We finally have a plausible explanation for this week's confusion about whether AQI leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed. Here's what appears to have caused the confusion:
If you need more proof that John Murtha is lying about AQI's presence, check out this article:
Simply put, John Murtha's saying that David Petraeus lied about AQI's presence is itself a bald-faced lie. Unfortunately, this isn't surprising.
Technorati: al-Qaeda In Iraq, Iraq War, al-Masri, al-Jubouri, John Murtha, David Petraeus, William Caldwell, Baqouba, Islamic Caliphate, Intelligence
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the killing of Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri, described as al Qaeda's information minister, apparently had led to confused reports that al Qaeda's top leader or the head of an umbrella group of Sunni insurgents had been killed. Gen. Caldwell said the military had conducted numerous operations against al Qaeda in Iraq in the previous six days but did not have the bodies of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub Masri and did not know "of anybody that does."Yesterday, I posted something about John Murtha's diatribe where he accused David Petraeus of lying about AQI's presence in Iraq. Is Murtha now going to accuse Gen. Caldwell of lying about this, too?
U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up operations against the terrorist network following a series of car bombings and suicide attacks that have killed hundreds in recent weeks despite a security crackdown in Baghdad and surrounding areas.Based on that paragraph, it's pretty apparent that AQI's presence is significant enough to warrant raids on AQI. Obviously, the military doesn't plan attacks on terrorists unless they're there. That is, it's obvious to anyone but BDS-afflicted people like John Murtha.
Al-Jubouri was killed early Tuesday while trying to resist detention in an operation about four miles west of the Taji, a town near an air base north of Baghdad, and the body initially was identified by photos, then confirmed by DNA testing yesterday, Gen. Caldwell said.A high-ranking AQI officer like al-Jubouri isn't sent into Iraq if there isn't a major AQI presence there. They don't waste their resources on minor operations. al-Jubouri's presence is the ultimate proof of AQI's presence.
If you need more proof that John Murtha is lying about AQI's presence, check out this article:
Across the walls of the villas they seized in the name of their shadow government, black-masked al-Qaida militants spray-painted the words: "Property of the Islamic State of Iraq.How John Murtha can say that there isn't intelligence supporting AQI's presence in Iraq is beyond me. How can AQI hold an entire city and American intelligence not know about it? The simple answer is it can't, especially since Baqouba's population is 280,000.
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For months, al-Qaida turned a part of one Baqouba neighborhood into an insurgent fiefdom that American and Iraqi forces were too undermanned to tackle, a startling example of the terror group's ability to thrive openly in some places outside Baghdad even as U.S.-led forces struggle to regain control in the capital.
U.S. forces took back the entire Tahrir neighborhood during a weeklong operation that wrapped up Sunday in Baqouba, a city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad that al-Qaida declared last year the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
Though the operation was a success, it forced the guerrillas to either flee or melt into the population, soldiers say the extremists are likely to pop up anywhere else that's short on American firepower.
Simply put, John Murtha's saying that David Petraeus lied about AQI's presence is itself a bald-faced lie. Unfortunately, this isn't surprising.
Technorati: al-Qaeda In Iraq, Iraq War, al-Masri, al-Jubouri, John Murtha, David Petraeus, William Caldwell, Baqouba, Islamic Caliphate, Intelligence
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
