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Iraq

U.S. Military Rescues 41 Iraqis From Al Qaeda Prison

2007-05-27

No panties on the head, just torture and broken bones? Andrew Sullivan would be so proud of AQ. Funny how Andy has been rather quiet about AQ torture manuals and prisons. U.S. forces rescued 41 Iraqi civilians Sunday from an Al Qaeda hide-out northeast of Baghdad, including some who showed signs of torture and broken bones, a senior U.S. official said. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said it was the largest number of detained Iraqis ever found in a single Al Qaeda hide-out. Some among the 41 had been held as long as four months, he said. Details were incomplete, but Caldwell said some of the freed Iraqis were being transported to medical facilities for treatment of their injuries. There were no indications that Americans had been held at the hide-out, he said. It was not immediately clear whether any Al Qaeda figures were captured. The discovery was unrelated to a search south of Baghdad for two missing U.S. soldiers. U.S. forces previously have found a number of houses used by Al Qaeda for detention, including some where prisoners showed signs of torture. But the hide-out raided Sunday in Diyala province was the largest, Caldwell said in a telephone interview. He declined to be more specific about the location, citing security reasons. Caldwell said a tip to U.S. forces from Iraqis in Diyala led to the rescue operation. "The people in Diyala are speaking up against Al Qaeda," he said. Caldwell said U.S. troops have been engaging more directly with Iraqi civilians in Diyala in recent weeks since an additional 3,000 U.S. troops entered the province.

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Iraq

Dad goes on trial as a Jihadi!

2007-05-17

An al-Qaida insurgent who allegedly helped plan hundreds of bombings in the Baghdad area and beheaded two Russian hostages will soon be face trial in an Iraqi court, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Omar Wahdallah Dad, also known as Abu Nur and "the Spider", has been in U.S. custody since December and will be tried under Iraq's anti-terrorism law, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters. Abu Nur could receive the death penalty, Caldwell said. Let's certainly hope so! Caldwell said Abu Nur has admitted to a role in 800 to 900 bombings while serving as a senior al-Qaida commander in the Baghdad area. The general said Abu Nur led a network responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in the capital, including one last year in the Shiite slum of Sadr City in which more than 200 people died. He said the Abu Nur admitted responsibility for the June 2006 kidnapping and murder of four Russian diplomats. Abu Nur is accused of personally beheading two of the Russians, the general said. An umbrella organization of seven insurgent groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, posted a Web video showing the graphic killings of three Russian embassy workers who had been abducted in Iraq. The 90-second video showed two blindfolded men beheaded and the shooting of a third man. In the footage, two men clad in black and wearing black ski masks shout "God is great!" before beheading the first man. Then one militant appears standing over the decapitated body of a second victim in a pool of blood, with the head placed on top of the body.

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Iraq

Al-Qaida says it has missing U.S. troops

2007-05-13

The Islamic State in Iraq offered no proof for its claim that it was behind the attack Saturday in Mahmoudiya that also killed four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator. But the Sunni area known as the "triangle of death" is a longtime al-Qaida stronghold. If the claim proves true, it would mark one of the most brazen attacks by the umbrella Sunni insurgent group against U.S. forces here. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for the U.S. military, said 4,000 U.S. troops backed by aircraft and intelligence units were scouring the farming area as the military made "every effort available to find our missing soldiers." President Bush was also getting regular updates on the missing soldiers, said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House's National Security Council in Washington. The early morning attack on two U.S. military vehicles outside of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, left the bodies of the four U.S. soldiers and their translator badly burned. Caldwell said the bodies of the interpreter and three of the slain soldiers had been identified, but the military was still working to identify the fifth. Later Sunday, the Islamic State of Iraq posted a brief message on a militant Web site saying it was responsible for the attack and held an unspecified number of U.S. soldiers. The group promised more details later. The Islamic State is a coalition of eight insurgent groups. Late last month, it named a 10-member "Cabinet" complete with a "war minister," an apparent attempt to present the Sunni coalition as an alternative to the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. U.S. military officials said they had no indication of who was behind Saturday's attack. "It's difficult to verify anything that al-Qaida in Iraq would say because they lie," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a military spokesman. However, "it would not surprise us if it were al-Qaida behind this, because we've seen this type of attack, this type of tactic, before. More AP drivel at link

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Iraq

Breaking: 5 U.S. Soldiers Dead, 3 Missing After Attack in Iraq's Triangle of Death

