Everybody loves a parade.
From AKI (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):
Baghdad, 3 August (AKI) - Two months after US and Iraqi troops announced they had routed al-Qaeda affiliated militants in the city of Baquba, photographs have appeared on the Internet suggesting the Islamists continue to operate in the area.The photographs purport to show a parade by the 'Islamic State of Iraq' - the monicker used by the al-Qaeda militants - through the mostly Sunni city which lies some 50 kilometres north of Baghdad.
The June operation involving US troops, Iraqi army units and local tribesmen grouped together in the '1920 Brigades' was hailed by some observers as a watershed in the Iraqi conflict because for the first time local Sunni tribesmen had fought alongside the American-led forces against Islamist militants.
Some 10,000 US troops were involved in the operation which began on 18 June and took place throughout the province of Diyala in which Baquba is situated.
Hundreds of militants were reportedly killed while many more were forced to flee the city.
The photographs posted on Islamic sites this week show masked gunmen brandishing assault rifles and waving flags while riding in cars and on the back of several pick-up trucks. Some civilian bystanders including teen-age boys appear to be cheering them on.
According to the captions accompanying the images the Islamic state of Iraq militants are parading through Baquba which they have been able to re-infiltrate.
We obviously still have a few hearts and minds left to capture. Maybe it would be best to face the fact that there are limits to what we can do.
Something we can capture are the Mideast oil reserves, thereby starving Islam of money. We will need some altruistic-sounding rationale when we do it, perhaps form an organization for progressive regional development devoted to helping the people, for example.
By the way, I was encouraged by Obama's statement on Pakistan to bomb Al Qaeda there. He also wants to back out of Iraq and surge Afghanistan. Any thoughts on that?
I'm sorry, but there is one way to assure this doesn't keep happening. (You p.c. types might want to stop reading at this point) I am having trouble believing there are allies over there. We have the best weapons in the world. Lets put on a public display on their effectiveness. Don't rain on OUR parade!
we need to allow our military to fight the way they did during WW2, otherwise you will see this story coming up everytime the US military leaves a so called "cleaned up city".
It's either psych-ops, or Petraus is scrutinizing the video for idents very carefully (for soon to be dead jihadis).
(heard that Ibrahim Hooper attended anonymously and famously - he's the one with the offended and outraged look on his face under the mask)
I had a uncomfortable sensation yesterday. I was listening to Sean Hannity go on about recent successes in Iraq. I was torn because on one hand if the democracy project can succeed and this surge policy can succeed, it would be unpatriotic of me to NOT wish our troops success, and to want to support their efforts. Success would mean less killing, and that would be a good thing. On the other, knowing what I do about the history and nature of Islam and Iraq, I suspected that these successes would be short lived, but they would give reason for dragging out this impossible mission for even longer. I could hear the president asking for more money and troops ,pointing to these successes as evidence. I found myself hoping that we would soon see evidence that these successes were a short-term phenomena. I didn't like that feeling becuase what I was doing inside was cheering for the jihadist.
I told myself that that time will tell. I will hope for the best, but be wary for the worse. We will see within at least several months whether all the good work, all these success stories, will be contradicted by renewed efforts by the "extremists" in months to come.
Well, I guess I didn't have to wait months.
It took a day.
The tide go's out, and the tide comes back in.
A basic Al-Qaeda strategy...works for them...
Until I see proof otherwise, I would assume these photos were taken PRIOR to the clean out taking place. We have embedded journalists on the ground in Baquoba right now and they are reporting success, not a resurgence at all. Al Queda is well known for re-issuing old photographs and calling them new. Why should this be any different?
If that parade took place, why wasn't it interrupted by a few hellfire-firing drones? If a few bystanders were killed - too bad. These savages are the enemy anyway, courtesy of them cheering for Al Qaeda. No way should they have been uninterrupted as if it were the local Lord Mayor's Parade taking place. It is reminiscent of the US Military being unwilling to gatecrash a Taliban funeral courtesy of a few drones last year. Political correctness will NEVER, and I mean NEVER win THIS war, just as it would never have won any previous war. If we want to win, it is time we kicked the lawyers, the human rights activists and their pc manual into touch, especially as these good-for-nothing oxygen-stealing scrimshankers would rather see us lose a clean war than win a dirty one.
If that parade took place, why wasn't it interrupted by a few hellfire-firing drones? If a few bystanders were killed - too bad. These savages are the enemy anyway, courtesy of them cheering for Al Qaeda. No way should they have been uninterrupted as if it were the local Lord Mayor's Parade taking place. It is reminiscent of the US Military being unwilling to gatecrash a Taliban funeral courtesy of a few drones last year. Political correctness will NEVER, and I mean NEVER win THIS war, just as it would never have won any previous war. If we want to win, it is time we kicked the lawyers, the human rights activists and their pc manual into touch, especially as these good-for-nothing oxygen-stealing scrimshankers would rather see us lose a clean war than win a dirty one.
If that parade took place, why wasn't it interrupted by a few hellfire-firing drones? If a few bystanders were killed - too bad. These savages are the enemy anyway, courtesy of them cheering for Al Qaeda. No way should they have been uninterrupted as if it were the local Lord Mayor's Parade taking place. It is reminiscent of the US Military being unwilling to gatecrash a Taliban funeral courtesy of a few drones last year. Political correctness will NEVER, and I mean NEVER win THIS war, just as it would never have won any previous war. If we want to win, it is time we kicked the lawyers, the human rights activists and their pc manual into touch, especially as these good-for-nothing oxygen-stealing scrimshankers would rather see us lose a clean war than win a dirty one.
Well, well what we have here? Could it be clear evidence that US Middle East intelligence isn't up to snuff? If Pentagon officials had known about this al-Qaeda 'parade' I doubt the US military would have missed its opportunity to blow up a bunch of al-Qaeda terrorists (on 'parade,' no less!).
I'm with Spirit 1683, where's the rpoof that this did not take place prior to the surge?
Propaganda can be a very powerful tool.
Waiting for Harry Reid to latch onto this one.
pythagoras says "Well, well what we have here? Could it be clear evidence that US Middle East intelligence isn't up to snuff? If Pentagon officials had known about this al-Qaeda 'parade' I doubt the US military would have missed its opportunity to blow up a bunch of al-Qaeda terrorists (on 'parade,' no less!)."
It seems they knew about a Taliban funeral with 200 big cheeses attending, and did nothing about it out of political correctness.
Any pickup truck in Iraq hauling armed men needs to get bombed.Where the hell are the helo's?
I'm sick of all the American deaths there. Either clear out the terrorists or get the hell out.