Seized documents: Al-Qaida in Iraq weakened

Seized documents: Al-Qaida in Iraq weakened
By Lauren Frayer - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 11, 2008 5:49:03 EST

BAGHDAD — A diary and another document seized during U.S. raids show some al-Qaida in Iraq leaders fear the terror group is crumbling, with many fighters defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups, the U.S. military said Sunday.

The military revealed two documents discovered by American troops in November: a 39-page memo written by a mid- to high-level al-Qaida official with knowledge of the group’s operations in Iraq’s western Anbar province, and a 16-page diary written by another group leader north of Baghdad.

In the Anbar document, the author describes an al-Qaida in crisis, with citizens growing weary of militants’ presence and foreign fighters too eager to participate in suicide missions rather than continuing to fight, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman.

“We lost cities and afterward, villages... We find ourselves in a wasteland desert,” Smith quoted the document as saying.

“Through the last four years, crusaders learned from their mistakes,” it said, referring to U.S. forces. It also cites (sic)


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_alqaida_080210/