Target Centermass

Category: War on Terror

  • Recruits, Insurgents in Faceoff

    The lines are drawn in Iraq. On one side, those who want to force their society back to an oppressed time or a medievel, radical Islamist society. On the other, those who want to be prosperous, who want their country to thrive and be free, and who want their country to move forward.

    The insurgent campaign against Iraqi security forces claimed 14 more lives in two bombings Wednesday in what has become a battle of wills between recruits lining up to defend their country and attackers who oppose the country’s democratic direction.

    Better security in Baghdad helped keep the death toll down compared with Monday’s attack in which, according to the top U.S. commander, a terrorist in Hillah exploited weak security in driving a bomb-laden car into a crowd of police and military recruits, killing 125.

    “It was well scouted,” Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told members of Congress in Washington on Wednesday about the Hillah attack. The recruiting center there “showed itself to be vulnerable,” and so insurgents struck, Abizaid said.

    Iraqis continue to line up for jobs in the army and police despite repeated attacks and threats of more. Iraq’s leading fugitive, terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly claimed responsibility for the Hillah attack and at least one of the Baghdad bombings in an Internet declaration.

    “This explosion will never make me leave my job as a policeman, and I will continue,” Ali Ghanim Mijbass, 25, said from his hospital bed in Hillah, where he was wounded in Monday’s attack.

    Army and police recruits say they are attracted by pay, patriotism and the professional challenge. Entry-level police and soldiers generally get more than $200 a month, a high salary by Iraqi standards.

    “I have no regret. I wanted and I still want to be a policeman,” said Ahmed Adil Ridha, 19. He is recovering from eye and arm wounds in the Hillah attack.

    A country reborn, Iraq is in need of heroes of its own. I suggest that they already have them and just need to start taking pride in men like Ali Ghanim Mijbass, Ahmed Adil Ridha, and hundreds upon hundreds of others like them. Inspiration is there to be found.

  • Rumsfeld Hit with Torture Lawsuits

    Add this to the long list of lawsuits deservedly going nowhere fast.

    Human rights groups filed a lawsuit against the United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, yesterday on behalf of eight men allegedly tortured by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Anthony Romero, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) , said Mr Rumsfeld bears “direct responsibility” because he “personally signed off” on policies guiding prisoner treatment.

    It is the latest in a number of lawsuits resulting from the abuse scandal at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.

    The ACLU said yesterday’s suit alleged the eight men suffered physical and psychological injuries while incarcerated in US detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    It alleges that they were subjected to torture, including severe and repeated beatings, cutting with knives, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, death threats, and restraint in contorted and excruciating positions.

    Beyond the obvious difficulty of linking Rummy to the rogue behaviour of the detainee abuse cases, just exactly how the Abu Ghraib story is related to American civil liberties is absolutely lost on me.

  • U.S. Arabic Channel to Expand to Europe

    While much of Europe seems quite willing to ignore the growing danger to its future coming from Islamic radicals in its midst, the U.S. is already moving against the threat by confronting it over the airwaves.

    The Bush administration is planning to expand the reach of its Arabic-language satellite channel, Alhurra, into Europe, an official overseeing the network said Sunday.

    Alhurra, which means “the free one,” began beaming programming to the Middle East about a year ago.

    Home to an estimated 15 million-20 million Muslims, many of Arab descent, Europe is a “significant location for Arabic-speaking people,” a U.S. official said.

    Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the U.S. agency in charge of Alhurra, said Sunday that the channel’s goal is to “foster and support debate” and to give Arabic speakers the chance to hear the “Western side of arguments on women’s rights, economic opportunity and freedom and democracy.”

    Officials said Alhurra is intended to provide competition to the Arabic-language channel Al-Jazeera, which they contend is biased against the United States.

    […]

    Tomlinson said U.S. officials hope to begin beaming Alhurra programming into Europe this fall.

    Just before the channel’s launch last February, Bush said, “We are telling the people in the Middle East the truth about the values and the policies of the United States, and the truth always serves the cause of freedom.”

