One hopes the irony of today's protests to Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Iraq are not lost on the vice president himself. Biden is in Iraq to help further reconciliation between Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds just three years after pushing his his plan to divide Iraq into Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish states.

Biden was on a trip to Iraq to promote reconciliation between Iraq's fractious groups after six years of bloodshed. He met for breakfast on Friday with his son Beau Biden, who is serving there with the U.S. military.

Biden started his visit to Iraq on Thursday night, after U.S. forces pulled out of Iraq's towns and cities this week under the terms of a bilateral security pact that paves the way for a full U.S. withdrawal by 2012.

After Friday prayers, hundreds and possibly thousands of residents of Sadr City chanted "down, down USA" and burned U.S. flags in protest at Biden's visit. A smaller demonstration also took place in Kerbala, in the Shi'ite south.

Biden helped author a 2006 plan to split Iraq into self-ruled Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish enclaves. That plan angered many Iraqis, and was quietly shelved as violence ebbed.

"Biden has come here to divide Iraq according to his plan," said a message from Sadr read out by one Imam in a mosque.

In my travels to Iraq, I've spoken to many Iraqis -- Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds -- and asked what they thought of dividing the country per the Biden plan. While admitting that there are some problems between some groups, no Iraqi I ever spoke to believed that dividing Iraq into sectarian nations was a good idea.

The concept is so radical that even Muqtada al Sadr and his sectarian, Iranian-backed movement rallies to oppose it.

Noah Schactman's scoop on the U.S. shootdown of an Iranian Unmanned aerial vehicle has been confirmed by both the U.S. Army and the Iraqi Army. The UAV was shot down on February 25 about 60 miles north of Baghdad in Diyala province. The UAV was about 25 miles inside Iraq and U.S. fighters observed the UAV for an hour before shooting it down. It will be interesting if any of the data captured by the Iranian UAV will be released by the U.S. military.

A little more than two weeks after the shootdown, Iraqi forces detained three Iranian Qods Force agents, also north of Baghdad in Diyala province. While much of the reporting on Iran's interference in Iraq focuses on the southern provinces, the Qods force is also active in the central provinces of Diyala and Wasit. The shootdown of the UAV in Diyala hammers this point home.

At the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Michael Knights notes that Iran's proxy war against the United States in Iraq continues. He then said this will complicate U.S. efforts to come to a negotiated solution with Iran over its nuclear program and Iraq (I'd also add Afghanistan to this mix since the Obama administration is adamant about bringing Iran into the mix for a solution on the Central Asian country.)

Ongoing Iranian-backed proxy warfare against the United States needs to be factored into contingency planning related to any U.S.-Iranian dialogue. The risk-taking proclivities of Iran's proxies and the blatant use of Iranian materiel create the ever-present risk of a politically disruptive event. Indeed, hardline members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may even deliberately employ such spoiler tactics if U.S.-Iranian dialogue moves forward.

Baghdad
Less than less than six months ago, A Company 4th Battalion 64th Armor Regiment was conducting typical combat missions in Iraq. But now, under the leadership of 26 year-old Captain Andrew Betson of Midway, Georgia, the A Company is overseeing the security and development in the southeastern part of Baghdad known as Sadiyah.

CPT Betson and the men of A Company live in the Combat Outpost (COP) located in Sadiyah, where they patrol, rebuild, and oversee economic development. Currently they are working on completing a lighting project through their main north to south route and opening both a fish and fruit market. The lighting project has helped to reintroduce life along a road that, due to violence, had all but lost the little bit of commerce when they arrived in January.

Security measures remain a top concern during this “build” stage of their mission in Sadiyah. The foreboding walls that surround Sadiyah allow for only one entrance and exit, making it very time consuming to travel in and out of the area. There is also the continual reminder of a strong military presence, with Iraqi Police or Iraqi Army posted at major intersections. Getting the fish and fruit markets up and running is a slow process, and the markets may be less than ideal appearance. But this area is safer for Iraqis and has the ability to support commerce that is growing every day.

The pace of the U.S. military drawdown in Iraq has been accelerated by the Bush administration, according to the New York Times: "The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago." The reasons given are to help support the flagging effort in Afghanistan and improved security conditions in Iraq.

But the reality is this pace for drawing down troops was broadcast last year by General David Petraeus during his September testimony to Congress. General Petraeus even presented a slide to highlight the proposed drawdown, which has always been based on security conditions.

The graph shows that back in September 2007 the U.S. military planned to draw down to 15 combat brigades by July (this has happened) and targeted a drawdown to 12 combat brigades by the end of this year. The decision to draw down to 12 brigades will be made sometime in September. In March of 2009, the U.S. will decide to draw down to about 10 combat brigades.

The reality is that as the media focused on deriding General Petraeus's testimony on the state of the security situation in Iraq, they ignored the military's assessments on the planned posture of U.S. forces in Iraq in 2008 and beyond. Now that the U.S. is moving forward with its plans, their failure to note the timeline last year is characterized as an acceleration.

Three weeks ago, Moktada al-Sadr called for demonstrations to protest the talks over a status of forces agreement between the Iraqi government and the U.S. government. Sadr called for demonstrations to take place on Fridays after Muslims attend services at the mosque (note: This is an excellent tactic--the Sadrists don’t have to round up people to attend a protest). But Sadr’s call for demonstrations has failed to draw many protesters.

The U.S. military released imagery of the demonstrations which occurred the past three Fridays. The first week, the military estimated Sadr had 10,000 protesters in attendance on May 30; about 3,000 on June 6; and 1,500 today. These numbers are paltry, as Sadr City contains an estimated 2.5 million Shia, and his protests in 2006 would draw hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

The military also noted that some Iraqis in Sadr city were “coerced” to join the demonstrations. “Clearly the number of participants is decreasing,” said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Stover, the spokesman for Multinational Forces Baghdad. “The steady drop might suggest increasing support for the GoI [government of Iraq] and less support for Muqtada al Sadr.”

While talks in the status of forces agreements appear to have stalled due to concerns expressed by Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, it doesn’t appear Sadr’s opposition is having much of an impact.

According to Time Magazine, Brigadier General Ali Jassim Mohammed Hassen al-Frejee could be the best officer the fledgling Iraqi Army has to offer. Assigned to the insurgent rat nest that was the Baghdad suburb of Lutufiyah in 2004, al-Frejee quickly gained the respect of both Iraqi and Coalition forces for his gladiatorial leadership style. The results speak for themselves.

...after nearly four years of continuous fighting, [Lutufiyah] is now one of the safest in the country as a result of increasingly sophisticated counterinsurgency techniques and close cooperation between the Iraqi and American armies. The success here may be a model for Iraqi-U.S. Army cooperation in the future, and many American commanders in the region attribute a large part of the success to "General Ali's" skill as a professional soldier. "He has been here from the beginning," says Lieutenant Colonel William Zemp, the U.S. commander of a unit that works daily with General Ali's men. "The pacification of this area is his struggle, it is his story."

General Ali adapted a strategy that has served Generals well over the course of history. "My tactics are simple," he says. "Whenever we see the enemy, we go after them."

Even in the largely non-kinetic world of COIN operations, Patton-esqe aggressiveness works wonders.

H/T Danger Room

CNN's Michael Ware has a must-read piece on Al Qaeda in Iraq and its organization. Ware obtained captured documents from the Anbar Awakening that outline Al Qaeda in Iraq's organization, planning, operations, recruiting, shadow legal system, and targeted propaganda campaign, as well as the outright brutality that the terror group inflicted on the Iraqi people in Anbar. Al Qaeda's senior leadership is largely foreign but filled out the middle ranks with Iraqis. The group is highly bureaucratic, and kept records on everything from operational planning to administration.

Ware's piece refutes last summer's meme that al Qaeda was but a mere fraction of the insurgency in Iraq. Folks like counterterrorism consultant Malcolm Nance and the New York Times's public editor Clark Hoyt said that the United States was pumping up al Qaeda's stature and claimed that al Qaeda consisted of the entire insurgency.

The piece also highlights another important point about Al Qaeda in Iraq. While the terror group has suffered major setbacks in Anbar and Baghdad and is on the ropes in Ninewa, Salahadin, and Diyala province, the organizational capacity to regenerate still exists. "The picture the documents paint of a well-oiled, bureaucratic organization is relevant today," Ware states.

Al Qaeda in Iraq may be down, but they are not out. A hasty withdrawal from Iraq could give al Qaeda the space it needs to reignite the violence the U.S. and Iraqi forces fought so hard to quell these past 18 months.

Via the World Tribune:

The U.S. military in Iraq has captured the deputy military chief of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah, coalition officials said.

Iraqi sources said the U.S. Army has arrested the No. 2 figure in Hizbullah's military wing. The sources said the unidentified Hizbullah commander was responsible for training the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army in the Baghdad area.

"The arrest is a major achievement and could provide an intelligence bonanza," an Iraqi source said.

The U.S.-led coalition has reported the capture of a senior Iranian operative south of Baghdad. In a coalition statement, the operative was described as a "primary weapons smuggler and financier for Iranian-backed enemy fighters." ...

Iraqi and U.S. officials agreed that the Lebanese-based Hizbullah has been a leading tool in the Iranian training and direction of Shi'ite militias, particularly the Mahdi Army and Special Groups. The officials said Hizbullah officers, favored by Teheran over Iranian nationals, conceal their identity even from the Shi'ite groups they train.

UPDATE: Bill Roggio doubts the accuracy of this report, and suspects that the alleged Hezbollah commander is in fact one of the Iranian-backed Special Groups leaders recently captured. He writes to me in an email:

I am nearly certain the World Tribune report of a "senior Hezbollah commander" captured in Iraq is inaccurate. The report is the only one of its kind out there, there is no confirmation anywhere in the mainstream press, the source is an anonymous Iraqi official, the US military has not confirmed, and none of my contacts have confirmed this as well (instead they said not likely). I begged off this report when I published my update on Iraq on Friday at The Long War Journal. I suspect someone confused one of the Mahdi Army/Special Groups leaders captured in Al Kut with a Hezbollah leader.

Today, Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner reported on continuing progress in Iraq:

For the third week in a row security incidents in Iraq are at the lowest levels in four years. ...

These security gains follow the coordinated offensive operations over the past year, and the recent security operations in Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra. They are being achieved today even as the fourth of five Brigade Combat Teams is returning home, and that includes two Marine battalions and a Marine Expeditionary Unit have already returned home. ...

In the past 15 months, the Iraqi Security Forces have grown from 400,000 in June 2007 to some 559,000 in May of this year. The growing strength of the ISF is another key factor contributing to the security gains in Iraq.

Some good news from Iraq:

American deaths in the Iraq war dropped to 19 in May, their lowest monthly level since the invasion in 2003, the United States military said Sunday, though officials said they were reluctant to highlight the number as a milestone.

From Centcom:

Use silenced guns to kill Coalition forces at Iraqi security checkpoints, smuggle weapons in gradual shipments to reduce the risk of detection, and poison Iraq’s water supply with nitric acid to spread disease and death.

Such tactics were fleshed out in a terrorist letter intended for Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the foreign-born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. But the document never reached Masri. Instead, Coalition forces lifted it from the body of a terrorist they killed last month during an operation 30 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The slain terrorist and author of the 11-page missive was Abu Safyan, from Diyala, Iraq, according to military officials who made available all but two pages deemed “not releasable” on the Multi-National Force - Iraq Web site.

Now while that sounds like a nasty recipe for death and destruction, there's plenty of good news in between the lines there (besides the fact that the note was plucked from the body of a dead tango).

First, al Qaeda is acknowledging that the tactics which sustained them since 2003 have been rendered obsolete by General Petraeus. Second, they are reacting to us, instead of us reacting to them. Last, while al Qaeda's tactics appear to be changing, they continue to cling to the same failed strategy of death and destruction. That battleplan succeeded in landing an additional 28,000 American troops on Iraqi soil and turning almost the entire population of Iraq against al Qaeda's foreign jihadists--it's an objectively bad strategy.

Earlier this week, much hay was made when an Iraqi Army company deserted its position in Sadr City. The next day, the New York Times interviewed an Iraqi Army company commander, also from Sadr City, who left his unit to take leave and speculated he may not come back. In two days, the narrative for the Iraqi Army and U.S. military incursion is set: The Iraqi Army is falling apart.

Both of these stories get a feature-length report, while successes of the Iraqi Army are relegated to single paragraph throwaways. Buried in the April 16 story is the fact that an Iraqi company was rushed into Sadr City to take the place of the deserting company. In today’s New York Times, Michael Gordon writes about the wall being built to partition Sadr City. Buried in the article, we learn that the Mahdi Army assaulted a police station and the Iraqi forces were running low on ammunition. As the U.S. military prepared to reinforce the position, the Iraqi Army beat them to the punch:

The militias’ main effort on Thursday was focused on dislodging Iraqi forces from a police station. American advisers took up positions with the Iraqi unit.

As the fighting intensified and there were reports that militia fighters had closed to within 100 yards, Colonel Barnett moved tanks into position so they could rush to the Iraqis’ aid. Stryker vehicles also moved forward.

But two Iraqi T-72s and four other Iraqi armored vehicles arrived on the scene before the American tanks were needed. The Iraqi Army has rushed ammunition to Sadr City, including machine-gun rounds and rocket-propelled grenades to give its units more firepower and address complaints of shortages.

Moving armor into Sadr City while under fire is no small feat, particularly for the young Iraqi Army. The Iraqi Army outperformed their American betters on that day. Isn’t that worth a headline as well? There is certainly nothing wrong with reporting the defection of the Iraqi company on April 16, although the context of the story was seriously flawed. But when the Iraqi Army exceeds its expectations, that is news as well, and it should be treated in the same manner.

We are continually told how the Iraqi government was beaten and humiliated in Basra after it launched an offensive to clear the Mahdi Army and other Iranian-backed Shia militias from the city. Yet when the Iraqi Army announced it was going to dismiss the approximately 1,300 soldiers and police who either failed to carry out their duty or openly defected to the Mahdi Army, Muqtada al Sadr pleaded that they be allowed to keep their jobs and even be "rewarded for their loyalty."

In the process of asking for his infiltrators' jobs back--men who disobeyed their chain of command and either deserted or fought government forces--Sadr proves that he in fact ordered Iraqi soldiers and police to turn on their government. Sadr said these men "were only obeying their grand religious leaders" and "were driven by their religious duties."

Sadr clearly believes a soldier's loyalties should be to his militia, party, and cleric first, and the state second. The Iraqi military and government should squash this mindset immediately, and prosecute those who defected or abandoned their posts to the fullest extent of the law. The officers specifically should be made examples.

Four days after the Iraqi government, with the backing of the full spectrum of the political parties, moved to bar the Sadrist movement from running in provincial elections if it failed to disband the Mahdi Army, Muqtada al Sadr received yet another blow, this time from the clerical establishment. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the senior most Shia cleric in Iraq, has said Sadr should disarm his Mahdi Army as “the law is the only authority in the country.”

Sistani, who has been loath to weigh in on political issues over the past, has clearly backed Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki and his government’s offensive in Basra. With the political parties in line and Sistani backing him, Maliki is now moving to enforce the edict that Basra be free of heavy and medium weapons in the hands of militias.

The media was quick to call the Basra offensive a major failure for Maliki and his government and continues to do so. Yet Sadr was the one who declared a ceasefire and withdrew his forces from the streets, Sadr will be barred from elections if he doesn’t disband the Mahdi Army, and the Iraqi military is now moving to disarm his militia. All the while, his forces are being targeted in Baghdad. And Sadr was also forced to cancel a planned demonstration in Baghdad after moving the location from Najaf to Baghdad earlier in the week. Sadr claimed the Iraqi security forces blocked the movement of his people, but Sadr’s past demonstrations have had poor showings.

Sadr faces a real dilemma over the next few weeks. If he chooses to keep the Mahdi Army, he has become an official enemy of the state and his political party will be neutered. The U.S. will back the Maliki government in a move against the Mahdi Army. If he chooses to disband Mahdi, he will also be significantly weakened. Many Sadrists and Mahdi Army commanders already resent the ceasefire. Sadr can only hope for some sort of negotiated settlement. But the Maliki government is operating from a position of strength, not weakness.

So again, how did Sadr benefit from the confrontation in Basra?

Multinational Forces Iraq released statistics on the improving security situation and the current level of violence in Iraq, al Qaeda in Iraq’s area of operations, and the development of the Iraqi security forces. Violence in Iraq continues to drop as the Iraqi security forces increasingly take responsibility for security. Al Qaeda’s safe havens in Iraq continue to decrease as the terror groups is isolated in largely rural areas in the north. Mosul remains a major hub for al Qaeda activity.

Click the image to view the information presented in General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s testimony to Congress on the security and political situation in Iraq. General Patraeus and Ambassador Crocker's testimony is also available below, in PDf format.

General Petraeus’ testimony [PDF].
Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s testimony[PDF].

Kimberly Kagan has an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal on Iran's involvement in Iraq and the recent fighting in Basra. In the article, she notes that Iran's Qods Force was instrumental in drafting Sadr's cease-fire. She also notes that Muqtada al Sadr demanded the release of Qais Qazali, the leader of the Qazali Network, the primary group behind the Special Groups. It turns out this isn't the first time someone has demanded Qazali be released.

In November 2007, the Iranian-backed terrorists of the Special Groups, which Sadr claims to have no association with, have demanded Qazali be released. They offered to exchange five British citizens working in Baghdad earlier in the year for Qazali. The US military, which is holding Qazali, has refused to release him. The fate of the British hostages remains unknown.

Sadr is often portrayed as an Iraqi nationalist because his father was purportedly murdered by Saddam Hussein and his family remained in Iraq during Saddam's rule while other Shia parties such as Dawa and ISCI sheltered in Iran. Yet Sadr is clearly taking direction from Qods Force, and asked for the release of a Qods Force agent behind attacks on Iraqis and the kidnapping of British citizens. Sadr's attempts to distance himself from the Special Groups and Iran become difficult to believe under these circumstances.

Iraqi Army applicants wait outside the army recruitment center in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad on April 1, 2008. About 1,000 men from the southern cities of Basra, Amarah, and Nasiriyah trooped to the recruiting center in Basrah to apply to be government soldiers. Reuters photograph.

Just two days after Muqtada al Sadr declared a cease-fire and withdrew his fighters from the streets of Basra, Baghdad, and elsewhere, the Iraqi Army held a recruiting drive in Basra. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki stated his intent is to raise over 10,000 police and soldiers to help secure the city. Over 1,000 Iraqis showed up on the first day of recruiting to join the security forces. As a good friend told me the other day: "Since when to people rush to join a losing Army?"

This is not to say the Iraqi military was victorious in Basra. Michael Gordon does a great job of showing the limitations of the Iraqi government and its military's planning and logistical capacity as evidenced by the Basra operation, as well as the Iraqi Army's increasing proficiency in redeploying its forces and using its nascent air forces to resupply the mission. The Basra operation certainly had mixed results, as the Kagans ably pointed out. But it is premature to declare Sadr victorious.

Shouldn't journalist ask the simple question of why Iraqis in the South are flocking to join the Iraqi Army if Sadr dealt it such a decisive defeat? Perhaps the Iraqi perceptions of the operation are different from our own.

Long before the start of the Iraqi offensive against the Mahdi Army and the associated Iranian-backed Special Groups in Basra, pundits had been bending over backwards to claim Muqtada al Sadr is an Iraqi nationalist with no ties to Iran. As Matthew Duss wrote, "the repeated attempts by conservative defenders of Bush’s Iraq policy to dispute Sadr's nationalist credentials and treat him as an Iranian puppet indicate a real and troubling lack of knowledge of the Iraqi political scene, and of Sadr’s place within it." Such claims have been made despite the fact that Sadr is sheltering in Qom to study the Iranian strain of theocratic Shia Islam known as wilayet al-faqeeh. Sadr’s Mahdi Army has also been caught red-handed with Iranian made weapons, and there's ample evidence that Hezbollah and Iran’s Qods Force have trained his militia.

Today, McClatchy Newspapers pens an article that should blow the doors off any notion that Sadr is not in the Iranian sphere of influence. Sadr was apparently persuaded to issue yesterday’s order to end hostilities after Iraqi lawmakers lobbied the commander of Qods Force and accused Sadr of inciting the violence and using Iranian-made weapons to attack the people of Iraq.

The backdrop to Sadr's dramatic statement was a secret trip Friday by Iraqi lawmakers to Qom, Iran's holy city and headquarters for the Iranian clergy who run the country.

There the Iraqi lawmakers held talks with Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Qods (Jerusalem) brigades of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and signed an agreement with Sadr, which formed the basis of his statement Sunday, members of parliament said.

Ali al Adeeb, a member of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's Dawa party, and Hadi al Ameri, the head of the Badr Organization, the military wing of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, had two aims, lawmakers said: to ask Sadr to stand down his militia and to ask Iranian officials to stop supplying weapons to Shiite militants in Iraq.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who has been accused of receiving his marching orders from Iran, refuses to abide by the Iranian diktat. Maliki has said Iraqi security forces will continue operations to target anyone who fails to comply with Sadr’s order, and has demanded that the Mahdi Army surrender its medium and heavy weapons. The Iraqi military, for its part, is moving more forces to Basra. The Mahdi Army has taken significant casualties in Baghdad, Basra, and the greater South after seven days of fighting.

Click to view the slideshow of the Spear Brigade in Western Mosul.

Some of the heaviest fighting in Mosul has occurred in the western neighborhoods of the city. Al Qaeda in Iraq and its terrorist allies fought pitched battles with Iraqi and U.S. forces there earlier this year in an attempt to prevent the security forces from establishing outposts in the city. Al Qaeda conducted suicide car and vest attacks as well as RPG and small arms attacks as the troops attempted to build these bases and checkpoints. The soldiers of the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Iraqi Army division, led by Brigadier General Taha Askar, the Iraqi police, and the U.S. soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment fought through the attacks and have since established a foothold in the neighborhood.

Attacks are still up in Mosul, but the attacks are less effective than in the past. Catastrophic IED attacks are the exception, not the norm. Multiple clear and hold operations are being conducted as the Iraqi and U.S. security forces work to consolidate their gains, but reconstruction in the western part of the city is lagging. This slideshow looks at the Spear Brigade and their U.S. advisors in action in western Mosul.

Mosul, Iraq
The Military Transition Teams (MTTs) in Mosul are slated to receive the new MRAPs. While the MTT advisers are looking forward to receiving the new vehicles, one major issue is the shear size of the vehicles. The Iraqis run their electrical lines across the streets in hap-hazard fashion, and the lines are often no higher than 12 feet off of the ground. The new, taller MRAPs are about 15 to 20 feet in height, including the gunner’s turrets, and they will wreak havoc on the makeshift electrical lines in Mosul. The MRAPs pictured above are fitted with the antenna tie-downs, which are designed to allow the electrical lines to glide over the vehicles, however if there isn’t enough slack in the lines, they can be broken, causing bad relations with the locals in the city. The size of the MRAPs may limit the MTT’s ability to go into the neighborhood to accompany their Iraqi counterparts on missions.

More evidence that AQI gravely miscalculated in their decision to take the fight to the Iraqi people:

Information gleaned from 48 foreign fighters detained in Iraq offers insight into al Qaeda’s methods, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters during a briefing today in Baghdad.

“The foreign detainees told similar stories about what happened to them once they were smuggled into Iraq,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Smith, director of Multinational Force Iraq’s communication division.

“These 48 men told us they were lured here with the promise they would be killing Americans … but they were disappointed that most of the violence they saw was directed at the Iraqi people … fellow Muslims,” Smith said.

It's intensely satisfying to hear that Iraq has become an unrelenting hellhole.... for insurgents. Hated everywhere they go, and constantly dodging devastating American firepower, it's no wonder that AQI has to church up the old recruiting pamphlets in order to keep the warm bodies flowing.

Though the detainees described their upbringing as religious, but not extremist, they were drawn in by al Qaeda recruiters after seeing what Smith described as heavily edited videos depicting Americans allegedly abusing Iraqis and al Qaeda attacks on Americans.

After harsh treatment at the hands of their al Qaeda handlers in Iraq, and learning that the truth had been shaded, most said they just wanted to go home, Smith said. However, their handlers, who had confiscated their passports and money, pressured them to become suicide bombers.

“They were told, ‘This is your duty. This is what you can do for the jihad. You will be a martyr. This is what we need you to do,’” Smith said. “Ironically they were relieved having been captured by the very Americans their recruiters said they would kill in Iraq.”

Though I'm sure it wasn't deliberate, al Qaeda forgot to include this tidbit in the recruiting pitch:

Smith said the fact remains that about 90 percent of foreign fighters in Iraq become suicide bombers.

That figure smacks of desperation.

While the Iraqi Army is fighting a brutal insurgency in Mosul, the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division is working to train its soldiers. This slideshow looks at some of the brigade-level training the 4th Brigade conducts for its new recruits before they go to basic training. The Iraqi sergeants are merciless in their discipline.

Mosul, Iraq
The 2nd Iraqi Army Division is considered one of the most mature and effective formations in the Iraqi security forces. Led by the charismatic Major General Mouta’a, the division operates in Mosul and throughout Ninewa province. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense recently established the Ninewa Operational Command under the command of Lieutenant General Riyad to coordinate Army, police, and intelligence operations in the northern province.

While the idea of the Ninewa Operational Command coordinating operations between the disparate security forces is largely welcomed, the new command is seen as a burden by some Iraqi officers in the 2nd Division. The Ninewa Operational Command has failed to secure needed resources for operations in Mosul, such as materials needed to build the Riyad line, the berm, and checkpoints around the city. The new command has also caused friction in the ranks of the 2nd Division by accusing officers of incompetence or corruption, and has pressed for a Baghdad counterinsurgency model when some elements of that strategy may not work well in Mosul, according to several Iraqi officers. The command is viewed as just another layer in the failing bureaucracy of the Ministry of Defense.

The Ninewa Operational Command has also bled the division of needed resources. The command took over Tiger Base, a combat outpost in southwestern Mosul, to set up its command center, and absorbed almost a full battalion to serve as its base security and quick reaction force. This has hampered the 2nd Division’s operations in the city.

The command also barred Iraqi officers from talking on the television or radio, insisting all communications go through its own public affairs people. “Before we could communicate with the people,” Mouta’a said Forward Operating Base Marez. “Now with the Ninewa Operational Command we are not permitted to talk with the people.” Mouta’a explained he would frequently appeal to the residents of Mosul to provide tips on insurgent activity and cooperate with security forces. “Now I receive calls asking me why I am not talking to the people and telling me this has hurt confidence,” Mouta’a said.

But U.S. officers say the problems between the Ninewa Operational Command and subordinate units will work themselves out over time. The Iraqi Army sees value in elements of the Riyad Line, as controlling traffic into Mosul is needed to prevent insurgents from moving materials into the city. The decision to place the Iraqi police in the central neighborhoods of Mosul and the Iraqi Army in the outer neighborhoods is also welcomed.

This slideshow looks at a day with the 2nd Iraqi Army Division and the Ninewa Operational Command in Mosul. Also, General Jack Keane and Colonel HR McMasters dropped by in Mosul for a briefing.

On March 14, Brigadier General Noor Aldeen and the Military Transition Team for the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division toured the combat outposts owned by the 2nd Battalion, which is commanded by Colonel Hajji. The 2nd Battalion does not have US advisors assigned to it, but the battalion is considered the best in the brigade. Colonel Hajji is an aggressive commander who takes the initiative, the US advisors stated. He also leaves much of the planning work for his staff to complete, which is a rarity in Iraq’s top-down leadership model that often stifles innovation by junior officers. This slideshow will show some of the outposts in the 2nd Battalion’s area of operations in eastern Mosul.

On March 11, the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division stopped a car in the Al Bakir neighborhood in Mosul, Iraq. After searching the car, the Iraqi Army found six improvised explosive devices (IEDs, or roadside bombs). The driver has been detained and the Iraqi Army is now looking for the bomb factory. This slideshow looks at an IED created by terrorists in Mosul.

