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Iraq
No more bad guys to kill? MNF-Iraq Responds to Query
2007-10-19
I wrote MNF-I to ask if they had stopped reporting enemy losses. Here is the response. It appears we may have killed them all.
For Iraq, there has been no change in policy and MNF-I units have been operating continually. We have just seen more captures and less violence in general recently.

We have, for example, seen a drop in the level of security incidents during Ramadan this year. In 2004 through 2007, Ramadan in 2006 provided the highest level of security incidents. For Ramadan in 2007, there was approximately a 38 percent decrease in security incidents from Ramadan in 2006.

We think the surge in operations is having an impact, and we certainly welcomed Muqtada al-Sadr's pledge that Jaysh al-Mahdi would stop attacks, which many groups have honored, and which certainly hasn't hurt. Finally, we have killed or captured many al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders, which is hindering their ability to respond to our operations, as well.

I can't speak for Afghanistan.

Thanks,

- MAJ Danielson
Posted by:Chuck Simmins

#16  Study the tail-end parts of the Malaysia (Post Briggs), Boer2 and the Brits.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-10-19 23:29  

#15  This is how an insurgency ends, with a whimper.

I'll second that.
Posted by: phil_b   2007-10-19 23:22  

#14  and just about as intelligent...
Posted by: Frank G   2007-10-19 23:08  

#13  It's kinda like having fire ants. You can chase them out of your yard, but they just go next door. It is not until everyone gets on board with the eradication program that you wipe them out.
Posted by: SteveS   2007-10-19 22:59  

#12  wxjames, Iraq, yes.

Elsewhere, uncertain. Pakiwaki is an area that has a potential for some form of jihadi offensive. Whether AQ or some otherly named outled is not that relevant, same shite, essentially.

Rats are also leaving for Eurabia and it is likely that they will stir some trouble there, especially in more dhimmified regions.

Posted by: twobyfour   2007-10-19 21:49  

#11  This lull may be over, but more lulls to come. The tide has definitely turned. We'll have to listen hard to hear alQ's final fizzel.
Posted by: wxjames   2007-10-19 21:23  

#10  Lulls over. 11 killed in Iraq Monday and Tuesday, 5 today. 12 killed in Afghanistan today.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2007-10-19 21:06  

#9  This is how an insurgency ends, with a whimper.

First thought: "don't get cocky, kid!", it will continue to taper off for the next few years.

Second thought: Eggdzactly, NS. No surrender ceremony on the deck of a carrier, just the surviving terrorist scum quietly slinking back to their parent's basements, with a ringing "never mind" sounding across the Internets.

Of course, whenever they post their fantasies to Kos, myDD, etc. some poor schlub at the NSA is going to have to read it. Oh, well.
Posted by: N guard   2007-10-19 18:36  

#8  Chuck, et.al.,

I have noticed that in DC there is less talk of Iraq and more talk of other things including Iran (W ratched up the rhethoric with his WW3 comment). The papers are quiet and so is TV - even NBC saw fit to take Olberman on Sunday night football. The Dems are so desperate to keep associating calamity with Iraq they sent out their senior senile Trotskyite (Pete Stark) to throw a few bombs about Iraq and W in discussing the SCHIP vote. When you add up the politics and news value its what they call a "snore".
Posted by: Jack is Back!   2007-10-19 16:12  

#7  This is how an insurgency ends, with a whimper.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-10-19 15:54  

#6  We have just seen more captures and less violence in general recently.

Maybe some of these captives would respond to a little re-education...heh, heh, heh. Maybe like Clockwork Orange only specifically tailored for jihadis.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305   2007-10-19 15:38  

#5  kinda like the 70 yr old man who shot the suicide bomber the other day moose
Posted by: sinse   2007-10-19 14:37  

#4  Remember that there are two sides to the equation. Not just us taking down the bad guys, but also building up the good guys. And with every passing day, the bad guys get weaker and the good guys get stronger.

At a particular point, the Iraqis will be fully policing and protecting themselves, and the US forces footprint will recede until we just occupy bases, providing air support and intelligence coordination.

Psychologically, we have to retrain the Iraqis so that they are so self-confident and strong that when an incident happens, they don't respond to it in the Arabic way, but in the right way. From that moment on, the become a modern state, and stop making enemies of their own people.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-10-19 14:33  

#3  Well we are still taking fatalities (although for the first 19 days of Oct the rate was about half the Sept rate- itself low compared to the previous 12 months0.
Posted by: mhw   2007-10-19 13:04  

#2  Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-10-19 12:51  

#1  Maybe they all took a day trip to Karachi.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-10-19 12:45  

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