[antimedia] antimedia: Meanwhile, in Iraq....

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Posted by antimedia:
Meanwhile, in Iraq....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1174962674.shtml


   ....the "surge" goes on and [1]more bad guys get rolled up.

     Ahmed Farhan Hassan has been captured. This operative is described
     as a senior aide to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi the leader of al-Qaedaâs
     so-called Islamic State in Iraq. That would make him a reasonably
     big fish, one from which, it would seem, good intelligence can be
     extracted.
     Local Iraqi TV aired recorded confessions of Ahmed Farhan Hassan.
     Hassan, who was captured in Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad a few days
     ago, spoke about his connection to al-Baghdadai, and Iâm
     paraphrasing:
     âI have four emirs operating under my command. I receive money
     directly from Abu Omar and then I distribute it among the members
     of my units according to the number and size of operations they
     carry out.â
     Quoting Iraqi military officials, the TV report added that Hassan
     admitted to have been responsible for some 300 murders and about
     200 kidnapping incidents since he joined al-Qaeda three years ago.

   And that's [2]not all.

     Leaders of a car-bombing ring believed responsible for the deaths
     of hundreds of Iraqis in the Shiite Sadr City enclave and elsewhere
     in Baghdad have been captured, the U.S. military said on Monday.
     The suspected bombers were rounded up last week by American forces
     during continuing security sweeps in Azamiyah, the Sunni stronghold
     in northern Baghdad, the military statement said.
     The U.S. command said one of the detained men, Haitham al-Shimari,
     was suspected in the "planning and execution of the majority of car
     bombs which have killed hundreds of Iraqi citizens in Sadr City."
     The reported "second-in-command" of the Azamiyah-based cell, Haidar
     al-Jafar, was arrested the same day. The military said that group
     had "killed approximately 900 innocent Iraqi citizens" and wounded
     1,950.
     Three other men believed connected to the bombing cell also were in
     custody, the military said.

   But let's not fund the troops because, well, we're losin' man. There's
   no way in hell we can win. After all, this is Vietnam all over again.
   The wrong war at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. Thousands of
   dead. Thousands and thousands more wounded. And what for? For oil and
   Halliburton.
   Besides, we need to lose so we can regain our humility. Screw the
   Iraqis. They don't want democracy anyway.
   Oh, I almost forgot. A friend of mine reminded me that today was the
   day that the battle of Iwo Jima ended. During WWII, 81 Marines and 57
   Navy were Medal of Honor recipients. Twenty-six U.S. Marines and Navy
   corpsmen, 19% of the total for the entire war, received Medal of Honor
   Citations for their gallantry and bravery on Iwo Jima. During the
   month-long battle, almost [3]twice as many men died than have died in
   the four years of fighting in Iraq.
   Iwo Jima is remembered as one of the greatest victories in American
   history. Iraq is ridiculed as one of our greatest failures. Times sure
   have changed, haven't they?

References

   1. http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2007/03/plateau-for-now-but-more-action-is-in.html
   2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070326/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_bombers_captured_1;_ylt=Ap146WbrRuPx3.BwpXSc6GFX6GMA
   3. http://home.att.net/~sallyann4/iwo.html