The Iraqi Army continues to push its troops into the neighborhoods to counter al Qaeda in Iraq and its allied terror groups’ attempts to regain a foothold in the northern city of Mosul. The 4th Brigade of the 2nd Iraqi Army Division opened its newest combat outpost, called Knife, in the northern neighborhood of Rashidiyah, where attacks have increased of late. The 4th Brigade pushed out to Knife today to host a visit by Brigadier General Tony Thomas, the deputy commander for Multinational Division North, and Brigadier General Mouta’a , the 2nd Iraqi Army Division commander.

While waiting for the generals to show (they were a few hours late) there was little to do but smoke cigarettes and shoot the breeze. One intrepid soldier pulled a soccer ball from a Humvee, and the Iraqi soldiers and one of the U.S. advisors began to kick the ball around. Even Brigadier General Noor Aldeen, the 4th Brigade's commander, joined in for a bit. The soldiers played in full body armor. I was unable to capture any headers on film.

The Iraqi Army still has plenty of work to do before it can sustain independent operations, but their ability to plan and execute brigade-level operations in the city of Mosul was apparent during an operation with the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division on March 9. The target was the kidnapping cells behind the recent spate of kidnappings in Mosul, including the Chaldean Archbishop. I wrote more about this at The Long War Journal. Below are some photos from the operation.

As luck would have it, I didn't have to wait any longer than six hours to catch a flight from Baghdad to Mosul. I saw a Mosul flight on the board at the passenger terminal and signed up for Space A, or Space Availability seating. It turned out that the flight was empty: I shared a C-130 with an Army Master Sergeant. The flight crew outnumbered us by two to one. The Master Sergeant and I racked out on the web-netting seats. The flight to Mosul was two hours, which made total time traveled from Washington, D.C., to Mosul, Iraq, just under 24 hours. The Military Transition Team wasn’t expecting me to get here until Monday--and neither was I.

I’m currently with the Military Transition Team for the 4th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Eric Price. The 4/2 Iraqi Army Brigade is based out of Forward Operating Base Lion in northeastern Mosul. The accommodations here are unlike anything I’ve experienced during embeds in Anbar and southern Baghdad Province, or in Baghdad itself. The Military Transition Team is based out of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces, but that isn’t what is unusual. We have running water, real toilets, a shower, and a washer and dryer. I have a spacious room, with a bed that was made for me. They even bought me a new pillow. While the Military Transition Team lives among the Iraqis, their living conditions are far better than the U.S. Army has at any forward operating base or camp I have visited in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

The 4/2 Iraqi Army Brigade controls a large swath of northern and eastern Mosul, and its companies are being deployed into Combat Outposts throughout the city. Some of the outposts are jointly manned with U.S. troops, others are manned solely by Iraqis. Brigadier General Noor Aldeen, the 4/2 Iraqi Army Brigade commander, set up a new outpost in the city on his own initiative today, without the support of U.S. soldiers or engineers. More outposts are planned as the Iraqi Army and police use a similar counterinsurgency strategy that secured Ramadi, Falluja, and Baghdad last year.

More to come…

Looking out the window on a night flight into Baghdad, you would hardly know there is a war going on. Iraq appears deceptively peaceful during the flight from Kuwait into Baghdad. The lights from cities and towns are clearly visible, as is the excess gas burned off from refineries in the South.

As the flight approaches Baghdad, the size of the city becomes apparent. Baghdad is a sprawling city stretching miles and miles along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. As we approach Baghdad International Airport, some neighborhoods become visible. The grid of Sadr City in the northeast stands out, as does the Green Zone. Baghdad is lit up like a Christmas tree.

The only indication that you are entering a country at war is the rapid, corkscrew-like descent the plane takes on its approach to landing. This approach is often described in very harrowing terms, but the fact is I've taken my kids on amusement park rides that pulled more Gs. The approach is a little unorthodox, but certainly not terrifying.

As anyone who has flown into Iraq using military transport can attest, the process can be long and grueling. After arriving in Kuwait, you need to meet the Public Affairs Officer and turn over you passport for processing (which can take 24 hours or more to complete). You'll wait at Ali Al Salem, the military airbase, where there is little to do but eat fast food and hang out at the internet cafe. After getting your passport back, you have sign up for a space available flight into Baghdad. Flights are occasionally canceled, causing further delays. Military personnel moving into theater have priority in seating. This process can take anywhere from two to five days after touching down in Kuwait or longer if you get bumped from your flight.

There are ways around this. You can take a civilian flight into the civilian side of Baghdad International Airport (known as BIAP), but then you have to clear Iraqi customs. As of last year, the Iraqi government required you to get an AIDS test to enter the country. If you are going to embed with the U.S. military, you will also need to arrange transportation to the military side of the airport in order to get to your destinations beyond Baghdad.

But the best option, in my experience, is to fly Gryphon Air Services. Gryphon provides a direct flight from Kuwait into Baghdad and is the only civilian airline that lands on the military side of BIAP. If you fly the United Airlines flight from Washington, DC, you'll hop off the plane, the Gryphon staff will transfer your bags to their flight, and you'll board the plane in less than two hours.

During the flight, you get something to drink, a sandwich, and a bag of chips. Incidentally, this is more that I received on the short hop on United from Philadelphia to DC. And if you fly a U.S. Air Force flight from Kuwait to Baghdad, the odds are you'll take a C-130, packed into the cargo hold, sitting in web netting seats knee to knee with a soldier across from you.

Two hours after leaving Kuwait, you arrive in Baghdad. The total travel time from DC to Baghdad, including the short transfer in Kuwait, is a little over 15 hours. When you touch down, you are at the military Passenger Terminal Annex (PAX), where you can arrange for your transportation to points in Baghdad and beyond.

The flight isn't cheap--a little over $600 one way--but the time you save from bypassing the challenges associated with flying military air quickly makes up for the cost.

Now, with a little luck, I'll be in Mosul in 12 hours, where I'll embed with a U.S. Army Military Transition Team and their Iraqi Army counterparts inside the City.

(Check back for daily updates from Roggio. --ed.)

Finally, there is an Iraq war demonstration that we can support.

Three retired Army officers who have recently returned from Iraq have just embarked on the Resolve to Win March: a 16-day, 400-mile walk from South Carolina to Washington, D.C., to show support for our troops and their efforts in Iraq (H/T Hugh Hewitt). The vets are blogging their inspiring journey. One of the vets, Dennis McCool, who also served in Vietnam, wrote:

The purpose is to demonstrate resolve to do a difficult task and to create a dialogue about our National "Will to Win". We firmly believe that you can not support the Troops without supporting the Mission which the Troops are asked to give their lives for. The Troops are resolved to win and over 3900 brave men and women have sacrificed their lives for America and for victory. Sacrificing your life demonstrates the greatest possible sacrifice and resolve. The march will cover over 400 miles, but if it were not incredibly challenging, it would mean nothing.

The purpose of this march is quite different than other Iraq war protests we've seen over the years, in which protesters pretend to be killed servicemen and denounce the mission in Iraq. In fact, one such demonstration, the 5 Years Too Many march, will take place in our nation's capital three days after the Resolve to Win vets arrive. These marchers describe their less-than-honorable purpose:

We know there are key pillars of support that enable this illegal and immoral war for oil and global domination to continue. On March 19th we will take nonviolent direct action to disrupt each of these key pillars in Washington DC and in communities across this country.

It's easy to see which demonstrators really support the troops--and which think of them as "illegal and immoral" actors. It's also interesting to see Barack Obama supporters use the same rhetoric--on Obama's official website--as the anti-troops marchers.

The fictitious leader of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Omar al Baghdadi, has issued a new audiotape. Instead of addressing the very real problems his organization faces in Iraq--dwindling membership, defections, the Sunnis turning against them, a shrinking base of operation--“Baghdadi” (who is really an actor serving as a mouthpiece for al Qaeda in Iraq’s leader Abu Ayyub al Masri) addresses the Palestinians.

In the 30-minute tape, Baghdadi/Masri threatened to use Iraq as a staging area to attack Israel and criticized Palestinian terrorist groups for failing to free Jerusalem from Israeli control. Baghdadi/Masri also singled out Hamas for “for failing to liberate the Palestinians” and called on the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ “armed wing,” to break away from the group and join al Qaeda. The AP reports:

In the latest audiotape, al-Baghdadi also threatened moderate Palestinians, saying that jihad makes "no distinctions between the infidel Jews and the renegade Palestinians ... between (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert and his criminals and (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas and his gang."

He called the state of Israel a "wicked germ sown in the (Palestinian) nation's body which should be uprooted, even if the traitors signed thousands of surrender treaties." Much of the audiotape was devoted to threats against Hamas political leaders "who betrayed the nation and turned against the blood of the martyrs," al-Baghdadi said, also saying that Hamas has been pressuring its military wing not to stage rocket attacks on Israel but to accept a truce.

Al-Baghdadi called for "opening new fronts to ease the American and Jewish pressure off the Palestinians while bolstering the fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan." He urged every "working Muslim to spare 2 dollars a month, half of it would go to our Palestinian brothers and the other half to finance other fronts."

As for attacks on Israel, al-Baghdadi said the "Islamic state in Iraq will be the cornerstone for the return of Al-Quds" and added the group was trying to use Iraq's western province of al-Anbar as a launching pad for missiles against Israel--the same way the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein fired 31 missiles against the Jewish state in the Gulf War. "The Jews and the Americans have realized this and tried by all means to prevent us from achieving this target including the fierce campaign on al-Anbar, knowing that it is easy to fire missiles on Israel from some parts there," al-Baghdadi said.

Al Masri’s call to expand the fight beyond Iraq is curious as his terror group has lost significant ground in its former terror strongholds of Anbar, Diyala, Baghdad, and Salahadin provinces. Iraqi and U.S. forces are massing in Mosul in Ninewa province to take on al Qaeda remnants attempting to regroup there. Iraqi and U.S. forces are currently pursuing al Qaeda holdouts in southern Baghdad province and northern Diyala province. Anbar province, which was once the most violent province in Iraq, will soon be turned over to Iraqi provincial control. It was once thought Anbar would be the last province to be turned over to the Iraqis.

Al Masri’s own commanders have called him aloof and inattentive to the needs of the organization and its fighters. He would almost certainly be better served dealing with the problems he faces inside Iraq before taking on any additional responsibilities.

The U.S. military continues to "communicate" with the Mahdi Army. Today, the military conducted a major raid inside Sadr City. "The U.S. said it was targeting 'criminal elements' responsible for mortar and EFP attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops," the AP reported. Sixteen "criminals" were captured and one killed during the raid.

The U.S. military and Iraqi security forces are stepping up the campaign to convince Muqtada al Sadr to extend a six-month old ceasefire. Just in the last few days, Multinational Forces Iraq issued a press release noting the increase in EFP attacks and raided the town of Horriya after reports the Mahdi Army was inciting attacks. An Iraqi colonel claimed the Mahdi Army was behind an IED attack against Polish troops in Diwaniyah.

Sadr, for his part, has launched an internal debate over whether the ceasefire should be extended or dropped. One of the five committees formed suggested dropping the ceasefire, citing Iraqi military and police attacks on the Mahdi Army in Diwaniyah. He has now set a deadline - February 23 - to announce his decision.

Multinational Forces Iraq is not-so-subtly warning Sadr that canceling the ceasefire will make his Mahdi Army fair game--and Sadr likely will extend the ceasefire rather than be blamed for rolling back the security progress. But until then, he is likely to try and maximize political concessions from the Iraqi government and Multinational Forces Iraq.

While the reports of fighting against the Iranian-backed Special Groups terror network have dried up, the intensity of the fighting hasn’t. In January, Coalition and Iraqi forces encountered more of the deadly explosively-formed projectiles than at any time over the past year, Multinational Forces Iraq reported. The majority of the incidents occurred outside of Sadr City, a support base of Iranian-backed Shia cleric Muqtada al Sadr and his Mahdi Army.

Extremists have been responsible for a spike in the number of roadside bombs placed over the past month, especially explosively formed penetrators. There were 12 EFP attacks against Coalition Forces in January – the highest monthly total in more than a year. Through a five-day span, U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces have found and disabled two IEDs, including an EFP.

MND-B Soldiers also apprehended a suspected IED emplacer during a raid Feb. 1 in the Sha’ab neighborhood. The captured individual was reportedly a lieutenant in one of the special groups operating in the area.

MND-B Engineers were engaged by small arms fire on multiple occasions Feb.1 while conducting a roadside-clearance mission in the same Sha’ab neighborhood. The engineers were unable to positively identify the shooter and did not fire back in order to safeguard against injury to civilians or damage to property.

Over the past six months, Multinational Forces Iraq has sent a series of messages, via press release, encouraging Sadr to extend the September 2007 ceasefire and keep his Mahdi Army on the sidelines. After every kill or capture of a Special Groups operative, the press release would explicitly link the terrorist with Sadr by asking Sadr to keep his Mahdi Army in check.

Sadr’s ceasefire is due to end on February 8, and several leaders of the Mahdi Army are calling for the resumption of combat. The latest Multinational Forces Iraq press release is a warning to Sadr and his Mahdi Army to extend the ceasefire or prepare to face reprisals. The separation from the Special Groups that has been afforded to Sadr and the Mahdi can be lifted as needed.

After a summer and fall in which the press was filled with accounts of Muqtada al Sadr's power in Iraqi politics, Sadr and his Mahdi Army have essentially dropped off the radar. Other than brief mentions about Sadr's declaration of a cease fire and its impact on the security situation, there has been little news from the Sadr sphere. Over the weekend, the Sadr camp dropped a bombshell and stated the ceasefire may not be renewed.

The news was explosive, but not because the Sadrists said the ceasefire might end--Sadr has intimated he may not renew the ceasefire in the past. The story was that the Sadr camp admitted it was being "targeted" by the Iraqi Security Forces, the New York Times reported on January 20.

“Many officers in the Iraqi police and army and have made bad use of the freeze to pressure our people, and hundreds of families have been pushed out of their homes,” Mr. Obaidi [a spokesman for Sadr] said. “We’ve been thinking of renewing the freeze. We understand the situation, we are in a period of trying to rebuild Iraq and bring more security, but unfortunately our people are suffering.”

The decision to consider lifting the freeze came after a fact-finding tour by several high-ranking members of the Sadr organization in which they visited Samawa, Diwaniya, Kut, Amara and Basra, according to Mr. Obaidi. He said that for Mr. Sadr to remain credible with his followers, he has to stand up for them when they become targets.

Critics of the Iraqi government and the security forces like to point out that the military and police are dominated by groups like the Badr Brigade, which have been integrated into the security forces. Clashes between the military and Sadr's Mahdi Army are inaccurately described as intra-Shia violence.

But the fact is that Badr and other Shia groups decided to join the government of Iraq, and are carrying out the policies of that government. Sadr's Mahdi Army has taken support from Iran and seeks to undermine the government.

Sadr's spokesman is admitting that the Shia-led government is targeting the Shia Mahdi Army, which is backed by Iran. If Sadr drops the cease fire, this would be tantamount to declaring war on the government. This would destabilize the improving security situation, but would allow the Iraqi government and U.S. forces to shift focus from al Qaeda to the Mahdi Army. Sadr's six month ceasefire expires in February, while a drawdown of U.S. forces is not likely to begin until April.

The Iraqi Army and police have moved significant forces to the Shia South over the past several months to deal with the security vacuum created by the British drawdown in Basrah. Well over a division of troops have been moved to the South.

The Iraqi Army and police badly beat back the cult-like Soldiers of Heaven uprising last weekend. The Iraqi defense ministry said 272 members of the Soldiers of Heaven were killed, wounded, or captured during recent clashes in Basrah and Nasiriyah. These were well-armed, fanatical fighters looking to bring on the Shia version of the apocalypse. This has not gone unnoticed by Sadr.

The Iraqi Army claimed to have captured the minister of defense of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda’s political front organization. Ahmed Turki Abbas was captured after being wounded in a skirmish near Mahmudiyah and “claimed the rank of defense minister,” Qassim al Moussawi, Iraq's military spokesman told Reuters.

Confirmation on the arrest of Abbas, which is also likely a nom de guerre, has not been given by Multinational Forces Iraq at this time. The Iraqi government has made claims of killing and capturing Abu Omar al Baghdadi several times this year, which turned out to be false reports or cases of mistaken identity.

Abu Ayyub al Masri, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, is officially listed as the minister of defense for the Islamic State of Iraq, according to a press release put out by the terror group in April. But over the summer, it became known the Islamic State of Iraq was the invention of al Masri, who serves as the emir, or leader of the group. Abu Omar al Baghdadi is actually a fictional character played by an Iraqi actor named Abu Abdullah al Naima. This information was revealed after the captured of Abu Muhammad al Mashadani, the former Minister of Information for the Islamic State of Iraq.

With al Masri serving as the emir of both the Islamic State of Iraq and al Qaeda in Iraq, the portfolio of defense minister was delegated to Abbas, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

After learning of the arrest of Abbas, Marvin Hutchens of ThreatsWatch.org agreed with that assessment. “For purely pragmatic reasons, Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq need as many Iraqi names in leadership posts as possible,” said Hutchens in an interview. “They are selling their legitimacy as the Iraqi state and having al Masri known as the Minister of Defense hides his real role as the foreign leader of an illegitimate insurgent state.”

If Abbas’ capture is confirmed, he would be the third member of the cabinet of the Islamic State to be captured or killed this year. Muharib Abdul Latif al Jabouri, the Minister of Public Relations, was killed during a major battle between the Anbar Awakening and al Qaeda in the town of Dhuluiya in neighboring Salahadin province last May.

With a sharp reduction in the deadly landmine attacks used by the Iranian-backed Shia terrorists known as the Special Groups, a debate has raged over whether Iran has worked to reduce the number of attacks inside Iraq. The newly released report "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" refutes the notion that Iran has eased the pressure. In fact, the report states that Iran has continued to fund, arm, and train the Special Groups fighters bound for Iraq, despite a pledge by Iran's president.

In late September, Iranian President Ahmadinejad pledged to Prime Minister Maliki to help cut off weapons, funding and other militia and insurgent support that crosses the Iranian border. There has been no identified decrease in Iranian training and funding of illegal Shia militias in Iraq. Tehran’s support for Shia militant groups who attack Coalition and Iraq forces remains a significant impediment to progress towards stabilization. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) provides many of the explosives and ammunition used by these groups, to include Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM). Although Sadr’s late August 2007 freeze on JAM activity is still in effect, some elements continue to attack Coalition forces with Iranian weapons. The GoI (Government of Iraq) and the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq have made it clear to the Iranian Government that IRGC-QF’s lethal activities must cease.

Multinational Forces Iraq goes on to attribute the reduction in attacks to efforts to target Iranian networks, trainers, and ratlines. "This reduction may be attributed to effective interdiction of EFP networks, death or capture of EFP facilitators, seizure of caches and other factors."

Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces began heavily targeting the leadership of the Ramazan Corps in late 2006. Numerous commanders, including a Ramazan Corps regional commander, a senior Hezbollah leader assigned to establish the Special Groups, and several regional Special Groups commanders have been captured or killed. Numerous raids have been conducted against local leaders, facilitators, and cells. Most recently, Coalition forces have targeted Ramazan Corps trainers inside Iraq.

Iran's Qods Force created the Ramazan Corps as a command designed to specifically conduct operations in Iraq. Split into three sub-commands, the Ramazan Corps recruits, trains, arms, and funds the Special Groups, which include elements of Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army.

A host of senior generals, diplomats and policy experts believe Iran has effectively cut support for the Iranian cells operating in Iraq. Major General James Simmons, the Deputy Commander for Multinational Forces Iraq, Iraqi spokesman Ali al Dabbagh, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, and the Brookings Institution's Michael O'Hanlonhave all stated that the Iranian government has dialed back the attacks inside Iraq.

But military commanders engaged in the fight against the Iranian networks disagree. Major General Rick Lynch, the Commander of Multinational Division Central, Colonel Don Farris, the commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division based in the heart of Sadr City in Baghdad, Colonel Mark Mueller, the commander of the border transition team in Wasit province, and Colonel Peter Mansoor, an adviser to General David Petraeus, have all expressed skepticism that Iran has cut its activities in Iraq.

Read Iran's Ramazan Corps and the ratlines into Iraq for a detailed account of Iran's activities in Iraq.

Multinational Forces Iraq has released the data of he effects of the "surge." The reduction in deaths, attack trends, sectarian violence, IED, suicide and car bomb attacks is dramatic. The number of weapons caches found per year has well over doubled. The graphs below have been provided by Multination Forces Iraq. Click each graph to view in detail.

The weekly attack trends are now down to or below 2004 levels, with less than 600 atacks overall reported per month. These numbers include inneffectual attacks. The number peaked during the summer of 2007, with almost 1,600 attacks in one week in June. Click map to view.

The number of deaths per month nationwide are down to January 2006 levels, at about 600 per month. The niumbers peaked in December 2006, with about 3,000 deaths per month. Click to view.

More after the jump...

Fighting between the U.S. and Iraqi government-backed Awakening movements and al Qaeda in Iraq spiked over the weekend. At least four high profile engagements and bombings occurred in Baghdad, Anbar, Ninewa, and Diyala provinces.

The largest clash occurred on Sunday in the eastern region of Diyala province in the villages of Nai and Safit. Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters attacked the villages but the local tribes fought back. Twenty-two al Qaeda fighters and 17 tribesmen were killed in the battle, KUNA reported. Al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to regroup in eastern Diyala after being ejected from much of central Baghdad province during operations this summer and fall.

To the west in Anbar province, al Qaeda fighters attacked an Awakening checkpoint in the city of Barwana near Haditha. Four terrorists were killed in the clash.

On Saturday, two engagements, one in Baghdad and one west of Mosul, resulted in both al Qaeda operatives and members of the Awakening killed. The largest strike occurred in Baghdad, where two were killed and ten wounded in a roadside bomb attack near the headquarters of the Adhamiyah Awakening Council. At least one member of the Adhamiyah Awakening was killed and eight wounded.

West of Mosul, "a platoon of the Ninewa Sahwa (Awakening) Council managed to kill three gunmen suspected of belonging to the al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq in the district of al-Biaaj," Voices of Iraq reported. "The al-Jazirah platoon of the Ninewa Sahwa Council attacked a stronghold of al Qaeda in an area that lies between Matar 3 and al Karakshi in the district of al-Biaaj, southwest of Mosul, and killed three gunmen." One of the Awakening fighters was killed and three wounded.

The provincial Awakening Councils and the independent Concerned Local Citizens groups have been targeted by al Qaeda and its puppet Islamic State of Iraq. These groups are softer targets as opposed to U.S. and Iraqi Army units as they are lightly armed and do not operate on secured bases.

The Awakening Councils and the Concerned Local Citizens are largely made up of local and regional tribes and former insurgents. These groups pose a direct threat to al Qaeda in Iraq. The movements can often identify al Qaeda fighters and possess intelligence on their networks, while boosting the number of security forces available to fight al Qaeda. As towns and cities are secured, it frees up Iraqi and U.S. forces to move to more troubled regions.

On December 3, "Abu Omar al Baghdadi," the fictitious leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, released an audiotape outlining its "ghazw campaign" targeting the Awakening movements, the volunteer Concerned Local Citizens movements, and all who cooperate with them. "The individual mission of each mujahid [during the ghazw campaign]... is to conduct 3 IED attacks or 3 attacks with explosives, especially martyrdom attacks, or at least to kill 3 'apostates and traitors.'" The campaign is to end on or around January 29, 2008.

Al Qaeda kicked off its anti-Awakening campaign off strongly, with eight significant attacks during the first five days. Attacks against the Awakening and Concerned Local Citizens movements have since decreased. In many cases, the Iraqi volunteers are initiating the fighting.

"Abu Omar Baghdadi" is the creation of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri and is actually played by an actor named Abu Abdullah al Naima. The U.S. learned of Baghdadi's identity after capturing al Qaeda in Iraq's media emir earlier this year. Al Masri created Baghdadi to put an Iraqi face on al Qaeda’s operations.

An Iraqi National Policeman walks past one of the cars damaged in the triple bombing attack in Amarah. Reuters photo.

The city of Amarah in Iraq's Shia south was rocked by a string of coordinated car bomb attacks designed to kill civilians. At least 41 civilians were killed and over 140 wound after three car bombs were detonated in a market in Amarah. It is unclear if the attack was carried out by al Qaeda in Iraq or the Iranian-backed Special Groups terror cells.

The three bombs were detonated in a manner to inflict maximum casualties. A small blast drew a crowd, and two subsequent car bombs were detonated as rescue efforts were underway. It is unclear if suicide bombers were used in the attack, and police arrested several bystanders using cell phones immediately after the strike.

"The explosions in Amarah were about five minutes apart, beginning with a small blast at the entrance to the market, said Mohammed Saleh, the provincial council spokesman, elaborating on earlier accounts by police and an intelligence official," The Associated Press reported. "Saleh said bystanders gathered to look at the aftermath of that blast, which wounded just a few people, when a second car bomb exploded. The third car blew up nearby as the crowd began to flee, he said."

The chief of police in Amarah was fired immediately as he ignored requests to secure the markets. "There was not a single police car in the street at the time of the explosion," Saleh told the Associated Press . "The provincial council complained many times to the police chief about the lack of security measures in the city, but he would not listen."

The attack certainly fits the profile of an al Qaeda bombing: multiple, coordinated bombings against a Shia target designed to incite sectarian violence. Al Qaeda has conducted numerous attacks of this nature in Baghdad and Shia cities and towns in central Iraq. While al Qaeda is seeking new safe havens since it lost control of the central regions of Iraq, Amarah would be a difficult place for al Qaeda to reestablish a base and conduct a sophisticate attack.

The region around Samarra in Salahadin province continues to be a flashpoint for raids against senior al Qaeda operatives and propaganda cells. U.S. forces have confirmed killing a senior Syrian al Qaeda leader near the city, and another media cell was dismantled in the city. As the U.S. targets al Qaeda's media operations, Al Furqan released two new products over the past several days, including a tape by Abu Omar al Baghdadi.

Multinational Forces Iraq has confirmed killing Abu Maysara, a Syrian al Qaeda in Iraq leader. Maysara "was a member of Abu Ayyub al Masri’s inner circle and served as a senior advisor," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "Maysara was specifically responsible for providing extremist spiritual guidance and rebuttal on terrorist matters, perverting Islamic faith to allow terrorism, murder and torture. He was also known to provide logistical support to al Qaeda operations and was a key leader in the al Qaeda in Iraq media network." Maysara was a key aide to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, fought in the Second Battle of Fallujah, and was captured on November 29, 2004.

He escaped from prison during the March 2007 Badush prison break in Mosul. Al Qaeda claimed the Badush prison break was led by Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the leader of al Qaeda's political front organization the Islamic State of Iraq. The Kurdish guards were overwhelmed by over 300 al Qaeda fighters, and called U.S. forces in Mosul for support. The prison housed several hundred high value al Qaeda targets, and al Qaeda was able to free 140 of them. Also among those freed was Abu Tahla, the leader of al Qaeda in Mosul up until his capture in 2005. He was subsequently recaptured.

Maysara was killed during the November 17 raid on an al Qaeda in Iraq media cell near Samarra. Five other al Qaeda operatives were killed and ten captured during the operation.

Coalition special forces teams continue to hunt al Qaeda in Iraq's media cells. On December 4, Special Forces teams broke up cells in Samarra, Baqubah, and Baghdad. The Baqubah raid killed the leader of Diyala's propaganda network. His predecessor was killed just 23 days prior.

On November 30, Coalition forces captured "a wanted individual believed to be a key member in al-Qaeda in Iraq’s media and propaganda network" near Sharqat. "Reports indicate the wanted individual may have been using the target area as a safe haven to re-establish the network after significant degradation by Coalition forces’ recent operations."

Iraqi Army Col. Msfab Yousif reloads his AK-47 after using it to destroy a vehicle that was used in illegal checkpoint activities by insurgents in Ad Dawr near Tikrit; Iraq; Nov. 21. Photo by SPC Eric Rutherford.

