Possible Connection To al-Libbi?
I picked up something from Austin Bay this morning. It seems that al-Libbi, the third-in-command for al-Qaeda, was caught with a notebook. That notebook is said to have had key intelligence for our forces, and we have had access to that "little black book". This report broke over Yahoo News this morning.
http://austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=303
US-led forces arrest over 100 suspects in Iraqi raids
8 May 2005
BAGHDAD - US-led forces arrested over 100 suspected insurgents in raids across Iraq at the weekend, including 54 allegedly linked to Al Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s network, the US military said Sunday.
Six insurgents were killed and 54 suspects arrested in a series of raids Sunday near the town of Al-Qaim close to the Syrian border, it said in a statement.
"Coalition forces also destroyed car bombs, bomb-making material and two buildings that contained large weapons caches to include hand- and rocket-propelled grenades," it said.
The sweep to the north of Al-Qaim, in an area close to the Euphrates river, followed reports that key lieutenants to the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, along with a number of "foreign fighters", had moved into the area.
"In recent months, terrorists operating in the unstable region of Al-Qaim attacked Iraqis and coalition forces, established safe houses and facilitated the movement of foreign fighters, weapons and money from Syria into Iraq," the statement said.
The commander of US forces in the Gulf, General John Abizaid, last week accused Syria of ignoring US demands to stop foreign fighters crossing the border into Iraq and "terrorists" operating from Syrian territory.
The US military last week reported that its troops had killed 12 insurgents it claimed were close to Zarqawi in the same area.
In other raids, US forces arrested 33 suspects in Baghdad on Saturday, including a high-ranking military officer in the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
And US forces, assisted by Iraqi, Polish and Salvadoran troops, captured 17 people on Saturday in a sweep near Al-Mashru, to the south of Baghdad.
US and Iraqi forces say they have captured or killed more than 20 senior aides to Zarqawi over the past few months.
US forces said they just missed arresting Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, in a February 20 raid between Hit and Haditha in the restive western Sunni province of Al-Anbar
Austin Bay referred to a "cascading effect". This raid makes me wonder if his "little black book" was connected to this raid. It’s a distinct possibility that is as the information within the notebook reportedly has information where several key al-Qaeda people may be hiding. We have the hopes that once fully deciphered, we might be able to find where Zarqawi and bin Laden are.
Intelligence like this is extremely important for the first 48 hours. We can act quickly against our enemies, and put them further back on their heels than what they are right now. We have maintained the pressure on our enemies—not always to the fullest, I will agree—to force them into mistakes. The capture of al-Libbi is a prime example of it. He wasn’t ready for his enemies that came for him, and he got caught.
And even if this raid isn’t connected to the al-Libbi notebook, it is still a success. And it also lets Syria know that we know of their involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq. That’s something we already knew, but now it’s in the open. The wepons, the bomb-making materials, and those insurgents caught are all pointing to Assad and Syria. As if Assad didn’t have enough to worry about, he may now have a level of scrutiny brought to bear on him that he can ill afford. With so many things going wrong for him of late, he may have worse to worry about just over the horizon.
Publius II
I picked up something from Austin Bay this morning. It seems that al-Libbi, the third-in-command for al-Qaeda, was caught with a notebook. That notebook is said to have had key intelligence for our forces, and we have had access to that "little black book". This report broke over Yahoo News this morning.
http://austinbay.net/blog/index.php?p=303
US-led forces arrest over 100 suspects in Iraqi raids
8 May 2005
BAGHDAD - US-led forces arrested over 100 suspected insurgents in raids across Iraq at the weekend, including 54 allegedly linked to Al Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s network, the US military said Sunday.
Six insurgents were killed and 54 suspects arrested in a series of raids Sunday near the town of Al-Qaim close to the Syrian border, it said in a statement.
"Coalition forces also destroyed car bombs, bomb-making material and two buildings that contained large weapons caches to include hand- and rocket-propelled grenades," it said.
The sweep to the north of Al-Qaim, in an area close to the Euphrates river, followed reports that key lieutenants to the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, along with a number of "foreign fighters", had moved into the area.
"In recent months, terrorists operating in the unstable region of Al-Qaim attacked Iraqis and coalition forces, established safe houses and facilitated the movement of foreign fighters, weapons and money from Syria into Iraq," the statement said.
The commander of US forces in the Gulf, General John Abizaid, last week accused Syria of ignoring US demands to stop foreign fighters crossing the border into Iraq and "terrorists" operating from Syrian territory.
The US military last week reported that its troops had killed 12 insurgents it claimed were close to Zarqawi in the same area.
In other raids, US forces arrested 33 suspects in Baghdad on Saturday, including a high-ranking military officer in the regime of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
And US forces, assisted by Iraqi, Polish and Salvadoran troops, captured 17 people on Saturday in a sweep near Al-Mashru, to the south of Baghdad.
US and Iraqi forces say they have captured or killed more than 20 senior aides to Zarqawi over the past few months.
US forces said they just missed arresting Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, in a February 20 raid between Hit and Haditha in the restive western Sunni province of Al-Anbar
Austin Bay referred to a "cascading effect". This raid makes me wonder if his "little black book" was connected to this raid. It’s a distinct possibility that is as the information within the notebook reportedly has information where several key al-Qaeda people may be hiding. We have the hopes that once fully deciphered, we might be able to find where Zarqawi and bin Laden are.
Intelligence like this is extremely important for the first 48 hours. We can act quickly against our enemies, and put them further back on their heels than what they are right now. We have maintained the pressure on our enemies—not always to the fullest, I will agree—to force them into mistakes. The capture of al-Libbi is a prime example of it. He wasn’t ready for his enemies that came for him, and he got caught.
And even if this raid isn’t connected to the al-Libbi notebook, it is still a success. And it also lets Syria know that we know of their involvement in terrorist operations in Iraq. That’s something we already knew, but now it’s in the open. The wepons, the bomb-making materials, and those insurgents caught are all pointing to Assad and Syria. As if Assad didn’t have enough to worry about, he may now have a level of scrutiny brought to bear on him that he can ill afford. With so many things going wrong for him of late, he may have worse to worry about just over the horizon.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:31 AM
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