Bad News from Iraq

[NotNow]

Date: July 22, 2012

Al-Qaida: We're returning to old Iraq strongholds
MAAMOUN YOUSSEF,Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) â€" The first online statement from the new leader of al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq claims that the militant network is returning to the old strongholds from which it was driven by U.S. forces and their Sunni allies prior to the American withdrawal at the end of last year, and that it is preparing operations to free prisoners and assassinate court officials.

The audio identifies the speaker as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who became head of the Islamic State of Iraq in 2010. It was posted late Saturday on a website regularly used by the militant movement to make statements.

Al-Baghdadi also invited Muslims to come to Iraq to join his movement and warned the United States that it would soon see militant attacks on its territory, although it is unclear whether he was referring to attacks by his Iraqi network or by other al-Qaida affiliates.

The statement comes as Sunni insurgents, now believed to be dominated by the ISI, step up attacks against Shiites, government officials and other targets, in what is seen as a bit to undercut the authority of Iraq's state and revive sectarian conflict in the wake of the pull-out of the last American forces in the country in December.

There is little indication yet however that the large-scale fighting between sectarian groups that wracked the country in 2006 and 2007 will return, nor does al-Qaida appear to have restored the domination it once had over many Sunni communities in that period.

"I bring you good news: That we are starting a new phase in our struggle with a plan we named 'Breaking the walls,' and we remind you of your priority to free the Muslim prisoners," he said.

"At the top of your priorities regarding targets is to chase and liquidate the judges, the investigators and the guards," he said.

He urged tribal leaders to send their men to join al-Qaida as it returns to areas from which it withdrewâ€" a reference to reverses the ISI suffered at the hands of U.S. forces and allied Sunni militias in 2007 and 2008.

"On the occasion of the return of the (Islamic) State to the regions it evacuated, I urge you to send your sons to join the ranks of the mujahideen in defense of your religion and honor," he said. "The majority of the Sunnis in Iraq support al-Qaida and are waiting for its return."

He said that Iraqis who allied with the government and the Americans could repent; reports that al-Qaida killed penitents were "lies."

Al-Baghdadi said to the United States: "You will see the mujahideen (holy warriors) at the heart of your country, since our war with you has only started now."

He urged Muslims to come to Iraq to join his fight. "I appeal to the youth and Muslim men everywhere on this earth to immigrate to us to consolidate the pillars of the Islamic State ... The State's camps and houses are open to any Muslim and Baghdad is the heart of the battle of the Sunnis against the Shiites. So rise up, you Muslim youth, because the battle needs fuel."

Al-Baghdadi devoted almost half of the 33-minute speech to Syria's uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad, member of a Shiite offshoot sect. The uprising is largely Sunni and fighters from al-Qaida, including Iraqis, are believed to have taken an increasingly active role in recent months.

"Our people there have fired the coup de grace at the terror that grasped the nation for decades ... and taught the world lessons of courage and jihad and proved that injustice could only be removed by force," he said.

He warned the Syrian rebels "not to accept any rule or constitution but God's rule and Shariah (Islamic law). Otherwise, you will lose your blessed revolution."

Al-Baghdadi became the leader of the group after Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who was no relation, was killed in an air and ground assault by a team of U.S. and Iraqi forces on April 18, 2010 together with the other top al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.
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The new Islamic governments in the area, a determined Iran, and now this. We have obviously made some errors in judgement.  We better get smarter, and prepared.

[Timkin]

Sounds like bad stuff .  We need to abandon Iraq, unfortunately.  And prepare , as stated above. 

[NotNow]

I would rather support my friends.  And when someone tells me they are going to kill me, I take them seriously. 

[ronchamblin]

The following are excerpts from the Associated Press article above:

"On the occasion of the return of the (Islamic) State to the regions it evacuated, I urge you to send your sons to join the ranks of the mujahideen in defense of YOUR RELIGION and honor," he said. "The majority of the Sunnis in Iraq support al-Qaida and are waiting for its return."

Al-Baghdadi said to the United States: "You will see the mujahideen (HOLY WARRIORS) at the heart of your country, since our war with you has only started now."

He warned the Syrian rebels "not to accept any rule or constitution but GOD’S RULE and Shariah (Islamic law). Otherwise, you will lose your BLESSED revolution."

The key words of interest are shown in red above, each illustrating the insanity which can be achieved by individuals or peoples making decisions based on absurdities, on beliefs about a god and a religion which has no basis in reality other than that encouraged by vulnerabilities in their minds, as shaped by ignorance and the comfort given by the mass belief of millions.  Individual insanity exists and persists, hidden and untreated, when embedded within millions of others with the same affliction.

These beliefs about a god, the evidence of which has never, over thousands of years, made an appearance, only shows the ability of man, even over many centuries, to believe nonsense in spite of evidence and good reason contradicting it.  One might suggest that they are infected with the disease called religion, which seems to spread contagiously to all humans having weak immune systems within the mind as a result of a general ignorance about history, the sciences, and nature.   
 
Their belief that “with god, anything is possible”, is the kind of insane thinking which gives these idiots the persistence and courage to continue with their war, and to make a society built upon the absurd laws of their religion.

It is higly probable that the entire country will once again return to some kind of oppressive dictatorial regime, with its insane religious component, so that all of the sufferings and deaths of recent years will have been wrought for naught.

This intervention being almost over, obviously heading for a total loss, we must look to other fields of insanity within which we can waste our dwindling resources, buttress our defense industry, test our weapons, exercise our bravado, sacrifice our young men and women, and make ourselves once again look like the fools that we are.   
   