The Iraqi government and Multinational Forces Iraq continue to take the fight to al Qaeda in Iraq and its allied insurgent groups in the Northern provinces. On the heals of Operation Lightning Hammer II, a multi-division operation in the provinces of Ninewa, Tamin, Salahadin, and Diyala, Iraqi and U.S. forces have launched Operation Iron Reaper, a follow on operation in the same region.

Iron Reaper, which consists of elements of four U.S. brigade combat teams and three different Iraqi Army divisions, was launched on November 27. "The purpose of Operation Iron Reaper is to continue the pursuit of al-Qaeda and set the conditions for continued reconciliation efforts in key Northern provinces," Multinational Forces Iraq stated in a press release on the operation.

Over 850 mortars, along with 70 rockets, various explosives, bomb making materials and manuals, and "about a dozen explosively formed projectiles" were found in various caches. Iran has been the primary importer of the deadly explosively formed projectiles land mines.

"Task Force Iron’s previous division-level operation, Operation Iron Hammer, began the process of improving security in the north and set in motion reconciliation efforts. The reconciliation paved the way for the signing of 6,000 Concerned Local Citizens," said the press release. The recruitment of 6,000 Concerned Local Citizens in the Hawijah region has set the stage to allow Iraqi and Coalition forces to push into the rural towns and villages in the Za'ab Triangle as well as push al Qaeda and insurgent elements form the population centers of Mosul and Kirkuk.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces have launched two division sized operations in Kirkuk and the surrounding regions over the course of November. On November 5, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched Operation Iron Hammer, a division-sized operation, in the city and regions surrounding Kirkuk. Over 200 insurgent suspects were captured, including three high-value al Qaeda leaders. Iron Hammer was followed by Operation Raging Eagle, which also focused on Kirkuk and the surrounding regions. Over 50 al Qaeda operatives were captured during the operation.

Al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups have been active in Mosul, Kirkuk, and Hawijah over the past several days. Today, insurgents shot and killed Sheikh Ata Allah Iskandar Habib, a leader in the Hawijah Awakening Council. "The gunmen set the two bodies on fire at the scene of the attack," Voices of Iraq reported. Yesterday, the head of the Diyala Salvation Council escaped an assassination attempt.

In Mosul, four police and seven insurgents were killed in a series of clashes. The four police were killed in an ambush, while the seven insurgents were killed by U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police. One more policeman was killed in an IED attack and three were wounded. North of Tikrit, Iraqi soldiers killed two suicide bombers, while three soldiers were wounded.

On December 2, Iraqi police captured 12 suspected insurgents in Hawijah, while the Iraqi Army captured 17. Kurdish security forces also defused a car bomb attack directed at its headquarters in Northern Mosul.

Reports of the demise of the Kawwaz family were premature.

The Western media was abuzz over the past few days over an Iraqi journalist’s accusations that his extended family of in Baghdad was executed by a death squad. “Dia al-Kawwaz, editor of Internet website Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq (Network of Iraqi News), said militiamen sprayed his relatives with bullets after storming into his house on Sunday,” AFP reported earlier this week. Various international human rights and journalist organizations jumped to Kawwaz’s defense. But the Iraqi government denied the claims, and stated it has spoken to members of the local police and even the family, all eleven of whom denied the accusations.

Today, Gateway Pundit provided visual evidence that the family was indeed alive. Kawwaz’s family appeared on Iraqi television, smiling and waving.

The international media is quick to jump at claims such as this, without providing a critical eye on the sources. The media should have looked at who was behind this. AFP has it right in their report:

Several Iraqi officials, including Sunni MPs Saleh al-Mutlaq and Hussein al-Falluji, attended the service along with hardline cleric Hareth al-Dari, the head of Iraq's Sunni Muslim Scholars Association who lives in Amman.

Hareth al-Dari and the Association of Muslim Scholars openly support the insurgency and covertly support al Qaeda. Saleh al-Mutlaq is notorious for his support of the insurgency, and U.S. forces have raided his offices in the past. Mutlaq purportedly approached the CIA to mount a coup against the Iraqi government earlier this year.

In my first hand experience, the media is far to willing to print stories based on bad sources. When I was embedded with the Canadian Army in Kandahar in June of 2006, a Taliban stringer fed a wire service the false news that two Canadian soldiers had been kidnapped. The Canadian reporters, with the exception of two, were all too eager to go to press. The leak was timed to hit Canada just in time for the evening news.

Two other reporters and I attempted to dissuade the reporters from going to press, stating that this was highly likely a Taliban information operation, and the army would do a head count and know in an hour or two. The reporters printed due to pressure form their editors, and hours later the story was confirmed as false.

Update: Dia al-Kawwaz recants. Blames it all on the Maliki government.

The raids on the home and offices of Adnan al Dulaimi, leader of the Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, highlight the real need to hold elections in Iraq. After discovering weapons and a car bomb near Dulaimi's offices on Thursday, U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted a follow-on raid at his home on Friday turned up another car bomb. Dulaimi’s son was arrested along with 29 others. One of Dulaimi’s bodyguards held the keys to the car. Reuters has the details:

Seven people were arrested on Thursday at Dulaimi's office and 29, including Dulaimi's son Mekki, were seized in a raid early on Friday at Dulaimi's house, said Brigadier General Qassim Moussawi, security spokesman for Baghdad.

"We have also found quantities of weapons and uniforms of the army and police at the home of Dr. al-Dulaimi," he told Reuters. "Dulaimi's bodyguards are suspected of having links to car bombs and killings. There are confessions against them."…

Moussawi said the car bomb was found when security forces chased a suspected fugitive involved in a shooting into Dulaimi's compound.

The U.S. military said one of Dulaimi's guards had a key to the car that was rigged as a bomb. Two bystanders were hurt when one of the guards escaped, and five American soldiers and one bystander were hurt in the controlled blast when the car was destroyed, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Dulaimi, who is immune from prosecution due to his status as a member of parliament, may have his immunity lifted if he is found to be directly linked to the car bomb, weapons, and uniforms. "No one is above the law. Dr Adnan al-Dulaimi has immunity, but this does not exempt him from questioning and accountability," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said according to Reuters.

This isn’t the first time Sunni members of parliament have been implicated in working with the insurgency and al Qaeda. Accordance Front member Naif Mohammed Jasim was arrested on October 4 for sitting in on a meeting with leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq. Mishan al Jabouri, a former member of the Iraqi parliament and leader of the Sunni Arab Front for Reconciliation and Liberation, left the country in 2006 after being charged with corruption for embezzling government funds and supporting al Qaeda. Jabouri formed al Zawraa TV, a propaganda arm of the Islamic Army of Iraq.

Sunni parliamentarians and their bodyguards have been implicated in smuggling weapons into the Green Zone. A car bomb targeted Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, then the parliament’s speaker, in October 2006. Muhammad Awad, a Sunni member of parliament, was killed in an al Qaeda bombing in April of 2007. In March of 2006, al Qaeda nearly pulled off a mini-Tet offensive by infiltrating the Green Zone and getting bombs into the secured areas. Sunni parliamentarians and their bodyguards have been accused of being behind these plots.

Sunni groups such as the Association of Muslim Scholars, which has provided support for al Qaeda, advocated a Sunni people boycott of the 2005 elections, and then put up their own candidates for office. The current crop of Sunni politicians by and large do not represent the Sunni people. In Anbar province, the Awakening movement is believed to a serious challenger to the Sunni Accordance Front. New elections may clean out the current crop of corrupt, criminal, and in some cases, terrorist supporting Sunni politicians.

Map of Salahadin province and the Za'ab Triangle region. Click map to view.

As al Qaeda in Iraq attempts to reestablish its networks in the Northern provinces, the Iraqi military and Multinational Forces Iraq have been shaping the battlefield in the north for a showdown with the terror group. Iraqi and U.S. forces received a big boost the past week when a significant number of Iraqis formed a Concerned Local Citizens group in the region. Meanwhile, the Islamic Army of Iraq in Mosul has vowed to dig in and fight the Coalition.

Iraqi and U.S. forces have been focusing on the northern region--delineated by the provinces of Ninewa, Tamin, Salahadin, and Diyala--since major counterinsurgency operations began this summer. Operation Lightning Hammer II was launched Mosul, Tal Afar, and in the Za'ab Triangle region in September. This was a corps-sized operation, with over 26,000 troops committed to the fight. The Za'ab region, roughly outlined by the intersections of northern Salahadin, southwestern Tamin, and southeastern Ninewa, contains some of the toughest cities in Iraq, including Baiji and Hawija.

On November 5, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched Operation Iron Hammer, a division-sized operation, in the city and regions surrounding Kirkuk. Kirkuk sits just northeast of the Za'ab Triangle region. Iron Hammer consisted of elements from four Iraqi Army divisions and three U.S. brigades. Over 200 insurgent suspects were captured, including three high-value al Qaeda leaders. A large amount of explosives and numerous weapons caches were also found.

Iron Hammer was followed by Operation Raging Eagle, another division-sized operation that also focused on Kirkuk and the surrounding regions. Over 50 al Qaeda operatives were captured during the operation.

In the north, U.S. and Iraqi forces will look to push the battle away from the major cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, and Kirkuk's vital oilfields. "They want to go north into Kirkuk and wreak havoc there, and that's exactly what we're trying to avoid," said Army Major General Mark Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq, in an interview with the Associated Press. Over 200 al Qaeda in Iraq fighters are believed to have taken shelter in the towns and villages in the Hawija region.

As the fight shapes up in the Za'ab Triangle region, Iraqi and U.S. forces caught a major break by receiving reinforcements from Iraqis in the region. On November 28, the Associated Press reported over 6,000 Iraqis joined the Concerned Local Citizens movement in the Hawija region. The Concerned Local Citizens are typically tribal groups and former insurgents who form local auxiliary police units to fight al Qaeda in Iraq and protect their local communities.

The number of 6,000 Concerned Local Citizens in Hawija may be inaccurate, however. In response to an inquiry from the The Long War Journal to Multinational Forces Iraq, Colonel Don Bacon stated that the actual number in the Hawija region is 2,500, with the possibility that 6,000 was the number of recruits pledged by tribal leaders.

The provinces of Ninewa, Tamin, Salahadin, and Diyala have seen a spike in participation in the Concerned Local Citizens movement. Tamin now has over 8,000 Concerned Local Citizen; Salahadin 4,000; and Diyala 10,000, according to data obtained by The Long War Journal. Ninewa has only 1,500 participants, but "there is a large Iraqi Army and Police presence which may mitigate against a large CLC [Concerned Local Citizens] program in this province," according to a source in Multinational Forces Iraq who wishes to remain anonymous.

Iraqi and Coalition efforts to move the fighting from the major cities may be difficult to achieve, however. The Islamic Army in Iraq in Mosul has vowed to continue the fight in the northern city. Upset that some of its groups have broken with the insurgency and are supporting the government in Concerned Local Citizens movements, the Mosul branch has formed Al Fatih Al Mubeen. Elements of the Islamic Army in Iraq have sided with al Qaeda and joined its Islamic State of Iraq.

Image from recently released Al Furqan / Al Qaeda in Iraq execution video. Click to view.

After nearly a two month lull in videos released by Al Furqan, al Qaeda in Iraq's primary propaganda arm, two new videos of attacks on U.S. forces have been released over the past three days. Al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to reestablish its propaganda presence in Iraq, while Multinational Forces Iraq is seeking to dismantle the network.

"Despite the recent loss of numerous cells across Iraq, the media wing of al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) has produced a second video product, which the al Fajr Media Center posted Tuesday night on the main Jihadi message boards," Nick Grace of Threatswatch reported. "The one minute video, called 'Destruction Of An-American Hummer Vehicle,' is the latest in the ongoing ISI [Islamic State of Iraq] media series 'Roman and Apostate Hell in al-Rafedain Land' and, according to the accompanying Web statement, shows an IED attack on a hummer in the az-Zobayer bin al-Awaam region of Diyala Province." The first video released showed the brutal execution of nine Iraqis, purportedly Shia who served in the Interior Ministry’s police commando unit in Diyala province.

Image from recently released Al Furqan / Al Qaeda in Iraq execution video. Click to view.

Multinational Forces Iraq began to heavily target al Qaeda's media apparatus over the summer of 2007. The capture of Khalid Abdul Fatah Da’ud Mahmud Al Mashadani, a senior al Qaeda in Iraq and Islamic State of Iraq leader and close associate of Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda’s commander, was the first major blow against al Qaeda's media network. Mashadani, also known as Abu Shahed, was al Qaeda's media emir. He confirmed that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, is an imaginary figure created by himself and al Masri.

After al Masri's capture, the Coalition began rolling up numerous al Qaeda media cells and operatives of Al Furqan. "Since the surge began, we’ve uncovered eight separate al Qaeda media offices and cells, have captured or killed 24 al Qaeda propaganda cell members and have discovered 23 terabytes of information," said Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Forces Iraq during a press briefing at the end of October.

Since the briefing at the end of October, several more cells have been dismantled and scores of al Qaeda media operatives have been killed or captured. During the month of November, Special Forces teams killed two media operatives and captured 44 suspected associates of the cells.

Image from recently released Al Furqan / Al Qaeda in Iraq execution video. Click to view.

On November 12, Coalition Special Forces hunter-killer teams captured the media emir of Diyala province. In a separate operation in Samarra, the Special Forces teams "targeted an al-Qaeda media headquarters and safe house, also believed to be used by foreign terrorists." One terrorist was killed after reaching for a suicide vest, while another seven were captured. Six days later, Special Forces "captured one wanted individual and detained 10 other suspects while targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq's media network" in Baghdad and Samarra.

The city of Samarra and the surrounding regions have become a hub of activity for al Qaeda in Iraq's propaganda outlets. From November 22 - 25, Coalition Special Forces' hunter-killer teams conducted multiple raids against al Qaeda's media and courier networks in the Samarra region. One member of al Qaeda's media network was killed and 25 captured during a series of raids over the course of four days.

The flurry of activity began on November 22, when the Special Forces teams killed one member of a propaganda cell and captured two. In follow on raids the next day, the teams captured seven members of al Qaeda's media network. "One of the targeted buildings is believed to be used as a propaganda production facility and meeting location for senior leaders," Multinational Forces Iraq reported.

With the withdrawal of British forces from the heart of Basra and an overall reduction of British forces in the south, the security situation in the largely Shiite city has come into question. Critics of the British move believe those forces have essentially surrendered the strategic city to the militias, particularly the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army. Some Iraq watchers are awaiting a showdown between the Iraqi Army, which has been moved into Basra to fill the void left by the Brits, and the Mahdi Army. IraqSlogger indicates the Iraqi Army may be preparing for such a showdown.

"A major confrontation between the Iraqi Army and the powerful Mahdi Army appears to be brewing in the southern city of Basra," IraqSlogger reported today. "'Well-placed military sources' in Basra have said that military forces continue to arrive in the city to reinforce the 14th Division troops (known as the Mustafa Forces) stationed at the entrance to Zubayr, outside Basra city."

Iraqi troops from the newly forming 14th Division are reported to be moving towards Basra from neighboring provinces. "All evidence points to a big deployment of Iraqi Army forces in all areas of Basra in preparation for the next battle with the Mahdi Army, including digging trenches, stockpiling ammunition, and preparing "worst-case" battle plans," IraqSlogger reported.

Both the Iraqi Army and the police deny reports that the Army is preparing to strike at al Sadr's milita. The chief of police in Basra went on the record to deny such an operation is pending.

Speaking at a press conference in the police headquarters on Tuesday, General Abdul Karim Khalaf said "reports being circulated in the city which assert that our forces will wage attacks on some groups after bringing in new forces are void of truth."

"We are about to receive the Basra security file and we need some additional forces to foster our forces to watch borders and impose the law, but this does not mean that we are planning to attack anyone," he added.

"The city's crime rate has decreased by 50% since the beginning of November," the general added, noting that murders and assassinations operations have been decreasing since last June. "Only 75 murders have been registered in Basra since June," he said. "Basra police forces arrested during this month many gangs, freed more than 10 captives, seized two tankers for oil smuggling and arrested drug dealers," Khalaf continued.

"There is an agreement with all political parties, officials, and tribes to cooperate in order to realize security and stability in the city," he noted.

The Mahdi Army in Basra is certainly concerned over the rumors of an Iraqi Army operation, as well as reports of a fledgling Awakening movement being formed in the south. Muqtada al Sadr's local office in Basra released a statement ordering its members to halt attacks and cooperate with the security forces. Sadr's office also warned tribal leaders not to cooperate with the forming Awakening movement in the south.

With the unmistakable success of the surge in disrupting al Qaeda in Iraq's operations and significantly reducing violence throughout the country, the Iraqi Security Forces have turned their attention to the Mahdi Army in Diwaniyah. On November 17, Iraqi Army and police, backed by a U.S. brigade, launched Operation Lion's Leap in the Mahdi Army stronghold.

Lion's Leap is a division-plus sized operation. The operation is comprised of at least two Iraqi Army brigades--the headquarters element of the 8th Division, the 1st Brigade of the 8th Division, and a brigade from the 9th Division which was based in Baghdad--as well as the 7th Division's "quick response forces." The 5th Brigade of the 2nd National Police Division, which recently graduated from retraining at the Besmaya range just south of Baghdad, and the 4th Brigade of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division are also involved in the operation.

Over 74 Mahdi Army militiamen have been captured since the operation kicked off. At least two significant weapons caches have been found, including one which contained "roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar bombs and explosives."

Iranian-manufactured explosively formed projectiles, or EFPs, were also found in one cache. "There are seven Iranian-made roadside bombs and nine anti-tank mines," said Major General Jamil Kamel al Shimari, a senior officer in the 8th Iraqi Army Division. "These are a big danger threatening our forces."

Diwaniyah has been a hub of Mahdi Army activity over the past year. U.S. and Iraqi security forces have conducted numerous raids and operations against the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army and the Special Groups in the southern city. In April, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched Operation Black Eagle in the city. Dozens of Mahdi fighters were killed or captured in the operation.

On October 31, ten Sadrists were captured just south of Diwaniyah. On November 11, a key Sadrist leader was captured inside the city. And last weekend, an Iraqi court sentenced 17 Sadrists to death for attacks on Iraqi security forces.

The movement of forces from Baghdad into Diwaniyah is a significant shift of resources. With the violence reduced in Baghdad, the center of gravity in the current fight, the Mahdi Army elements that refused to stop fighting have now become a high priority.

The government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shia, has long been accused of being either incapable or unwilling to tackle the threat from Shia extremists, but the Iraqi Security Forces, and not Multinational Forces Iraq, have now taken the lead in the fight against the Mahdi Army.

The same day Multinational Forces Iraq reported it had killed Tha’ir Malik, the emir of Tarmiyah, Coalition forces fought a major battle against the terror network in the city. Twenty-five al Qaeda in Iraq operatives were killed and 21 captured after Coalition forces conducted a series of raids west of the central Sunni city searching for senior al Qaeda leaders.

The term “Coalition forces” in Multinational Forces Iraq press releases usually is referring to Task Force 88 or 'The Task Force,' the special operations hunter-killer teams assigned to dismantle al Qaeda in Iraq's leadership. The scope of the battle and number of al Qaeda operatives killed and captured indicates the Task Force may have come close to its mark.

The battle was initiated after soldiers spotted fighters and called in close air support to attack. The al Qaeda teams engaged the Coalition aircraft with antiaircraft weapons then moved to a secondary fighting position and then other buildings. Also uncovered at one of the sites were “two substantially large weapons caches,” which “included numerous anti-aircraft machine guns, surface-to-surface missiles, rifles, pistols, grenades, mortar rounds and artillery shells. Coalition forces also found a large quantity of ammunition and components used to manufacture improvised explosive devices.” No Coalition casualties were reported.

During the hunt for Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the Task Force fought frequent, large scale engagements in the Yusafiyah, Samarra, and Baqubah regions before Zarqawi was finally found in Baqubah and killed in an airstrike. One of the features of these engagements was encountering al Qaeda anti-aircraft teams, which were assigned to protect the senior leaders from Coalition air support. Another feature was the steady stream of al Qaeda leaders and operatives close to Zarqawi who were killed or captured during a short period of time.

Along with the recent killing of Tha’ir Malik, the emir of Tarmiyah, the Task Force captured Yasin Turki Mahmud Slaih and Marwan ‘Abdullah Ahmad ‘Abd, two members of al Masri’s personal security detachment. Both of al Masri’s bodyguards were captured near Tarmiyah. Forty-five senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders were killed or captured in October alone.

Over the past year, Tarmiyah has been one of the most dangerous region in Iraq. Situated on the Tigris River in south Salahadin province just north of Baghdad, Tarmiyah has served as a base of operations for al Qaeda in Iraq. The Task Force has conducted raids against al Qaeda's leadership in the town on a near daily basis. Al Qaeda conducted a coordinated suicide attack and massed assault on a U.S. base in Tarmiyah in February 2007.

Iraqi police in Anbar province scored a victory against al Qaeda in Iraq's leadership in Anbar province on Monday. Iraqi police killed Abu Tiba al Karbuli and two aides and captured another during an engagement north of Ramadi.

"A police patrol came under fire from two civilian cars carrying al-Qaeda members," said Colonel Salan al Gi'ud, a senior police official in Anbar province. Police returned fire, and killed al Karbuli and two aides. Abu Hamza al Iraqi, another aide, was captured and is said to be providing intelligence information on al Qaeda's operations in western Iraq.

Like the majority of al Qaeda's leadership in Iraq, al Karbuli was foreign borne. Although Karbuli is the name of a major Iraqi tribe, he is actually from Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has suffered a major setback in Anbar province.The rise of the Anbar Awakening and the integration the tribes and former insurgent groups into the security forces has deprived al Qaeda in Iraq of its former safe haven.

The Awakening weathered a winter and spring of fierce fighting and deadly chemical suicide attacks from al Qaeda. The terror group's last major attack in Anbar was defeated by U.S. and Iraqi forces at Donkey Island just south of Ramadi. Al Qaeda was able to assassinate Sheikh Sattar Abu Rishawi at the onset of Ramadan, but the Awakening held its ground.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to target al Qaeda's leadership throughout Iraq. Today's raids against al Qaeda's network resulted in four al Qaeda operatives killed and 17 captured.

Just 24 hours after the capture of 11 Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in northern Baghdad, the Iraqi Army has freed eight of the sheikhs. Meanwhile, Multinational Forces Iraq has identified the Mahdi Army commander responsible for the kidnappings and has begun to name other Mahdi Army leaders as being involved in criminal and insurgent activity.

Iraqi soldiers conducted the raid in an as yet unidentified region near Baghdad, likely with the aid of U.S. Special Forces, and killed four of the kidnappers. "We have rescued eight of the hostages and are working to free the others. We killed four of the kidnappers," Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al Askari said.

Earlier today, Multinational Forces Iraq "identified Arkan Hasnawi, a former brigade commander in Jaish Al Mahdi [Mahdi Army], as responsible for the kidnapping of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders from Diyala Province yesterday." Hasnawi was identified as a leader of a "gang of criminals" that has "joined forces with Iranian-supported Special Groups that are rejecting Muqtada al Sadr’s direction to embrace fellow Iraqis."

The identification of Hasnawi as a former Mahdi Army commander and leader in the Special Groups is new pattern of releasing the names of Shia terror leaders. In a recent briefing on the Baghdad security operation, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, singled out Mahdi Army commanders sheltering in Sadr city by name. Five Mahdi Army commanders were directly named.

"Unfortunately, there are some individuals who are not interested in reconciliation," Odierno said. "These individuals continue to use violence to incite sectarian hatred for political gain, to promote foreign interests and to achieve personal wealth through criminal activity. They commit extortion, kidnappings, intimidation and murder against the Iraqi people. We are working hard to prevent men who do this, such as Arkhan Asnawi, Nasr Anad al-Masawi, Haji Duwad, Ahmed Atu, Abu Bolil, and Haji Mahti from seeking sanctuary within Sadr City. They have not honored the ceasefire announced by Muqtada al Sadr. And they only bring harm to the people of Sadr City."

While much of the reporting around Osama bin Laden’s most recent audiotape focused around the failure of leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq and the problems with cooperation between Sunni insurgent groups and tribes, a small but important detail slipped by the press. Bin Laden clearly addresses a tactical failure of al Qaeda in Iraq's IED cells. Bin Laden is unhappy with their performance, and indicated the failure to employ IEDs efficiently against U.S. forces is due to "negligence." He is also concerned about the infiltration of Iraqi and American spies.

From an excerpt of the SITE Institute translation which is not available online:

And I tell my brothers: beware of your enemies, especially the hypocrites who infiltrate your ranks to stir up strife among the Mujahid groups, and refer such people to the judiciary. And you must check and verify, and avert the Hudood [punishments] through doubts. You must protect your secrets and excel in your actions, for among the things which sadden the Muslims and the delight the unbelievers is the hindering of some combat operations against the enemy because of negligence in any of the stages of preparation for the operation, whether it be reconnaissance of the target, training, integrity, and suitability of weapons and ammunition, quality of the explosive device or other such arrangements. And when you lay a mine, do it right, and don't leave so much as one wounded American soldier or spy.

Osama bin Laden is often portrayed as a spiritual leader and figurehead detached from day-to-day operations, but this recent speech merely reinforces what we already know about him. An engineer by training, bin Laden is very interested in the planning and execution of attacks and operations. The 9/11 Commission Report stated bin Laden was personally involved in reviewing the operational attack plans for the embassy bombings, the Cole, and 9/11. He immerses himself in the technical details and the tactics used by his operators, and keeps apprised of the situation on the battlefields. In Anbar province, al Qaeda in Iraq has failed to kill a single U.S. servicemen by IED since September 10. It seems bin Laden is acutely aware of this.

The divisions between al Qaeda and their erstwhile Sunni allies in the insurgency intensified over the weekend as the Islamic Army of Iraq and the terror group battled in Khannasa, just south of the city of Baghdad near Salman Pak. Over 60 were reported killed in the three day battle, which occurred after al Qaeda kidnapped a leader of the insurgent group.

Al Qaeda continues to overstep its boundaries, killing, kidnapping, and coercing Sunni insurgents who fail to follow its rules. “The attacks took place in the past few days after terrorists from al-Qaeda kidnapped the head of the Islamic Army in Madain, Wahid Arzuqi,” Adnkronos reported. “Various witnesses said Arzuqi was kidnapped after receiving various threats, in particular a fierce verbal attack in a meeting organized with other Iraqi guerillas. Tensions between al Qaeda and the rival militant organization have reportedly been ignited in recent weeks after the deaths of several members of the Islamic Army in Samarra, Kirkuk and al-Duluiya.”

The fighting between the Islamic Army of Iraq and al Qaeda is the latest in a series of clashes and verbal disagreements between the terror group and the Sunni insurgency. The Islamic Army in Iraq and Al Zawraa, its propaganda wing, have feuded with al Qaeda in Iraq over the terror group’s brutality and attempts to dominate the Sunni insurgency.

Al Qaeda’s predicament in Iraq was compounded this past month when insurgent groups began to issue harsh statements against the terror group. The 1920s Revolution Brigades in Anbar province accused al Qaeda of numerous crimes, including attacking “Ameriyyat [al-Fallujah] with a car bomb packed with chlorine gas canisters, and they even laid siege to the area to prevent food and fuel from getting to people. Finally, they killed several men at the local market and smashed their heads against boxes of food.”

Al Qaeda battled the Anbar Salvation Council, which includes significant elements of the 1920s Revolution Brigades, during the winter and spring of 2007. During this time, al Qaeda launched over 10 chlorine-bomb attacks against leaders in the 1920s Revolution Brigades in Anbar province, and attacked mosques, apartment complexes, and funerals while its leaders were present. Also, elements of the 1920s Revolution Brigades joined forces with Iraqi Security forces and the U.S. military to battle al Qaeda in Diyala province.