    “As long as that region is a place of tyranny and despair and anger, it will produce men and movements that threaten the safety of Americans and our friends,” he added.

    In the war against Islamist terror, the U.S. has two key advantages — it cannot lose any significant engagement on the battlefield and it cannot lose when ideas and ideologies are communicated and contrasted. Are these advantages enough to continue the fight or will they be undermined by defeatism and myopia, both at home and abroad? Ay, there’s the rub.

    The article also notes that the $2 million cost for expanding Alhurra to Europe will come out of the pending $81 billion supplemental budget request for Iraq and Afghanistan, further demonstrating that Europe is indeed viewed as a theater in the war against Islamist terror.

  • Saddam’s Half-Brother Captured

    Another key member of the Saddam regime is now in Iraqi custody, and the news may be a brutal left-right combination to the midsection of the terrorists still in Iraq.

    A half-brother of Saddam Hussein, who was one of his most reviled enforcers, has been arrested in Syria on suspicion of bankrolling anti-coalition insurgents, Iraqi officials said yesterday.

    Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan, a strongman who once served as a head of Saddam’s feared security services, was held after nearly two years on the run. Syrian authorities captured him and handed him over to Iraq in an apparent goodwill gesture.

    He was number 36 on the deck of 55 most-wanted Iraqis issued by United States troops after Saddam’s fall in April 2003. He also featured in the US list of the top 30 people sought for supporting the insurgency.

    […]

    The announcement was greeted with delight by many Iraqis, who, despite chafing under US occupation, recall Hasan as epitomising all the worst aspects of Saddam’s nepotistic rule.

    Even in the former dictator’s Tikriti peasant clan, he was considered something of a black sheep – a short, overweight semi-literate whose sole qualification was his aggressive devotion to his leader.

    During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was the dungeon master of Baghdad’s main public security HQ, where he is said to have presided over the torture and murder of many prisoners.

    Why do I say this is a two-punch combination? Well, the first is obviously the blow felt by the loss of a key financier and a figure representing the old regime. The second is a little more subtle. With the handoff coming from Syria, it seems that Iraq’s neighbor may finally be feeling the pressure resulting from its support of the terrorists and holdouts opposing the new Iraqi government. That so much international focus is currently on Syria because of its involvement in Lebanon must also play a role.

    Loss of Syrian support would be a huge hit to the terrorists, tolling the death knell for any insurgency not solely based on religious radicals and separating the insurgents from another chunk of the Iraqi populace.

  • Zarqawi Aides Captured

    The Iraqi government is claiming to have captured two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including a key piece in the terrorist leader’s organizational web.

    The government said in a statement that Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman Al-Dulaymi, also known as Abu Qutaybah, was captured during a Feb.20 raid in Anah, about 260 km northwest of the capital.

    “Abu Qutaybah was responsible for determining who, when and how terrorist network leaders would meet with Zarqawi,” the government said.

    He “filled the role of key lieutenant for the Zarqawi network, arranging safe houses and transportation as well as passing packages and funds to Zarqawi,” the government said. “His extensive contacts and operational ability throughout western Iraq made him a critical figure in the Zarqawi network.”

    During the same raid, Iraqi forces also captured another Zarqawi aide who “occasionally acted as his driver,” the government said. The man was identified as Ahmad Khalid Marad Ismail Al-Rawi, who also helped arrange meetings for Zarqawi.

    When viewed in light of other recent captures, one has to see al-Zarqawi’s days in Iraq as numbered. Arrests like these lead to more arrests and the noose slowly tightens. Am I predicting a capture of al-Zarqaqi? No, but it would be nice. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn in the upcoming months that the Jordanian-born terrorist has decided to operate remotely, having found active participation in Iraq precluded by his cowardice and an increasingly untenable environment. In other words, unless captured, the punk could soon treat Iraq like he did his outpost in Fallujah.

    “Run away.”

