We’ve won the “War on Terror”!
Posted by seumasach on July 6, 2008
It was always inevitable that the defeat in Iraq would be declared a victory and that the charge would be trumpeted amidst retreat . Now the project initiated by General Fallon can be resumed with Martin McGuinness helping out with a bit of “conflict resolution”. However, constructive reengagement with Iran, Syria and Russia would be indispensable as well as a clipping of the wings of Israel.
Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda
Marie Colvin in Mosul(Sunday Times)
July 6, 2008
American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.
After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul.
A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.
Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects
The group has been reduced to hit-and-run attacks, including one that killed two off-duty policemen yesterday, and sporadic bombings aimed at killing large numbers of officials and civilians.
Last Friday I joined the 2nd Iraqi Division as it supported local police in a house-to-house search for one such bomb after intelligence pointed to a large explosion today.
Even in the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of explosives.
American and Iraqi leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside to the south.
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, who has also led a crackdown on the Shi’ite Mahdi Army in Basra and Baghdad in recent months, claimed yesterday that his government had “defeated” terrorism.
“They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it,” Maliki said. “But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them.”
The number of foreign fighters coming over the border from Syria to bolster Al-Qaeda’s numbers is thought to have declined to as few as 20 a month, compared with 120 a month at its peak.
Brigadier General Abdullah Abdul, a senior Iraqi commander, said: “We’ve limited their movements with check-points. They are doing small attacks and trying big ones, but they’re mostly not succeeding.”
Major-General Mark Hertling, American commander in the north, said: “I think we’re at the irreversible point.”
In These New Times 
james said
actaully it is a victory. the big oil companies are close to gettin a slice of iraqi oil, and the US/NATO has a military presense in Afghanistan that will counter Chinese, Russian influence in that region, and keep a eye on Pakistan and Iran.
smeddum said
The oil issue in iraq is not so determined as Western propaganda suggests. Nor are things so stable in Afghanistan.
The oil companies are likely to become a target in the guerrilla war if they move in at all. James, you miss the point. The US has removed a major plank of their phoney reasons for being there. This could very well be a sign that they intend to pull out.
James said
the main aim of occupying Afghanistan was not about spreadin democracy or winning hearts and mind, it is all about sustaining a long term military presense. the US has the military capability to fight a long guerrilla war against the Taliban, and they will sustain losses in the tactical battles and skirmishing, but the bases in Afghanistan will gave the US a strategic advantage over both China and Russia, and will worry both Pakistan and Iran. there are similarities with Vietnam, the US are supposed to have lost that, but the military campaign which spread intoCampodia and Laos ensured that Communism didn’t develop in south-east Asia, so maybe the US won the Vietnam war.
similar is happening in Afghanistan. they are now in a position to influence politics in south-central Asia, and that includes the former soviet states.
in Iraq, there is now a situation where former resistance are fighting al-quada. politically the government is getting stronger and are now calling for a US withdrawal. but will the US dismantle the military bases? it is doubtful. once the oil starts to flow, the US will remain to protect US interests, because now the US will be able to challenge Saudi Arabia and the Gulf elites.
so everything is pointing depressingly to a victory for US imperialism
smeddum said
I am not so pessimistic, look at this recent post. The economic crisis is key to the collapse of US influence in the Middle East. US bases are becoming an anachronism. They exude military power but have outstayed any welcome they may have had after 9/11.
james said
i don’t think the US has lost influence in the middle-east. admittedly it has lost a few proxy conflicts in Lebanon, and the Saudis are ignoring request to increase oil production, but there are strong indications that former enemies like syria wishes to develop better relations with the US. the recent talks with Israel over the Golem heights are an indicator of this. and then there is the fighter swap between israel and hezbollah, and the ceasefire between Israel and hamas. all this speak of a plan to calm relations between syria, Israel, hamas and hezbollah. the US can’t defeat hezbollah so they are now supporting diplomacy as a strategy aimed at isolating Iran. none of this could have been achieved if the US hadn’t any military presense in the middle east. it gives their security and intelligence servives quicker access to the wider middle-east world, and they are becoming good at playing local politics, and playing one off against the other.
i repeat that the long term strategy of the US is a long-term military presense in the middle-east and central asia. i think John McCain spoke about a hundred years.
smeddum said
I don’t agree with Chuck Hagel on much but I think his assessment of US influence in the Middle East should be taken into account