Other insurgent groups have begun to turn on al Qaeda. Asaeb al Iraq al Jihadiya (aka the Iraqi Jihad Union) up until a few months ago had conducted several operations in conjunction with al Qaeda. But now, Asaeb al Iraq al Jihadiya is accusing the terror group and its puppet political front, the Islamic State of Iraq, of murdering and desecrating the bodies of its members in Diyala province. "To make things worse, they dug up their bodies from the graves, further mutilated them, beheaded them, and showed them off from their vehicles while driving through the towns. [The Islamic State of Iraq] even killed our men’s wives and children."

Recently, two new insurgent councils were formed, both of which ignored al Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq. Wanted Baathist Izzat Ibrahim al Douri formed the Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation, a grouping of largely unknown and defunct Sunni insurgent groups.

Map of Salahadin province. Click map to view.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has intensified its war on Sunnis attempting to break away from the insurgency and reconcile with the Iraqi government. Al Qaeda announced its Ramadan assassination program at the start of the Muslim holy month, and is executing its plan in Salahadin province, where the opposition to al Qaeda is still in its infancy.

In a coordinated suicide attack in Baiji, two suicide bombers struck at senior members of the Iraqi police and the Salahadin Awakening Council, the Sunni political front organizing in the province against al Qaeda. The first suicide bomber drove a pickup truck packed with explosives into the home of Colonel Saad Nifous, Baiji’s chief of police, who was wounded in the strike. "Three houses were completely demolished,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Fadhil Mahmoud, of the provincial Salahadin police. “Eight people were killed and 16 wounded and they are still searching for other bodies under the rubble.”

The target of the second attack, which occurred minutes after the first suicide strike, is still unclear. The Times reported that Thamir Attallah, the military chief of the Baiji Awakening Council was the target. Reuters stated Hamad al Jubouri, the leader of the Salahadin Awakening Council, was in al Qaeda’s crosshairs as he visited a mosque.

The Reuters account is clear that al Qaeda hit a mosque in Baiji. Recovery efforts are underway near the mosque, as “several houses next to the mosque were flattened.” The fate of Jubouri and Attallah is still unknown, but anonymous police sources are saying Jubouri was not killed.

A senior U.S. military intelligence official close to the workings of the Awakening movements in Iraq told The Long War Journal that the death of Jubouri would be a “definite blow to our efforts,” as “the Salahadin Awakening is still a new organization and is not as battle-tested as the main [Anbar Awakening] force or the Baqubah Guardians in Diyala.”

The Salahadin Awakening formed in late May, and al Qaeda in Iraq immediately began to target the group.

Today’s suicide attack in Salahadin is the second major strike against the leadership of province’s Awakening movement in five days. On October 4, al Qaeda attacked the convoy of Sheikh Muawiya Jebara, a senior member of the Salahadin Awakening Council, as he traveled near the provincial capital of Samarra. Jebara and three bodyguards were killed in the attack.

Salahadin province is one of the last refuges for al Qaeda in Iraq. The terror group remains strong in the regions around Samarra, Baiji, Tarmiyah, and Baiji. Iraqi and Coalition special operations forces conduct raids daily in the rural regions around these cities. The cities of Karmah in Anbar and Taji in Baghdad provinces border southern Salahadin and remain al Qaeda hot spots.

The Awakening movement has recently sprung up in Tarmiyah and the deadly Za’ab triangle in northern Salahadin province.

The Anbar Awakening encountered a similar assault on its leadership by al Qaeda in Iraq in the winter and spring of 2007. Al Qaeda launched over 10 chlorine-bomb attacks against leaders of the Awakening in Anbar province, and attacked mosques, apartment complexes, and funerals while its leaders were present.

Al Qaeda assassinated Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha in a car bomb attack just outside of his home in Ramadi on the opening day of Ramadan. Sattar was the founder of the Anbar Awakening movement and organized the Anbar tribes to oppose al Qaeda in Iraq in the province that was once the bastion of the Sunni insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq immediately took credit for the murder, calling it a "heroic operation." The Anbar Awakening has survived the assassination of Sheikh Sattar, as his brother Ahmed took over the leadership of the council and other leaders have vowed to continue the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Sunni insurgency continues to fracture as U.S. and Iraqi forces are on the offensive in central and northern Iraq. Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, the Sunni insurgency's most wanted Baathist leader, has formed a new insurgent front which is willing to negotiate, while a faction of the 1920s Revolution Brigades openly denounced al Qaeda.

A grouping of 22 Sunni insurgent groups have “convened a Unification Congress in a liberated neighborhood in Baghdad” and formed the Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation. The front appointed al Douri its leader. The announcement, posted on albasrah.net, a Baathist website, lists the 22 insurgent groups, as well as the terms and conditions of negotiations.

The Command stated that for any negotiations to take place, the Americans must:

1. Officially recognize the patriotic Resistance and all the patriotic, Arab nationalist, and Islamist Resistance organizations in all their armed and civil organizations as the sole legitimate representative of Iraq and its great people.

2. Officially announce an unconditional withdrawal from Iraq – whether that be immediate or in short stages.

3. Halt raids, pursuits, killings, destruction, sabotage, dispossessions, and expulsions and withdraw the occupation troops from all population centers.

4. Free all prisoners and detainees without exception and compensate them for their losses.

5. Return to service the Iraqi Army and national security forces, which were declared dissolved by the Americans during their invasion in 2003. They are to be restored in keeping with the rules and traditions that were in force before the American invasion and they must also be compensated for their losses.

6. Pledge to compensate Iraq for all the material and moral losses and injuries caused the country by the occupation.

7. Cancel all laws, decrees, and other pieces of legislation issued after the occupation.

8. Hold direct talks with the Resistance on implementing a program to fulfill the principles adhered to by the Supreme Command if the Americans want to have save face. Otherwise the Americans will simply have to leave in defeat.

In addition the Command said that meetings must be held on the re-establishment of a government, adding that one-man rule was being done away with and replaced with system based on Islamic democratic principles as distinct from the imperialist democracy that is notorious for its practice of self-serving double standards.

The Sunni insurgent groups participating are also listed.

While many of the demands are non starters for the U.S. and the Iraqi government (setting a timeline for withdrawal, disbanding the government and institutions established after 2003), some of the conditions are being met piecemeal, such as ending raids in areas where the insurgency has stopped attacking U.S. and Iraqi forces, the re-integration of Baathists into the security forces, and prisoner releases.

The statement by the Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation glaringly ignores al Qaeda in Iraq, and the offer of negotiations is an affront to al Qaeda’s ideology. Evidence of al Douri’s split from al Qaeda emerged in August, when one of his spokesmen said he "decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to the programme of the national resistance, which includes routing Islamist terrorists and opening up dialogue with the Baghdad government and foreign forces." Al Douri pledged bayat--an oath of allegiance--to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq's former commander, in early 2004.

While questions remain about al Douri’s influence in the insurgency, his split with al Qaeda and a willingness to negotiate represents a significant shift in his view on the prospects of success for the Sunni insurgency. Al Douri is an expert in testing the political winds in Iraq. He survived Saddam’s Baathist purges and rose in the ranks to become the second in command of the Revolutionary Command Council. He avoided U.S. capture for over four years and joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2004 as the terror group consolidated power in post-war Iraq.

Just one day after the announcement of the capture of Muthanna, a senior al Qaeda facilitator of foreign fighters in the Sinjar region on the Syrian border, Multinational Forces Iraq announced the capture of a major financier in Baghdad. The yet to be named al Qaeda financier was captured by the Iraqi Army in the Baghdad neighborhood of Kindi.

The al Qaeda operative used his leather business to fund attacks inside Iraq and smuggle weapons into Iraq. He "has stores in Fallujah, Syria and Jordan," and "is suspected of traveling to foreign countries to acquire financial support for terrorist activities," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "He is believed to have received $100,000,000 this summer from terrorist supporters who cross the Iraq border illegally or fly into Iraq from Italy, Syria and Egypt."

The financier funded al Qaeda cells in the Doura neighborhood of Baghdad, and the cities of Tarmiyah and Baqubah. "He allegedly employs 40 to 50 extremists who help deliver and emplace improvised explosive devices to attack Iraqi and Coalition Forces," Multinational Forces Iraq stated. "The group allegedly pays cell members $3,000 for each operation," and supplies over $50,000 to al Qaeda operatives each month.

The financier is also linked to the 2006 destruction of the domes of the Al Askaria mosque in Samarra, and the follow up 2007 bombings of the minarets of the same mosque. He is the fourth senior al Qaeda operative linked to the Al Askaria mosque attacks to be killed or captured.

In June 2006, Coalition forces arrested Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali, "a key al-Qaida suspect" February 2006 bombing of the Golden Dome. Ali, aka Abu Qudama, a Tunisian, was wounded during a raid in Baqubah, where fifteen other foreign fighters were killed in the confrontation.

In September 2006, Coalition and Iraq forces captured Hamed Jumaa Farid al Saeedi (also known as Abu Humam, Abu Rana), who Iraqi officials are describing as the number 2 al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Saeedi ordered the attack on the al Askaria mosque. Saeedi was a member of the Mujahideen Shura Council and the leader of the Omar Brigade, al Qaeda's unit assigned to attack Shia and stir up a sectarian war. His arrest and subsequent interrogation led to the capture or death of eleven other top al Qaeda in Iraq figures and nine lower-level members.

In August 2007, U.S. soldiers killed Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al Badri, al Qaeda's emir in Salahadin province. Al Badri was the ringleader of the 2006 al Askaria attack and was in charge of an al Qaeda assault unit consisting of two Iraqis, four Saudis, and Abu Qudama, the Tunisian.

The US military has long maintained that al Qaeda in Iraq is led by foreign al Qaeda. Over the past year, senior al Qaeda operatives such as Omar Farouq, one of Osama bin Laden's lieutenants and al Qaeda's operations chief in Southeast Asia, and Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, one of bin Laden's senior deputies who was "personally chosen by bin Laden to monitor al Qaeda operations in Iraq," have been captured inside Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, Abu Ayyub al Masri, is an Egyptian selected by al Qaeda Central. Al Masri was a close aide to Ayman al Zawahiri, and was a member of Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Its prior leader, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was an experienced al Qaeda operative of Jordanian origin. Much of al Qaeda in Iraq's senior leadership is of foreign origin.

The suicide bomber's pledge, recovered with the capture of Muthanna. Click to view.

In a press conference today, Major General Kevin Bergner, the spokesman for Multinational Forces Iraq, provided further evidence of al Qaeda in Iraq's foreign influence. Bergner highlighted the arrest "Muthanna," al Qaeda's emir of the Iraq/Syrian border. "During this operation, we also captured multiple documents and electronic files that provided insight into al Qaeda’s foreign terrorist operations, not only in Iraq but throughout the region," Bergner said. "They detail the larger al-Qaeda effort to organize, coordinate, and transport foreign terrorists into Iraq and other places."

"Muthanna was the emir of Iraq and Syrian border area and he was a key facility of the movement of foreign terrorists once they crossed into Iraq from Syria," Bergner said. "He worked closely with Syrian-based al Qaeda foreign terrorist facilitators."

Bergner said several documents were found in Muthanna's custody, including a list of 500 al Qaeda fighters from "a range of foreign countries that included Libya, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, Oman, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom."

The expense sheet, recovered with the capture of Muthanna. Click to view.

Other documents found in Muthanna's possession include a "pledge of a martyr," which is signed by foreign fighters inside Syria, and an expense report. The pledge signed by the recruited suicide bomber requires the terrorist provide a photograph and passport, and states the recruit must enroll in a "security course" in Syria. The expense report is tallied in US dollars, Syrian lira, and Iraqi dinars, includes items such as clothing, food, fuel, mobile phone cards, weapons, salaries, "sheep purchased," furniture, spare parts for vehicles and other items.

Attacking al Qaeda in Iraq's network

Muthanna was captured in early September as but one of 29 al Qaeda high value targets killed or detained by Task Force 88, Multinational Forces Iraq's hunter-killer teams assigned to target senior al Qaeda leaders and operatives. Five al Qaeda operatives have been killed and 24 captured.

• 5 Emirs at the city level or higher in the AQI leadership structure.

• 9 geographical or functional cell leaders.

• 11 facilitators who supported foreign terrorist and weapons movements.

Four of the senior al Qaeda leaders killed during the month of September include:

• Abu Usama al Tunisi: The Tunisian born leader who is believed to be the successor to Abu Ayyub al Masri.

• Yaqub al Masri: The Egyptian-born leader who was in the inner circle with Zarqawi and then also in the inner circle of Abu Ayyub al Masri. He was a close associate of Ayman al Zawahiri.

• Muhammad al Afari: The Emir of Sinjar, who led the barbaric bombings of the Yazidis in northern Iraq.

• Abu Taghrid: The Emir of the Rusafa car bomb network.

Also captured during the month of September was Ali Fayyad Abuyd Ali. "Fayyad is the father in law of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri," said Colonel David Bacon, the Chief of Strategy and Plans, Strategic Communications, at Multinational Forces Iraq. Fayyad is a senior advisor to senior al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, including al Masri.

Forward Operation Base Delta, Wasit Province:
With the surge of U.S. forces in Baghdad and the Belts aiming at both al Qaeda and Shia extremists, Multinational Forces Iraq has also launched a significant effort to curtail Iranian influence in Baghdad and the southern provinces. Since early spring, U.S. and Iraqi forces have repeatedly targeted the leadership and cells of the Special Groups and the rogue Mahdi Army. To counter the flow of Iranian weapons, including mortars and the deadly explosively formed penetrator (EFP) IEDs, and fighters trained in camps by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force, Multinational Division Baghdad has launched Operation Marne Century in Wasit province.

Multinational Forces Center assumed command over Wasit province in mid-July, and identified the region as a main supply route for the Iranian-backed Special Groups and elements of the rogue Mahdi Army. Both groups have sought to undermine the Iraqi government and have attacked civilians, as well as Iraqi and Coalition security forces in Baghdad and the south.

Wasit province has been largely quiet as the Shia extremist hold their fire to avoid drawing attention to their supply routes. Up until now, the Coalition has maintained a light footprint in Wasit.

Operation Marne Century

On September 18, elements of the 3rd Infantry Brigade pushed forward from Forward Operating Base Delta just outside of Al Kut. The Georgians established Enduring Check Point 5, a beefed up checkpoint with the capacity to be manned around the clock. This is the first of six checkpoints on the major roads leading from Iran to Baghdad, Brigadier General Jim Huggins, the deputy commanding general of Multinational Division Central, said during an interview at Battle Position Hawkes in the Arab Jabour region.

Marne Century is a joint operation carried out by the Georgian Army in conjunction with elements of the U.S. 2nd Battery of the 14th Field Artillery Regiment, U.S. Special Forces, Iraqi Police, and U.S. Police and Border Transition Teams. Coalition forces are also building up an existing border crossing point in Badrah near the Iranian border.

The cornerstone of Operation Marne Century is the 3rd Infantry Brigade of Georgian Army. Deployed to Forward Operating Base Delta in July just as the British drew down in Basra, the Georgians have been tasked with base security, convoy support, and serve as a quick reaction force. The Georgians have also taken on the mission of shutting down the Iranian ratlines snaking through Wasit province.

The U.S. supplied the 3rd Brigade with 311 up-armored Humvees in support of their mission. There are now over 2,000 Georgian troops in Wasit, one quarter of the former Soviet Republic's infantry.

A new base on the border?

The ramp up in forces in Wasit province was naturally preceded by a buildup of logistical capabilities in the region. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported "the Pentagon is preparing to build its first base for U.S. forces near the Iraqi-Iranian border." But the reports the U.S. is establishing a new base are "a stretch," said Huggins.

"The base is already there in Bahdrah," said Huggins. "We are expanding the Badrah point of entry [which] puts POET [point of entry teams] at the border 24/7, along with over 100 Georgian troops," he said. This will enable Coalition troops to live at the Badrahentry point as opposed to making the long trips from Forward Operation Bases Delta, some 40 miles away, twice a week.

Just one day after major clashes between Iraqi Security Forces and the Mahdi Army during a Shia religious celebration in Najaf, Muqtada al Sadr has ordered the Mahdi Army to halt all attacks in Iraq, including attacks against Coalition forces. The fighting in Najaf resulted in 52 killed and over 300 wounded, according to reports, and have harmed Sadr politically while placing him in the crosshairs of U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Sadr's aides were out in force, calling for the Mahdi Army to lay down its arms. "We declare the freezing of the Mahdi Army without exception in order to rehabilitate it in a way that will safeguard its ideological image within a maximum period of six months starting from the day this statement is issued," said Sheik Hazim al-Araji, an aide of Sadr, while reading a statement from Sadr on Iraqi state television. The statement was backed up by Sadr's spokesman. "It also includes suspending the taking up of arms against occupiers as well as others," said Ahmed al-Shaibani, Sadr's spokesman.

The major fighting in Najaf broke out on Tuesday, after police and Shia pilgrims clashed the previous day. "Gunmen believed [to be] from the Mahdi Army began firing on security forces and the Badr guards," security officials told the Associated Press. A curfew was declared in Karbala, and the religious festival marking the anniversary of Imam Mahdi, the "12th Imam," was canceled. Mahdi Army fighters are still said to be occupying the center of the city.

The police in the area are believed to be loyal to the Badr Brigades, the political opponents of the Sadrists. A Sadrist member of the Karbala city council denied the Mahdi Army was behind the attacks, and even blamed the attacks on "pro-Iranian groups among security forces that guard the Karbala shrines." Shaibani, Sadr's spokesman, also denied the Mahdi Army was involved in the Karbala fighting, though the timing of Sadr's call for a cessation of Mahdi Army activity casts serious doubt on these statements.

Muqtada al Sadr's backdown exposes his confrontational approach to both the Iraqi government and Coalition forces as highly problematic, and it also makes clear his weakening political position inside Iraq. Since Sadr fled to Iran in January, he has lost operational control over elements of his Mahdi Army, which in reality is an amalgamation of criminal and ideological elements. And with this loss of control, Iran has begun to exercise more direct control over some Mahdi commanders--the Qazali brothers and the Sheibani Network, for instance--rather than controlling them by proxy through Sadr. The elements of the Mahdi Army can be roughly described as follows:

As U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces continue to push out into the Belts surrounding Baghdad, al Qaeda and insurgent groups are attempting to push back. Two significant attacks occurred in Salahadin and Diyala province, while U.S. and Iraqi forces press the raids on al Qaeda's network and the Iranian-backed Shia terror cells.

Iraqis serving in the Indigenous Counterinsurgency Force prepare
for a mission at their checkpoint in Al Namer, Aug. 19.

Salahadin

Southern Salahadin province, the region just north of Baghdad, remains a hot spot for al Qaeda and the insurgency. While reports last week of a massed al Qaeda attacks on Iraqi police stations in Samarra turned out to be false, about 30 al Qaeda fighters did attempt an attack in the city on August 27. U.S. and Iraqi forces successfully repelled the attack, and killing 12 and captured 14 enemy fighters in the process. Two U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed during the fighting.

In Tikrit, the Iraqi Army captured "the leader of a network of terrorist cells linked to the former regime of Saddam Hussein," and his daughter, Raghid Hussein. Raghid finances the insurgent network while in exile in Jordan. Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Raghid on August 17, and for her role in financing the Iraqi insurgency, she has been placed on the list of America's 41 most wanted. Iraqi Army Scouts also captured a cell leader responsible for several assassination attempts, including the 2004 assassination of the governor of Ninewa province.

Diyala

U.S. and Iraqi forces maintain the pressure in Diyala province after successive U.S. and Iraqi offensives in Baqubah and the northern Diyala River Valley cleared al Qaeda from the region. The latest operation occurred in Khalis, where a joint U.S. and Iraqi Army air assault resulted in 33 al Qaeda operatives killed and three captured during a series of firefights and helicopter strikes in the city. Voices of Iraq reported that the bodies of an additional 11 al Qaeda fighters were found after the operation.

As U.S. and Iraqi forces operate in Baqubah and the north, al Qaeda in Iraq has struck in the south and east. Al Qaeda operatives dressed as Iraqi soldiers set up fake checkpoints and kidnapped nine civilians in Muqdadiyah. The government has imposed an indefinite curfew in the district while implementing a "new security plan." The city has been hit with a string of suicide attacks and assassinations.

Al Qaeda and Special Groups

The special operations forces raids against al Qaeda's network continue and a significant number of al Qaeda operatives are being killed in the latest round. Eight al Qaeda operatives were killed and 11 captured during raids in Kirkuk, Tikrit, and Baghdad on August 28. Nineteen al Qaeda were killed and 22 captured during raids in Baghdad, Salman Pak, Kirkuk, Ba’ajah, Muqdadiyah, Hawija, and Taji on August 26 and 27. A suicide bomber coordinator, a cell in the Arab Jabour region, an administrative emir, and a foreign terrorist facilitator were among those killed or captured. On August 25, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed three al Qaeda operatives and captured eight during raids in Husaybah, Kut, and Baghdad.

The raids against Iran's proxy terror groups continue as well. On August 27, Coalition forces captured eight members of the Iranian-backed special groups terror cells during a raid Baghdad's Sadr City. The main target of the raid, a "Special Groups senior level facilitator with possible Iranian connections," was captured along with seven suspected cell members. On August 28, Iraqi and US forces captured a weapons distributor who is connected to the special groups network and who has "direct ties to other senior commanders in militias operating in and around Baghdad."

Al Qaeda in Iraq has ramped up its attacks against Iraqi civilians and Iraqi and U.S. security forces over the past 48 hours. The effort demonstrates that al Qaeda in Iraq still possesses the capacity to launch a counteroffensive to the ongoing U.S. and Iraqi operations and is seeking to influence the upcoming debate in the U.S. Al Qaeda in Iraq has launched its version of the Tet Offensive.

Over the past several days, al Qaeda in Iraq conducted five high-profile attacks against Iraqi and U.S. targets. Four out of five of the attacks occurred outside of Baghdad--two in Diyala province, two in Salahadin province. Three of the attacks were conducted with suicide bombers, the other two attacks were conducted as infantry-type assaults.

Diyala

Just as Coalition and Iraq forces wrapped up Operation Lightning Hammer in the Diyala River Valley north of Baqubah, al Qaeda in Iraq conducted two major strikes in the province on August 23: one south and one east of the provincial capital. The first attack, and infantry-style assault against two villages south of Baqubah, was the more sensational of the two.

Over 200 al Qaeda in Iraq fighters assaulted mosques and the homes of tribal sheikhs in the village of Kanan. "They blew up the mosque, then they bombed houses crowded with family members." Brig. Gen. Ali Dalayan, the police chief of Baqubah told AFP. Al Qaeda targeted the tribal sheikhs recently pledged to fight the terror group. Twenty-three people were killed during the battle, including one of the sheikhs, several of his sons, and a policeman, AFP reported. "The attackers however managed to abduct 15 people, eight women and seven children." Twenty-two al Qaeda fighters were later detained south of Kanan.

Multinational Forces Iraq stated 10 civilians were killed and eleven wounded. "An unknown number of terrorists were killed, said Sheik Thar al-Karki, the paramount sheik for the Karki tribe, stating they could not determine the number because AQI members load the bodies in vehicles during attacks."

The 1920s Revolution Brigades--a Sunni insurgent group who turned on al Qaeda--backed Iraqi police in the battle against al Qaeda in Kanan. The 1920s Revolution Brigades has battled al Qaeda in Iraq several times in Diyala province over the past year.

In Muqdadiyah, east of Baqubah, an al Qaeda suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck a police convoy as it patrolled a market in the city. At least 38 police and civilians were wounded in the attack. U.S. and Iraq forces have yet to move against al Qaeda in Iraq in force in the Muqdadiyah and in other areas such as Balad Ruz, and al Qaeda is exploiting these gaps in security.

As Coalition and Iraq troops continue the hunt for al Qaeda throughout Iraq, a senior Baathist who years ago threw in his lot with al Qaeda has flipped. Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former vice president of Saddam's revolutionary council and number 6 on the "deck of cards" of the 55 most wanted, has "decided to sever ties with al-Qaeda and sign up to the programme of the national resistance, which includes routing Islamist terrorists and opening up dialogue with the Baghdad government and foreign forces," Abu Wisam al-Jashaami told Adnkronos International. "In return, for cooperating in the fight against al-Qaeda, al-Douri has asked for guarantees over his men's safety and for an end to Iraqi army attacks on his militias."

Al Douri swore bayat (an oath of allegiance) to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq's former commander, sometime in early 2004 according to an Internet posting on a jihadist website intercepted by The SITE Institute. The bayat ceremony was described as follows:

The Mujahideen had made preparations to greet them until it was possible to bring them together with Zarqawi, and the "Heroes' meeting" took place ... In an atmosphere full of enthusiasm and high spirits for everybody, with the company of his three sons and a number of Mujahideen, Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri took off to meet with Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. At their arrival, the Mujahideen greeted them amidst calls of "Allah Akbar" (3 times) [God is Greater]. Then the sound of gunfire was heard as Zarqawi rushed out, surrounded by the Mujahideen, covered by the dust of their blessed journey," according to the network. It added that, at the sight of Zarqawi, Izzat Ibrahim shouted: "You are the commander and we are your soldiers." His son Ahmad handed him a copy of the Quran. His father took it, placed his hand and the hands of his sons on it, and they made an oath to God, pledging allegiance to Zarqawi in the Jihad until victory or martyrdom, in good and bad times."

Al Douri maintained the Baath Party was still in operation and criticized al Qaeda in Iraq and the Zarqawi's tactics of creating sectarian strife in an email interview with Time in 2006. "I participate with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in his belief in faith and the unity of God, but I differ from him fundamentally in the style, method, and path through which he expresses his faith," al Douri said to Time. "I harbor great respect and appreciation for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and I rejoice in his courage, the strength of his faith, and the sacrifices of his fighters, [but] I call on him and his fighters to direct their jihadist struggle against the enemy that has invaded the land of Arabdom and Islam. Let none of us be drawn into the occupying enemy's game of igniting hateful sectarianism."

While it is unclear how much influence al Douri possesses with former Baathists turned al Qaeda, or how much of Saddam's money he controls, his turn against al Qaeda serves as an indicator of how actors in the insurgency view the situation on the ground. Al Douri clearly sees that the Coalition and Iraqi government have momentum against the insurgency and al Qaeda.

Reconciliation with the likes of al Douri will be difficult, if not impossible. He was just placed at the top of the list of the Iraqi government's most wanted individuals. Al Douri was viewed by some to be Saddam's successor, and he was a ruthless operative directly responsible for the murder of Shia and Kurds during Saddam's rule. His submission to al Qaeda only compounds his past crimes. The Iraqi government will find it almost impossible to reach some sort of agreement with al Douri but must work hard to split any remaining al Douri-led factions from al Qaeda in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and Coalition forces maintain the relentless pressure against al Qaeda in Iraq's network. A raid targeting al Qaeda-allied terrorist networks in the Owesat and Fetoah areas on August 20 resulted in the capture of 13 suspected terrorists. Twenty-four al Qaeda operatives were captured during raids in Samarra, Tikrit, Baghdad, Bayji, and in Anbar province on August 21 and 22. Another five al Qaeda operatives were killed and 11 captured during operations in Baqubah, Mosul, and Tikrit on August 22.

Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army militia, has been on the defensive over two recent reports in the media. Just one day after Britain's Independent published excerpts of an interview with Sadr, Sheikh Ahmed al-Shibani, Sadr's spokesman in Najaf, claimed the interview never happened.

"The interview published by the paper was fabricated and groundless. His Eminence (Sadr) has never granted this paper any interviews," Shibani told Voices of Iraq, an independent news outlet, in a telephone interview. "We will sue any newspaper, TV station or web site that publishes fabricated news about His Eminence Muqtada al-Sadr or his office," Shibani said.

In the interview, Sadr admitted his close ties with Hezbollah, which include military training and the sharing of tactics. Several members of the Mahdi Army also admitted to training with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

On the same day, Sadr's aides issued a statement denying the assassination of two southern governors. On August 20, a roadside bomb killed Mohammed Ali al-Hassani, the governor of Muthanna province, along with a bodyguard as they drove to the provincial capital of Samawa. Two bodyguards were wounded. On August 12, Khalil Jalil Hamza, the governor of Qadisiyah province, and his newly appointed provincial police chief Khalid Hassan were killed in a bombing along with three security guards as they returned from a funeral in a nearby town. Governor Hamza was a member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, while Police Chief Hassan "was considered a political independent."