2007-05-12

Very bad news: BAGHDAD — Seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter were attacked early Saturday while patrolling a Sunni insurgent area south of Baghdad, leaving five dead and three missing, the U.S. military said. The military refused to specify whether the Iraqi interpreter was among those killed or among the missing, citing security. Troops were searching for the missing, using drone planes, jets and checkpoints throughout the area, according to the statement. Soldiers were also asking local leaders for information. The attack occurred at 4:44 a.m. about 12 miles west of Mahmoudiya, the military said, adding that nearby units heard explosions and a drone plane observed two burning vehicles 15 minutes later. Mahmoudiya is about 20 miles south of Baghdad in an area known as the Triangle of Death because of frequent insurgent attacks. Troops who arrived at the scene about an hour after the attack found five of the soldiers dead. The other three members of the patrol were gone, according to the statement, from Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. "Make no mistake: We will never stop looking for our soldiers until their status is definitively determined, and we continue to pray for their safe return," Caldwell said. An Iraqi army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information, also said joint U.S.-Iraqi forces were conducting house-to-house searches in the area and all roads to Mahmoudiya had been closed. The attack occurred nearly a year after two American soldiers went missing following a June 16 attack in the same area, prompting a massive search. Their bodies were found tied together with a bomb between one victim's legs several days later. The soldiers kidnapped and butchered last year were Privates Kristian Menchaca and Tommy Tucker. It is my understanding that many here saw the terrorist demons' video of their bodies. Never forgive, never forget.

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Iraq

(ABC) EXCLUSIVE: F-16s Destroy Purported Terror Camp in Iraq

2007-05-11

This gives me the warm fuzzies in spite of the outrageously hedged headline. ABC would apparently have us believe it was just as likely to be a bunny ranch or some kind of jumbo paintball range. U.S. Air Force F-16s obliterated three truck-mounted anti-aircraft weapons and killed 10 to 14 al Qaeda operatives near Fallujah on Tuesday, according to the military. The military believes they were al Qaeda terrorists engaged in an operation targeting coalition aircraft. "We've had about 11 helicopters that have been shot at and hit over the last four months in that location," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told ABC News. The Department of Defense gave ABC News first access to imagery of the night operation that was carried out a little more than 48 hours ago. The three-minute video begins with imagery from an unmanned aerial vehicle. The operator of the drone first spotted a truck with anti-aircraft weaponry mounted on it driving in the area. The drone followed the truck as it drove to a nearby training compound. "When we spotted this truck, we continued to follow it until it went to that compound where it's obviously doing some kind of training," Caldwell explained. The video shows what appears to be al Qaeda members firing anti-aircraft weapons from the trucks as they train to take over an abandoned building. or it might be a new high-tech duck food projector imported from Sweden or some other enlightened paradise. The small black images are artillery rounds being fired from the trucks and some can be seen richocheting off the structures. or bunny food packets. Odd that ABC is so skeptical elsewhere but accepts the factuality of this statement at face value. Probably just a slip into integrity. Because the operation began in the late evening, the drone used thermal heat imagery which made it easy to spot the activity. Works much better than thermal cold imagery. Caldwell told ABC News, "We then called in aircraft support to bring in some precision munitions and once it was established there was no apparent civilians in the area, the decision was made to engage and destroy the anti-aircraft truck." The truck was taken out by an F-16. Two other trucks and some other vehicles subsequently fled the compound. "We continued to track them," Caldwell said, "and when they stopped along the side of the road, they were taken out by F-16s as well." The second one blowed up REAL good. "Four wheel drive don't fail me now ..." All of this is seen on the video shot by the drones as well as the F-16 gun camera. The tracking and eventual destruction of the three trucks took approximately two hours. Caldwell describes the significance of this operation as a "seven to eight at least" on a scale of one to ten. "They're extremely lethal if they're able to engage our helicopters and so for us, that was critical to get that type of equipment eliminated," he said. The military said the entire assault continued with a ground attack -- not seen on the video -- after the drone continued to track two cars that had fled the compound and driven to a nearby town. "We launched a precision raid with helicopters and ground assault forces went in and we were able to detain eight individuals that we believe had been associated with that training earlier in the evening," Caldwell said. Based on preliminary debriefings of the detainees, Caldwell said, the military was able to determine they were al Qaeda. It is unclear if they were fighters from outside Iraq. 10 to 14 of them are a permanent addition to the Iraqi landscape in any case.

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Iraq

U.S.: Iran Helping Some Sunni Insurgents

2007-05-09

Highlighted and EFL A U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday that Shiite-dominated Iran is providing support to some Sunni insurgents fighting American forces in Iraq. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military had credible intelligence to support the allegation but did not elaborate. He said the support to Sunni insurgents was limited to select groups, which he did not identify. "It's not all Sunni insurgents but rather we do know that there is a direct awareness by Iranian intelligence officials that they are providing support to some select Sunni insurgent elements," Caldwell told reporters. "We have audio tapes of Iranians and Salafists discussing supplies, targeting and results". On Sunday, a U.S. general also said powerful armor-penetrating roadside bombs believed to be of Iranian origin were turning up in the hands of Sunni insurgents south of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Army's Task Force Marne, said the presence of "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, in Sunni weapons caches suggests some degree of Iranian influence among Sunni as well as Shiite extremists. ... Caldwell said the weapons issue was still being investigated, but "we do know that they're providing support in terms of financial support at this point." U.S. military officials have been saying for months that the Iranians were supplying EFPs to Shiite militias, despite lies strong denials by Tehran. Some Sunni insurgent groups are strongly anti-Iranian, blaming the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government for helping Iran expand its influence here. ...

