The US military may be closing in on al Qaeda’s senior leadership. US forces killed Abu Qaswarah, al Qaeda in Iraq’s second in command, during a raid in Mosul in northern Iraq on Oct. 15. The military has also killed and captured numerous al Qaeda leader and couriers over the past several weeks. The information obtained during these raids help to paint a picture of al Qaeda’s command structure inside of of Iraq as well as in neighboring countries.
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Background on Abu Qaswarah:
Al Qaim is one of the hot spots of the 1990-present war in Iraq. In early 03, US Special Forces got in a big fight around there on several occasions (at least once intercepting a Russian convoy fleeing Saddam’s regime and allegedly an attempt at intercepting loose WMD etc at the time). Before the invasion, pics of Al Qaim WMD facilities that had been hit by Clinton were shown as having been rebuilt, and since there was no human intel or UN to go there at check it out (Saddam refused access desired by US), the question of WMD remained.
Think about it…you’ve got ZERO spies in country, the UN tells you it’s an “Unresolved Disarmament Issue” (a wmd issue), and Saddam won’t let UN inspectors in to check it out. Then your sat pics (your only intel) shows you that the WMD facility hit by Clinton has been rebuilt. What’re you supposed to think?
vs
What’re you supposed to do? Ignore the pics and go w Vermont Gov (and Maple Syrup King) Howard Dean’s assessment, or look at the pics and fear that…well, the wmd plant might be making WMD and driving it to safe storage in Syria?
(pic of traffic jam at Iraqi/Syrian border)
How hard would it have been to make WMD in Al Qaim and drive it to Syria for storage? ZERO difficulty at all. Check it out on Google maps.
Al Qaim is a city/town that has been at the heart of America’s 18yr war in Iraq, and this raid was no doubt justified if not long overdue imo.
#Look guys, this is not a video game. There are actual consequences to launching attacks in third party countries, even countries where the inhabitants have dark skins and beards, like Syria and Pakistan. Apart from the unbelievable stupidity of handing the Syrians a propaganda coup – they are claiming that innocent people and children were killed – negotiations aimed at weaning the Syrians off their allegiance with the Iranians were at an advanced stage but now look like they are scuppered. And next time Russia want to invade a neighbour or two, they’re just going to claim necessity. If you don’t agree with the concepts of international borders and state sovereignty, take a lead and dismantle your border with Mexico.
There is no sovereign border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, so that point is moot. Complaining that the US took action against Syria is mere excuse-making for Syria. They don’t comply w the UN or anyone.
To be clear, international borders and state sovereignty are two entirely different things.
mynameis:
Yeah….tell that to Syria and Iran for running interference in Iraq’s security and stability. How many U.S. and Coalition soldiers and civilian contractors have lost their lives due to foreign fighters and support for the insurgents, streaming across the borders? How many Iraqi innocents have been intentionally blown to pieces by homicide bombers coming in through Syria? How many government officials targeted for murder, setting back political progress for the budding Iraqi government?
Perhaps Syria would do well to respect Iraq’s borders and sovereignty.
Actually, there were US strikes inside Syria in Feb, Mar, and Apr 03, and reportedly in May and June (the last being the least confirmed, but the Apr and May ones were alleged by Syria and Russia at the time).
Shhhh….. 😉