Death Throes of AQI

It would appear that the entity known as Al Qaeda in Iraq is experiencing frustration these days. The same group that secretly started the sectarian violence in Iraq by twice blowing up the Golden Mosque is now unable to hide as they attack both Sunni and Shia.

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29 killed as al Qaeda in Iraq attacks Sunnis, Shiites

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents disguised as members of a Sunni alliance council attacked the council’s headquarters outside Baghdad on Thursday, leaving at least 18 people dead, police said.

Another gunbattle involving al Qaeda in Iraq militants, in a Shiite village near Baquba, left 11 people dead, eight of them insurgents, police said.
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The Hor Rajab Awakening Council is one of several Sunni groups — some of them former insurgent groups — that have joined forces with U.S. and Iraqi troops.

The Sunni groups formed the unlikely alliances to battle al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni militant group comprising mostly foreign fighters.

“Someone” (likely AQI) also wanted to with our troops a happy Thanksgiving by firing mortars inside the Green Zone. Evidently, their efforts were futile.

Mortars landed in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone as the U.S. military celebrated Thanksgiving, an Interior Ministry official said. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Justin T. Cole confirmed “an indirect fire attack on the International Zone this evening,” but offered no details.

There were no initial reports of casualties. A black plume of smoke rose into the sky above the Green Zone after the 5 p.m. attack (9 a.m. ET). Insurgents frequently lob mortars and rockets into the Green Zone, but it has been more than a week since the last time. The attacks rarely result in casualties.

We’ve been hearing all types of excuses for why things are stabalizing in Iraq. And of course none of the credit is given to our troops or our current strategy. It’s all because the insurgents are biding their time.

Well, while they are biding their time, things like are going on.

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Iraqi refugees ‘returning home’

About 1,600 Iraqis who fled the violence in their country are returning home every day, according to Abdul Samad Sultan, the country’s displacement and migration minister.

The Iraqi government has suggested some of the estimated four million people displaced are heading back because of an improvement in the security situation in recent months.
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“Our families called us and told us the situation has improved in Baghdad, so we decided to come back,” Lamia, a woman who had been living abroad for two years, told Reuters news agency.
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Hundreds of people are already arriving back in the capital on buses from Syria every day.

“We are happy, very happy, we didn’t even sleep since last night because of excitement,” one man told Al Jazeera as he returned to Baghdad.

“Thank God we came back.”

Too bad you have to go to Al Jazeera for news like that. I guess it just doesn’t conform with the MSM agenda of selling misery.

Michael Yon gives a nice account of 1 reason this is happening.

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Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St. John’s…The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back…They wanted the cameras to catch it. They wanted to spread the word: Come home. Muslims keep telling me to get it on the news. “Tell the Christians to come home to their country Iraq.”

It’s a shame we can’t see this on our nightly news instead of the daily death count. Even after the daily death count would be OK. At least it would show what our troops are currently fighting for. Instead, the left and the MSM would have us believe we are only fighting to perpetuate our lies and presence in Iraq.

I don’t know about any of you, but I like my version better.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Remember our troops when you are thinking of what you are thankful for.

Nothing Good Will Come of This

Here is a situation to be watched closely:

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Pakistan under martial law

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Faced with increasing violence and unrest, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday, government sources told CNN.

Musharraf issued an order proclaiming the emergency and suspending the nation’s constitution, according to a statement read on state television, and declaring martial law.
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The Supreme Court declared the state of emergency illegal, claiming Musharraf had no power to suspend the constitution, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry told CNN.
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Shortly afterward, Chaudhry was expelled as chief justice, his office told CNN. Troops came to Chaudhry’s office to tell him.
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It was the second time Chaudhry was removed from his post. His ousting by Musharraf in May prompted massive protests, and he was later reinstated.
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In Islamabad, troops entered the Supreme Court and were surrounding the judges’ homes, according to CNN’s Syed Mohsin Naqvi.

Supreme Court sources said some judges who were not in Islamabad were not at their homes, and it was not known whether they had been arrested.
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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is in Turkey for a conference with Iraq and neighboring nations, told CNN’s Zain Verjee that anything that diverts Pakistan from the path to free and fair elections is “highly regrettable.”

The United States, Rice said, doesn’t support any extra-constitutional measures taken by Musharraf, and urged restraint so violence can be avoided. Nothing should jeopardize the transition to democracy, she said.
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Musharraf, who led the 1999 coup as Pakistan’s army chief, has seen his power erode since the failed effort to oust Chaudhry. His administration is also struggling to contain a surge in Islamic militancy.

Pelosi’s Iraq Civil War

Here is the latest on Pelosi’s backdoor attack against US interests in Iraq.

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Iraq to take action against PKK

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised Saturday to smoke out Kurdish separatist rebels using Iraq as a base to launch attacks into neighboring Turkey.

The Iraqi leader spoke at a gathering of Iraq’s neighbors and other Arab countries held to discuss the future of the war-torn country. The meeting, however, has been overshadowed by the crisis along the Turkish-Iraq border.

Once this happens, the left will finally have the Iraqi civil war they have been talking about for the last 2 years.

And al-Maliki is all too happy to go after some Kurds. He claims they are terrorists who have been attacking Iraq.

“The terrorism that targeted our infrastructure and our public facilities and universities and shed the bloods of the innocent civilians in Iraq is the same terrorism that is targeting your countries and here in our brethren Turkey,” the Iraqi leader said.

“Turkey is facing criminal threats by the terrorist PKK, and our relationship with our neighbor Turkey will not be affected by the current crisis, and we will work on defeating the terror that is targeting both the Iraqi and Turkish people.”

I predict we will start seeing a Russian presence amung the Kurds very soon, now. Which means we will start seeing a Russian presence in Iraq AND Iran. Why?

The Iraqi leader said greater efforts would be made to isolate the PKK by cutting off aid to the group. Suspected PKK members caught by the authorities would be tried in Iraqi courts on terrorist charges, al-Maliki said.

Geographically, the Kurds of Iran/Iraq/Turkey are right next to countries of the old Soviet Union. Easy access by Russia. And the Kurds will have no choice but to take its help WHEN it is offered.

And when it happens, it won’t be Rumsfeld’s fault. It won’t be Bush’s fault. It will be the fault of Nancy Pelosi. The shortsightedness that the Republicans suffered before the invasion of Iraq has now transferred to the Democratic Party.

Then again, it isn’t shortsighted at all, is it? This is exactly what Pelosi wanted.

I hate to guess what she has planned for next year’s general election….