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Iraq

US ID's 2 More Qaida Deaders

2007-05-04

The U.S. military on Friday identified two more top al-Qaida aides killed during an operation earlier this week targeting a senior propagandist for the terror network. The announcement came a day after the military said U.S.-led forces killed al-Qaida propagandist Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri early Tuesday west of Taji, near an air base 12 miles north of Baghdad. Al-Jubouri was one of five militants killed in the operation, but he was not identified until Wednesday after DNA testing. The military on Friday identified two of the other slain militants as al-Jubouri's spiritual guide Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, also known as Sabah al-Alwani and Abu Nuri; and a foreign fighter Abu Ammar al-Masri, who is said was helping with insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaida. The military did not say where al-Masri was from, but his pseudonym, which is Arabic for "The Egyptian," suggests that he comes from Egypt. Both militants had been positively identified by associates at the site, and photos also had been used to identify al-Shihawi, according to the statement. Military spokesman U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Thursday that al-Jubouri was identified with photos and DNA testing but only one body had been removed from the battlefield.

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Iraq

Attempt to Slaughter Iraqi Schoolgirls Discovered

2007-05-04

American soldiers discovered a girls school being built north of Baghdad had become an explosives-rigged "death trap," the U.S. military said Thursday. The plot at the Huda Girls' school in Tarmiya was a "sophisticated and premeditated attempt to inflict massive casualties on our most innocent victims," military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said. The military suspects the plot was the work of al Qaeda, because of its nature and sophistication, Caldwell said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. The plot was uncovered Saturday, when troopers in the Salaheddin province found detonating wire across the street from the school. They picked up the wire and followed its trail, which led to the school. Once inside, they found an explosive-filled propane tank buried beneath the floor. There were artillery shells built into the ceiling and floor, and another propane tank was found, the military said. The wire was concealed with mortar and concrete, and the propane tanks had been covered with brick and hidden underneath the floor, according to a military statement. Soldiers were able to clear the building. "It was truly just an incredibly ugly, dirty kind of vicious killing that would have gone on here," Caldwell said. Iraqi contractors were responsible for building the school, which was intended to bring in hundreds of girls. "Given the care and work put into emplacing this IED, it is likely it had been planned for a long time" and it is thought that "the IED was not intended to be set off until the building was occupied," the military said. Authorities intend to question the Iraqis involved in the school's construction.

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Iraq

U.S. military says Iran helping Iraq (with EFPS, actual headline at AP-Yahell)

2007-04-11

BAGHDAD - Iran has been training Iraqi fighters in the assembly of deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. Bombs for terrorist cowards constitute help for Iraq. Anyone who denies that large elements of the media openly support the enemy is a liar on the same scale as Joseph Goebbels. ADVERTISEMENT for terrorists EFPs, or explosively formed penetrators, hurl a molten, fist-sized lump of molten copper capable of piercing armored vehicles. "We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said at a weekly briefing. "We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees' debriefs." In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs. Misleading ambiguity. This means that the claim was made in January but, as APe editors know, it invites the inference that 170 soldiers were killed by the devices in January. The international Red Cross released a report that found the situation for civilians in Iraq is "ever-worsening," even though security in some places has improved as a result of stepped-up efforts by U.S.-led multinational forces. Apparently the IRC does not see a reduction in suicide bombings, kidnappings and mass murder as much of an improvement for civilians. Note the abrupt transition below to a completely different story, as though the recent battle reinforces the IRC's case: Bodies lay scattered across two central Baghdad neighborhoods after a raging battle left 20 suspected insurgents and four Iraqi soldiers dead, and 16 U.S. soldiers wounded, witnesses and officials said. The fighting Tuesday in Fadhil and Sheik Omar, two Sunni enclaves, was the most intense since a massive push to pacify the capital began two months ago. "Suspected" insurgents again. The APes may as well come right out and say fluffy bunnies and baby ducks. Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr meanwhile threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister's lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. Promise? I think his departure should permanent, via JDAM airlines. 'Now boarding'? Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. A sterling example of journalistic objectivity there. Nope, no bias or editorializing there. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki's government room to stop kidnappings, suicide bombings, and other journalistic auxiliary activity function. Al-Sadr's political committee issued a statement a day after al-Maliki rejected an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal. "We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can," al-Maliki told reporters during his four-day trip to Japan, where he signed loan agreements for redevelopment projects in Iraq. "To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process," he said, adding that "achievements on the ground" would dictate how long American troops remain. Al-Maliki spoke a day after tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of two Shiite holy cities, on al-Sadr's orders, to protest the U.S. presence in their country. The rally marked the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's conquer by American forces. The doofuses mean "conquest" reminscent of Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan. Not "liberation" "capture" or even "occupation" but "conquest." EFL, more handwringing and loaded language. Associated Press writers Lauren Frayer and Hamid Ahmed in Baghdad and Alexander G. Higgins in Geneva contributed to this report. Know the enemy. Edward R. Murrow and Ernie Pyle are spinning in their graves, Goebbels and Streicher rejoice in hell.

