al qaida in iraq

McCain trying to get back at Obama today:

McCain criticized Obama for saying in Tuesday night's Democratic debate that, after U.S. troops were withdrawn, as president he would act "if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq."

"I have some news. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. It's called `al-Qaida in Iraq,'" McCain told a crowd in Tyler, Texas, drawing laughter at Obama's expense. He said Obama's statement was "pretty remarkable,"

Obama fires back and shows he is damn well ready to take on the GOP lie machine:

"John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far all he's done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq,"

[SNIP]

"I have some news for John McCain," Obama continued, "That's there was no Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain" began the Iraq war, he said.

"They took their eye off the people who really were responsible for 9/11," he said.

Hell Yeah! Fighting back at distortions like this was something we didn't have in 2004. Obama has shown he is ready to take on the Republicans.

From the pages of "winning hearts and minds":

U.S. helicopters attacked allied Iraqi militiamen south of the capital on Saturday, killing at least nine civilians and wounding three, apparently because of a miscommunication during fighting with suspected Islamist gunmen.

An Iraqi police spokesman put the death toll at 13. Casualties included two women and a child.

In a statement released Monday, the military acknowledged that U.S. forces mistakenly targeted a checkpoint being manned by militiamen who are members of the local U.S.-allied awakening council, the name given to the predominantly Sunni Muslim groups that have joined the United States to battle militants affiliated with al Qaida in Iraq.

I bet the Iraqis want another 100 years of this also. Vote McCain!

Prior to the invasion of Iraq, Saddam made a vow to give us a "war like no other". When he made those claims, many in the U.S. laughed at him. After our quick storm to Baghdad, those laughs got louder. Now we find out Saddam may have been speaking the truth:

The Iraqi government's list of the 41 most wanted fugitives suggests that former members of Saddam Hussein's regime form the backbone of the insurgency despite attention paid to the role of religious extremists such as al-Qaida in Iraq.

The list, released last weekend, includes at least 21 former regime figures, among them Saddam's chief lieutenant, his wife, eldest daughter, two nephews and a cousin — allegedly financiers of the insurgency.

Only five of the 41 names are clearly identified as members of al-Qaida's local branch.

That reinforces the impression shared by a number of analysts that ex-Baath party members and former regime figures still play a key role in the insurgency.

"I believe that former regime members form 40 to 50 percent of the insurgency," said Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on militant groups. "Operations by al-Qaida and the Mujahedeen Shura Council make between five to 10 percent only, a maximum of 10 percent."

Now let's go back a year ago when Rumsfeld appeared on Meet the Press and had this to say:

As much as the administration likes to talk about the "free and democratic" Iraq, you see stories like this and really know how bogus that claim is:

Iraq's prime minister imposed a daytime driving ban in Baghdad and in the province where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by American bombs, fearing insurgents will seek to avenge the death of the al-Qaida in Iraq leader.

As Iraqi and U.S. leaders cautioned that al-Zarqawi's death was not likely to end the bloodshed in Iraq, an American general said another foreign-born militant was already poised to take over the terror network's operations.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Egyptian-born Abu al-Masri would likely take the reins of al-Qaida in Iraq. He said al-Masri trained in Afghanistan and arrived in Iraq in 2002 to establish an al-Qaida cell.

Why don't they just declare full marital law and a 24/7 curfew in the country? That would make it easy to find the law breakers. With actions like these it is no wonder that more and more people are joining the insurgency.