This is how RepugnantCons get you to ignore dead Americans fighting a war they have no business being in and an enemy that didn't exist before the war.
"cost-benefit calculus"
This is how RepugnantCons get you to ignore dead Americans fighting a war they have no business being in and an enemy that didn't exist before the war.
"an enemy that didn't exist before the war"
Could you clarify what "war" your referring to?
"Terrorism experts question U.S. air strikes
Clinton's military gambit may embolden terrorist backer Osama bin Laden and his followers.
SALON | Aug. 21, 1998
BY HARRY JAFFE , JEFF STEIN AND LORI LEIBOVICH | The bombing of six supposed terrorist sites in Afghanistan and the Sudan Thursday by U.S. forces may have given some Americans a sense of revenge -- and temporarily diverted some public attention from President Clinton's deepening sex scandal -- but a number of foreign policy experts believe it will serve only to embolden Middle East radicals bent on further terrorist acts against the United States.
Taliban leaders in Afghanistan reported that bin Laden was not killed in Thursday's bombing raids. Reich says it's just as well. "He would have become a martyr," says the professor. "It could very well have had the opposite effect."
Armstrong agrees that the bombings could backfire. "It could recruit huge numbers of people to his cause," Armstrong says. "He has about 4,000 active members right now, and he could call on many thousands more. These raids will multiply that by a factor of 10.""
History shows Armstrong was correct. Not only did the bombings attacks increase the number of bin laden terrorist, the failure to follow through and get bin laden guaranteed a retaliation attack that came on 9/11/01.
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/1998/08...
You do know that bin laden declared war on the USA back in the 90's?
Also note if you look up this article notice the name Al Qaida is not used.
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Really, even if we caught him what doe it matter wouldn't number two step up into his place anyways?
We did not catch him, the Iraqi government troops caught him.
((A man with a similar name had been arrested in the northern city of Mosul)).
No disrespect intended, but don't they all have similar names? Surprised it has not happened before.
And if number two steps in place it is still one less.
"No disrespect intended, but don't they all have similar names? Surprised it has not happened before."
Is that like saying all black people look similar?
They don't all have 'similar' names, but just like any culture there are a lot of "Johns," "Jeffs" and "Mr.Smiths."
Dionys
""No disrespect intended, but don't they all have similar names? Surprised it has not happened before."
Is that like saying all black people look similar?
They don't all have 'similar' names, but just like any culture there are a lot of "Johns," "Jeffs" and "Mr.Smiths.""
Dionys, did you read the article?
If you did then you would know info about the who was arrested AND the confusion came from the commander of Iraqi forces in the Mosul, not the US.
Are you lecturing the Iraqi's them selves about their culture?
FTA
"Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the confusion arose because the commander of Iraqi forces in the Mosul region was convinced that he had arrested al-Masri â;; also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir".
One person being confused by one person's name when thinking it could be a different person doesn't imply that there is a general "confusion" surrounding all names, nor does it imply that all Iraqis or Arabs have similar names. Don't they teach basic logic these days?
The capture of any any al Qaida militant is good news.
1 down, 2,345,523 to go!
Kinda like making a thousand dollar payment on the interest only portion of the 10 trillion Bush National Debt. Better than nothing, even though the interest alone is a billion per day.
"The capture of any any al Qaida militant is good news."
It sure is. Now if we could only be sure he's actually an al-Qaida militant and not a bread baker taken in a mistaken "raid."
.
"No disrespect intended, but don't they all have similar names?"
Dionys
"Is that like saying all black people look similar?"
No Dionys, its like saying the Iraqi Commander was convinced that he had arrested al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir" based on name, looks, whatever.
"Don't they teach basic logic these days?"
Yes and basic logic would tell the Iraqi commander same name (s) AKAs, matches description, hey look who we got.
Kinda sorta ya know what happened.
"Is that like saying all black people look similar?"
Are you still beating your mother?
I am sure that you know that the name catstevens, is identical to that of a very famous singer with very different views than those which you expose here.
Since I am sure that you recognize the similarity in your names, I find it hard to believe that you would even think of writing such a comment.
I hear ya cat. It's like John Smith or Cat Stevens.
Cat,
You are one silver-tongued lady. You really know how to brighten up a party.
It would have been what, the sixth one we have taken down?
Playing wack-a-jihadi against a small piece of the puzzle is not going to get the job done.
You would prefer a more far-reaching whack-all-jihadis... in one fell swoop approach?
"Really, even if we caught him what doe it matter wouldn't number two step up into his place anyways?"