Iraqi police said Sadr's Mahdi Army was behind the murder of the governor of Muthanna province, while suspicion has remained of the Mahdi Army's involvement in the murder of the governor of Qadisiyah province.

Sadr's Mahdi Army has fought pitched battles against Iraqi security forces and Multinational Forces Iraq elements in both provinces. Iraqi and Coalition forces have targeted Mahdi Army cells in Samawa and Diwaniyah, and elsewhere throughout the Shia South.

The murder of the two governors and the clashes between the government and Mahdi Army fighters highlights the splits within the Shia community, which, like the Sunni community, is often portrayed as a single political entity. While Sadr portrays himself and his movement as nationalists, his involvement with Iran's Qods Force and Hezbollah, and the Mahdi Army's attacks on government forces and Iraqi civilians, have tarnished this image.

The Mahdi Army has split into factions described as the "noble Mahdi Army," which has cooperated with government and Multinational Forces Iraq Security Forces, and the "rogue Mahdi Army," which receives support from Iran.

Iraqi Security Forces and Multinational Forces Iraq are pressing hard with Operation Phantom Strike, targeting al Qaeda in Iraq, the Shia terror cells of the Special Groups, and "rogue" elements of the Mahdi Army throughout Iraq. Over the past 24 hours, U.S. and Iraq security forces conducted multiple major raids, with scores of al Qaeda, Mahdi Army, and Special Groups operatives killed or captured.

U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted two major raids against the Iranian-backed Shia terror groups on August 19. Special Operations Forces captured a leader of the Iranian-backed Special Groups who also smuggles weapons, including armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators, from Iran into Iraq. While conducting the raids near Qasirin, which is north of Baghdad, Coalition forces killed eight members of a Special Groups security team and captured two others.

Iraqi Special Forces, backed by U.S. Special Forces advisers, killed 17 members of the Mahdi Army during two separate operations in Baghdad. Six members of the Mahdi Army were also captured during the operations against the Mahdi army cells, which were involved in IED attacks and extra judicial killings.

As the Iranian-backed Shia cells are targeted, U.S. and Iraqi forces are heavily targeting al Qaeda's network. On August 17, Iraqi Army soldiers, backed by U.S. Special Forces advisers, captured 31 suspected al Qaeda in Iraq operatives while conducting a meeting in Sayafiyah. The al Qaeda cell is believed to be behind IED attacks, weapons smuggling and extra judicial killings in the region. U.S. forces launched Operation Marne Husky on August 17 in the Sayafiyah region.

Three al Qaeda operatives were killed and 28 captured during raids against al Qaeda's network in Baghdad, Hawijah, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Bayji on August 18 and 19. Also, in Baghdad on August 19, the local neighborhood watch in the Mechaniks area of the Rashid District captured 11 suspected al Qaeda operatives and turned them over to U.S. forces operating in the area.

2nd Lt. Jacob Becker observes the streets of
Al Furat, Iraq, Aug. 9 for insurgent activity.

Al Qaeda in Iraq continues to face opposition from Sunni insurgent groups. In the Buhriz district in Diyala province, the 1920s Revolution Brigades assisted Iraqi police in fending off an attack of upwards of 60 al Qaeda fighters. Multinational Forces Iraq identified the Sunni insurgents as the "Baqubah Guardians," however IraqSlogger reported that the al-Ishreen Revolution Brigades (1920s Revolution Brigades) had engaged in the fight. Multinational Forces Iraq described the fighting, and notes the coordination between the insurgent group, the local police and U.S. attack helicopters:

In an unprecedented combined action in Diyala Province, Iraqi police and citizen volunteers defeated a coordinated attack of approximately 40-60 al-Qaeda terrorists in the southern Burhitz area of Baqubah, Wednesday, and killed an estimated 21 insurgents, wounding more.

As the terrorists entered the city of Burhitz, a group of concerned local citizens, called ‘Baqubah Guardians,’ and IPs stationed in Burhitz engaged the first wave of attackers, killing seven. At least two suicide bombers were killed before they reached their intended targets, with the bomb vests detonating prematurely.

The IP notified the Provincial Joint Coordination Center and requested Coalition Force attack helicopter support after the first engagement. Attack helicopters arrived and engaged another large group of heavily armed fighters staging near the first attack site, killing or wounding an estimated 14 terrorists.

The 1920s Revolution Brigades previously drove al Qaeda in Iraq out of Buhriz, with the help of U.S. forces. The battles between the 1920s Revolution Brigades and al Qaeda began in April. The Anbar Salvation Council, through its ties to the 1920s Revolution Brigades, helped organize the anti-al Qaeda resistance in Buhriz. As these groups work with the U.S. and Iraqi security forces, they are being integrated as local police or as provincial security forces.

The degree to which Sunni insurgent groups have turned against al Qaeda and are now working with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces is an underreported story. Approximately 25,000 Sunni insurgents from groups such as the 1920s Revolution Brigades, the Jaysh Mohammed, and the Islamic Army of Iraq have turned against al Qaeda at the behest of their tribal leaders. "Tribe members and others who agree to support Iraq's government have to sign a pledge form and consent to biometric scans of their fingerprints and retinas so their data can be kept on file," USA Today reported on August 6. "They are also vetted by the Iraqi government."

The strategy of turning the tribes and insurgent groups against al Qaeda has been successful in Anbar and is now being applied inside Baghdad, Diyala, Salahadin, Ninewa and Babil provinces. This is reconciliation at the micro level. Al Qaeda is threatened by this development and is actively targeting members of the groups that have turned on them.

Al Qaeda in Iraq's heinous multiple suicide bombing of a Yazidi villages near Singar in Ninewa province on Tuesday is the single greatest mass casualty strike since the war began. The initial reports of 175 killed have climbed to at least 400 killed, with the Kuwaiti News Agency reporting over 500 killed and 375 wounded.

Col. Stephen Twitty, commander, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division warns that it is too soon to know the death toll. “So far the accounting of casualties has been very speculative,” said Col Twitty. “The villagers and rescue workers are still trying to find those missing; and their efforts, and those of the local, provincial and central government leadership, along with the ISF here, have been tremendous." Multinational Forces Iraq estimates are 275 killed and 400 wounded.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces are pushing forward on two fronts against al Qaeda in Iraq and the Shia terror groups. In the regions north and east of Baqubah in Diyala province, Operation Lightning Hammer is in its third day. Nationwide, U.S. and Iraqi security forces continue intelligence-driven operations against rogue elements of the Mahdi Army, the Iranian-backed Special Groups cells, and al Qaeda. Meanwhile, al Qaeda in Iraq pulled off one of the biggest attacks in the war after four suicide bombers murdered upwards of 200 civilians in a small village in northwestern Iraq.

Lightning Hammer

Operation Lightning Hammer, the follow-on operation to Arrowhead Ripper, has been underway since August 13. The operation is targeting specific al Qaeda strongholds in the Diyala River Valley north and east of Baghdad. About 10,000 U.S. troops, including "special operational elements from the Army, Marines and Air Force," and 6,000 Iraqi security forces are involved in the operation. Over 200 al Qaeda fighters are estimated to be in the target areas.

The offensive began with an artillery barrage and air strikes, followed by multiple air assaults against "carefully selected targets." Les Neuhaus, who is embedded with U.S. forces in Diyala, reports on Lightning Hammer:

Right now we already have the objectives isolated,” Col. David Sutherland, U.S. commander of security forces in Diyala, told Stars and Stripes late Monday night before helicopters lifted soldiers to the cities of Abu Karmah and al Mukhaysah. “The goal is to expand the clearance of Baqubah to get the provincial and local-level governments up and going.”

Sutherland said efforts since Operation Arrowhead Ripper, carried out in June and July, were meant to force elements of al Qaida in Iraq who weren’t captured or killed during the mission to flee east of the city, trapping them in anticipation of Lightning Hammer.

U.S. forces are also operating in the Hamrin Lake region. U.S. troops "defeated several ineffective small arms attacks, killing three al Qaeda gunmen, detaining eight, and uncovering a weapons cache, numerous IEDs and a booby-trapped house."

Yesterday, Multinational Forces Iraq announced the start of two major operations--Phantom Strike and Lightning Hammer. Operation Phantom Strike “consists of simultaneous operations throughout Iraq focused on pursuing remaining AQI terrorists and Iranian-supported extremist elements,” while Operation Lightning Hammer is directed at al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups that escaped Baqubah and are organizing north of the city in the Diyala River Valley. These operations are the continuation of the Baghdad Security Plan and Phantom Thunder, the operations in Baghdad and the Belts that established a security presence in areas from which Iraqi and Coalition forces were absent throughout 2006.

Firing teams "Gunny" and "Storm" from the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field
Artillery, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division fire an
M109A6 Paladin, a self-propelled howitzer, into the Diyala River Valley
in support of Operation Lightning Hammer.

In a response to Lightning Hammer, al Qaeda in Iraq is attempting to disrupt Coalition supply lines. A suicide bomber detonated a fuel tanker on the Thiraa Dijla Bridge in Taji. At least ten civilians were killed and six wounded in the attack, with an unknown number of people missing in the water. The bridge, which was heavily damaged, spans a canal and serves as a vital link from Taji to Diyala province, as well as from Baghdad to Mosul. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been using Taji as a staging point.

While the full scope of Lightning Hammer, which consists of elements of two Iraqi divisions, four U.S. infantry brigades and a U.S. combat air brigade, has yet to be determined, the operations against al Qaeda and the Shia terror cells have picked up the pace over the past week.

Attacking the Iranian-Backed Shia terror cells

The announcement for Operation Phantom Strike made clear that the Iranian-backed elements of the Mahdi Army, as well as the Qods Force-created Special Groups terror cells, are major targets. Since the announcement of Phantom Strike, Iraqi and U.S. troops have hit these Iranian-backed groups especially hard in Baghdad and Najaf, the two strongholds of Muqtada al Sadr and his Mahdi Army.

Coalition forces killed four "rogue Jaysh-al-Mahdi" (Mahdi Army) operatives and captured eight more during a raid inside Sadr City. Multinational Forces Iraq has made its position explicit--killing Mahdi fighters is as good as capturing them. "The purpose of the raid was to capture or kill an extremist militant and his operatives," the press release stated. The cell has attacked both Coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. "These militants are also known to have ties to illicit materials smuggled from Iran that have been used in extra-judicial killings." No Coalition forces were killed or wounded during the attack, despite taking small arms fire and being on the receiving end of two IEDs.

On August 13, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured 12 Mahdi Army operatives during "synchronized intelligence driven operations" in Baghdad. Iraqi troops captured a brigade commander, battalion commander, two company commanders and one leader of an extra-judicial killing cell, along with seven other Mahdi operatives. "The brigade commander is responsible for five groups under his control," Multinational Forces Iraq stated. "Reports indicate that he transports IEDs from Iran into Iraq and recently ordered an IED attack that caused the death of two U.S. Soldiers. The suspect also reportedly ordered his JAM members to set up illegal checkpoints to hunt down and assassinate Sunni citizens." Also on August 13, Coalition forces captured "a key financier of Special Groups terrorists" during a raid in the Bayaa district in Western Baghdad.

On August 12, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Special Operations Forces conducted a series of raids in Najaf and Baghdad. The Najaf raid, led by the 8th Iraqi Army Division and U.S. Special Forces, resulted in the capture of a "a high-value rogue Jaysh al-Mahdi special groups facilitator." The facilitator "operates the Amin Allah Cultural and Humanitarian Establishment in An Najaf and allegedly funnels humanitarian funds through the establishment in order to coordinate rogue JAM activities," and used the money "for recruiting foreign fighters, training rogue JAM operatives in lethal attack tactics and trafficking illegal weapons from Iran." He has organized over 200 Mahdi fighters, and is believed to be behind the assassination of several government officials, including the Kufa police chief in 2004. The raid in Baghdad resulted in the capture of a Mahdi Army platoon leader and five cell members.

Attacking Al Qaeda in Iraq

As the Shia terror cells are targeted, Coalition and Iraqi security forces maintain the pressure on al Qaeda's network throughout Iraq. Seventeen al Qaeda operatives were captured during raids in Tikrit and Mosul on August 12 and 13. An al Qaeda in Iraq medical doctor who also provided logistical support to the terrorists was captured in Baghdad on August 12. Iraqi and U.S. soldiers rescued six hostages and captured five al Qaeda operatives during a raid on an "al Qaeda prison" in Mosul on August 13. Sixteen more al Qaeda operatives were captured during raids in Baqubah, Taji, western Baghdad, and Balad on August 14.

The aggressive pace of operations since January has resulted in an explosion in the prison population. There are currently 42,000 detainees in Iraqi and Multinational Forces Iraq custody. Of those detained, 2,760 are foreigner fighters as of August 8. This number includes over 800 Iranians.

Diyala province, once the stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq, remains a major focus of Operation Phantom Thunder, the overarching security operation to eject al Qaeda from the Baghdad Belts. As operations in Baqubah, once the capital of al Qaeda in Iraq's puppet state, have "shifted from combat operations to reconstruction and humanitarian missions," offensives in the outlying areas of the provincial capitol have increased.

U.S. Marines cross the Pegasus Bridge. Photo: Sgt. Andy Hurt.

Iraqi and Coalition forces have recently shifted combat operations to the cities and towns north and east of the city. On August 8, a joint US and Iraqi force cleared al Qaeda from the town of Abu Tina, which is about 10 miles northeast of Baqubah. Two al Qaeda fighters were killed and four captured during the operation.

The operation in Abu Tina followed recent operations to the north and east. On August 4, an offensive in the Had-Muaskar area north of Baqubah resulted in five al Qaeda killed and ten captured. At the end of July, a two day operation in Miqdadiyah resulted in seven insurgents killed and one captured, while an operation to secure the Turki village resulted in eleven insurgents killed and 13 more captured. These operations appear to be shaping operations designed to keep al Qaeda off balance and prepare the cities and towns for the hold phase.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda is attempting to push back in Diyala. In an outdoor market in Baqubah, Iraqi police captured a suicide bomber before he could detonate, and insurgents fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at an Iraqi Army checkpoint in the town of Jwamir near the Iranian border. Al Qaeda in Iraq has conducted a series of violent attacks against civilian and military targets along the Iranian border since the United States began beefing up forces in the province.

Further north in Tamim province, an Iraqi Army and police force backed by U.S. troops launched an operation about 40 miles southwest of the provincial capital of Kirkuk. Twenty insurgents were captured in the operation. A suicide bomber killed five civilians and wounded 29 in an attack on a market in Kirkuk. Insurgents reportedly destroyed a bridge linking Salahadin and Kirkuk on August 9. While this bridge bombing has not been claimed, al Qaeda has destroyed a series of bridges stretching from south of Baghdad to north of Tikrit, and along the Euphrates River in Anbar province.

U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to press operations against al Qaeda in Iraq's command and facilitation network. Coalition forces killed four al Qaeda operative and captured 43 during raids in Tarmiyah, Balad, Mosul, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Muqdadiyah on August 9 and 10. The al Qaeda operatives captured include the military leader in southern Tarmiyah, a car bomb maker in Mosul, and an emir in Kirkuk. The leader of a foreign al Qaeda cell was also killed during the raids. Iraqi security forces captured five al Qaeda operatives during raids near Sinjar on August 6 and 7.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have maintained a high attack tempo against the Iranian-backed elements of the "rogue" Mahdi Army. On August 8, the same day a raid in Sadr City resulted in the death of 30 members of the Iranian "Special Groups" and the capture of another 12, an Iraqi Army operation in the Baghdad neighborhood of Mahmudiyah resulted in the capture of five Mahdi operatives, including a cell commander, a weapons trafficker, an IED cell leader, and a death squad commander.

Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist movement, is still believed to be in Iran, Col. John Castles told reporters during a briefing in Baghdad. Col. Castles commanders the US military forces in Sadr City. Sadr is believed to have left for Iran in the beginning of July, after returning from a prior four month stint there from January to May in self-imposed exile.

Sgt. Christopher Burke provides security during
a patrol in the Rusafa area of Baghdad.

While the U.S. conducted a major strike against the Iranian-backed Special Groups terror cells in Baghdad's Sadr City, resulting in 30 Shia terrorists killed and two captured, the relentless operations against al Qaeda in Iraq's network continue in parallel throughout Iraq. Operations are ongoing in Baghdad and the Belts, and the bulk of operations are occurring against al Qaeda's network in Northern Iraq, Salahadin, Diyala, and Eastern Anbar provinces.

Raids against al Qaeda's network on August 6, 7, and 8 resulted in the death of 19 operatives and the capture of 44. Included in those captured is the al Qaeda in Iraq military emir of Samarra, a Mosul-based emir who assists with terrorist operations in Kirkuk, a battalion commander of a fighter network in Salahadin, and a cell leader in a Baghdad’s VBIED network. The al Qaeda in Iraq emir of the northern belts around Baghdad, along with five operatives, was killed in an airstrike near Tarmiyah.

On August 5, Coalition forces killed four al Qaeda operatives and captured seven during raids in Balad, Samarra, and Fallujah. On August 4, Iraqi Army Forces and U.S. Special Operations Forces captured five insurgents who were behind IED attacks in the Thar Thar region. A senior member of an al Qaeda in Iraq beheading and torture cell in Karmah was also captured near Fallujah on August 4. On August 3, Iraqi Security Forces captured the al Qaeda in Iraq Emir in Samarra, along with his assistant. Also on August 3, Iraqi and U.S. forces captured two members of an al Qaeda IED cell near Taji and three members of an al Qaeda cell responsible for facilitating Iraqi insurgents and foreign fighters in the Qaim region in Western Iraq.

In Diyala province, the operations against al Qaeda and its insurgent allies have reached far past Baqubah, the initial focus of operations in the province. The Kuwaiti News Agency reported that a new offensive against al Qaeda was kicked off on August 4 "in the area extending from Had-Muaskar area to north Baqubah." This is a region believed to be infested with al Qaeda fighters. Five al Qaeda were killed and ten captured, KUNA reported.

Meanwhile, Voices of Iraq reported a key al Qaeda leader and 36 operatives were captured in Diyala. The 36 operatives were captured in northern and eastern Baqubah, while Majid Rashid Jawad al-Timimi, a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq in eastern Diyala, was captured in the town of Jalawla. Sheikh Abu Uthman al-Timimi is listed as the Minster of Sharia Affairs for the Islamic State of Iraq, but it is not clear if they are related.

The Iraqi soccer team gave the nation a reason to celebrate on Sunday with a victory over Saudi Arabia in the Asia Cup final. There were no major attacks reported during Sunday celebrations, and Iraqi Security Forces killed a suicide bomber and defused another car bomb in Baghdad. Last week's victory in the semifinals was followed by two brutal attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq against civilians celebrating in the streets; over fifty were killed and 130 wounded in twin suicide car bomb attacks. The Iraqi security forces in Baghdad learned the lessons from last week's attacks, and a traffic ban was instituted on Sunday prior to the game's conclusion.

The marketplace in Adhamiya, July 30, 2007.

As Operation Phantom Thunder and the Baghdad Security Plan progress in Baghdad and the Belts, much anecdotal evidence indicates that the surge is having the desired effect--at least in the security sphere. The civilian death rate has been reduced by 36 percent since May, and U.S. combat deaths have dropped to an eight month low. While U.S. combat casualties are not a good indicator of success, they are significant in this instance as there are more troops in Iraq than there have been for the past two years, and U.S. forces are now operating outside their bases and are conducting major combat operations in al Qaeda, Mahdi Army, and insurgent strongholds.

Anbar, Diyala, and Babil

While Multinational Forces West launched a major operation in the Thar Thar and Karma regions in eastern Anbar province, another major operation was launched in the far west. Operation Mawtini was launched on July 26 in the town of Kubaysah near Hit. U.S. and Iraqi forces bermed the city and are now conducting clearing operations. To date, the operation has resulted in the capture of 124 suspected insurgents and the discovery of 38 weapons caches.

In the city of Husaybah in the Al Qaim region on the Syrian border, Iraqi police captured two al Qaeda operatives. One was a cell leader who "runs al Qaeda in Iraq activities in Husaybuh [and] is purportedly involved in the planning of future large scale attacks against Coalition Forces in the western Euphrates River valley." The other was a teacher who incited his students attack the Iraqi security forces. Further east in Habbaniyah, the Iraqi Army captured two insurgents responsible for a series of IED and small arms attacks and kidnappings. The two were also financing and providing intelligence for other insurgents in the area.

In Diyala province, Coalition and Iraqi operations continue to expand outward from the provincial capital of Baqubah, which has been the main focus of Operation Arrowhead Ripper. A two day operation in Miqdadiyah on July 25 and 26 resulted in seven insurgents killed and one captured. Another operation on July 26 to secure the Turki village resulted in eleven insurgents killed and 13 more captured. Al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents struck back in Baqubah, where car bombs killed three civilians and wounded 25 as they lined up to collect food rations. Insurgents also destroyed the tomb of the Prophet Daniel in the village of Wajihiya near Miqdadiyah.

After a several week lull in major mass casualty suicide attack inside Baghdad, al Qaeda in Iraq struck three times against Iraqi civilians over the past 24 hours. Yesterday's attacks occurred during the celebration of the Iraqi soccer team's victory at the Asia Games, which advanced the club to the finals.

Iraqis celebrate their soccer team's victory over South Korea.
REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud.

Two suicide bombers, sitting in parked cars, struck within a half hour of each other. At least 50 Iraqis were killed and 130 wounded in the dual attacks in the Mansour district in the west and the Ghadeer neighborhood in the east. Today's car bomb attack in the eastern district of Karradah resulted in at least 20 Iraqi civilians killed and 60 wounded.

The attacks on the Iraqis celebrating the soccer victory are classic terrorist events. Al Qaeda piggybacked off of a rare moment of national unity and grabbed the media headlines by turning a positive story into one of despair. The two suicide bombers sat in parked cars, instead of detonating their bombs remotely. Al Qaeda wanted to put its signature on this attack. Also, al Qaeda in Iraq demonstrated that while its capacity for large strikes may have been diminished, it still possesses the ability to attack inside Baghdad.

Despite al Qaeda's successful attacks, the efforts to degrade al Qaeda in Iraq's command network, as well as the facilitators and IED cells continue. U.S. and Iraqi special operations forces captured 61 suspected al Qaeda in Iraq operatives during targeted raids nationwide over the past two days. Wednesday's raids in Mosul, Tarmiyah, Samarra, and Baghdad resulted 20 al Qaeda operatives detained, including the administrative emir for Mosul and a IED cell leader in Tarmiyah. Iraqi Special Operations Forces also captured a car bomb cell leader in the Jamia neighborhood in Baghdad. Today's raids in Tarmiyah, Taji, and Mosul resulted in 36 operatives detained.

Iraqi and U.S. forces maintain the pressure on the Shia terror cells as well. Two cell leaders were captured over the past several days. A raid near Hillah on July 23 resulted in the capture of the leader of the Mahdi Army "political wing in Al Imam responsible for emplacing improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators along supply routes targeting Iraqi and Coalition Forces."

A raid in southwestern Baghdad on July 25 resulted in the capture of a Mahdi Army cell commander "allegedly responsible for the death squad killings of more than 150 Sunni Arab Iraqis."

A Soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division and an Iraqi Soldier
prepare to clear a building in Arab Jabour, June 25.

The U.S. military and the Iraqi government continue to court the tribes in the provinces surrounding Baghdad. One day after the tribes in the city of Taji in Salahadin province pledged to fight al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army, a tribal meeting was held in the city of Khalis in Diyala province. Seventy-five tribal leaders gathered and vowed to fight al Qaeda in Iraq, its Islamic State front, and other insurgent groups. “Here, right now, I am denouncing the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Qaeda,” said one sheik in attendance.

As the tribes turn on al Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq, the targeted raids against al Qaeda in Iraq's network of facilitators, bomb makes and leadership cells continue. Today's raids by Coalition forces resulted in the capture of 20 al Qaeda operatives. A series of raids near Taji in Salahadin province resulted in 16 al Qaeda captured, including "a foreign terrorist suspected of involvement in the May 2007 Samarra suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack," while another four operatives were captured near Balad.

On July 23, Iraqi security forces struck an al Qaeda training facility and safe house at an old Iraqi military base near Karma in eastern Anbar province. The raid resulted in the death of an al Qaeda in Iraq cell leader and the capture of seven insurgents. Karma is one of the few remaining safe havens for al Qaeda in Anbar province.

Two more raids in the north in Niwena province resulted in the capture of six al Qaeda operatives on July 21 and 22. The July 21 operation in the village of Bazran in Mosul resulted in the capture of five suspected terrorists. The July 22 operation resulted in the capture of an IED and kidnapping financier. In both cases, the Iraqi Army worked with U.S. Special Forces.

On July 18, U.S. Special Forces worked with elements of the newly formed 11th Iraqi Army Division and captured two members of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq. The two insurgents are believed to have been behind a July 18 roadside bombing that killed U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter in eastern Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, U.S. troops killed three insurgents while they were emplacing a roadside bomb in the Rashid district on July 21. U.S. troops are currently in the process of clearing operations in the Rashid district. Also, U.S. forces captured seven insurgents during a raid in the eastern neighborhood of Zafaraniya.

North of Baghdad in the city of Husseiniyah, which straddles the highway between the capital and Baqubah, U.S. forces have cordoned the city, as the Mahdi Army has dug in to fight. While news accounts claim tensions rose after an airstrike over the weekend, Multinational Forces Iraq said the confrontation began on June 13, when al Qaeda attacked the Golden Mosque in Samarra and destroyed the minarets. The Mahdi Army then assembled earthen barriers to prevent Coalition forces from operating in the city. "The dirt mounds block access by [Coalition Forces] into Husseiniyah and interrupt continued assistance of policing, governance and essential services," according to the press release.

South of Baghdad, in the city of Hillah in Babil province, al Qaeda in Iraq conducted a successful suicide car bombing. A suicide bomber detonated his weapon outside of a children's hospital, killing at least 26 Iraqis and wounding over 69. Most of those killed and wounded were women and children, an Iraqi policeman told AFP.

As the Baghdad Security Plan and Operation Phantom Thunder have progressed, the vast majority of mass-casualty suicide attacks have occurred in the provinces. Most of the bombings in Baghdad over the past month have resulted in casualties in the single digits. Part of the goal of the Baghdad Security Plan is to reduce the major attacks in the capital, and the plan has succeeded in this respect thus far.

Operation Phantom Thunder and the Baghdad Security Plan continue to place pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq, allied Sunni insurgent groups, the Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Group. In Baghdad, junior al Qaeda in Iraq operatives are reportedly cooperating with Coalition forces and a series of car bombs hit a Shia area of the capital. In the Belts, U.S. and Iraqi forces maintain aggressive operations against al Qaeda and insurgent cells as both Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in and around Taji have banded together to fight the Mahdi Army and al Qaeda. Meanwhile, the U.S. captured two more members of the Special Groups and have indicated that Iran is now smuggling Chinese made weapons into Iraq.

A Soldier from the 1st Cavalry Division clears
an al Qaeda prison camp south of Baqubah, Iraq.

Baghdad

The London Times reported that junior al Qaeda in Iraq foot soldiers are turning on their leaders and acting as informants in the Baghdad district of Doura. "The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheiks have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement," the Times said. The low level operatives have become disgusted with al Qaeda's tactics of brutality.

A series of four bombings over the past two days resulted in 14 killed and 37 wounded. Sunday's attack near the al-Khilani square in central Baghdad consisted of a motorcycle bomb; two were killed and 18 wounded in the strike. Three car bombs ripped through Shia neighborhood in Karradah. One bomb was aimed at a police patrol and another hit an outdoor market. Twelve were killed and 19 wounded in the attacks.

