May 12, 2005

War in Iraq looks like last stand for al Qaeda

The war in Iraq is increasingly looking more like a showdown with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda followers than a battle primarily against Saddam Hussein loyalists.
    
The shift is making the fight a focal point of the U.S. global war against Islamic terrorists and one that might dictate whether the U.S. wins or loses, said a senior official and an outside expert.
    
"If they fail in Iraq, Osama and his whole crew are finished," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney, a military author and analyst.

The changing dynamic was highlighted this week when the U.S. military launched a major offensive in western Iraq, primarily against foreign jihadists who crossed the border with Syria to join the al Qaeda network in Iraq led by Abu Musab Zarqawi. In a troubling sign, U.S. officers said Zarqawi's terrorists seemed well-trained and well-equipped.
    
The U.S. offensive, code named Operation Matador, entered its third day yesterday in the dusty border towns west of Baghdad near Syria. The command said three Marines and more than 100 enemy fighters have been killed.
[I hate to see even one soldier killed in this war, but a 100:3 kill ratio is pretty terrific.
God rest the souls of these brave fallen Marines.--Jen]

In the Muslim world and extremist world, this fight for Iraq is their key battle," said Gen. McInerney. "If they lose it, they lose the war. And so the imams are inciting young people, not particular well-educated, to head to Iraq. Most are going through Syria via Damascus.
    
"This is why Iraq is such a fundamental part of the global war on terrorism.
[No matter how many times the Left keeps telling it it isn't!--J.T.]
When we finally defeat Muslim extremists, it will be the battle in Iraq that defeats them."

The war's changing nature is also illustrated by the list of the high-ranking enemy announced as captured by the new Baghdad government. Virtually all of those caught since December have been identified as lieutenants of the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, not operatives for Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein.
    
Since the January elections of the new Iraqi parliament, Zarqawi's suicide terrorists have unleashed more than 100 car bombings, killing hundreds.
    
On the plus side for the U.S., it is receiving a record number of intelligence tips from Iraqis that have resulted in scores of captures of Zarqawi's terrorists.

But the number of arrests also present the coalition with a sobering reality. The fact that Zarqawi has in place a larger number of cell leaders and planners means that he has built up a sizable terror network since the March 2003 invasion.
[Thanks, Axis of Weasel and their ally, the Turks!
Putting the war off by 6 months to try and get the weasels to come around in the UNSC really cost us a lot and we're still paying with this "counterinsurgency."
The fact that we've supported Lebanon in her bid for independence from Syrian control has also gotten a lot of recruits for the bad guys from both Syria itself and from Iranian-based Hezbollah, too.]
    
"Clearly, the insurgents are more lethal, and that is a better measure than numbers," said a senior Pentagon official, who agreed that Iraq has become pivotal in the overall global war on terror. "They continue to adapt to the changes we make. They are a thinking enemy."

Outside analysts, such as Gen. McInerney, estimate that Zarqawi has as many as 2,000 operators. The Pentagon official said Zarqawi has the ability to quickly replenish his ranks once suicide jihadists kill themselves and their targets.
    
The constant reinforcement is one reason that the U.S. command launched Operation Matador in an attempt to flush out and kill insurgents who found safe havens in towns near Syria.

Gen. James T. Conway, the Joint Chiefs director of operations, said at the Pentagon yesterday that the battle plan called for the 2nd Regimental Combat Team to cross the Euphrates River, then set up blocking positions near the town of Rommana, as other forces flushed out insurgents.
    
But most foreign fighters chose to fight instead of running toward the Marine position.
    
"They were decisively engaged," Gen. Conway said. "A fairly significant battle followed. ... If they are intending on being martyred, that has to be cranked into the equation with this particular enemy."

He said the fighting yesterday involved Marines and soldiers finding fixed enemy positions and then hitting them with ground and air power. He said Marines received one unconfirmed sighting of Zarqawi in the past three weeks in an area between Qaim on the Syrian border and Husaybah.
    
A Marine officer told a Los Angeles Times reporter, "These are the professional fighters who have come from all over the Middle East. These are people who have received training and are very well-armed."

Lord knows the LATimes certainly needs enlightenment about what's really happening anywhere!

The Left has told us all now millions of times that there was no connection between Iraq and Al Queda and that our war in Iraq was an unnecessary "blood for oil" campaign by President Bush--I said they were wrong when I first started my blog and I'm delighted to say that they're wrong now.
With great sagacity, President Bush knew exactly why we needed to send troops into Iraq as the next campaign in the WOT after liberating Afghanistan from the Taliban terrorists.
I think the military spokesmen here are being very cautious in talking so guardedly about our military successes in Iraq because battle is still being joined, but I'd say that even with 2,000 "thinking enemies," our soldiers and our allies' are more than a match for these dead-enders.
Please continue to pray for our troops, though, and do continue to support them any and every way you can.
Visualize this victory in Iraq over Al Queda--it is within reach!

(As ever, since OIF began, Wretchard at Belmont Club has the 411 on the war, but his post Hearts and Minds is particularly good. Check it all out!)