Ed Morrissey from the CaptainsQuarters blog reports on the captured documents recently released by Centcom that show Al-Qaida in a terrible state of dispair and worry. Far from being the group capable of driving Iraq into a quagmire of sectarian violence as portrayed on the weekly news reports.
Morrissey states:
“CENTCOM announced today that they had captured al-Qaeda correspondence in Iraq that discusses the state of the insurgency, especially around Baghdad but also around the entire country. Far from optimistic, the documents captured in an April 16th raid reveal frustration and desperation, as the terrorists acknowledge the superior position of American and free Iraqi forces and their ability to quickly adapt to new tactics.”
Al-Qaida correspondence:
“The Americans and the Government were able to absorb our painful blows, sustain them, compensate their losses with new replacements, and follow strategic plans which allowed them in
the past few years to take control of Baghdad as well as other areas one after the other. That is why every year is worse than the previous year as far as the Mujahidin’s control and influence over Baghdad.”
But this is where it really gets interesting, just like the North Vietnamese who claimed after defeating the South that the western media and the various international peace groups helped them win a war they couldn’t win by themselves, the same can be said of the terrorists now operating in Iraq.
Al-Qaida correspondence:
“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 words, the significance of the strategy of their work is to show in the media that the Americans 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. 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.”
Once again we see the international media as being a third party to a conflict, though the media would never admit to it, they are of more value to the terrorists operating in Iraq for disseminating propaganda, than they are for gathering news stories for Western consumption. (Remember the suppossed 40 headless bodies claim?)
Its also interesting to read that the terrorists are having trouble recruiting for their failed cause, something the western media should have picked up on ages ago, but then again, why would
their miserable failure to do so come as a surprise? KGS