Salahadin

U.S. forces continue the process of turning tribal leaders and Sunni insurgent groups against al Qaeda in Iraq. The latest success came in Salahadin province, where 25 Sunni and Shia tribes in and around the city of Taji banded together to fight both al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army. Taji is just 12 miles north of Baghdad and sits along the strategic supply lines to the northern provinces.

Salahadin tribes formed the Salahadin Awakening in late May, and al Qaeda in Iraq has targeted the group in an effort to destroy disrupt its activities. Yesterday, five senior tribal leaders were killed and 12 wounded when a suicide bomber penetrated a meeting of the Taji council. The Mahdi Army has attacked family members of the group as well.

Iraqi army forces are targeting al Qaeda's network in the Taji region. Iraqi troops conducted an air assault northwest of Taji on July 20. The target was "a suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq leader suspected of numerous crimes including a recent attack that destroyed a bridge on a primary Iraqi transportation route" in the Habbaniyah area in Anbar province.

"He is also allegedly responsible for facilitating foreign fighters and the planning and execution of multiple improvised explosive device attacks in Ramadi and other areas. The insurgent leader and his cell are also suspected of murdering and intimidating Iraqi citizens, conducting oil smuggling operations, and committing a string of highway robberies in an effort to fund al Qaeda activities."

U.S. soldiers also freed three Iraqis being held hostage at an insurgent safe house south of Samarra. Four insurgents were captured during the raid.

Diyala, Babil and Anbar

Operations against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups are ongoing in the belts of Diyala, Northern Babil and Anbar province. In the city of Miqdadiyah in Diyala, Coalition forces killed nine insurgents and captured eight during a series of raids and patrols. An insurgent safe house and several weapons caches were also found in the region.

Iraqi and Coalition forces remain on the offensive in the Baghdad Belts of Eastern Anbar province, Northern Babil and Diyala, as the bulk of the major suicide and bombing attacks have shifted to the northern regions of Iraq. Kirkuk has seen a massive suicide attack over the past week, while insurgents targeted two bridges in western Anbar province, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched a multi-brigade sized operation.

Diyala

Operation Arrowhead Ripper in the provincial capital of Baqubah has now expanded into the eastern sector of the city, called Old Baqubah. The eastern portion of Baqubah has been cordoned, and Iraqi and U.S. forces are conducting "a deliberate, house-to-house search there for al-Qaida operatives." Multinational Forces Iraq reported that 67 insurgents have been killed, 253 captured and 151 improvised explosive devices and 24 booby-trapped buildings have been dismantled. Iraq's Ministry of Defense reported 67 insurgents have been killed and 50 captured during ongoing operations throughout Diyala province.

Al Qaeda continues to strike in the rural regions of Baqubah. On July 17, an assault on the town of Duwailiyah resulted in 29 civilians killed and four wounded. Al Qaeda fighters attacked while wearing military styled uniforms, and killed women and children. Several Kurdish villages along the Iranian border have been hit in similar assaults over the past month, and al Qaeda has conducted mass casualty suicide attacks in an effort to stir up sectarian violence. Elements of the Kurdish Regional Guards, which are the Kurdish provincial security forces, are deploying to the northern regions of Diyala in an attempt to curb attacks in the area.

North

The provinces of Salahadin, Tamin and Niwena have seen an increase in activity since the launch of the Baghdad Security Plan and Operation Phantom Thunder in the Belts. Al Qaeda and allied insurgent groups are believed to be stepping up operations in the region as their traditional safe havens in Baghdad and the Belts are under assault.

In the wake of a mass casualty suicide attack in the city of Kirkuk which killed over 80 and wounded hundreds, Iraqi and U.S. security forces have launched operations in the north. On July 17, Iraqi police arrested 28 suspects in southern and eastern Kirkuk. Twenty-one of those arrested are said to have come from outside the province.

Al Qaeda's network in Mosul has received special attention from Iraqi and Coalition forces of late. Khalid Al Mashadani, the senior-most Iraqi leader in al Qaeda and the founder of the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's political front, was arrested in Mosul on July 4. On July 17, Coalition forces captured three more al Qaeda operatives in Mosul, one "who is believed to have been promoted within the organization after recent Coalition operations created numerous vacancies in the terrorist leadership structure."

Soldiers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment look
for weapons caches in Sumalot, Iraq.

Iraqi and U.S. forces have launched a multi-brigade operation south of Baghdad as the pursuit of al Qaeda in Iraq continues in Diyala and the north. Al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups conducted multiple mass casualty attacks in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing over 80 and wounding upwards of 200. Meanwhile, Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to hunt the deadly "Special Group" cells associated with Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Babil

Coalition and Iraqi forces have launched a major offensive in the town of Jurf al-Sakhr and a region known as the Fish Farms near Iskandariyah in northern Babil province. Operation Marne Avalanche is a multi-brigade operation of about 5,000 U.S. and 3,500 Iraqi troops. "The area is one of the most politically and tactically complicated in Iraq," Stars & Stripes reported. "It straddles the Shiite-Sunni fault line south of Baghdad."

The purpose of Marne Avalanche is to clear the region of insurgents, prevent the flow of weapons into Baghdad, and restore the security forces in the region. Past attempts to secure this region failed as police stations were hit with suicide attacks.

"Marne Avalanche will build on the successes of Task Force Marne’s offensive operation, Marne Torch, which began June 1 and is ongoing," Multinational Forces Iraq stated in a press release. "To date, Operation Marne Torch resulted in 1,152 structures cleared, 83 insurgents killed, 278 insurgents detained, 51 caches found, 51 boats destroyed and 872 citizens entered in a biometric identification system."

In nearby Lutifiyah, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers captured 46 men "suspected of involvement with al Qaeda affiliated terror networks" during an air assault on July 12. "The combined air assault detained 29 men on the Iraqi army’s list of persons of interest, and 14 others who were identified by sources as terrorists." Also, in Qarghuli Village, an Iraqi resident led U.S. troops to two weapons caches. Three U.S. troops were captured near Qarghuli in May 2007, and two are still missing.

The North

As the operations in Baghdad and the Belts intensify, suicide attacks in the north have increased. Today, a triple bombing in the flashpoint city of Kirkuk resulted in over 80 killed and 180 wounded. The majority of those killed and wounded were victims of a large suicide truck bomb. The suicide bomber targeted the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of President Jalal Talabani.

Today's attacks in Kirkuk are the latest in a series of strikes against Shia and Kurdish villages and cities in Tanim, Salahadin, and Diyala provinces. Al Qaeda was thought to have established bases in the Hamrin mountains as early as April 2007, and reports that former al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi hid in these mountains surfaced as early as February 2006.

While the big story on Iraq actually occurred in Washington with the release of the Initial Benchmark Assessment Report, which assessed the progress of the Iraqi government as the Baghdad Security Plan, Iraqi and U.S. security forces pressed al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army on all fronts.

US soldiers walk past an Iraqi boy as they patrol
in central Baghdad, 10 July 2007. AFP/File/Ali Yussef

Mahdi Army

U.S. and Iraqi security forces continue the daily raids and operations designed to degrade the Mahdi Army. A two day operation in Diwaniyah in the south resulted in eight Mahdi Army fighters killed, four captured and 30 wounded. In Baghdad, Coalition forces captured two members of "the Special Groups affiliated with Jaysh al-Mahdi" and Iran.

"Coalition Forces conducted the raid to capture or kill terrorists who allegedly specialize in kidnapping, killing and building and placing improvised explosive devices," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "Intelligence reports indicate that the suspected terrorists targeted during the raid are associated with key leaders in the secret cell terrorist network and have ties to Iranian terrorists groups."

Baghdad

Disruption and clearing operation are still underway in the Rashid district, arguably one of the most dangerous districts in Baghdad. U.S. forces captured 101 insurgents, including al Qaeda and Mahdi Army members, and found 237 weapons caches during a ten-day operation. In a separate operation in Rashid, U.S. soldiers captured 31 suspected al Qaeda fighters during a raid on a meeting.

Diyala

In Diyala, Iraqi Army and Police captured ten suspects believed to be "responsible for providing a safe haven to al-Qaeda in Iraq" in the city of Muqdadiyah. Iraqi forces also found IED materials and land mines. In Baqubah, tribal leaders from the Ubaidi and Anbakia tribes signed a peace agreement, putting an end to decades of feuds and vowing to "stand together against al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations."

The North

Iraqi security forces were on the offensive in the north, where al Qaeda and its allies are attempting to regroup. Iraqi soldiers found a bomb factory in Mosul, and arrested 18 suspects and killed three others in a firefight. In Kirkuk, Iraqi police capture eight wanted suspects, and detained 32 suspected insurgents during a series of raids throughout the city.

Babil

Coalition and Iraqi forces maintain the effort to disrupt IED and mortar cells in northern Babil. U.S. troops captured the leader of a rocket and IED cell in Tunis on July 7. Another leader of a rocket and IED cell was captured in Iskandariyah on July 9. U.S. forces conducted an air assault in the Jurf As Sukr northwest of Iskandariyah. The targets were "members of an Al Qaeda cell wanted in connection with the kidnapping of three American Soldiers and other attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces." Two suspects were detained.

Al Qaeda's Network

Coalition forces captured 19 al Qaeda operatives and leadership targets during raids in Mosul, Balad, and Baghdad. It is believed "the most active terrorist cell leader in Mosul" was captured during Thursday's raids.

As Operations Phantom Thunder pushes forward in Baghdad and the Belts, U.S. and Iraqi forces attacked and killed an al Qaeda team attempting to take control of a rural Kurdish village in Diyala. Meanwhile, with critics claiming the U.S. is too al Qaeda focused in its operations, Iraqi and U.S. forces put a significant dent in the Mahdi Army over the past several days.

Diyala

As Operations Arrowhead Ripper proceeds in the provincial capital of Baqubah and the surrounding areas, al Qaeda in Iraq has been pushed into the farmlands north of the city. Last weekend, al Qaeda struck with suicide attacks at Kurdish cities along the Iranian border, and in a Kurdish village in neighboring Salahadin province, with devastating effects. Almost 200 civilians were killed and hundreds more wounded.

Al Qaeda is pushing into villages where it did not have a presence in the recent past. Yesterday, reports of an al Qaeda assault on the small Shiite village of Sherween slashed across the wires. The AP reported that when al Qaeda in Iraq moved on Sherween, there were no security forces present to stop them. Residents of the town fought back; "25 militants and 18 residents were killed and 40 people wounded in the fighting," a resident of a neighboring town reported. He also stated that al Qaeda was winning.

While the AP report lamented the failure of the Iraqi and U.S. security forces to respond, a joint U.S. and Iraqi task force was quickly assembled and moved in on Sherween early today. "The operation began early Tuesday morning with close air support engaging three river crossings and one bridge with eight 2,000-pound bombs and 14 500-pound bombs. The locations are used by al-Qaida to conduct their attacks and were engaged to prevent their escape," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "The people of Sherween played a vital role in this operation as they fought side-by-side [with] the ISF to help them capture and kill known terrorists." The attack resulted in "20 al-Qaida terrorists killed, 20 detained, and two weapons caches and 12 improvised explosive devices discovered."

Also north of Baqubah, U.S. and Iraqi security forces found an al Qaeda safe house, which contained a possible torture room. "Inside, the patrol found medical supplies, medical equipment and al-Qaida related propaganda," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. "Also inside the building was a room with indicators that it had been used as a place of torture, such as blood on the walls and blacked out windows."

As U.S. and Iraq forces move forward with securing Baqubah and the outlying regions, the attacks such at those in Sherween are expected to increase. Al Qaeda is working the seams in Diyala, and the rural farmlands and the Hamrin mountain chain are ideal locations for al Qaeda and allied insurgent groups to fall back upon.

With Operation Phantom Thunder, the corps level operation in the Baghdad Belts, now underway, Coalition and Iraqi forces continue to work to secure Baghdad as they take on the Mahdi Army, Iranian backed cells, and al Qaeda's networks nationwide. In Anbar province, combat operations are underway in Thar Thar and Karma and a false suicide attack in Fallujah was reported in the Washington Post. Muqtada al Sadr fled to Iran and operations continue to target his Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Groups.

"The Promise of the People Conference," Ramadi, July 7.

Anbar

Multinational Forces West and the Iraqi Security Forces are pressing forward on three fronts--Fallujah, Thar Thar, and Karma in eastern Iraq--while senior tribal leaders from Anbar province and beyond met in Ramadi.

In Fallujah, the Marines, Iraqi Army, and police are pushing forward with Operation Alljah. The operation is designed to clear all eleven of Fallujah's precincts and establish local police stations and neighborhood watches in each area.

"This is the operation that will set the conditions for Iraqi Police to control all of Fallujah and allow for the withdraw of Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces," Major Jeffrey Pool, the Public Affairs Director for Multinational Forces West said in an email to The Fourth Rail.

While the Washington Post is reporting a massive suicide attack outside of Fallujah, claiming 23 killed and 27 wounded in an attack on an Iraqi Army recruitment center, Multinational Forces West told The Fourth Rail that this report is false. The Post report is based on a Voice of Iraq article, which claimed 17 killed and 27 wounded.

1st Lt. Shawn Mercer, the deputy Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Forces West, he denied such an attack took place in an email. "We don't have any reports of an attack on a recruiting center (or any static location) and certainly not with that kind of death toll in our AO," said 1st Lt. Mercer. He noted there was an IED attack near Abu Ghraib that killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded three on Saturday night, and suspected the reports may have been confused. "I'm not sure how the reporting on this got so confused but the sources were not reliable," he stated. In March 2007, Voice of Iraq falsely reported an attack on U.S. forces outside Rutbah.

In the Thar Thar and Karma regions, the Marines of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit "discovered more than 17,000 kilograms of explosives in a series of weapons cache[s]..." The finds included a homemade explosives factory, which "contained more than 6,000 kilograms of homemade explosives, 8,000 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, a common [Home Made Explosive] component, and the equipment to mix, manufacture and transport large quantities of the explosives." Chlorine gas, which al Qaeda in Iraq used against Anbari civilians in the spring of 2007, was also found at one of the caches.

In Ramadi, about 250 Iraqi tribal leaders, sheiks and civilians gathered for "The Promise of the People Conference" on July 7. "The attendees included both Shiite and Sunni leaders from across various provinces including Baghdad, Salahuddin, and Karbala," Major Pool noted in an email. "The Alwani Tribe of Ramadi planned the conference to build cohesiveness and strengthen unity for coalition and government support, while denouncing insurgent activities. The invitation of Shiite leaders to the predominantly Sunni Anbar Province capital was an act of reconciliation and focus toward future cooperation." Both the Anbar Awakening and the Iraqi Islamic Party participated in the conference.

Operation Marne Torch, one of the two ongoing operations south of Baghdad that are part of Operation Phantom Thunder, is currently underway in the Arab Jabour region southeast of the capital. Major General Rick Lynch, the commander of Multinational Division Center and the 3rd Infantry Division, briefed on Operation Marne Torch today.

Major General Rick Lynch, commander of coalition forces in central Iraq, briefs
on Operation Marne Torch. An abrupt exit of US troops from Iraq would trigger a
bloody "mess" just as the military is taking the fight to insurgents, said Lynch.

The current focus of Marne Torch is to reduce "the flow of accelerants of violence into Baghdad." Maj. Gen. Lynch defined the accelerants "as anything--insurgents, weapons, material, IEDs, VBIEDs, ideology, anything--that, left uncontrolled, would affect the security in Baghdad." Lynch noted the enemy in the region consists of "Sunni extremists...Shia extremists...and then it's those supported by Iranian influence." But Lynch indicated that future operations will heavily target Sunni and Shia extremists in that region later this summer, which would make Marne Torch essentially a shaping operation to prepare that battlefield.

The current operation in the Arab Jabour region consists of both kinetic and non-kinetic operations, or combat and civil affairs operations. So far the combat operations have resulted in the capture of over 230 insurgents, "including 28 that we classify as high-value individuals, among them three of our Division 15 high-value targets," Lynch noted. Twenty-nine patrol bases have been established in the largely rural farmlands southeast of Baghdad, and several have been turned over to the Iraqi Security Forces.

Coalition and Iraqi forces have uncovered 41 weapons caches and 54 IEDs. They also destroyed 45 boats used by insurgents to smuggle "accelerants" into Baghdad. "During the operation, we've run nearly 500 patrols, many of them jointly with Iraqi security forces," Lynch said. "We've conducted at least 22 raids, 32 cordon and search operations and 70 airstrikes. We've made extensive use of airpower--B-1 bombers, F-16s and F-18s. We've cleared more than a thousand buildings."

Lynch estimated about 70 percent of the battlespace had "transitioned from clear to hold to retain" while about 30 percent is still considered "enemy territory." The areas that are retained are now transitioning to a reconstruction phase, and Maj. Gen. Lynch highlighted ongoing projects such as a water treatment plant and the reopening of factories.

The lack of Iraqi Security Forces remains a pressing issue for Lynch. There is "a significant shortage of Iraqi Security Forces," particularly police, he said. The Arab Jabour region has essentially been ignored by the Iraqi government and Coalition forces for the past three years, and the local police there had collapsed. The rebuilding of the local security forces and the movement of federal security forces into the region will take time.

The southern region remains active. Coalition forces captured an insurgent on the most wanted list in Arab Jabour on July 2. Eight soldiers patrolling in Hillah were killed in an IED attack today. In Yusifiyah, insurgents successfully bombed a pipeline carrying crude oil to Baghdad's Doura refinery.

Elsewhere in Iraq, operations against al Qaeda's network are ongoing. In the north, the Iraqi Army captured seven al Qaeda fighters near the city of Tal Afar. In Diyala, Iraqi security forces killed 14 al Qaeda operatives and captured one. Coalition raids against al Qaeda's command network in Anbar province resulted in three operatives killed and eight captured. One of those captured was "a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq battalion commander, responsible for logistics and oversight of terrorist attacks by cells within his group. He has also allegedly attempted to forge working relationships with media outlets to broadcast jihadist propaganda, including videos of attacks on Coalition Forces."

The news from Operation Phantom Thunder has been largely subdued over the past 24 hours. The Iraqi government and the Coalition continue to encourage local participation in Salahadin and Diyala provinces. Al Qaeda conducted two successful car bomb attacks in Baiji and Baghdad. U.S. forces maintain the pressure on the Iranian-backed "Special Groups" cells, and Iraqi police skirmished with Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army in southern Iraq.

People march during a protest against sectarian violence in a mainly
Shiite district of Abu Dshir in southern Baghdad, Iraq, July 6, 2007.
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

The North

In Diyala and Salahadin provinces, Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to court the tribal leaders in an effort to gain their support in fighting al Qaeda and manning the security forces in the region. This is modeled after the successful Anbar Salvation Council in Anbar province. While the Diyala and Salahadin Salvation Councils have been formed, the organizations are still in their infancy.

In Baqubah, nine tribal leaders met with the city's mayor, the Diyala Operational Command, and U.S. commanders. The Iraqi and U.S. military commanders "stressed the need to hire new Iraqi police officers from the Baqubah neighborhoods so the force would be representative of its people."

In the regions north and west of the city of Baghdad, in Baghdad and Salahadin provinces, "a grassroots effort by tribal leaders in Abu Ghraib, Taji, and Saab al Bor areas, to reject Al Qaeda and work to reconcile with the government of Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces and the Coalition, is aimed at putting an end to sectarian violence in those communities." Over 25 insurgents were detained by U.S. forces operating in this region in June with the help of the local council.

Further north in Baiji, al Qaeda killed six and wounded 17 in a car bomb attack on a police patrol. Most of those killed and wounded were civilians.

Baghdad

Inside the capital, al Qaeda struck with a car bomb aimed at a wedding party in the Shiite district of Abu Tchir. Seventeen were killed and over two dozen wounded, including the bride and groom.

Iraqi Security Forces said they captured 38 insurgents inside Baghdad over the past 24 hours. "The forces managed also to defuse two bombs, one in al-Mansour, western Baghdad, and another in al-Rasafa, central Baghdad, as well as confiscating [a] large amount of weapons and ammunition in different areas of Baghdad," the Baghdad Operations Command reported.

Sadr and Iranian Cells

Coalition forces continue to target the Iranian-backed "Special Groups," formerly known as the "Secret Cells," with the explicit intent to either "capture or kill" them.Six cell mebers were captured and one killed during two separate raids in Baghdad's Sadr City. "The suspected terrorists targeted during the raid were connected with other key secret cell terrorist leaders and are suspected to have ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps--Quds Forces," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. The Iranian cells scored their own victory today. Two U.S soldiers were killed and two wounded during an explosive formed projectile [EFP] attack in southern Baghdad.

South of Baghdad in the city of Samawa, three were killed, including two Iraqi Police, after the police attempted to arrest a senior aide of Muqtada al Sadr. Eight were wounded in the gun battle.

Al Qaeda

Today's raids against al Qaeda's nationwide network resulted in nine operatives captured and one killed. The operations occurred in Baghdad, Tarmiyah, and west of Baghdad. Coalition forces netted the "administrative emir of a Baghdad neighborhood" who "is suspected of handling logistics and financing for terrorists cells in the area, and arranging for movement of operatives for the organization."

More details have emerged on the operations in the Thar Thar region of Anbar province. Meanwhile, operations in Baghdad and Baqubah continue to evolve, while the Iraqi and U.S. recruiting and training of local police south and west of Baghdad is showing some positive results.

The 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines [3/1] are conducting clearing operations in the Thar Thar region of Anbar province. Brigadier General Charles Gurganus, the commanding general of the Ground Combat Element, Multi-National Force-West said he expected to encounter light resistance and find weapons caches and factories during an interview earlier this week.

A U.S. soldier walks past women in line waiting for the
distribution of relief supplies in Baquba, June 28, 2007.
REUTERS/Helmiy al-Azawi

Marines.com reported that the operation in the Thar Thar region is called China Shop, and the 3/1 found three large caches on June 25 and 26. "The first cache reportedly contained more than 121 IEDs, more than half of which were already armed. The devices included “speed bump” IEDs, often placed or buried in roads ... The second find was the largest of the three. A house search uncovered a room containing a high-explosive stack nearly three feet high draped in a United Nations flag. Battalion personnel estimate the material could have been used to construct more than 80 large IEDs ... The third cache ... [contained] various small arms munitions, a rocket-propelled grenade, 10 pressure plate IEDs and other bomb making material."

The raids against al Qaeda's network are ongoing. Coalition Forces killed three al Qaeda operatives and captured 26 during operations Friday in Fallujah, Karmah, Baghdad, and Mosul.

Kinetic operations are said to be "winding down" in Baqubah, the focal point of Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala province. "With almost no hostile fire reported in days, combat operations are winding down," said Drew Brown in Stars and Stripes "The focus of the effort now is to consolidate control and persuade local residents to begin cooperating with U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces."

David Kilcullen the Senior Counterinsurgency Adviser for Multinational Forces Iraq described this phase in an update on the scope of the operation at Small War Journal. "The really decisive activity will be police work, registration of the population and counterintelligence in these areas, to comb out the insurgent sleeper cells and political cells that have 'gone quiet' as we moved in, but which will try to survive through the op and emerge later," said Kilcullen. "This will take operational patience, and it will be intelligence-led, and Iraqi government-led. It will probably not make the news (the really important stuff rarely does) but it will be the truly decisive action."

Baghdad and the Belts. Red bordered units identified as active in offensive operations. Click map to view.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to maintain the pressure against al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents, and the "rogue," Iranian backed "secret cells" of the Mahdi Army and the Qazali network. Operation Phantom Thunder is underway inside Baghdad and the Belts, as well as against al Qaeda's network nationwide. Also, the northwestern region of Iraq has been a focus of U.S. and Iraqi operations. The simultaneous operations to pressure al Qaeda's network are occurring in all theaters throughout Iraq. An update on each theater is provided below.

Coalition forces continue to strike at al Qaeda's leadership cells. Multinational Forces Iraq confirmed two senior al Qaeda operatives were killed on June 23. "Mehmet Yilmaz, also known as Khalid al-Turki, was a known terrorist and senior leader in al-Qaeda who operated a cell that facilitated the movement of foreign fighters into Iraq for al-Qaeda operations," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. Yilmaz was a global terrorist, with roots back to Pakistan. "Yilmaz was an al-Qaeda leader who led a group of Turks to Afghanistan in 2001 to fight against Coalition Forces. Intelligence reports indicate he was wounded in the fighting there and went to Pakistan for treatment, where he was captured by the government in 2004 and deported to Turkey. He was released in late 2005 and returned to al-Qaeda operations in 2006, moving his operations to Iraq."

Coalition forces also killed Mehmet Resit Isik, also known as Khalil al-Turki. Isik was "a close associate of Yilmaz who was assessed to be a courier for the same al-Qaeda cell and a close associate of Yilmaz and senior leaders within al-Qaeda."

Two al Qaeda operatives were killed and two captured in raids on Tuesday in Bayji, Mosul, and Baghdad. Wednesday's raids in Mosul and Baghdad resulted in six al Qaeda operatives captured. One of those captured in Mosul "is believed to have replaced the al-Qaeda emir of east Mosul after his capture May 31." Al Qaeda's Mosul network has become a focus of Coalition efforts of late. The network has regenerated since Ansar al-Sunnah merged with al Qaeda this spring.

Diyala

Eleven days after Operation Arrowhead Ripper kicked off in the provincial capital of Baqubah, Coalition and Iraqi forces have been conducting operations throughout the province. In Baqubah, "at least 60 al-Qaida operatives have been killed, 74 have been detained, 31 weapons caches have been discovered, 81 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 18 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed," since the start of Arrowhead Ripper, Multinational Forces Iraq reported.

Coalition and Iraqi forces have also distributed "approximately 265,000 pounds of rice and flour ... handed out over 10,000 vegetarian humanitarian rations, and thousands of bottles of water." An al Qaeda warehouse "filled with food seized by al-Qaeda from Government of Iraq food shipments to the city" was found by Iraqi troops in the Khatoon neighborhood.

A joint Iraqi and U.S. operation in Muqdadiyah and the Hamrin mountains resulted in the capture of 18 al Qaeda fighters, while Iraqi soldiers captured five al Qaeda operatives in an operation in nearby Balad Ruz. Two "gunmen" were killed during a raid near Al Thurah, north of Muqdadiyah. In Khalis, Iraqi Police intervened after two villages staged a battle that resulted in four killed and 19 wounded.

The North (Mosul/Salahadin/Tikrit)

In addition to the operations in Diyala and the raids against al Qaeda's network in Mosul, the northern theater has seen an increase in operational tempo from Iraqi and U.S. security forces. With operations ongoing inside Baghdad and in the belts, this region is the natural fall-back position for the terror network.

Violence in Baghdad and greater Iraq remains low as the Iraqi government is enforcing a curfew in the major population centers where the threat of sectarian backlash from the Samarra mosque bombing remains high. There have been one confirmed report of a mosque attack and no major clashes on the streets. A Sunni mosque in Basra was destroyed on Friday, and a curfew is now in place in the city. The Iraqi Security Forces, along with a Coalition advisory team, have deployed an additional 650 soldiers and police to Samarra, including "Approximately 300 Iraqi Army soldiers from 4th Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, 140 National Policemen from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd National Police, and 150 other National Policemen," noted Multinational Forces Iraq.

From DVIDS: Two Stryker Soldiers prepare to enter a house during a raid
near Mushada, just north of Baghdad, June 11. The Soldiers are with
the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

The supporters of Muqtada al Sadr, the leader of the fractured Mahdi Army, held a protest today in Sadr City, home to an estimated 2 million Shia. The protests drew "more than 2,000 eastern Baghdad residents," according to Multinational Forces Iraq, which closely monitors large gatherings. The poor turnout for today's demonstration speaks volumes about Sadr's power on the street. One year ago, Sadr drew hundreds of thousands into the streets.

This comes after Sadr demanded the Iraqi government conduct a full investigation on the Samarra mosque bombing, immediately rebuild the dome and minarets, and that the government rid “the city of Samarra of any presence of the American forces,” IraqSlogger reports. “We presented our deadline to the government, and after its expiration we will have something else to say," said one of Sadr's representatives in parliament.

