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| Iraq |
| Abizaid confirms Baghdad al-Qaeda plot |
| 2006-03-16 |
| Testifying on Capitol Hill today, General John Abizaid said claims by Iraq's Interior Ministry that Al Qaeda terrorists tried to storm the highly secured Green Zone in Baghdad where the U.S. and British embassies are located were true. Abizaid was asked about the reported plot that allegedly involved more than 400 Al Qaeda operatives infiltrating Iraqi Security Forces and taking over guard posts around the Green Zone which is also the seat of the Iraqi government. "I think you can look at it that it's a good thing we found out about it before it moved forward and with a good deal of concern that people are trying to infiltrate the national security forces and various branches of the government," he said. "As sectarian tensions increase, it becomes harder to hold things together. I am confident we can move in a positive direction and the security forces will stay loyal," he added. Tuesday the interior minister of Iraq had said authorities had foiled the plot that would have put hundreds of its men at critical guard posts around the Green Zone. A senior Defense Ministry official said the 421 Al Qaeda fighters were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials were jailed in the plot, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the 421 Al Qaeda recruits were one bureaucrat's signature away from acceptance into an Iraqi army battalion whose job is to control the gates and main squares in the Green Zone. The plot was discovered three weeks ago. "You can imagine what could happen to a minister or an ambassador while passing through these gates when those terrorists are there," Jabr said in the interview conducted at his office inside the Green Zone — a 2-square-mile hunk of prime real estate on the west bank of the Tigris River. The area is a maze of concrete blast walls, concertina wire and checkpoints. The Defense Ministry official said the plot was uncovered by the military intelligence and the General Intelligence department that works under the government. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 One would hope there is a correlation between the 421 and some of the bodies that are showing up around Baghdad.None of the bodies seem to have grieving relatives. |
| Posted by: john 2006-03-16 14:46 |
| #6 This reads better than a plot from the Sopranos. Hopefully, they won't make AQ heroes, like they do the mobsters. |
| Posted by: Perfessor 2006-03-16 12:26 |
| #5 Wouldn't it be lovely if today's activity beyond Samarra is related! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-16 12:21 |
| #4 OK - but let's hope "421" is a random number chosen from the list of signees which intelligence compiled while they waited to the last moment to upset this operation. Let Al Qaeda continue to wonder who's where and why, and who's flipped. If we see scattered reports of specific activity (like the report of "11 killed" or "4 killed" in US raid) maybe that will show after effects from this. Here's hoping the hunt is hot. |
| Posted by: Phavilet Grolurt9350 2006-03-16 10:43 |
| #3 "I think you can look at it that it's a good thing ..." One could assume the three-week delay in disclosure of this “good” information is SOP for not compromising sources or methods. But there seems to be an absent component to this “first” report. Some have already argued that it's damage control for a shoddy screening process but RW’s question has highlighted the missing information from this report that (IMO) is more likely the answer. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-03-16 10:12 |
| #2 This may turn out to be the great untold good news turning point of the whole adventure, particularly if the answer to Rightwing's question is "they're being used". Used by the government to roll up and mop up. Gen. Abizaid's comments are noteworthy in both their understatement, and the simple acknowledgement of this event. Finally the Interior Minister's comment about "one bureaucrat's signature away" betrays that the govt. may be getting the bureacracy under control, a huge accomplishment even if it's only begun by the security branch rather than purer civilian offices. It's from the point of that one signature that the govt. can reverse engineer their way back into the Al Qaeda/insurgent/evildoers order of battle at a strategic level, rather than the accumulated tactical gains we've been rolling up for some time. Hopefully, this could turn out to be a high watermark of significance. |
| Posted by: Phavilet Grolurt9350 2006-03-16 09:49 |
| #1 Question, what happened to the 421 AQ guys?? |
| Posted by: Rightwing 2006-03-16 09:02 |