[JeffreyS]

Wow so now we take Al-Qaida claims as gospel. Look I wanted troops out of Iraq shortly after they went in so whatever convinces others that we long ago won all that we were going to win is fine. However that doesn't mean I will believe without question when Al-Qaida says that they are retaking the country that they are in fact retaking the country.

[ronchamblin]

Wow so now we take Al-Qaida claims as gospel. Look I wanted troops out of Iraq shortly after they went in so whatever convinces others that we long ago won all that we were going to win is fine. However that doesn't mean I will believe without question when Al-Qaida says that they are retaking the country that they are in fact retaking the country.

See your point JS.  However, in my view the probability lies with Al-Qaida taking over because they have the strength of insanity, as buttressed with their tie to the absurd religious beliefs that have plagued the region for thousands of years.  How long this disease of religion will exist is anyone's guess.  But until it subsides to a reasonable level so that rational people can gain control, these idiots will continue to adhere to governmental structures tied to their religion, with the result that most of the population will continue to suffer. 

As we have seen in warfare, religious zealots are formidable and relentless, never giving up, basically because they are insane, making communication with them as difficult as if we were attempting to communicate with jackals.  The probability for success lies with Al-Qaida because tiime is on their side.  They will never give up.  They wait.  They will succeed.

[JeffreyS]

We have pulled the troops out already.

[ronchamblin]

Oh.

[NotNow]

Iraq attacks leave scores deadWave of explosions and shootings across country kill more than 100 on worst day since withdrawal of US troops
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Email Associated Press in Baghdad
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 July 2012 11.09 EDT Residents of Mahmudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad, start the clear-up after a car bomb ripped through a local market, killing scores of people Link to this video
A string of bombings and shootings have killed at least 106 people and injured nearly 200 across Iraq, officials said, in the nation's deadliest day in more than two years.

The co-ordinated attacks in 15 cities on Monday come days after the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq warned in a statement that the group was reorganising in areas from which it retreated before US troops left the country last December.

The blasts all took place within a few hours of each other. They struck mostly at security forces and government officials â€" two of al-Qaida's favourite targets in Iraq.

"It was a thunderous explosion," said Mohammed Munim, 35, who was working at an interior ministry office that issues government ID cards to residents in Baghdad's Shia-dominated Sadr City neighbourhood when a car exploded outside. Sixteen people were killed in the single attack.

"The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere," said Munim from his hospital bedl. He was hit by shrapnel in his neck and back.

The worst attack happened in the town of Taji, about 12 miles (20km) north of the capital where a double bombing killed at least 41 people. The blasts were timed to hit as police rushed to help victims from a series of five explosions minutes earlier.

And in a brazen attack on Iraq's military, three carloads of gunmen pulled up at an army base near the north-eastern town of town of Udaim and started firing at forces. Thirteen soldiers were killed, and the gunmen escaped before they could be caught, two senior police officials said.

The overall toll made Monday the deadliest day in Iraq since US troops left. The previous deadliest day was 5 January, when a wave of bombings targeting Shias killed 78 people in Baghdad and outside the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Last weekend, the leader of al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq warned that the militant network was returning to strongholds lost during the Americans' tenure.

"The majority of the Sunnis in Iraq support al-Qaida and are waiting for its return," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq since 2010, said in the statement, which was posted on a militant website.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/23/iraq-bomb-attacks-dozens-dead/print

[NotNow]

Which policies are you talking about?  Please tell us what you believe is the cause for these recent developments. 

[finehoe]

[NotNow]

Finehoe, perhaps you could explain your "statement" as well.  If you feel that President Bush is at fault for the current problems in Iraq, tell us why. 

Posting pictures and youtube videos is nothing more than slapping a bumper sticker on.

[BridgeTroll]

Which policies are you talking about?  Please tell us what you believe is the cause for these recent developments. 

You know NN... the policy that removed a dictatorial madman.  One that started wars and threatened and intimidated all of its neighboring countries... not to mention invading at least three of them threatening the worlds primary source of energy.  Remember he set the oilfields of Kuwait on fire... The same leader who was committing genocide on the ethnic groups who may have opposed him.  The guy who used poison gas on more than one occasion on his own people and those of other countries.  You know... the guy paying stipends to the families of suicide bombers who succeeded in killing Jews in Israel.

Only time will tell if Iraq will become a radicalized Islamic state or our invasion of Iraq bears fruit... though it clearly was a pretty radical and rogue state even before the war.  Let us see if Egypt, Libya, or eventually Syria become Islamic radical states.  The crackdown is already happening in Egypt as coptic Christians are being persecuted.

As for al qaida... we will likely be locked into prosecution of that entity for a long long time.  Whether it be in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Iraq, Syria... etc...etc...

[BridgeTroll]

again... we will see if doing nothing prevents Muslim radicalism from spreading... (Egypt/Syria/Libya).  Syria is/was secular a Baathist dictatorship just as Iraq was.  (The Assad family being only slightly less crazy than the Hussein gang) The only difference being Syria generally behaved itself... well with the notable exceptions of invading Lebanon and Israel.

[finehoe]

The Iraq war was a screw-up of such colossal magnitude that it's easy to forget how many discrete screw-ups went into the making of it. There were the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and the nonexistent links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. There's the humiliating spectacle of Secretary of State Colin Powell presenting hours of bogus testimony to the U.N. Security Council. There was Paul Wolfowitz's bizarre claim that the war would pay for itself, when the real price tag is now in excess of $1 trillion. And let us not forget the 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, more than 30,000 American soldiers wounded, and several million Iraqi refugees forced to flee their homes. A strategy that was supposed to bring U.S.-friendly democracy to the Middle East instead produced an empowered Iran and a more fragile balance of power in the region. The only thing more astonishing than the scope of these blunders is the fact that the former president does not regret his decision, even now.