The fluid security situation in Qaim, where the pro-government Albu Mahla tribe is battling with al Qaeda for control over the city of Qaim, has many Iraq watchers scratching their heads. Who exactly is in control? In a Washington Post article titled Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border, the authors claim al Qaeda […]
The battle of Tal Afar intensifies. Operation Restoring Rights is easily the largest since Fallujah, based on both the size of the assault force – five to six battalions, about 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi infantry – and the scope of the objective. Tal Afar is a city of over 150,000, ranking it just behind Fallujah […]
U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched the largest operation since Fallujah last November. Over 5,000 U.S. and Iraq troops strike at the town of Tal Afar, which is located west of Mosul, along the northern ratline from Syria. The insurgents have taken heavy casualties, and U.S. Army helicopter pilots are learning to spot IED deployments […]
A video of the purported leader of the London 7/7 attacks, Mohammad Sidique Khan, has surfaced, and was aired on Al Jazeera. In the tape, Khan blames “democratically elected governments” for inciting the jihadis, and vows the jihadis will continue to conduct acts of terror until the West surrenders; “Until we feel secure you will […]
The Battle for the Border continues. On the heels of last Friday and this Tuesday’s air strikes and tribal fighting, Marine attack aircraft pound a train station being used as an al Qaeda weapons storage depot and headquarters last evening. Marine Captain Jack Pool emails “Over the past two days, numerous reliable sources have observed […]
“We decided, either we force them out of the city or kill them.” – Sheikh Muhammed Mahallawi, leader of the Albu Mahal tribe, on fighting al Qaeda Further details emerge on the fighting in Western Anbar between pro-government and pro al Qaeda tribes. The Washington Post‘s Ellen Knickmeyer and Omar Fekeiki report that of the […]
In the western Iraqi town of Qaim, clashes continue between the pro-government Bumahl tribe and the pro-al Qaeda Karabila tribe. Newsday, in an article titled “Heavy Fighting Erupts in Western Iraq“, reports that “20 members of the Bumahl tribe and 15 from Karabila were killed in the clashes,” with dozens wounded. Reuters reports 47 were […]
The battle for control over the Syrian border region in the vicinity of Qaim continues. Jack Kelly points us to a press release from the Marine Corps on an airstrike on an al Qaeda safehouse in the contested town of Husaybah. The fact that terrorists are operating in Husaybah is no surprise, and neither should […]
It is time to revisit the Guardian’s claim that Haditha is a jihadi “citadel” along the lines of Fallujah of old. Soldier’s Dad points us the recent issue of This Week in Iraq, a newsletter published by Multinational Forces Iraq, which helps refute two of the claims in the article: Haditha is not being patrolled, […]
Has Zarqawi established a new Fallujah-on-the-Euphrates in city of Haditha? The Guardian claims this is the case, after “a three-day visit by a reporter working for the Guardian last week.” The reporter is unnamed, and the article is single sourced. Haditha is the site of the ambush of six Marine Snipers and the IED attack […]
One of the most controversial items from a western standpoint is the role Islam will play in the laws of Iraq. The common cry [paraphrased] is “did we sacrifice our soldiers to establish an Islamist state?” Security Watchtower excerpts the text of the draft submitted to assembly (the full text can be viewed at Newsday.com). […]
Three more days. Iraq’s constitutional committee has moved the draft out of committee and submitted it to the National Assembly. Omar from Iraq the Model provides the details of the day’s events. The Assembly deferred a vote for three days to gain further consensus, and again followed the proper procedure according to Transitional Administrative Law […]
The battles against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda and the insurgency in Iraq are increasingly being pushed towards the borders. The Taliban and Iraqi terror campaigns are relying on cross border havens to muster, arm and train fighters entering the country. The movement of combat from the political centers of gravity to the […]
As al Qaeda continues to fight in Iraq, it exposes its true nature to the Iraqi people, and to the rest of the world… if only the world would pay attention. Chester points us to an interrogation of Abed, a member of al Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Islam. Abed’s band of murderers routinely practiced rape and […]
Al Qaeda’s middle managers continue to take a beating. Two senior commanders, one in Saudi Arabia, and one in Turkey, have been removed from action. The dismantlement of al Qaeda’s middle managers – its most senior field operatives with extensive knowledge, training and contacts in the jihadi world – is crucial to reducing al Qaeda’s […]