  • Allawi Makes Bid to Hold Power

    The major contenders for the position of Iraq’s top government spot have been identified. Let the political games begin.

    Iraq’s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, sought to widen his support base yesterday in an attempt to keep his job and lead the next government.

    Mr Allawi is one of two men in the frame for the post, the other being the Islamic Shiite politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

    Mr Jaafari is the clear front-runner, having won the backing on Tuesday of Iraq’s most powerful political alliance. But Mr Allawi, a secular Shiite who has ruled the country for eight months, said yesterday that he had pulled together support from outside his own political list.

    He did not specify who his new backers were, saying only that they were “brothers from smaller lists” than his own, who won a handful of seats in last month’s election.

    […]

    At stake is the chance to spearhead Iraq’s first democratically elected government in more than 50 years.

    The Shiite alliance backing Mr Jaafari won 48 per cent of the vote in the election, giving it 140 seats and a slim overall majority in the new 275-seat parliament.

    But it does not have the two-thirds majority it needs to secure Mr Jaafari’s appointment, and will have to cut deals with other parties and coalitions to get its way.

    It could appeal to the Kurds, who finished second in the election and will have 75 seats. However, the Kurds might back Mr Allawi, whose list won 14 per cent and will have 40 seats.

    Iraq’s deputy president, Rowsch Shways, a prominent Kurd, said yesterday that Mr Jaafari was “a man I can work with”, but it was too soon to say he would get the job.

    There is still the possibility that the Shiite alliance, which has a religious core but counts secular Shiites, Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen among its members, will break up.

    It will certainly be interesting watching this unfold. The Shiite alliance is in the catbird’s seat but, even if it remains completely unified, would still need help from either the Kurds or Allawi. No other party can get the prime minister’s position without defections from the Shiite group. Apparently, the Kurds are wanting to deal in exchange for the presidency position so they have to be the target of major negotiations, as their votes alone could put the Shiite alliance over the top.

    There are three important things to note in this whole matter. First, it was obviously extremely wise to put in the two-thirds majority requirement, practically guaranteeing cooperation to some extent or other. Second, the Sunnis’ poor election turnout has left them on the sidelines for now, certainly fodder for what the army would call an After Action Review. Third and perhaps most important, I find it wonderful to see the current leader of Iraq wheeling and dealing with rivals in an attempt to maintain power — such a refreshing change from just killing the opposition. Hopefully, the rest of the Arab Middle East will take note of the change in the wind.

  • Army Wife Faces Fake Death Notification

    The stories of the treatment of American military personnel during the days of Viet Nam by some of their own countrymen still disgustingly resound today. These days, some are trying to top that distastefulness by targeting loved ones left behind in a far more ominous manner.

    Military police are investigating a cruel hoax in which a man wearing an Army dress uniform falsely told the wife of a soldier that her husband had been killed in Iraq.

    Investigators are trying to determine why the man delivered the false death notice and whether he was a soldier or a civilian wearing a military uniform.

    “We’re taking it extremely seriously. Whatever motivation was behind it, it was a sick thing to do,” said Fort Stewart spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Whetstone.

    Well, yes, it is quite a horridly sick thing to do. The obvious question, however, is simply this — are we dealing with a sick person delighting in inflicting distress or a sick person taking delight in a similar manner but also with a political motive?

    Last month, 19,000 soldiers from the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division deployed for their second tour of duty in Iraq. At least eight division soldiers have been killed since then.

    Fort Stewart officials would not identify the Army wife who reported to military police that a man posing as a casualty assistance officer came to her door February 10.

    “Right off the bat, she noticed some things were not right,” Whetstone said. “The individual’s uniform wasn’t correct — there were no markings or name tags. Plus, the person was alone, and she knew one person does not make (death) notifications.”

    Whetstone said no similar hoaxes have been reported.

    When the 3rd Infantry first deployed to Iraq for the 2003 invasion, some Fort Stewart families reported receiving phone calls from pranksters saying their soldiers had been killed.

