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2008-06-04 Fifth Column

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Posted by gorb 2008-06-04 03:55|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 Al-Qaeda thinks the world is divided between believers and nonbelievers, and the believers are divinely obliged to destroy the nonbelievers.
This is a definition of Islam, not just AQ.

None of this, of course, is to take away from the turnaround in Iraq.
Bullsh*t. That's your whole point.

Are you suggesting that we should go after AQ (and other jihadi groups) world-wide? Pakistan? Iran? Paleostine? Syria? etc. That's where your logic leads - are you willing to say so openly or just piss and moan about the Administration?

Posted by Spot">Spot 2008-06-04 08:33|| 2008-06-04 08:33|| Front Page Top

#2 Whether the car bomb that destroyed the Danish embassy in Pakistan on Monday was the work of an actual member of al-Qaeda or not does not matter - what does is that al-Qaeda's way of thinking is not defeated.

That's not necessarily true. In fact, all indications are that al-Qaeda's way of thinking IS being defeated, bit by bit. At least all the more recent polls show that their popularity and their methods (e.g. suicide bombing) are losing favor with the people of the Middle East. The drop has been rather precipitous between now and 2002. Rather than creating a whole new generation of jihadi martyrs, as most Liberals and the MSM would like us to believe, our policies in the Middle East seem to be mitigating the problem overall.

Victory against aQ is not going to happen with a bang but rather a whimper.

Posted by eltoroverde 2008-06-04 09:32|| 2008-06-04 09:32|| Front Page Top

#3 "By mischaracterizing the enemy in Iraq, we mischaracterize the enemy in Pakistan."

Baers use of the word lie may tip his cards that this is another one of his self-serving commentaries but he may have it right on the larger point. Its hard to argue that the AQ brand hasnt been overemphasized in this conflict. The practice of the MNF to periodically misidentify the enemy may be effective in the short term for domestic consumption but enables the greater problem to fester in the long term. Tell it like it isand the Get out of Iraq cause its a Civil-War crowd be dammed! Moreover, its time the enlightened world identifies Islam the Ideology as the root cause and the Hijacked Religion crowd be dammed!

Posted by DepotGuy 2008-06-04 10:18|| 2008-06-04 10:18|| Front Page Top

#4 Al-Qaeda in Iraq ran a website for years. They published daily accounts of attacks on both Shiites ("apostates") and Coalition troops. As with original al-Qaeda, they operate on the basis of a co-ordinated plan, but by means of disconnected units. US field troops could have shown Baer captured black-flag banners of AQI (originally referred to as: al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The group led early fighting, and commenced use of suicide terror. Other Sunni groups followed and joined with AQI for a while. Following the negotiations in Jordan, Sunnis agreed to work with US troops against AQI, in exchange for $300 per Sunni combatant per month and with the end of consolidating Sunni territories in face of Shiite encroachment. (Baghdad became a Shiite city, during the first years of terror). The current situation is somewhat a status quo ante, with Shiites demanding a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), affirming a time table for US withdrawl. Meanwhile the US runs the largest military airport in the world, 50 miles north of Baghdad, and maintenance of same is integral to long term US regional strategy. President Bush and Senator McCain fear that the Shiites could re-open the 1400 year old civil war, should SOFA fail. Unfortunately, I believe that will happen by August. And Obama will exploit the situation.

Iraqis don't deny AQI's existence. Neither do field troops. What else does Baer deny?

Posted by McZoid 2008-06-04 13:46|| 2008-06-04 13:46|| Front Page Top

#5 Point of information: as far as I know, only the New York Times and their fellow travellers have ever used Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia instead of in Iraq.

Posted by trailing wife ">trailing wife 2008-06-04 16:03|| 2008-06-04 16:03|| Front Page Top

#6 Baer is creating a strawman or he's a moron. Hayden never claimed Al Queda was in Iraq prior to 2003. It's irrelevant if they were or not. We arrived in 2003 and Bin Laden sent in his warriors to fight us. They are now near a strategic defeat after giving us a tough time in 2004-7.

Posted by rjschwarz 2008-06-04 17:00|| 2008-06-04 17:00|| Front Page Top

23:38 rjschwarz
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