The multiple bombings throughout Bangladesh highlights the scope of the war, al Qaeda’s global reach and their reliance on local jihadi groups to extend their reach. Bangladesh has no troops in Iraq, is not an occupied country, nor does it have close ties to the West, yet Islamist terrorism exists all the same. Bangladeshi security […]
Iraq’s political process temporarily stalled due to wrangling over the content of the constitution. The requested one week delay in submitting the constitution to the Iraqi assembly by the August 15 deadly is chalked up to disagreement over the role of Islam, women’s rights, federalism and the disbursement of oil revenues. Robert Mayer of Publius […]
With the fourth anniversay of the hot war between al Qaeda and the West approaching, it is interesting to see how al Qaeda’s strategy and objectives have evolved since the United States committed to engaging in open warfare. The Word Unheard points us to an article in Spiegel Online by a Jordanian journalist Fouad Hussein, […]
“We have had enough of his nonsense. We don’t accept that a non-Iraqi should try to enforce his control over Iraqis, regardless of their sect — whether Sunnis, Shiites, Arabs or Kurds.” – Sheik Ahmad Khanjar, leader of the Sunni Albu Ali clan, referring to Abu Musab al Zarqawi Red-on-red incidents between al Qaeda and […]
A major reason Iraqi Security Forces are deemed “not operational” (in New York Times parlance) is their inability to sustain their own logistical support system. At the risk of beating the dead horse, it is important to stress that the majority of Iraqi units are able to conduct combat operations, but are restricted from fully […]
The question of the readiness of the Iraqi Army to take a major role in fighting the insurgency is often asked, and reports from the media have been less than helpful in answering this question. As we have seen, the mantra from the professional media has been that ‘few Iraqi Army units are fully operational’ […]
Operation Quick Strike has ended. According to Colonel Stephen Davis, the commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 2, which was executing the operation; “This is another operation, similar to those conducted before, that has disrupted the insurgents’ ability to operate freely in the western Al Anbar region.” The importance of local intelligence in conducting the […]
While much of the news on force deployments to Iraq have focused on the prospects of a drawdown in the spring of 2006, the Department of Defense is discussing the possibility of increasing forces in Iraq to provide security for the October and December elections. Often overlooked is the fact that the US has begun […]
News reports from Operation Quick Strike are sparse. According to the Washington Post, the strke force consists of “180 Iraqi soldiers and 900 members of the 2nd Marine Division, backed by M1-A1 Abrams tanks, helicopters and jets.” This equates to about a company of Iraqi forces attached to a marine battalion. A car bomb factory […]
The commencement of Operation Quick Strike raises the question of whether operations in Anbar have taken a radical departure from past operations, or whether Quick Strike is the beginning of a new phase of the Anbar Campaign. Chester argues Quick Strike should be viewed separately from the spring/summer operations as the establishment of a base […]
While Operation Quick Strike continues, Coalition forces conduct Operations Able Warrior and Vanguard Thunder in and around Baghdad. The operations are being conducted simultaneously along the Euphrates river and are targeting specific terrorists cells. In Mosul, a letter from Abu Zayd (the “emir of Farming reform battalion on the west side”) to Zarqawi is intercepted. […]
I’ll be brief as I am heading out for a weekend vacation… The latest offensive in the Anbar Campaign on the Euphrates River has been designated Operation Quick Strike. The battle was planned prior to the deadly attacks on US Marines earlier this week, and has been engaged since Wednesday. The cities targeted are Haditha, […]
The series of operations being conducted in the Anbar province along the Euphrates River must be looked upon not as isolated operations, but part of an overall campaign to wrest the Anbar province from the insurgency and al Qaeda. During a Department of Defense press briefing, General Ham alludes to the existence of the Anbar […]
The Marines of the 3/25 Marine Reserve battalion have taken in inordinate amount of casualties in the fighting in and around Haditha the past several days. Jack details the toll taken by the Marines of 3/25 and their families. Mr. Kelly correctly points out that while the greater casualties were taken in the IED strike […]
The River War continues. US Marines are engaged in a tough fight in the Euphrates River city of Haditha. Operation New Market commenced on May 25 to pacify the city, and the fighting has intensified in recent days. On August 1, six Marines were killed when engaging the enemy in a firefight. On August 2, […]