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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Arrests Up, Bombings Down |
| 2005-08-19 |
| August 19, 2005: Suicide bombings have become less common, and arrests of terrorists have risen sharply in the past month. Actually, incarcerations have been climbing since last Fall, as more terrorists and gangsters are caught red-handed. Before that, many of the 50,000 arrests resulted in a brief interrogation, and release of the suspect. But now more bad people are being identified and kept incarcerated. Many of these are career criminals who had been freed by Saddam in 2002, or escaped in the confusion of the 2003 invasion. But the crime wave these thugs have generated in the past two years is coming to an end. The rampant criminality is the one thing all Iraqis are united in opposition to. More tribal vigilantes are being formed, and either killing gangsters, or pointing them out to police or coalition troops. As a result of all this, the prisons are full. The number of prisoners held in U.S. detention centers has increased from 5.400 last September to about 11,000 now. Unlike the past, a larger proportion of these captives are hard core terrorists or gangsters and harder to deal with. The Iraqis are building new prison camps to take care of their own skyrocketing arrests. The Iraqis are also taking some of the gangsters being held by the Americans. This leaves the U.S. prisons with a more violent and active population, which requires more efforts by the guards, and more guards in general. American commanders have called for more troops just to take care of this larger, and more violent, prison population. An infantry battalion from the U.S. 82nd Airborne battalion is going to Iraq, and is likely to be more involved in dealing with the prisoners, than going out and collecting new ones. Many potential prisoners, being hunted in their own towns and neighborhoods, have become more vicious in their attempts to terrorize their neighbors into supporting the cause. Sunni Arab leaders are increasingly subject to threats, and attacks. The long feared civil war within the Sunni Arab community is under way. It's actually been going on, and growing, for over a year. But now there are towns in western Iraq where armed factions regularly battle each other. Al Qaeda gangs are increasingly seen as "foreign occupiers", and attacked by nearly all factions in the Sunni Arab community. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 Itn not spelled with a hyfin Bobby |
| Posted by: HalfEmpty 2005-08-19 16:56 |
| #9 Unfortunately the total number of terrorists, terrorist enablers and hard core criminals in Iraq probably exceeds 100,000 and may exceed 250,000. Not only do people need to be arrested but they have to be sentenced also. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-08-19 14:43 |
| #8 Arrests up, bombings down. Not at all a suprising correlation is it? |
| Posted by: Thrinemble Clailing8511 2005-08-19 14:27 |
| #7 Perhaps Lynn Stewart will be available to help defend in the capital cases. |
| Posted by: Curt Simon 2005-08-19 12:41 |
| #6 The glass is half-empty. The glass is half-full. The glass isn't as full as it could be. The glass isn't as empty as it could be. The glass isn't as empty as it will be. 48% of those polled say the glass isn't full. Due to the raging insurgency, more people see the glass as less than full compared to this time last year. Unless more water is added to the glass, it will soon be less full than it is now. John Kerry says more water should be added to the class to combat global dry air. John Kerry is sure the glass used to have more water in it, but it's drying out due to global warming. Howard Dean is sure the lower water level is due to a Karl Rove plot, planned and directed by his moron-of-a-boss. Dan Rather says the glass should be more full. No one knows how long the water has been in the glass, so it might not be safe to drink. If you don't taste what's in the glass, how do you know it's not vodka? Gimme some more time, I'll find other spins to the glass with some water in it. Do you trust your president and his staff to adjust to changing conditions and make progress toward their stated goals? Do you believe there could be setbacks without losing the war, based on your historical knowledge of past conflicts? Do you believe the media is more interested in ratings and selling ads than in informing you? Can you develop any more factoids about the partially-filled glass of apparently clear liquid? Did you shake the glass to make sure it really is a liquid? Confused yet? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-08-19 12:21 |
| #5 These guys (Strategy Page), seem like they know what they are talking about. However, every time I hear this fairly good news, the papers talk about how it's getting worse. Even some high profile people are losing faith. I don't trust the MSM, but how do we decide what's true, if we don't get facts, just opposeing sides. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2005-08-19 12:01 |
| #4 He'd have my vote. |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2005-08-19 11:37 |
| #3 The typical Iraqi on the street is becoming impatient with the government *not* executing thugs faster. While the current president is adamantly opposed to capital punishment, he understands the reality, though. If some candidate could promise to execute a hundred a week, he would be a shoe-in for president. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-19 11:12 |
| #2 Headlines say they are going to execute 3 Ansar al Sunna thugs soon. I hope the trials get underway so they execute another 11,000 asap, including and or especially the foreign fighters. I wish I could get more info on the clashes between Sunni's and jihadi's. I just can't get a grip on how this conflict is going. No enemy casualty reports versus 2-3 US fatalities/day. I guess some clarity that the bad guys are taking a beating would ofset some of the frustration of losing good men and women. |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2005-08-19 11:05 |
| #1 This reminds me of a headline that I saw last year about prisons crowded despite the drop in crime. Sounds like Iraq need to start clean by dispatching some of the thugs. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-08-19 10:50 |