U.S. and Iraqi forces are keeping up the pressure on Sadr's Mahdi Army. "Peshmerga Forces"--which are actually Iraqi Army units from the Kurdish regions--"killed two members of the Mahdi Army and arrested six others including an official of Al Sadr Bloc in Suwayra village," Al Sumaria reported. Yesterday, U.S. forces and Iraqi police raided Sadr City and captured six suspects. They also found "a sizeable weapons cache" which included "complete mortar systems," rounds and rockets.

In the violent province of Diyala, where al Qaeda has established its command center, the Iraqi government announced over 2,000 Kurdish-based troops are deploying to the region. "The deployment came following a formal request by the Iraqi government and ‘multinational forces’ in the country," noted Azzaman. Iraqi and U.S. forces also beat back an attack on the Diyala Government Center and the Diyala Operations Center in Baqubah, and killing one insurgent and wounding another. Two other insurgents were killed by U.S. helicopters as they loaded explosives into a vehicle.

Operations against al Qaeda and insurgent networks continue. Coalition forces killed one al Qaeda operative and captured 16 during raids in Mosul and Anbar province. In Mosul, U.S. forces killed Abu Ahmad, "the head of five terrorist cells in Mosul...responsible for directing attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces." In Karma, U.S. forces captured an "individual suspected of providing fake documents for al-Qaeda leaders and operatives in the Karmah area." U.S. forces also captured nine members of an IED cell in the east Doura neighborhood of the Rashid District in Baghdad. "The individuals detained are believed to be involved in an Al-Qaeda roadside bomb and recruiting ring that had recently launched attacks against the unit in Doura."

Yesterday's destruction of the twin minarets of the revered Askaria mosque in Samarra threatens to reignite the sectarian war which began in February of 2006 after the dome of the same mosque was destroyed by al Qaeda in Iraq. Almost immediately after the minarets were bombed, Iraqi and Coalition forces dispatched units to secure mosques and religious sites nationwide and imposed a curfew in the major flash-point cities. Iraqi and U.S. forces also cordoned Sadr City to prevent the Mahdi Army from attacking Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad.

The Askaria mosque after the first attack in 2006.
The two minarets were destroyed in this latest attack.
Sabah al-Bazee/Reuters.

Reports from Iraq indicate five mosques were attacked immediately after the Samarra bombing--three in Iskandariyah, one in Baghdad, and one in Basra. A Shia shrine was also bombed in Khalis, Diyala.

Iraqi and U.S. security forces now appear to have gotten a handle on the situation. No attacks on mosques or religious sites were reported on Thursday. There were no reports of major attacks by death squads, and violence in Iraq has been remarkably low. The real test will come after Friday's sermons, and when the curfews begin to be lifted in the days and weeks ahead.

The Samarra mosque bombing occurred as al Qaeda has stepped up its bridge-bombing campaign. A bridge in Diyala province was attacked on Wednesday. "The blast destroyed the east-bound lane of the bridge and left the west-bound lane standing, but impassable," noted Multinational Forces Iraq. This is the fourth bridge attacked in four days. Al Qaeda in Iraq appears to be conducting a scorched earth policy while attempting to disrupt military traffic across the rivers and away from their safe havens in Diyala province. Al Qaeda also murdered 14 members of the Iraqi security forces and posted the video on the Internet.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces continue to press the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq and other elements of the insurgency. Twenty-five al Qaeda suspects were captured in raids in Mosul, Tarmiyah, Amiriyah, and Baghdad. The Tarmiyah raid resulted in the capture of an "individual believed to be a close associate of Omar al Baghdadi," the leader of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq. Also, Coalition forces captured 15 al Qaeda suspects in Mosul on June 11.

Multiple raids and operations were carried out on June 13. The most important operation resulted in the death of Kamal Jalil Bakr ‘Uthman, the military emir of Mosul. ‘Uthman "coordinated and facilitated suicide bombings in the Mosul area" as well as "facilitated the movement of more than 100 foreign fighters through safe houses in the area, and orchestrated attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces." Two terrorists were killed and 13 captured during a raid on a Baghdad car bomb network.

Also, on June 13, Coalition forces killed one member of the Iranian backed Qazali network, and captured two more during a raid in Baghdad. "The targeted individual of the morning’s operation is associated with a kidnapping cell and is believed to be directly involved in the November Ministry of Health kidnappings," which resulted in the disappearance of five British nationals.

On June 12, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers killed six terrorists and captured 19 during multiple operations in Baqubah, Diyala. Numerous caches were found, including one with "approximately 200 pounds of home made explosives, numerous anti tank mines, mortar and artillery rounds, and other IED making materials." Diyala is al Qaeda country, and Baqubah is the declared capital of its Islamic State.

The Iraqi police have made arrests in this morning's twin bombings of the al Askaria mosque's remaining minarets. While early reports indicated that the Iraqi National Police were responsible for securing the mosque complex, it was, in fact, a provincial police unit that was guarding the area. As the suspects behind the attacks were rounded up, unconfirmed reports of attacks on religious sites in Baghdad and Diyala began to surface.

The suspects in the bombing came from the Salahadin Emergency Response Unit, not the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade of the 1st Iraqi National Police Division (3-3-1 INP), according to Multinational Division North. "I can confirm ... that Brig. Gen. Duraid, deputy commander for the National Police in Samarra, did arrest the Emergency Response Unit Iraqi Police commander and 12 of his Iraqi police who had been guarding the mosque at the time of the explosions," Major Tage J. Rainsford, the spokesman for Major General Benjamin Mixon, Kuwaiti News Agency. A "correspondent of Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said he saw US military tanks and bulldozers being stationed, blocking bridges over the waterway that separates Sadr city and central Baghdad," in an attempt to keep the Mahdi Army from attacking from its bases in Sadr City.

The Associated Press reports that "sketchy reports of sectarian strife" are starting to surface. Four Sunni mosques and a Shia shrine north of Baghdad were targeted. The AP also reported that the Khudair al-Janabi mosque in Baghdad's Bayaa district was the site of an arson attack, while the Shia Imam Ali Kamal shrine in Khalis, Diyala province, was reported to have been destroyed in a bombing. IraqSlogger reports that three mosques in Baghdad--the Grand Iskandariyah Mosque, the Hiteen Mosque, and the Abdullah Mosque--were reported to have been destroyed, and fighting was reported in the mixed Sunni-Shia neighborhood of Ghazaliyah in northern Baghdad.

Early reports of sectarian violence and of the destruction of mosques should be treated with caution. Reports of mosque bombings in Baghdad last summer were inflated or in some cases completely fabricated. Al Qaeda, Muqtada al Sadr, and other elements looking to incite further violence will manufacture incidents as part of their sophisticated Information Operations. But fallout from the bombing of the al Askaria mosque should be expected.

The Golden Dome of the al-Askaria Mosque and its two minarets prior to the bombings in 2006 and 2007.

Just as U.S. and Iraqi security forces have begun to get the sectarian violence back to pre February 2006 levels, the minarets of Samarra's al-Askaria mosque, on of the most holy shrines in Shia Islam, were destroyed in a pair of bombings this morning. Explosives charges were placed at the base of the towers, and detonated within seven minutes. The Golden Dome of the al-Askaria mosque was destroyed by al Qaeda in February of 2006, which touched off the wave of Sunni - Shia bloodletting, driven largely by Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army on one side, and al Qaeda in Iraq on the other.

In the wake of the destruction of al-Askaria's minarets, the Iraqi government immediately announced curfews of indefinite lengths in Samarra and Baghdad. Iraqi troops are said to have been rushed out onto streets of Baghdad, and an additional Iraqi Army brigade is being rushed to Samarra.

Both the U.S. and Iraqi governments have pointed the finger at al Qaeda in Iraq as the primary suspect in the attack. Major General Benjamin Mixon, the commander of Multinational Division North, said the evidence points to an "inside job" and that "members of the Iraqi security forces who were guarding the site either assisted or directly took part in helping al Qaeda insurgents place and detonate explosives at the mosque's minarets."

Security for the al-Askaria mosque is provided for by Iraq's Interior Ministry, which is dominated by the Shia. Lieutenant General Martin E. Dempsey, the recently departed commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, told us that up to 85% of the Iraqi police are Shia. The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade of the 1st Iraqi National Police Division is responsible for security in Samarra, and took over security from local police in April of 2007.

CNN noted that 15 members of the Iraqi National Police were detained for suspicion in the involvement in the attack. The Washington Post reported "the entire Iraqi security force responsible for guarding the mosque, the 3rd Battalion of the Salahadin province police, was detained for investigation."

There are conflicting reports on exactly what happened in Samarra prior to the attack. A Reuters report indicated there was an attempt to target the mosque two weeks ago. AFP reported "a new batch of security force came from Baghdad to take over the security of the shrine from the previous force and there was a row between the two groups which saw some exchange of fire... Finally, the new force did take up the security. The previous force was local from the town of Tikrit."

CNN reported that "the blast followed clashes between gunmen and Iraqi National Police, who were guarding the holy site. During the firefight, the insurgents entered the mosque, also known as the Golden Dome, planted explosives around the minarets and detonated them."

Al Qaeda in Iraq is known to have been behind the 2006 bombing in Samarra. In June of 2006, Coalition forces arrested Yousri Fakher Mohammed Ali, "a key al-Qaida suspect" in the February 2006 bombing of the Golden Dome. Ali, aka Abu Qudama, is of Tunisian origin and was wounded during a raid in Baqubah, where "fifteen other foreign fighters were killed in the confrontation." Haitham Sabah Shaker Mohammed al-Badri is believed to be the ringleader in the 2006 Samarra operation and is still on the loose.

Today's bombing in Samarra benefits two parties: al Qaeda in Iraq, and Muqtada al Sadr. Both parties have little desire for reconciliation, and their power is derived by the continuation of sectarian violence. Both parties are in fact the driving forces behind the sectarian attacks.

Nearly four months since the Baghdad Security Plan was announced, the Sunni population in the provinces continues to turn on al Qaeda in Iraq, and attempts to weaken support for the group inside Baghdad are showing early signs of success. Al Qaeda in Iraq, for its part, has focused its attacks largely in the provinces, and zeroed in on the Iraqi Security Forces, the anti-al Qaeda Sunni community, and Iraq's bridges.

US soldiers walk past a Sunni mosque as they patrol
southwest of Baghdad, 07 June.
AFP/File/Roslan Rahman

The most significant development inside Baghdad over the past week occurred in the Sunni-dominated western neighborhood of Amiriyah, where a group of local residents and Sunni insurgent groups (largely fighters from the 1920s Revolution Brigade and the Islamic Army in Iraq) banded together to eject al Qaeda from the neighborhood.

Al Qaeda in Iraq overreached in attempting to set up a Taliban-like state in the Baghdad neighborhood, and the locals rebelled. "The group sprung up last week when several local leaders called on neighborhood residents to take up arms against al Qaeda after unprovoked killings in the neighborhood," Jane Arraf reported from Baghdad last week. "At least two local imams normally opposed to the presence of American soldiers agreed to cooperate with the U.S. forces."

The group requested that the U.S. unit stationed in the area stay out of the fighting, but U.S. and Iraqi forces did provide weapons, ammunition, food, and guidance. In some cases, they did fight alongside the self-described "freedom fighters." The Anbar Salvation Council, the grouping of Sunni tribes and former insurgents, also sent advisers to assist and fight with the Amiriyah fighters.

The Amiriyah fighters are now patrolling the neighborhood and conducting raids jointly with U.S. and Iraqi forces. Lieutenant Colonel Dale Kuehl, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment noted that more al Qaeda were killed or captured in the area during the past week than had been in the six months prior.

While many news outlets have characterized the support of such Sunnis fighting against al Qaeda simply as the creation of new Sunni militias; but this view reflects a misunderstanding of counterinsurgency strategy. Part of a successful counterinsurgency strategy includes turning moderates against the radical, irreconcilable elements of the insurgency--in this case al Qaeda in Iraq.

The strategy is certainly not without risk, particularly in the charged sectarian environment of Iraq (and in Baghdad in particular). The Shia Iraqi government looks with suspicion upon armed Sunni groups of any stripe. But the goal is to secure the local areas first, develop trust with the Iraqi government later, and ultimately incorporate these groups into the Iraqi Security Forces. We can reasonably hope that this might be the beginning of a reconciliation process, however long and painful.

The January 20 attack on the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center by the Iranian backed Qazali Network, which resulted in the kidnapping and murder of five U.S. soldiers, was long known to be an Iranian planned and sponsored strike. While Iran has insulated itself with its cutouts in the Qazali Network, Multinational Forces Iraq has captured members of the network who implicated the Iranian regime, as well as documents that substantiate the allegations. And now U.S. forces have satellite imagery that proves Iranian involvement. In the June 4 edition of Aviation Week and Space Technology, the magazine reports that Iran had built inside its borders a mockup of the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center, which was used to train the attackers. The "training center" was discovered by a U.S. spy satellite surveying Iran.

"U.S. reconnaissance spacecraft have spotted a training center in Iran that duplicates the layout of the governor's compound in Karbala, Iraq, that was attacked in January by a specialized unit that killed American and Iraqi soldiers," Michael Mecham reported in the "In Orbit" section of the magazine. "The U.S. believes the discovery indicates Iran was heavily involved in the attack, which relied on a fake motorcade to gain entrance to the compound. The duplicate layout in Iran allowed attackers to practice procedures to use at the Iraqi compound, the Defense Dept. believes."

An American military officer confirmed to us that the report is accurate, but did not disclose the location of the training camp. In early January, Strategic Policy Consulting confirmed a two year old report by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society that Iran was using the "Arab populated city of Ahwaz, southwestern Iran, as a base of operations." The city of Ahwaz is in Khuzestan province, which borders the southern Iraqi province of Basra. It is not publicly known if Ahwaz is the location of the Karbala mockup.

"The Al-Qods Force trains militants in manufacturing improved explosive devices and finances and organises pro-Iranian militias in Iraq," noted the the British Ahwazi Friendship Society report. "According to SPC, the Iraq network is under the command of Jamal Jaafar Mohammad Ali Ebrahimi, who is also known as Mehdi Mohandes."

We were the first to note, on January 26, that Iran’s Qods Force, which is responsible for planning and conducting foreign operations, intelligence gathering, and terrorist activities, was likely behind the attack due to the complexity of the strike. General David Petraeus briefed on the Karbala attack on April 26 and noted the Qazali network was responsible for the strike.

On May 19, Coalition forces killed Azhar al-Dulaimi during a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City. Dulaimi was described as the "mastermind" and "tactical commander" of the Karbala attack, In March, U.S. forces captured Qais Qazali, the network's leader, his brother Laith Qazali, and several other members.

Multinational Forces Iraq has been targeting the Qazali Network's "secret terror cells" as well as those of the Sheibani Network. Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 26 members of this network and captured 71 more since April 27, 2007. Three more members of the "secret cell" were captured and another killed today.

The Sheibani Network is the overarching organization that receives support, weapons, advice, and targeting from Iran's Qods Force. Senior members of the Qazali and Sheibani Networks are members of Iran's Qods Force.

Qods Force logo, click to view.

Since the end of April, Multinational Forces Iraq has released a multitude of press releases noting the capture or killing of members described as belonging to "a secret cell terrorist network known for its use of explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, as well as facilitating the transport of weapons and EFPs from Iran to Iraq, and bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training." Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 25 members of this network and captured 68 more since April 27, 2007. These are Shia terrorists who are trained, armed, funded, and directed by Iran's Qods Force, and have connections to Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Multinational Forces Iraq is cryptic yet clear when discussing this network of Iranian backed operatives. General David Petraeus, the commander of Multinational Forces Iraq, first identified the network at a press briefing on April 26. He described it as a "secret cell network" to which the Iranians had "provided substantial funding, training on Iranian soil, advanced explosive munitions and technologies as well as run of the mill arms and ammunition, and, in some cases, even a degree of direction." Since then, 17 press releases have referred to raids against the network. In his briefing on April 26, General Petraeus mentioned both the Sheibani and Qazali networks, specifically.

The overarching network is actually the Sheibani Network, according to one intelligence official. The Qazali network was described as a radical splinter unit of the Mahdi Army operating under the aegis of the Sheibani network.

"There's no question, again, that Iranian financing is taking place through the Qods force of the Iranian Republican Guards Corps," General Petraeus noted, as documentation seized during raids provided evidence of this. Qods Force [or Jerusalem Force] is a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and is responsible for planning and conducting foreign operations, gathering intelligence, and managing the the regime's terrorist affiliates. The unit works extensively with Hezbollah. and Qods Force regularly uses its diplomatic missions to provide cover for its operatives.

The U.S. currently has seven senior members of Iran's Qods Force in custody after raids in Baghdad in December of 2006 and Irbil in January of 2007. The Qazali Network responded by kidnapping and murdering five U.S. soldiers during a complex attack on the Joint Provincial Coordination Center in Karbala on January 20. On May 19, Coalition forces killed Azhar al-Dulaimi during a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City.

Yesterday's news from Iraq was dominated by rumors of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq. The news turned out to be false, as Ankara, Baghdad, and Washington all denied the reports from two unnamed Turkish officials. Turkey has seen an increase in attacks from the radical Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the past several months, and has been pressuring the Iraqi and U.S. governments to conduct military operations against the terrorist group, which is holed up in the mountainous regions in the Kurdish provinces. The Kurds are adamantly opposed to allowing the Turkish military to conduct operations in Iraqi territory to root out the PKK.

A US soldier from the 1st Battalion 28th Infantry
Regiment, Delta Company takes a look on the roof of an
Iraqi home during a random check in the southwestern
Bayaa neighbourhood of Baghdad. AFP/Roslan Rahman

The impact of last week's battles in Amiriyah, between Iraqi residents, insurgent groups, elements of the Anbar Salvation Council, and U.S. and Iraq security forces on one side, and al Qaeda on the other, is still being sorted out. U.S. forces are now conducting joint patrols with the Amiriyah "freedom fighters," who oppose al Qaeda's presence. Reports on jihadist websites indicate al Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic Army in Iraq have patched up their differences. The Islamic Army is one of the groups that fought al Qaeda in Amiriyah. It is unclear exactly who makes up the "freedom fighters," but it should be remembered that groups like the Islamic Army in Iraq have been split, with some elements supporting al Qaeda and others supporting the anti-al Qaeda Anbar Salvation Council.

The raids against al Qaeda in Iraq's network and insurgent cells continue. Today, Coalition forces captured 16 al Qaeda during raids in Fallujah, Hit, and Baghdad. Wednesday's raids in Anbar province and Mosul resulted in one al Qaeda killed and six captured. Also on Wednesday, Coalition forces killed two terrorists and captured ten others while working to dismantle car bomb cells in Baghdad. "Intelligence reports also indicate that the VBIED cell is responsible for chlorine attacks, assassination attempts against Iraqi officials and other high-profile attacks in Baghdad," noted Multinational Forces Iraq. In a separate raid, Coalition forces killed an al Qaeda emir and captured three of his associates. Muhammad Mahmud ‘Abd Kazim Husayn al-Mashadani was identified as the "al-Qaeda emir in the Hay al-Jamah area of Baghdad and part of a deadly vehicle-borne improvised explosive device cell."

Earlier in the week, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured "four suspects believed to be coordinating and conducting extra judicial killings in the Baghdad area." Coalition forces captured six insurgents southwest of Radwaniyah and two terrorists were killed and eleven captured during a three day operation northeast of Balad.

The U.S. and Iraqi security forces continue to target the Iranian backed "secret cell terrorist network." Today's raid inside Sadr City resulted in the capture of 16 members of the "secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training." One of the members targeted "is a key leader in the secret cell terrorist network that has ties to Iranian intelligence and is believed to be responsible for attacks on Iraqi civilians as well as Iraqi and Coalition Forces in Baghdad." Eighteen members of this network have been killed and 63 captured during numerous raids over the past three weeks.

Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents continue to attack Shia targets and the Iraqi Security Forces, launching a series of small scale bombings inside Baghdad and beyond over the past two days. On Wednesday, two car bombs were detonated near a Shia shrine in the Khadimiya district, killing seven and wounding 25. Today, a pair of bombs "exploded almost simultaneously in the majority Shi'ite districts of Talibiya and Sadr City," killing five and wounding 15. Also, "an explosive charge detonated this afternoon near an outdoor market in al-Mansour neighborhood, western Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding eight," Voice of Iraq reported. A suicide truck bomber killed nine and wounded 22 in an attack on a police headquarters in the town of Rabia, a border town west of Mosul.

Al Qaeda continues to attack tribal leaders in opposition to its Islamic State. "Attacks on tribal chiefs in Iraq, particularly in the Sunni-dominated areas of central and northern Iraq have increased recently," Azzaman reported. Yesterday, three prominent tribal leaders were murdered. "The attacks come following reports that certain tribes were no longer willing to provide refuge for al-Qaeda-linked insurgents and some had mobilized their armed men to have them flushed from their areas," the report noted.

In Anbar province, where the Sunni tribes openly fight al Qaeda in Iraq, Reuters reported a car bomb exploded "just outside Iraq's western city of Falluja on Tuesday, killing 19 people and wounding 25." A military sourced informed us that the location of the bombing was actually in Amiriyah, a town south of Fallujah where al Qaeda in Iraq and the Anbar Salvation Council have fought numerous battles.

The search for the the two missing soldiers captured after an attack near Mahmudiyah south of Baghdad on May 12 has stalled. On Monday, the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's political front, issued a video showing the ID cards and other items belonging to the two missing soldiers, and claimed the two had been killed. The video did not contain images of their bodies. On Sunday, the Iraqi Army killed two insurgents and captured one during the search for the missing soldiers south of Balad, which is far north of the capture site. Nineteen other suspects were captured during search operations near Rushdi Mullah. Multinational Forces Iraq is operating on the assumption the soldiers are still alive.

The Iraqi government is attempting to move forward on the reconciliation front. The government announced it plans to pardon prisoners as part of its revitalized reconciliation initiative. The plan is sure to create controversy as there is the strong possibility that insurgents "with American blood on their hands" will be released. Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters are to be excluded from the list of those pardoned.

Yesterday''s raids against al Qaeda in Iraq operatives in Taji, Mosul, and Fallujah resulted in the capture of 18 terrorists. The Taji raid led to the capture of a "key leader in the Rusafa [Baghdad] vehicle-borne improvised explosive device network." Monday's raids in Mosul and Karma resulted in the capture of 14 operatives, including the "senior terrorist leader in Mosul connected to the al-Qaeda in Iraq network" and "12 suspected terrorists tied to the al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader network in Karmah."

U.S. forces continue to hunt the Iranian backed EFP cells. A raid against a "secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training" resulted in the capture of four terrorists, including a cell leader. A raid on the same network resulted in one terrorist killed and two captured. One of those captured "is an integral member of the improvised explosive devises and EFP facilitation network... also believed to be responsible for numerous attacks against Coalition Forces, including heavy involvement in mortar attacks, personally observing and adjusting fire in the past two days."

In Baghdad, the construction on the Adhamiyah "wall"--the concrete barriers and fence designed to secure the neighborhood from death squads and which caused a media outcry when it was compared to the fence separating Israel from the Palestinian territories--has been completed. "So far, the results have been positive," Multinational Iraq reported. "Murders are down 61 percent in Adhamiyah between the beginning of April, when construction began, and May 28, when it ended, according to reports compiled by the 2nd BCT."

A picture shows a wall made of concrete blocks, which separates Baghdad's
al-Adhamiyah district from a neighboring Shiite area in east Baghdad.
Wisam Sami/AFP

The surge is failing, according to the New York Times. The U.S. has fallen short of securing Baghdad by July, and the Iraq security forces have been hopelessly infiltrated by Shiia militias.

The Times’s conclusion is based on a one-page memo. The memo, actually a status update on the situation in Baghdad, was never intended to serve as a full report on the progress of the Baghdad Security Plan. But that didn't stop the New York Times from characterizing the memo as such.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Nettnin conducts a dismounted
patrol to assess the progress of security measures in the
Al Dora market area of Baghdad, May 25.

The article’s entire premise seems to be the statement of a single, unnamed senior American military officer, who claims the architects of the Baghdad Security Plan "assumed most Baghdad neighborhoods would be under control around July... so the emphasis could shift into restoring services and rebuilding the neighborhoods as the summer progressed." As Fredrick Kagan has noted in THE DAILY STANDARD, this rosy assessment was made by General Casey, the outgoing commander of Multinational Forces Iraq. But the current military leadership in Baghdad has never made this claim.

I contacted General David Petraeus yesterday and asked him if July was a realistic target date to secure Baghdad. "I've never assumed we'd have Baghdad under control by July," he stated. He also reiterated something he has been saying since January: that it would be late summer before he and his commanders had a sense of how the surge was progressing.

The Times goes on to report, "The American assessment, completed in late May, found that American and Iraqi forces were able to 'protect the population' and ‘maintain physical influence over' only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods." But it is unclear exactly what the Times means by "neighborhoods," since Baghdad only has 89 neighborhoods that are referred to as such. Still the overall percentages are not in dispute. Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver confirmed earlier today that less than a third of Baghdad can be considered "secure."

However, the context for this data in the Times article is misleading.

"In the remaining 311 neighborhoods, troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face 'resistance,'" the Times notes. Of the 311 remaining "neighborhoods," the Times does not tell us which have a U.S. or Iraqi presence, how many have been the focus of clearing operations, the number in which security is marginal, the number in which security forces are altogether absent, or the intensity of the "resistance" where it is found.

In the proper context, that news that "less than one-third of Baghdad is secured" hardly suggests the surge is so far an abject failure. According to the military, a secure area is one where security is considered tight and where reconstruction is moving forward. This is a high-threshold definition. And saying that two-thirds of the city are less than “secure” doesn’t tell the rest of the story.

The first three months of the surge involved moving five additional combat brigades into the city and the outlying belts, from which al Qaeda is launching its attacks into the city. The final brigade is still moving into position, and the other four are just now adapting to the situation on the ground.

Banner of the Islamic State of Iraq. Click to view.

The battle between al Qaeda in Iraq on one side, and the residents of the Baghdad district of Amariyah, the Islamic Army of Iraq, and the 1920 Revolution Brigades on the other, dominated the headlines late yesterday and this morning. The Washington Post reported that the battle began Wednesday “over accusations that al-Qaeda in Iraq had executed Sunnis without reason,” and portrayed the conflict as one pitting the residents of Amariyah against al Qaeda. The Associated Press stated the Islamic Army of Iraq and the 1920 Revolution Brigades had also joined the battle against al Qaeda. And, perhaps most significant, AFP reported that the Anbar Salvation Council had sent in a unit to fight al Qaeda in the neighborhood.

“We dispatched around 50 of our secret police from Anbar to Amiriyah, and started to hit Al Qaeda there. We killed a lot of them,” Sheikh Hamid al-Hais, the head of the Anbar Salvation Council, told AFP in a phone interview. “A similar operation will be launched in Al-Ghazaliyah against Al Qaeda today. We have sufficient information on places they are in, and we will punish them.”

The Anbar Salvation Council has formed a “clandestine SWAT unit” that is capable of operating outside of the western province, an American military intelligence official close to the operations of the group told us. These are the “secret police’ described by of Sheikh al-Hais.

This is not the first expeditionary engagement by the Anbar Salvation Council. In the beginning of May, this “clandestine SWAT unit” engaged al Qaeda in the town of al-Nibayi, near Taji in Salahadin province. The Anbar Salvation Council then claimed they had killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, but they had actually killed Muharib Abdul Latif, al Qaeda's information minister, as well as Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, Latif’s religious advisor, and Abu Ammar al-Masri, an operative that was "facilitating insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaeda in Iraq."

Back in Amariyah, Mohammed Abdul Khaliq, the neighborhood mayor, claimed al Qaeda is on the decline due to its abuse of power, but warned U.S. forces to stay out of the fighting. "I think this is going to be the end of the al-Qaeda presence here," Mr. Khaliq told the Washington Post in a telephone interview. "But if the Americans interfere, it will blow up, because they are the enemy of us both, and we will unite against them and stop fighting each other."

