May 4, 2006 — ABC News has obtained a document seized by U.S. and British Special Forces during a recent raid of an alleged Zarqawi safe house about 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the town of Yusufiyah. This was the raid where the military believes it narrowly missed capturing Zarqawi himself.
The five-page document appears to sketch out a new strategy for Al Qaeda in Iraq: Reduce attacks in the Sunni dominated areas in the West and concentrate attacks inside Baghdad.
"We will reduce our operations against [the Americans] in our areas for the near future, and will perform our work against them in Baghdad itself," the document says.
It would seem as though al Qaida has some retired Generals of their own. The following will result in the Left saying this is all a plant, you watch. But to me what it actually depicts is the reality of war. There is often dissent and different views of what should be done and how to go about it. Ultimately, these releases we're seeing are part of the information war. And I trust our military to win it, along with the broader conflict.
The document complains that the losses of American forces in Baghdad "are hardly worth mentioning" compared to American losses in the Western provinces. And, in the concluding paragraph, the document says the "rank and file" of the mujahideen in Baghdad know their leadership does not have "a broad view" or "a well-knit plan" and that "this has led to strategic losses for us."
""We will reduce our operations against [the Americans] in our areas for the near future, and will perform our work against them in Baghdad itself," the document says."
Hardened targets are costly to attack in terms of men and materiel. Is it easier to blow up a humvee or a street-side cafe? Do unarmed Iraqi women and children return fire more or less often than armed American Marines?
The al Qaida franchise in Iraq is on the defensive. As is every other splinter group, feeder group and ideologically-alligned group of terrorists.
Posted by: rwilymz | Friday, May 05, 2006 at 08:42 AM
The bulk of the insurgency are pissed-off Sunnis, not this goofball, and not foreign fighters. No point in trying to attack US Forces in Baghdad as the USA doesn't controll Baghdad. At this point, Baghdad is part chaos and partially controlled by sectarian militias. What is interesting is that I heard through the grapevine some time ago that there is a planned 2nd assault on Baghdad scheduled for this summer to crush these sectarian militias and restore some semblance of control to the city.
Posted by: Sgt. York | Friday, May 05, 2006 at 12:56 PM