Well, wouldn't that be the same case if we captured Bin Laden? Hell, by bother at all? Let's just let them keep killing thousands of innocent people at a time. They'll just keep doing it, anyway.
Completely amazing.
Even if it is mistaken identity, at least Iraqi forces are doing more and more of the leg work all the time. More and more progress is being made.
"Well, wouldn't that be the same case if we captured Bin Laden? Hell, by bother at all?"
Bush's certainly taken the why-bother-at-all going after Bin Laden.
Maybe because the Bin Laden group owns his testes?
You clearly have no grasp on reality.
Really? So where's the comprehensive plan to actually capture the person behind 9/11? Which family group is Bush's family's best investors and friends?
That's right! No comprehensive plan to get Bin Laden (no plan at all, in fact) and.. drumroll please
The Bin Laden Group! (Well. The House of Saud, too.)
LOL. yeah, right, the "Bush is best buddies with Bin LAden BS.
I thought you libs said catching al Qaeda leaders didn't do any good?
For all you know, the man is dead. When you have a vast expanse of mountain chains and live like a hermit, it's pretty easy to stay hidden.
"When you have a vast expanse of mountain chains and live like a hermit, it's pretty easy to stay hidden. "
When the person who runs the country (or is the puppet for the people who do) doesn't go after you and invades a country that had no connections to 9/11 instead it's pretty easy to stay hidden, too.
My point was that we can't kill them as fast as they grow them. We need a different solution.
Please show the evidence that "Iraqi forces are doing more and more of the leg work all the time"
----Based on U.S. troop deployments I question this.
----Based on funds requested by Mr. Bus, I question this
After five-plus years, I agree, it is LONG PAST time that the Iraqis stepped up to the plate to police their own country.
Based on U.S. troop deaths I question this.
So I guess its just wrong to capture and/or kill terrorist leaders because someone will step up into their place? Good logic, let's just not fight at all and let them do whatever they want because fighting them is pointless because someone takes their place.
I'm certainly glad that FDR didn't think that when Hitler died that "someone would take his place."
We can't kill them all. We need to reduce the likelihood that some will turn to terror as a solution. Same as illegal drugs. What has locking up 1,000,000 Americans for drugs done? Any 15 year old kid can get anything he wants in 15 minutes.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
And how do we do something that will reduce the likelihood that they turn to terror as a solution?
The belief that you can talk to and reason with Middle Eastern Radicals is more naieve that Bush and Cheney thinking that Iraq would be fine without a strong controlling force.
Middle Eastern culture is VERY different from Western and Far Eastern culture. THe deserts breed a different kind of people that does the rest of the world.
And of course, you can't talk to madmen. If a man is so incensed with anger, hatred, and "piety" that is willing to blow himself up kililng tens, if not hundreds, of children with him what can you say to him to make him change his mind?
I think generally less involvement in their affairs and sovereignty would be a good first step. People don't like cops.
"People don't like cops."
I don't have a problem with cops at all. Some of my friends are cops, imagine that.
Considering not long ago I posted a story about al Qaeda's number two man whining that Muslims were not "embracing" al Qaeda and joining the Jihad, I would say we are winning the war on terror.
I think the only way to win "The War on Terror" is through human rights and economic rights.
I've never been one to try and reason with a mad dog. You either get away from it or kill it. If you get away from it, it becomes a problem for someone else or comes back to bite you. So it boils down to one solution.....kill it!
After five-plus years of fighting with the world's best trained and equipped soldiers NO progress has been made.
Two years ago, Petreus said that any progress would require a political solution.
Why are you so deluded about the power of bombs to help our cause rather than hinder it?
"After five-plus years of fighting with the world's best trained and equipped soldiers NO progress has been made. "
Considering that most of their equipment is crap, exceping perhaps their weaponry, and tends to break down I'm not sure I would consider them the best equipped. Especially for the region. The same goes for training. It seems that for this particular kind of war the Afghans and fighters in Iraq had better training. Perhaps from dealing with the Soviets. Or maybe like Bin Laden they had personal training from some of the best in the CIA.
If they are so well trained, why, after five-plus years, are we still training them to take over the responsibility of providing police protection for their citizens?
Sounds to me like the Iraqi "leadership" is more interested in the gravy train of U.S. dollars than anything else.
''Why are you so deluded about the power of bombs to help our cause rather than hinder it?''
Bush himself said terror was 'an evil ideology'
you can't bomb an idea
but bombs can feed and validate one
Actually, somebody did take his place.
But not until 2000.