    I just wanted to point out that it is my opinion that the reporter is taking serious liberties with the concepts of hoaxes and pranks. The bastard didn’t throw toilet paper into trees — he played on the deepest of fears of those with loved ones in harm’s way.

    This time around, troops and their spouses got pre-deployment briefings that included detailed explanations of how death notices work. Two soldiers, including a chaplain, in dress uniform always arrive to tell the family in person. The Army never makes notifications over the telephone.

    Fort Stewart spouses have been spreading news of the latest hoax, said Army wife Michelle Dombrowski, who received an e-mail more than a week ago reporting the incident.

    “I can’t believe that someone would do that,” said Dombrowski, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Joe Dombrowski, is deployed with the 3rd Infantry. “I know the protocol, though.”

    Military police described the suspected hoaxer as being 6-feet, 1-inch tall and about 180 pounds with black or brown hair and a pale complexion. He was reported to be driving a blue or green pickup truck with chrome wheels, oversized tires and a Georgia license plate.

    Feel free to go check the CNN article for a police sketch of this demented punk. Apparently, blue-star wives and families should be on the lookout for a tall, narrow-eyed version of E.T.

  • Iraqis Reconsidering After Vote

    When the Iraqi Sunnis threatened to boycott the January elections, I supported following through with the voting as planned and predicted that it would “only be a hard-learned lesson in democracy” if the Sunnis chose to shortchange themselves in the balloting. Shortly after the momentous elections, a secular Sunni leader voiced the accuracy of my prediction, talking of second thoughts among Sunni parties.

    Now, weeks later, the Pentagon supports the truth of my statement.

    Many Iraqis who had opposed the U.S.-led transition to democracy have begun reconsidering their position in light of the Jan. 30 elections, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.

    Larry Di Rita, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, told reporters he knew of no leaders of the insurgency who have offered to end their opposition. He asserted that the elections have widened the circle of Iraqis who want to participate in the political process.

    “The Iraqi people have demonstrated a clear sense of hope for the future, and that sense of hope is increasingly out of step with many of the people who were either on the fence or lending tacit support to the insurgency, so I would imagine a lot of those people are coming forward,” he said.

    Don’t let people lie to you — sometimes, saying “I told you so” can be sweet.

    The spokesman said the U.S. military facilitates contact between the interim Iraqi government and representatives of opposition or insurgent groups, but he said the military is not negotiating with any groups. Most of this work is being done by the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, he said.

    “I think the people who are involved in this know that the Iraqi transitional government has itself been doing its own analysis of who (among the insurgents) might be willing to end the fight and who is worth having those kinds of discussions with,” he added. “But it’s not our place to comment on that.”

    Discussions with some of the insurgents? Fine, I have no problem with that. Some may actually see themselves as the patriots for their Iraqi homeland that some on the American left have tried to paint all the terrorists in Iraq as being. These are the ones that can be dealt with via negotiations, having witnessed their nation embracing democracy and working to form their own government.

    Now, as for the radical Islamists and foreign terrorists, no deals. Only defeat or death. And how is that progressing?

    Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, a deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there has been a small decline in insurgent attacks since the elections. He added that it may be too soon to draw any conclusions about the strength or size of the insurgency.

    Di Rita declined to say whether it appears the insurgency is losing strength.

    “The insurgency is what it is,” he said. “A large number of insurgents are being killed and captured. They are still capable of doing great harm. They’re killing a lot of innocent civilians inside of Iraq,” and as a result Iraq is a “country that has thrown itself back into the dark ages.”

    And that, y’all, is a realistic assessment — a hell of a lot of progress, but a hell of a long way to go for the Iraqi people, their government and our fine troops.

  • A Few Quick Hits

    Not much news tonight grabbed me so I thought I’d throw out a few links that I found interesting.

    NATO: an outdated alliance? — Some leading German pols are itching at the current NATO situation, hankering for a more established US-EU setup. I expect to blog my thoughts on this very soon.

