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| Iraq |
| Al-Qaeda reappears in IraqÂ’s 'Triangle of Death' |
| 2011-11-19 |
| BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda and its affiliates have been given an opening to revive operations in former strongholds by the US pullout from Iraq's northern and western provinces, a senior Iraqi official said. Nice going, Barack... Nearly nine years after the US-led invasion, the American military has handed the Iraqi government most of its military bases around the country, and the remaining 23,000 American troops will leave by the end of the year. Iraq says its forces are now able to contain insurgents. But with US troops leaving, weaknesses in Iraqi forces are already coming to light in hotspots like Diyala province and the Mosul area, senior Interior Ministry official Adnan Al-Asadi told Reuters in an interview. AL-Asadi said the number of US military personnel deployed in a strategic triangle in northern and western Iraq was not large but their aircraft cover and capabilities had been useful to control an area where insurgents have traditionally operated. "When the US withdrew from this triangle which is Diyala, Salahuddin, Anbar and Mosul ... a gap was left behind," he said. "Al-Qaeda has redeployed in the area ... Al-Qaeda is present, it appears and disappears and carries out operations, attacks and retreats. It's a guerrilla war, but they are no longer able to hold ground." Bombings and killings persist on a daily basis and a stubborn insurgency linked to Al-Qaeda, as well as Shiite militias, remain capable of lethal attacks. Al-Asadi said intelligence indicated men linked to Al-Qaeda are deployed in Diyala, Anbar and the southern desert of Nineveh, with some of their leaders in Salahuddin, but that they hid by staying in small groups of three or four and acting as goat or camel-herders. Al-Asadi said the Iraqi Army and federal police conducted a large raid around three weeks ago to bomb a remote area where Al-Qaeda fighters were operating, and most insurgents were forced out to neighboring areas while some were arrested in Mosul. Officials say Al-Qaeda affiliates carry out attacks on local government buildings and national security forces to try to destabilize the central government and demonstrate that it cannot provide security as the American troops leave. Government officials have long expressed concern that former Baathists would try to disrupt the government when US troops depart. The party was banned after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam, who was later tried and executed. Iraq arrested hundreds of former military officers and members of the Baath Party last month, a move some officials said had foiled a plot, while others said it was a precautionary measure before the US withdrawal. Al-Asadi said the Al-Qaeda-tied group Islamic State of Iraq and banned Baathists posed the biggest security challenge with the US withdrawal, while other outlawed groups are expected to fade away. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 As per TOPIX/WORLD NEWS + MIL BLOGS, ditto for post-2014 Afghanistan widout the presence of a large US = US-NATO Milfors. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-11-19 20:53 |
| #2 Once the US is gone, there is nothing preventing the Shiite majority from encouraging the remaining Sunnis to leave, if they are too pestiferous. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-11-19 17:15 |
| #1 Idiots. All they (al-Qaeda) have to do is lie low and prepare for the January takeover. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2011-11-19 09:07 |