U.S. to increase focus on Al-Qaida in Iraq

Source: LA Times

U.S. commanders plan a summer of stepped up offensives against al-Qaida in Iraq as they tailor strategy to their expectation that Congress soon will impose a timeline for drawing down U.S. forces here.

The emphasis on al-Qaida, described by commanders in interviews here this week, marks a shift in U.S. plans away from Shiite militias and death squads inside Baghdad. It reflects the belief of some senior officers in Iraq that the Shiite militias likely would reduce their attacks once it became clear that a U.S. pullout was coming. By contrast, they believe al-Qaida in Iraq could be emboldened by a pullout plan and must be confronted before one is in place.

When the administration began sending additional troops to Iraq, U.S. commanders spoke frequently of the threat posed by the Shiites' al-Mahdi Army, and they issued thinly veiled threats against its leader, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Although military leaders say Shiite militias loyal to al-Sadr remain a priority, al-Sadr has tacitly cooperated with the U.S. troop buildup, telling his followers to avoid confronting U.S. troops. He is also a key supporter of the U.S.-backed government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Now, with the final infantry troops of the Bush administration "surge" strategy having arrived in Iraq, the military is increasingly focusing firepower against the Sunni side of Iraq's civil war, especially al-Qaida in Iraq.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-strategy28jun28,0,2921879.story?coll=la-home-center

Unbelievable.

The surge was originally to secure Baghdad and give the Iraqis a chance to achieve a political reconciliation.

That plan is now shitcanned. And it's easy to see why. We can't secure Baghdad and there isn't going to be a political reconciliation.

We were told both of those goals were essential to victory in Iraq. Well, not any more.

Now the job is to blow up the worst of the Sunni extremists before Congress pulls the plug, which is now assumed will happen.

And I'm sure it's not lost on them that it's harder to make the case for withdrawal when the troops are fighting al Qaeda instead of the native Iraqi forces. Everyone agrees we need to fight al Qaeda.

Methinks the Saudi Crown will soon complain...
And there goes that insane (and obscene) cycle (again)...
And how many more will die or lose limbs for that stupid cycle that leads to nowhere?

Dems in Congress, are you for real? Blank checks, anyone? Round 'n round in the bu$che junta's never ending cycle...

:grr:

:sarcasm:

Yep, back to the good old standby, "The Global War On Terror".

roundly derided and jeered by right wing pundits way back in the 'Mission Accomplished' days. National security is best maintained by clear, consistent and appropriate law enforcement.

Civil war/sectarian conflict is an internal issue, aggravated by occupation and lack of a broad collapse in international and regional support.

Agggh.

...that Al Qaida wasn't IN Iraq, until we arrived in Iraq? Our lie-based, debacle
of a war---created a petri dish that attracted all kinds--including Al Qaida.

It needs to be said that this misadministration's poor planning created
the very conditions that have led to a US vs. Al Qaida showdown in Iraq.

We went there initially---supposedly--to spread peace and freedom to the Iraqi people.
Now, we're fighting Al Qaida in the middle of a civil war. Gee, sounds like
complete failure to me.

Doesn't our present situation clearly indicate that we have failed and that
our tax dollars have funded a bad situation into a completely disastrous joke?

CNN had a news ticker about the FBI and scuba diving shops or some crap like that.