AL ASAD AIR BASE, IRAQ: The Thanksgiving Day car bombing in the town of Mahmudiyah encapsulates the nature of terror attacks directed at the Iraq people. Thursday’s attack killed thirty and wounded forty. The location was a hospital, and the target was American troops handing out toys and food to children. ABC News voices the reaction of a stricken mother; “There was an explosion at the gate of the hospital… My children are gone. My brother is gone.” Another car bombing in Hillah was directed at an soda stand, and killed eleven and wounded 17.
Outside of Abu Ghraib, Iraqi soldiers discover a car with children’s dolls rigged with various forms of explosives. Iraqi government spokesperson Leith Kubba states “This is the same type of doll as that handed out on several occasions by US soldiers to children.”
al Qaeda’s campaign against the innocent is nothing new. In July, twenty seven children were killed in a suicide attack on American soldiers who were giving candy to Iraqi children. There are numerous instances of al Qaeda using disabled children – those with Downs Syndrome or other mental impairments – as suicide bombers or grenade throwers.
Those who advocate a withdrawal from Iraq wholly ignore the nature of the enemy we face, an enemy that has no compunction about slaughtering the innocent to achieve their political goals. Also lost in the debate is the fact that al Qaeda is taking a real beating in Iraq, particularly in its former “Islamic Republics” in western Anbar province. Iraqi troops are entering the fight in battalion sized formations, the terror networks are being slowly and systematically dismantled, and leadership turnover due to precision operations is frighteningly high for the organization. The calls for withdrawal only embolden the terrorists to commit more spectacular acts of violence in order to paint a picture of chaos.
