West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center has published its fifth “Harmony Report” on the inner workings of al-Qaeda, this time its Iraqi variant, AQI. Based on the Sinjar Records and written in clear and concise language, it’s an extremely important paper everyone interested in Islamic terrorism should read. Some key findings:
There is a strong risk of [...]
Archive for the ‘AQI’ Category
AQI: CTC Report Warns of “Strong Risk of Blowback”
Posted in AQI, Iraq, Militancy on August 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Jihadis Leave Their Iraqi Training Ground for the Real War
Posted in AQI, Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Militancy on July 31, 2008 | 19 Comments »
For some weeks there have been reports that foreign jihadis are departing Iraq in increasing numbers to join their fellow believers in Afghanistan. According to The Washington Post, Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri himself has recently relocated. With security improving in Iraq, Americans with neocon leanings have predictably announced that “victory” is at [...]
Al-Qaeda in Iraq: A stake into the lie
Posted in AQI, Al-Qaeda, Iraq on June 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Glad to see I’m not the only one pissed off about the “al-Qaeda-Iraq” meme. Bob Baer, who should know what he’s talking about, writes in Time:
A friend of mine at the White House complained to me the other day that the Bush administration and the Pentagon until this day believe we are fighting al-Qaeda in [...]
How ‘Sunni insurgents’ became ‘al-Qaeda’, pt. 2
Posted in AQI, COIN, Iraq on May 21, 2008 | 2 Comments »
In the comments section of another post I promised to look into the perplexingly sudden semantic change, both in U.S. military jargon and mainstream media coverage of Iraq, from ‘Sunni insurgents’ to ‘al-Qaeda’.
Reading David Ucko’s new article on the SoI phenomenon in SWJ I found the answer. It’s simple. The Petraeus command needed the [...]
Call it what you want, but it’s still Al-Qaeda
Posted in AQI, Iraq, Media on May 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Last July, New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt wrote in a column titled “Seeing Al Qaeda Around Every Corner”:
While a president running out of time and policy options may want to talk about a single enemy that Americans hate and fear in the hope of uniting the country behind him, journalists have the obligation [...]
Somewhere The Egyptian is laughing
Posted in AQI, Iraq, Media on May 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq killed in 2006 and again in 2007 and then arrested last week (NOT!), is apparently now held in such low esteem by the U.S. military that it has slashed the reward posted for his death or capture from $5 million to a mere $100 000. According [...]