The Awakening movement, which was started in Anbar province by local tribes and Sunni insurgents that opposed al Qaeda's attempts to Talibanize Iraqi society, has now spread to all of the provinces bordering Baghdad. Over the past month, Awakening movements formed in Diyala and Salahadin, and, this week, the Babil Awakening was formed. Al Qaeda in Iraq immediately targeted the leader of the Babil Awakening, Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoud, seriously wounding him and his wife in the city of Iskandaria. Al Qaeda is working to destroy the nascent Awakening movements in the provinces, where they provide a political and ideological alternative to al Qaeda's Islamic State.

An Iraqi policeman waits outside the police
station before going out on a search
and clear patrol down Road Iron.
Photo by Cpl. Ryan M. Blaich.

In Baghdad yesterday, Coalition and Iraqi raids were largely focused on the Mahdi Army. Also, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured a Mahdi Army commander in the Kadamiyah district in central Baghdad yesterday. The Mahdi commander "is alleged to be responsible for providing financial, logistical, and political support for multiple insurgent groups and terrorist organizations" and is also "suspected of overseeing the training of insurgent recruits on terrorist methods including the construction and detonation of Improvised Explosive Devices and Explosively Formed Projectiles."

Two more Mahdi operatives were captured in Sadr City today. "They are believed to be members of the secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," according to the Multinational Forces Iraq press release. Seventeen members of this network have been killed and 41 captured during numerous raids over the past three weeks.

Also, during a raid in Khanaqin, Coalition forces captured a "liaison to al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders, who assists in the movement of information and documents from al-Qaeda in Iraq leadership in Baghdad to al-Qaeda senior leaders in Iran." Al Qaeda leaders such as Saif al Adel and Said bin Laden, Osama's son, are being sheltered in Iran along with an estimated 100 al Qaeda senior operatives.

Al Qaeda has recently stepped up attacks in the city of Fallujah in the eastern region of Anbar province. A suicide bomber detonated his vest amidst a line of police recruits, and reports indicate that up to 25 recruits and police were killed and another 50 wounded. Yesterday, mortar attacks directed at a court house and civilian neighborhoods in the city killed nine people. And on May 24, a suicide bomber struck a funeral procession. These attacks should be seen as part of al Qaeda's efforts to stop the spread of the Anbar Salvation Council in eastern Anbar province.

While al Qaeda was attacking the residents of Fallujah, in western Baghdad fighting broke out between the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Islamic Army in Iraq on one side, and al Qaeda in Iraq on the other. Other reports indicate the U.S. joine din the fight against al Qaeda. "The al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained," in a battle with Coalition forces, noted the Associated Press. A significant portion of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, in addition to elements of the Islamic Army in Iraq, have turned on AQI in Anbar and other provinces. The two insurgent groups have given substantial support to the Awakening movements spreading throughout Iraq. Many Sunni insurgent groups have opposed al Qaeda's attempts to usurp command of the insurgency, and they have no interest in the establishment of an Islamic State that will be used as a springboard from which to attack neighboring states or foreign governments.

The provinces of Iraq. Click map to view.

The formation of the regional Awakening movements--the groupings of anti-al Qaeda tribes, community leaders, and insurgent groups--threatens to stymie al Qaeda in the largely Sunni regions of Iraq. Al Qaeda has targeted the leaders of the Awakening movements in Anbar, Diyala and Salahadin provinces, and has now taken a shot at the newly minted Awakening movement in Babil province.

Military and intelligence sources have informed us that the formation of the Babil Awakening is underway, however there was little information to confirm this via open source. Omar Fadhil, one of the two authors of Iraq the Model, informed me today that he has seen reporting on the formation of a Babil Awakening in the local Iraqi press. Also, the Kuwaiti News Agency provided confirmation today when it reported an assassination attempt on Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoudi, the chief of the Al-Masoudi clan in the city of the Iskandaria. "Unknown gunmen" stormed Al-Masoudi's home, and "targeted him and his wife with volleys of automatic gunfire." He and his wife are reported to be in critical condition.

"Sheikh Al-Masoudi has recently established an alliance with several tribes in Babel Governate, south of Baghdad, reminiscent to the pro-government tribal alliance in the province of Al-Anbar, west of the Iraqi capital," KUNA reported. "He, along with other tribal chiefs, signed an accord prohibiting spilling of Iraqi blood, rejecting any breach of person's honor and barring aid to insurgents. They have also prohibited attacks on religious sites and supported the government's national [reconciliation] process."

Today's attack on the leader of the Babil Awakening follows an assassination attempt on Sheikh Hamad al-Hasan, the leader of the Salahadin Salvation Council, on Tuesday. Four of his family members were killed in the attack.

Awakening movements have now been effectively established in the four provinces surrounding Baghdad. The Government of Iraq is funding the military arm of the movements, and incorporating the local tribal forces into provincial police forces. This movement is an integral part of the attempt to secure Baghdad and the outlying belts, where al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents have established networks from which they launch deadly suicide attacks inside the capital. The movements in Babil, Diyala, and Salahadin are still in their infancy, and the Iraqi government and Multinational Forces Iraq must take care to protect their leaders and support their efforts in the military, political, economic, and reconstruction spheres.

According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebar, yesterday's kidnapping of five Britons, one adviser, and four security guards from the Finance Ministry is believed to have been carried out by elements of the Mahdi Army. Reports suggest the raid was carried out by Mahdi fighters who infiltrated the police and the ministry's security forces. "The number of people who were involved in the operation to seal off the building, to set roadblocks and to get into the building with such confidence must have some connections," said Mr. Zebari. The ministry is located near Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of Muqtada al Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Neighborhoods of Sadr City have been cordoned, and at least two raids have been carried out.

A Soldier from Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment (Light), 25th
Infantry Division, fires a MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher during Operation
Baton Rouge in Samarra, Iraq. Photo by Staff Sgt. Klaus Baesu

Coalition forces captured "five suspected terrorists and one suspected cell leader" in a raid in Sadr City today. It is unclear if this is one of the two raids directed at Mahdi Army fighters involved in the kidnapping of the five Brits. "The individuals detained during the raid are believed to be members of the secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," Multinational Forces Iraq reported today. This is the fourth such raid in Sadr City since Friday. Seventeen members of this network have been killed and 38 captured during numerous raids over the past three weeks.

In Salahadin province, al Qaeda murdered four family members of the leader of the Salahadin Salvation Council. "Four relatives of the head of the Salahadin Salvation Council, Sheikh Hamad al-Hasan, were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked their house in al-Hajjaj village, in southern Bayji," Voices of Iraq reported. "The gunmen killed the council head's four nephews, then set the bodies and house on fire," according to an unnamed source. The council was formed less than two weeks ago to counter al Qaeda in that province.

The U.S. military has confirmed that the attack helicopter lost in Diyala province on Monday was shot down. A military spokesman claimed the helicopter was brought down by small arms fire. Al Qaeda in Iraq took credit for the attack. "God enabled the soldiers of the Islamic State in Iraq to down a Super Cobra aircraft ... in Diyala and kill the two Crusader pilots aboard," Al Qaeda's proxy political organization said in an internet posting. Al Qaeda in Iraq has established anti-aircraft cells in an attempt to disrupt U.S. air operations, but U.S. forces have been largely successful in dismantling those cells.

In Baqubah, the local government there formed an "operations room" in conjunction with national authorities and which "includes the province's government, municipal council and security services." This is much like the Joint Coordination Center in Fallujah, which serves to coordinate Iraqi and Coalition security forces with the local government there. Over 100 tribes are said to be assisting in security operations in Baqubah and the surrounding regions, according to Al Sabaah. These tribes are very likely part of the Diyala Awakening.

Coalition forces captured 23 members of al Qaeda's network during raids in Baghdad, Mosul, Sadr City, and Anbar and Salahadin provinces. Iraqi soldiers captured 15 insurgents during three days of operations in central Iraq, from May 26-28. On May 29, Iraqi Special Forces captured a cell leader "accused of commanding a kidnapping and assassination cell that has been conducting extra judicial killings in the Baghdad area." In Hit, Coalition forces detained "the district police chief, Hamid Ibrahim Jazaa, along with his brother and 14 bodyguards" for "murder, corruption and crimes against the Iraqi people."

In Baghdad, after a brief lull in major attacks, today saw two high profile bombings as well as a kidnapping of foreign workers in the capital. One bombing occurred at a Shia mosque in the Amil neighborhood in the western Rashid district. A suicide car bomber killed ten Iraqis and wounded at least 35 more in the attack. The second bombing occurred in a largely Shia neighborhood in central Baghdad. "At least 22 people were killed and 55 wounded when a parked minibus exploded in central Baghdad," Al Jazeera reported. "The bomb went off in a busy commercial area where many day labourers, mostly Shias, often wait for work."

Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
provide security before conducting house to house searches
in the Sadiyah section of Baghdad, Iraq on May 6.

IraqSlogger notes that there are conflicting accounts of the kidnapping in Baghdad. Early reports indicated a small number of German advisers to the Ministry of Higher Education were abducted by several dozen men dressed in Iraqi Police uniforms. Now, it appears that "five Brits had been abducted, including four bodyguards and a finance expert," but reports of several Germans captured persist.

Today's attacks occur as Iraqi and Coalition forces continue clearing operations in the Baghdad districts. U.S. and Iraqi security forces recently started clearing operations in the East Rashid district (note that today's suicide attack occurred in West Rashid.) Also, clearing operations were conducted in the northern section of the Adhamiyah District on May 26. The newly formed and yet to reported on 3rd “War Eagle” Battalion,1st Brigade of the 11th Iraqi Army Division participated in the operation. Nine insurgents were detained.

On Monday, Task Force 145 captured nine al Qaeda during raids in Mosul and Haditha. The Haditha raid netted "a Syrian suspected of facilitating foreign fighters and his Iraqi liaison." Today, Coalition forces captured 14 al Qaeda during raids in Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah, and Taji. The Baghdad raid resulted in the capture of the "al-Qaeda in Iraq emir in charge of the Hay al-Jamah area of the city," while the Mosul raid resulted in the detention of the former "emir of Ansar al-Sunna in Mosul," who had fled to Syria in 2005. The Iraqi Police also captured nine al Qaeda suspects in Samarra after a tip from an anonymous informant.

The return of Muqtada al Sadr from a self-imposed four month exile in Iran dominated the news from Iraq today. Sadr, who leads the Sadrist movement and commands the Mahdi Army, had taken shelter in Iran, under the watchful eye of Iran's Qods Force. Today, he made a grand entrance in Kufa and gave a sermon to some 6,000 followers in which he denounced the U.S. 'occupation.' "No, no for Satan. No, no for America. No, no for the occupation. No, no for Israel," Sadr chanted at the opening of his sermon. "We demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces, or the creation of a timetable for such a withdrawal... I call upon the Iraqi government not to extend the occupation even for a single day."

Sheik Ahmed Azziz, Sistani's representative in Diyala, talks to about 60
of Diyala's tribal sheiks during a meeting with the provincial leadership
in Baqubah, Iraq, May 23. Photo/Sgt. Serena Hayden.

Sadr's reasons for returning remain a mystery. It remains to be seen if he can reorganize the fractured Mahdi Army, which split apart after the militia's leadership and paymasters fled to Iran. He may also be attempting to take advantage of the absence of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the powerful Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), which recently made an official break from Iran and is now working closely with the Iraqi government.

Multinational Forces Iraq and Iraqi Special Forces gave Sadr a nice welcome home present in the form of two high-profile raids--one in Sadr City, and another in Basra. In Basra, the British killed Abu Qader, the leader of the Mahdi Army in that region, along with his brother and two aides. Qader "was suspected of involvement in planting roadside bombs, weapons trafficking, assassinations and planning and participating in attacks against British troops," Reuters noted. Iraqi Special Operations Forces conducted a raid in the heart of Sadr City, Muqtada's purported stronghold, and captured a Mahdi fighter "suspected of having direct ties to the leader of the EFP network as well as acting as a proxy for an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer."

Coalition forces are keeping up the pressure on al Qaeda's network, capturing 20 al Qaeda during raids in Baghdad and Mosul. The Baghdad raids netted an al Qaeda "battalion commander... responsible for numerous attacks in Baghdad, including assassinations, attacks on news media and attacks on the city’s infrastructure," as well as an "explosives expert... known to have knowledge of explosively formed penetrators," and "a close associate of a Libyan who facilitates the movement of foreign fighters in the area."

Also, Multinational Forces Iraq announced that it had found a ‘how-to’ torture manual during a raid on an al Qaeda safe house in Iraq several weeks ago. The manual contains "drawings [that] show how to drill hands, sever limbs, drag victims behind cars, remove eyes, put a blowtorch or iron to someone’s skin, suspend a person from a ceiling and electrocute them, break limbs and restrict breath and put someone’s head in a vice."

Al Qaeda conducted two notable attacks today, it bombing another bridge over the Euphrates river, and executing yet another commando styled assault in Diyala province. The bridge links Baghdad's al-Adl district to the al-Khadra district. "The bombing is part of serial attacks targeting bridges and crossings in Baghdad in a bid by militants to destroy Iraq's infrastructure facilities," a source told the Kuwaiti News Agency. This the eighth bridge targeted by al Qaeda. At least two have been destroyed, one of which has since been replaced.

In Diyala, al Qaeda attacked "a mainly Sunni village near Baqubah, killing five people, in the ongoing battle for control of al-Anbar and Diyala provinces between al-Qaeda and an alliance of local Sunni tribes." Al Qaeda fired "indiscriminately at civilians before fleeing." This follows a recent meeting between 45 tribal sheikhs and the Diyala government, Iraqi police and military, and U.S. forces. The Diyala tribes have formed the Awakening Movement, modeled on the Anbar Awakening that had such success in beating back al Qaeda in large swaths of Anbar province.

There was no major news out of Baghdad today, but we have two big stories coming out of Fallujah and northern Babil province. Multinational Forces Iraq confirmed that it has indeed recovered the body of one of the three missing soldiers near Mussayab, while al Qaeda plowed a suicide car bomb into a funeral procession in Fallujah.

A fireman attempts to put out a massive fire at an oil
well, outside the northern town of Kirkuk.
AFP/Marwan Ibrahim

The body of Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr. was found floating in the Euphrates River yesterday by Iraqi civilians. Pfc. Anzack appeared to have been dead for several days, and his body showed signs of torture as well as multiple gunshots to the head and chest. Specialist Alex R. Jimenez and Private Byron W. Fouty are still listed as missing, and earlier reports that two other bodies have been recovered have since been denied by U.S. commanders. Al Qaeda has still not released a videotape of the soldiers' capture, interrogation, or torture, but hope of finding the two soldiers fades as each day passes.

In Fallujah, al Qaeda attacked friends and family attending the funeral of Allawi al-Isawi. A suicide bomber struck the funeral procession killing 25 and wounding another 30 mourners. Isawi was a leader in the Anbar Salvation Council, the grouping of former insurgents and tribal leaders that have banded together to fight al Qaeda. He was also a member of the Albu Issa tribe, part of which is actively fighting al Qaeda in the eastern regions of Anbar province and has been the target of repeated al Qaeda attacks as a result.

Coalition forces captured 15 members of al Qaeda’s network during raids in Salman Pak, Karma, Amiriya, and Mosul. And Iraqi National Police captured three wanted insurgents in Jisay in Diyala province. The men were “wanted for murder, kidnapping and displacing Shiia families.”

In the north, insurgents conducted a successful strike against Iraqi’s oil infrastructure. "Insurgents planted a bomb in the well," in a field near Kirkuk, an unnamed Iraqi Army officer told AFP. Insurgents have repeatedly attacked the pipeline running from Kirkuk into Turkey, but this is the first time a well head was targeted.

The search for the three missing U.S. soldiers abducted west of Mahmudiyah on May 11 may have taken a turn for the worse. Unconfirmed reports indicate that up to three bodies resembling American soldiers have been found in a river near the town of Mussayab, south of the search area. The bodies are said to have been clothed in Army fatigues. Multinational Forces Iraq confirmed it was working to identify one body, but there is no confirmation on the other two. In today's briefing, Maj. Gen. Caldwell stated that intelligence indicates both soldiers may still be alive.

Iraqi Special Operations Forces search for missing U.S. soldiers.

In the Triangle of Death, the search for the missing soldiers continues. Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured two suspected insurgents and destroyed three trucks, "which were fabricated as vehicle borne improvised explosive devices, as well as several IED material caches." U.S. soldiers also captured two suspected insurgents and discovered several weapons caches, one which included "two complete DSHKA heavy machine guns"--an effective antiaircraft weapon.

Al Qaeda continues to maintain the attack tempo in the province of Diyala. A suicide bomber struck at a popular coffee shop in the town of Mandali on the Iranian border. At least 20 were killed and another 25 wounded in the attack. Mandali is near Qara Lus, where last week al Qaeda fighters posed as Iraqi troops and killed 15 civilians. Another three were killed and three wounded in a mortar attack in the western portion of the province.

Today's raids against al Qaeda networks in Arab Jabour, Taji, Mosul, Karma, and Fallujah resulted in six al Qaeda killed and 23 captured. "An al-Qaeda regional leader, responsible for al-Qaeda personnel and operations" was killed in one of the raids, while the raid in the small city of Karma resulted in 13 al Qaeda captured.

A raid against Iranian backed Mahdi Army cells in Sadr City resulted in two terrorists killed, 19 captured, and the discovery of "a cache of Iranian money and bomb-making materials," notes Multinational Forces Iraq. "The individual targeted during the raid is suspected of facilitating weapons shipments from Iran to secret cell terrorist elements in Baghdad, Basrah and Maysan province."

Yesterday was a relatively slow news day in Iraq. While Coalition and Iraqi forces continue to target al Qaeda and other insurgent networks, al Qaeda conducted a mass casualty suicide attack inside the capital--the first large scale suicide bombing since May 11. But the big "story" came from the San Francisco Chronicle, which claimed that a "second surge" is occurring in Iraq with the aim of doubling the number of U.S. combat troops on the ground by the end of this year.

The Chronicle's claim rests on a poor understanding of the process by which American troops are rotated into and out of Iraq. Combat units on the ground do not just abandon their posts, but wait until their relief arrives in theater. This overlap in forces has occurred several times since the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Also, as units have had their tours extended, the timetable for forces arriving in theater has not been pushed back. It should be noted that all Army combat deployments--both in Iraq and Afghanistan--have been extended from 12 to 15 months. The claim that a second, secret surge is occurring is inaccurate at best.

Iraqi and Coalition forces continue to keep up the pressure on al Qaeda. Raids yesterday in Baghdad, Mosul, Karma, and Fallujah led to the capture of three cell leaders and nine associates. Operations in Mosul and Anbar province earlier today resulted in another 15 captured, including two cell leaders. Iraqi Special Forces captured 16 al Qaeda during raids in Samarra on Sunday.

Coalition forces rescued five kidnapped Iraqis, including a young boy "who had been kidnapped and severely beaten with chains, cables and hoses," noted an Multinational Forces Iraq press release. The Iraqis were being held in the city of Karma in Anbar province, where al Qaeda has put up stiff resistance to Coalition forces. "The four captives also showed signs of torture, and the boy stated the terrorists had hooked electrical wires to his tongue and shocked him." This raid led to the rescue of 12 more Iraqis held captive near Karma. Nine terrorists were killed and three captured during those operations.

In Baghdad, al Qaeda in Iraq has conducted its first high profile bombing in over a week. Twenty-five Iraqis were killed and another 60 wounded during a bombing in the Amil neighborhood in Baghdad's Bayaa district. This was the first big strike inside Baghdad since May 11, when bridges were struck on the outskirts of the city. In Diyala province, "militants" murdered an Iraqi family at a false checkpoint near Baqubah. The entire family was killed--the mother, father, an infant, and three children.

It's been three months since the commencement of the Baghdad Security Plan on February 14, and the operation has been marked by both considerable progress and painful setbacks. While the violence in Baghdad has decreased to levels not seen since prior to the bombing of the Samarra mosque, al Qaeda and its allies have carried the fight into the surrounding provinces in an attempt to discredit the plan and destabilize the Iraqi government.

In the capital, al Qaeda has not staged a successful mass casualty suicide attack since May 11. Mortar and IED attacks, small arms engagements, small car bombs, and other forms of violence prevail; however, the sectarian killings that once threatened to plunge the country into a full-fledged civil war continue to remain at a low level. Al Qaeda has conducted the majority of its large-scale attacks in the provinces--Niwena, Kirkuk, and Diyala.

The Baghdad Operational Command and Multinational Forces Baghdad continue to position their forces throughout the city. The first Iraqi Army units to enter the city on a 90-day deployment rotation are now beginning to rotate out, with new units coming in to replace them. Elements of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Iraqi Army Division and the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Iraqi Army Division have been spotted in the Bayaa and Doura districts. The 3rd Brigade of the 4th Iraqi Army Division has moved back to the Kirkuk region, while it appears the 4th Brigade of the 1st Iraqi Army Division has been rotated back to eastern Anbar province.

The most significant event to occur in Iraq over the weekend was the formation of the Salahadin Awakening, which opposes al Qaeda's attempt to Talibanize Iraq and erode the traditional power of tribal leaders. Stars & Stripes reported that the Baghdad tribes met to form the front; but, in fact, the tribes represented at the meeting were mostly from Salahadin province. The meeting occurred in Taji, and tribes were present from the northern portion of Baghdad province and Salahadin. Recently, the tribes of Diyala formed the Diyala Awakening in an attempt to replicate the success of the Anbar Salvation Council, which is largely responsible for the dramatic turnaround in the security situation in that province.

The potential effect of the Salahadin Awakening became apparent early last week when Iraqi civilians in Duluiyah came to the aid of Iraqi police under attack at a checkpoint in that city. "In response to the attack, 20 armed men from a nearby neighborhood assembled and quickly came to the aid of the policemen manning the checkpoint," Multinational Forces Iraq stated. "This grass roots effort contributed a significant impact in thwarting the attack . . . local citizens also responded according to a plan they developed for neighborhood defense."

Nine days after the ambush on a U.S. patrol in the 'Triangle of Death' region south of Baghdad, U.S and Iraqi security forces continue to search for the three missing soldiers--five others were killed in the al Qaeda attack. General David Petraeus stated on Friday that intelligence indicates at least two of the soldiers are still alive. Multinational Forces Iraq has information on the cell that conducted the attack and has captured several of its members. Raids have been carried out as far away as Amiriyah in neighboring Anbar province, where nine suspects were captured.

Multinational Forces Iraq has killed a major player in the January 20 kidnapping and murder of five American soldiers during a complex attack on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala. On May 19, Coalition forces killed Azhar al-Dulaimi during a raid north of Baghdad after he resisted attempts to detain him. Azhar al-Dulaimi is described as the "mastermind" and "tactical commander" of the Karbala attack, as well as other high-profile terror attacks in Iraq.

Azhar al-Dulaimi was a leader in the Qazali network, which General David Petraeus noted was behind the planning, organization, and execution of the Karbala attack. The raid was well planned and executed, as the attackers looked American, spoke English, and carried American equipment in the assault on the Provincial Joint Coordination Center. One soldier was killed and three wounded during the initial attack, and four soldiers were taken hostage. They were executed shortly after their capture as Iraqi police and Coalition forces tracked their movement eastward towards Iran.

Azhar al-Dulaimi's fingerprints were found on the SUV where the four soldiers were found handcuffed and murdered. The discovery of a torture room and weapons cache in Baghdad's Sadr City on May 6 led to information about Azhar's location. Ten Mahdi Army fighters were also killed during the raid.

The Qazali network receives arms, training, funding, and other assistance from Iran's Qods Force, which reports directly to Iran's Supreme Leader. "[The Qazali network] were provided substantial funding, training on Iranian soil, advanced explosive munitions and technologies as well as run of the mill arms and ammunition, in some cases advice and in some cases even a degree of direction" from Qods Force, General Petraeus stated last April.

Azhar al-Dulaimi is also believed to have been involved in numerous kidnappings, including that of U.S. Army Specialist Ahmed Altaie, who disappeared in Baghdad on October 23 after visiting family, as well as the abduction of 70 workers from the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education in Baghdad. He is believed to be funneling terrorists into Iran for training, as well as transporting weapons and the deadly armor piercing explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) from Iran into Iraq. "Intelligence reports indicate Dulaimi received military training from Iranian intelligence agents and from Lebanese Hezbollah, to include training on how to conduct terrorist-style kidnapping," according to the Department of Defense.

An Iraqi soldier during operations south of Baqubah.

Iraq has seen yet another relatively quiet day, with no major suicide bombings or large scale attacks. The most serious reported incident occurred in Mussayab, south of Baghdad, where three were killed and four wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint. The large scale attacks appear to be coordinated and meted out over regular intervals.

The big news from Iraq today was an operation against a terror cell smuggling weapons from Iran and facilitating the movement of fighters between the countries. "The individuals targeted during the raids are suspected members of a secret cell terrorist network known for facilitating the transport of weapons and explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, from Iran to Iraq, as well as bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terrorist training," noted the Multinational Forces Iraq press release. Six were captured, including two who are believed to be cell leaders. Coalition and Iraqi Special forces have been actively pursuing these Iranian backed EFP cells--this is the sixth such raid on this particular network in less than two weeks, resulting in a total of 13 cell members killed and 29 captured.

Iraqi civilians in Duluiyah in Salahadin province came to the aid of Iraqi police as they were attacked at their checkpoint in the city. "In response to the attack, 20 armed men from a nearby neighborhood assembled and quickly came to the aid of the policemen manning checkpoint," Multinational Forces Iraq stated. "This grass roots effort contributed a significant impact in thwarting the attack... local citizens also responded according to a plan they developed for neighborhood defense."

In neighboring Diyala province, "gunmen in four vehicles laid an ambush in central Baqubah for government accountants [carrying] one billion Iraqi dinars [$860,000] as a monthly social security program fund for poor families." Also in that province, three American soldiers were killed in an unspecified location after their vehicle was struck by an IED.

In Mosul, one of the two Mosul bridges struck by suicide car bombs on May 15 was repaired by U.S. Army engineers. Al Qaeda has struck seven bridges spanning over the past two months. At least two were destroyed.

Thursday has been relatively quiet in Iraq, as al Qaeda in Iraq appears to have spent its energy on a major offensive conducted in Diyala, Niwena, and Kirkuk on Wednesday. A significant number of Iraqi Army units have redeployed to secure Baghdad, and al Qaeda and other insurgent groups have exploited the security gap.

Soldiers with the latest Stryker brigade to arrive in Iraq sight a
suspected team of insurgents during a patrol in the Taji area, May 15.

In Mosul, over 200 al Qaeda attacked a police station on Wednesday. Fifteen terrorists and four police were killed in the battle. Also, al Qaeda attacked and destroyed two bridges in Mosul in a coordinated suicide car bomb attack. These are the sixth and seventh bridges hit over the past two months. In Kirkuk, al Qaeda conducted a series of attacks against municipal leaders, police, a school, and a health center.

The casualty toll in yesterday's suicide bombing in Abu Sayada in Diyala has increased, and it was confirmed that chlorine gas was used. Forty-five were killed and 60 wounded in the chlorine suicide attack, al Qaeda's tenth successful employment of the poisonous gas in Iraq. Elsewhere in Diyala, al Qaeda "abducted 21 civilian passengers at a fake checkpoint near Al-Ghalibiya" and brought them to Al-Hashemeyat, which is a known al Qaeda stronghold.

Coalition and Iraqi forces continue operations against al Qaeda's network nationwide. On May 15, Task Force 145 killed four al Qaeda and captured 30 suspected members of the network during raids in Karma, Anbar province, Mosul, and Tarmiya. Four al Qaeda were killed and 17 captured in Karma alone. Iraqi Army operations inside Baghdad resulted in two insurgents killed and another 51 captured. A further 13 roadside bombs wer