    Analysis: A powerful message that could boomerang — A look at the possible repercussions of the bombing of a key Lebanese political figure.

    Tolerance fetish — Mark Steyn looks at the losing battlefields of the war against Islamist terror. No, not Afghanistan or Iraq, but instead he examines cultural setbacks in western nations.

  • Shiite Alliance Wins Plurality in Iraq

    It was said Iraqi elections couldn’t happen. It was said they should be postponed. I blogged that they could be done and should be done without delay.

    The Iraqis voted. It came to pass, and approximately 8.56 million Iraqis dipped their finger into the inkwell.

    Now the preliminary results have been announced, pending any challenges.

    Iraqi leaders began looking ahead to forming a National Assembly and filling top posts after uncertified election results were released Sunday.

    The Shiite-backed United Iraqi Alliance won a plurality of votes in the January 30 elections but fell short of an outright majority, the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said.

    The combined Kurdish parties, meanwhile, will nominate Jalal Talabani to be president of Iraq, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told CNN on Sunday.

    Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, the predecessor to the interim government that took over June 28, 2004.

    Saleh, a member of the Kurdish alliance, said he was “proud” of the Kurdish participation in the election.

    “This has been a long, arduous journey for us, to be accepted in the capital of Iraq and as national players,” he said.

    The Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Iraq, were brutally repressed under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

    Saleh said it was imperative that the new government include all of Iraq’s peoples, however.

    “We cannot afford another era of conflict and turbulence,” he said.

    Luckily, the coalition-led interim government had the wisdom to put in some assurances against the dominance of one party — decisions going forward for the assembly elected are subject to requirements of a super-majority that one party could not have realistically hoped to attain. Negotiation and accommodation have been forced into play in Iraq.

    Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, another Kurdish official, said a “marathon of negotiations” comes next. Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a member of the UIA, told CNN that the election was “like a national wedding.”

    “We are heading towards formation of a national reconciliation government,” he said. “We are going to spare no time in including all communities — Sunnis, Shia, Arab and Kurds and Turkoman and Kurdo-Assyrians, Assyrians.

    “This is going to be one of the most inclusive and certainly the most representative government in the history of Iraq,” he said.

    […]

    Interim Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a UIA member considered the favorite for prime minister, welcomed the announcement of Talabani’s presidential nomination.

    “Why not?” Mahdi said. “I am very encouraged really to see such names.”

    And what of the Sunnis? Bitter after their long run in power under Saddam, the Sunnis threatened boycotts based on whether Fallujah was assaulted or the security against the terrorists was not resolved. Any lessons learned about democracy?

    Adnan Pachachi, a secular Sunni leader, told CNN he was “disappointed” that his party mustered only about 0.1 percent of the vote nationwide.

    But he called the elections “a good thing” and said he doesn’t question their legitimacy.

    […]

    There are concerns the Sunni Arab population — about 20 percent of Iraq’s estimated 25 million people — will look upon the results as illegitimate. Two influential Sunni groups, the Association of Muslim Scholars and Iraqi Islamic Party, did not participate in the elections.

    But Pachachi said he was committed to ensuring that Sunnis are represented in the writing of the constitution.

    “I have a feeling that many of the Sunni parties that boycotted the elections are having second thoughts now,” he said.

    Trust me, we’ve rounded a major bend in Iraq, but it ain’t over yet. The newly-elected Iraqi National Assembly will be targeted by the terrorist scum in hopes of depriving the people of their wishes. If the people see the terrorists’ attacks as such, the terrorists are screwed.

    Meanwhile, we must continue to provide security and promote the capabilities of the forces available to the resultant Iraqi government.

    Each step forward is another brick in the shining city on the Arab hill that can help us in our fight against the Islamist bastards, another step in building an alternative to the radicalism spawned by the failures of the Arab governments and the radical aspects of Islamic societies. Each voice against our progress is a scream against the future safety of our children on our own shores.