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Iraq

U.S. captures car bomb ringleaders

2007-03-26

U.S. forces have arrested the leaders of one of the deadliest car-bomb-making networks in Baghdad, a military spokesman said. After months of intelligence gathering, U.S. troops captured the ringleader of the Rusafa car bomb network and three of his lieutenants on Wednesday, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said in an interview Saturday with USA TODAY. The group, named after the area in Baghdad where it operated, has been linked to at least 14 car bomb attacks since early February that claimed the lives of 265 Iraqis and wounded 650 others, Caldwell said. Among the attacks was a blast Feb. 3 that killed more than 100 people in a Shiite market in downtown Baghdad, he said. "This car bomb network was a major one operating in Baghdad," said Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. "They were responsible for a horrific amount of civilian casualties." It was the biggest bust of car bombmakers since the start of the Baghdad security plan last month, Caldwell said. The plan seeks to restore order by simultaneously targeting Shiite death squads and Sunni insurgents who often use car bombs in Shiite areas to foment sectarian violence.

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Iraq

U.S. Troops Bust Poison Gas Factory

2007-02-23

U.S. troops raided a car bomb factory west of Baghdad with five buildings full of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals the military believes were to be used in bombs, a spokesman said Thursday, a day after insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the chlorine attack Wednesday — the second such "dirty" chemical attack in two days — signaled a change in insurgent tactics, and the military was fighting back with targeted raids. "What we are seeing is a change in the tactics, but their strategy has not changed. And that's to create high-profile attacks to instill fear and division amongst the Iraqi people," he told CNN. "It's a real crude attempt to raise the terror level by taking and mixing ordinary chemicals with explosive devices, trying to instill that fear within the Iraqi people." But he suggested the strategy was backfiring by turning public opinion against the insurgents, saying the number of tips provided by Iraqis had doubled in the last six months. One of those tips led U.S. troops to a five separate buildings near Fallujah, where they found the munitions containing chemicals, three vehicle bombs being assembled, including a truck bomb, about 65 propane tanks and "all kinds of ordinary chemicals," Caldwell said. He added that he believed the insurgents were going to try to mix the chemicals with explosives. The pickup truck carrying chlorine gas cylinders was blown up Wednesday, killing at least five people and sending more than 55 to hospitals gasping for breath and rubbing stinging eyes. On Tuesday, a bomb planted on a chlorine tanker left more than 150 villagers stricken north of the capital. More than 60 were still under medical care on Wednesday. Chlorine causes respiratory trouble and skin irritation in low levels and possible death with heavy exposure. Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said the investigation into the attack was still under way. "But what is obvious to us that the terrorists are adopting new tactics to cause panic and as many casualties as they can among civilians. But our plans also are always changeable and flexible to face the enemy's new tactics."

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Iraq

U.S. Pilots Alter Tactics

2007-02-05

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. command has ordered changes in flight operations after four helicopters were shot down in the last two weeks, the chief military spokesman said, acknowledging for the first time that the aircraft were lost to hostile fire. The crashes, which began Jan. 20, follow insurgent claims that they have received new stocks of anti-aircraft weapons - and a recent boast by Sunni militants that "God has granted new ways" to threaten U.S. aircraft. Al-Jazeera aired video late Sunday showing one of the U.S. helicopters being hit in central Iraq and said it came from an insurgent Web site. All four helicopters were shot down during a recent increase in violence, which an Interior Ministry official said has claimed nearly 1,000 lives in the past week alone. At least 103 people were killed or found dead Sunday, most of them in Baghdad, police reported. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters that the investigations into the crashes of three Army and one private helicopters were incomplete but "it does appear they were all the result of some kind of anti-Iraqi ground fire that did bring those helicopters down." It was the first time a senior figure in the U.S. Iraq command had said publicly that all four helicopters were shot down. Despite the losses, Caldwell said it was premature to conclude that the threat to U.S. aircraft posed by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militiamen had increased dramatically. "There's been an ongoing effort since we've been here to target our helicopters," Caldwell said. "Based on what we have seen, we're already making adjustments in our tactics and techniques and procedures as to how we employ our helicopters."

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