The Al-Qaida I Recognize
A captured document released by the Coaltion shows that Qaida leaders think thier own organization is weak, inept and their only strength is in their ability to game the Western Media.
The Coalition reports:
“The actions of the Iraqi Security Forces are having a significant negative impact on the Mujahideen’s ability to operate in Baghdad. Al-Qaida in Iraq attacks Mosques and other public places to draw media attention and is having difficulty recruiting members because the people of Iraq do not support its cause,”said the author who translated the Baghdad State of Affairs document.
The captured document also says:
‘mujahideen are not considered more than a daily annoyance to the Shiite government…’, and that the ‘…mujahideen in Baghdad are generally groups of assassins without any organized military capabilities.’
This is the Al Qaida I recognize from my time in Iraq– a phase 1 insurgency that fell on its face everytime it it tried to move to phase 2 or 3 and has never really accomplished phase 1.
This would actually mean there is not an insurgency in Iraq, but a terrorist movement who has been able to game the Western media.
The CentCom translation says exaclty that:
The policy followed by the brothers in Baghdad is a media oriented policy without a clear comprehensive plan to capture an area or an enemy center. Other word, the significance of the strategy of their work is to show in the media that the American and the government do not control the situation and there is resistance against them. This policy dragged us to the type of operations that are attracted to the media, and we go to the streets from time to time for more possible noisy operations which follow the same direction.
This direction has large positive effects; however, being preoccupied with it alone delays more important operations such as taking control of some areas, preserving it and assuming power in Baghdad (for example, taking control of a university, a hospital, or a Sunni religious site).
To be sure, the terrorists are still deadly, but the Al Qaida I saw personally is reflected in the captured documents, not the one you see on TV or read about in the newspapers.