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April 14, 2006

Zarqawi, al Qaeda Admit Defeat

Topics: Iraq, Terrorism, War on Terror

At least according to Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who commands the XVIII Airborne Corps and Rafid Ibrahim Fattah, a liason to terrorist networks:

"They no longer view Iraq as fertile ground to establish a caliphate and as a place to conduct international terrorism," he said in an address at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Gen. Vines' statement came as news broke that coalition and Iraqi forces had killed an associate of Osama bin Laden's during an early morning raid near Abu Ghraib about two weeks ago.

Rafid Ibrahim Fattah aka Abu Umar al Kurdi served as a liaison between terrorist networks and was linked to Taliban members in Afghanistan, Pakistani-based extremists and other senior al Qaeda leaders, the military said yesterday.

In the past six months, al Kurdi had worked as a terrorist cell leader in Baqouba. Prior to that, he had traveled extensively Pakistan, Iran and Iraq and formed a relationship with al Qaeda senior leaders in 1999 while in Afghanistan.

He also had ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, formed while he was in Iran and Pakistan, and joined the jihad in Afghanistan in 1989, the military said. He was killed March 27.

Gen. Vines said the foreign terrorists had made a strategic mistake when they tried to intimidate and deny Iraqis a way to vote.

"I believe Zarqawi discredited himself with the Iraqi people because of his willingness to slaughter Iraqi people," he said.

The last statement is key - Zarqawi's willingness to kill Muslim civilians reflect accurately his true intentions and to not endear him to a population tired of war. Captain Ed remarks, "If true, it will demonstrate that the US has the will and the strength to face down terrorists." Let's hope the report is accurate.

Posted by tim at April 14, 2006 8:50 PM

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