FIRE WITH FIRE

No wonder the Iraqi government is failing. As fast as citizens step up to the plate, al-Qaida strikes them out -- permanently!

An Iraqi oil minister was kidnapped today by terrorists. (Click here to read the story.) Two more Sunni leaders were killed this week for taking a public stand against al-Qaida. A southern governor and police chief were killed by a roadside bomb. All this in just two days! There are continuing reports of Iraqi political leaders being killed, police recruits mowed down, police barracks bombed, Iraqi soldiers targeted.

Al-Qaida, Shiite and Sunni insurgents and other terrorist groups operating in Iraq have found an effective way to maintain chaos. Every time Iraq begins to grow the head of leadership, they lop it off, leaving the limbs of the beast to flail away ineffectively. Messy but highly effective. No wonder the Iraqi government is in such disarray. Volunteering to serve is tantamount to a death wish.

Labels: al-Qaida, bomb, dissidents, hostages, Iraq, Sunni, violence

Posted by The Watcher at Tuesday, August 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The US intelligence community says al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to pre-9/11 strength. It would seem that two wars and an international manhunt targeting its leadership have come to naught. Despite the capture or death of many top lieutenants, annihilation of training camps, derailing of known funding operations, and the interrogation and incarceration of thousands of suspected sympathizers worldwide, in just six years the shadowy group has managed to rebuild its leadership, manpower, training program, resources, communications network and operations -- all contributing to an attack capability that is at minimum equal to that of 9/11 and most probably greater. Click here to read the whole story.

The recently aborted attacks in the United Kingdom are a sample of al-Qaida's present capability to coordinate chaos in the West, warn U.S. intelligence agencies. Al-Qaida's strength has grown tremendously, particularly in the past two years, and along with it, the terrorist group's capacity to carry out another devastating terrorist attack on American soil, say intelligence sources.

A new terrorist assessment singles out Pakistan for harboring al-Qaida operatives and operations along its border with Afghanistan and as a likely conduit enabling terrorists to enter other countries. Among those countries whose ties to Pakistan may put them at greater risk are Britain, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.

Al-Qaida's efforts to step up operations have been particularly successful since Pakistan signed a peace agreement with tribal leaders along its northwestern border with Afghanistan, effectively removing any military presence. The area has become a recognized safe haven for Taliban and al-Qaida operatives.

President Bush is using the intelligence report to bolster his argument for a troop build up. Certainly Americans are more wary of a 9/11-like terrorist threat since the the recent incidents in the United Kingdom.

Labels: Afghanistan, al-Qaida, Iraq

Posted by The Watcher at Tuesday, July 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments | links to this post