Big Arrest In Iraq

We are one signature away from ending this war
– Barack Obama

Now this is some good news:

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi was captured by the CIA as he was attempting to travel back to his native country, Iraq. He was going to Iraq, officials say, to “manage” al Qaeda’s operations, including plots on Western interests outside of Iraq.

He was captured by the CIA in late 2006…

During his time with the CIA, Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi was interrogated and revealed useful information about al Qaeda plots, which, officials say, have been disrupted as a result.

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi had met with al Qaeda members in Iran, officials also said.

How big of fish did we catch?  Well Allah from Hot Air did some excellent research and came up with examples.  12 days after 9/11 President Bush listed him just below Osama in his Executive Order 13224 which ordered the freezing of assets from those associated with 9/11.

Or click and scroll just a bit and you’ll find him named, again a few lines below Osama, in a UN document posted a month before 9/11 regarding terrorists operating in Afghanistan. Newsweek published a blockbuster article about him last April that claimed he was dispatched to Iraq, where he was born, along with Saif al-Adel by Osama himself to set up AQ’s organization there after the homegrown insurgency had already broken out.

Even more news on how big a deal this guy was:

Abd al-Hadi, 45, was regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s most experienced, most intelligent and most ruthless commanders. Senior counter-terrorism sources told The Times that he was the man who, in 2003, identified Britain as the key battleground for exporting al-Qaeda’s holy war to Europe.

Abd al-Hadi recognised the potential for turning young Muslim radicals from Britain who wanted to become mujahidin in Afghanistan or Iraq into terrorists who could carry out attacks in their home country. He realised that their knowledge of Britain, possession of British passports and natural command of English made them ideal recruits. After al-Qaeda restructured its operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas he sought out young Britons for instruction at training camps. In late 2004 Abd al-Hadi met Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, from Leeds, at a militant camp in Pakistan and, in the words of a senior investigator, “retasked them” to become suicide bombers.

They were sent back to Britain where they led the terrorist cell that carried out the 7/7 bombings, killing 52 Tube and bus passengers.

Pakistani intelligence sources said that Abd al-Hadi was also in contact with Rachid Rauf, a Birmingham man now in prison in Pakistan and alleged to be a key figure in last summer’s alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners in mid-flight.

Question.  If he has been in custody since "late 2006" why did this news not come out during the election?  It may well have helped us keep Congress wouldn’t you think?  Either two answers to this question.  Either his capture came after the November election or if it was before then Bush understood the importance of keeping it a secret.  That importance being the information we could gather from him while in custody.  You let the cat out of the bag and all that information goes down the drain.

Bush would not give up protecting this country and our soldiers in Iraq for the sake of a few seats.

That is the major difference between him and the Democrats, who would sell this country down the river to gain power.

One last thought on this guy.  Note where he was coming from when captured.

Iran.

Meanwhile check out Atlas Shrugs for some excellent research on the recent arrest of a Tamil Tiger terrorist in New York recently.

But I thought the terror threat was just made up by Bush & Co.?

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Curt

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