Al-Qaeda Car Bombs Decrease Dramatically in Iraq

In Iraq, al-Qaeda's signature tactic, the car bomb, has all but been abandoned by al-Qaeda with the U.S. military saying this downward trend is a sign that al-Qaeda is on the defensive.  The decline looks like this:

Car bombings in Iraq:

• January 2008:      3
• December 2007: 12
• January 2007:     80+

Car bombings have been replaced by suicide bombers, whose attacks are slightly up, but there’s a reason for that. According to U.S. Navy Admiral Greg Smith:

"We think that because of our operations, al-Qaeda has moved into a much more defensive position, and they're clearly having to physically move.  That's making their ability to conduct more lethal larger-scale bombings more difficult."

Admiral Smith went on to say that Al-Qaeda is "no longer able to assemble larger and more intricate car bombs. Suicide vests demand smaller quantities of explosives, are easier to travel with and easier to assemble than car bombs."

If the U.S. can continue to capitalize on al-Qaeda's weaknesses before the next Democrat is President, whenever that may be, Iraq will make it through this tough transition.

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Comments

[CalPatriot]

I believe Hillary and Obama have already taken credit. I even heard this on Fox News the other day. Like Al Gore, who claims to have taken the initiative to create the internet, these two take credit for Bush and the U.S. Military’s role and decision making.

[Amy Proctor]

CalPatriot, right you are. I predicted this early last year that Democrats would take credit for any success in Iraq (politically especially for threatening to pull the rug out from under the feet of Iraq's security). Murtha took credit for the surge success in the fall 2007 when he had to admit the surge is working. He said Iraqi officials listen to everything he says and whenver he threatened troop withdrawal (as if he were President) immediately some political progress occured in Iraq.

1. What an egomaniac.
2. Too bad he couldn't get the same movement by threating the Congress.

Hillary and Obama are pulling the same stunt. I think they all believe what they're saying.

[dtodeen]

I read AQ has mobilized in Mosul. I must insist that sit-rep is still very fragile and the claim to pull troops or decrease operations could be dangerous. Staying on the current offense is tantamount.

Semper Fi

[Amy Proctor]

Al-Qaeda in Iraq doesn't exist as it once did. I believe the stat is 75% gone. Even GEN Petraeus points toward caution because al-Qaeda is ruthless. I'm not sure that AQ has "mobilized" in Mosul, but they do have some sort of presence there.

[robert verdi]

I have to say reading the headlines I have lately been hoping that Al qaeda is on its last stand in Iraq, its a hope, but if you look at where the attacks against the Iraqi people and the Coalition you can see an ever shrinking zone of Iraq now just north of Baghdad.

[Mwalimu Daudi]

Well, we are still losing the war. Senator Harry Reid, the greatest military genius since General George Armstrong Custer says so. So there.

[mudkitty]

According to the Bush Pentagon and the Bush Defense Dpt. AQ is only 2% of the insurgency. Don't believe me? Go to their websites and look it up.

Anyway, anybody with half a brain knows that AQ and the Taliban are alive and well in Afghanistan and Pakistan, along with Bin Laden.

[robert verdi]

Mudkitty,
2 % launched a genocidal war against the people of Iraq and attempted to start a civil war that killed millions. It only took 19 people for 9/11, 2 % is more then you think.

[Amy Proctor]

Ha! No, mudkitty, I don't believe you, but how about YOU back up your own assertions?

GEN Petraeus has said since he became the commanding general of Multi-National Force-Iraq that AL-QAEDA is the biggest enemy in Iraq and that it is AL-QAEDA is what supports the insurgency. Take al-Qaeda out of the insurgency and it collapses. The fantatical Sunni sect Wahabists of the Taliban and al-Qaeda support the Sunni insurgency started by Saddam loyalists.

I'm not sure where you're getting your facts from but I recommend the Pentagon Channel. You can hear the commander briefings and get the correct stats.

I'm sorry you don't understand military operations and counterinsurgency, but most people don't. Insurgencies historically last 10-15 years. To criticize the work of the military in Afghanistan is repugnant.

[robert verdi]

That could have killed millions, my mistake on the post, Iraq has not seen that bloodshed despite all of the bogus "studies" done by anti-bush groups.

[mudkitty]

Like I wrote in the above, just go look it up. You don't have to believe me. But if you don't believe the truth, than you're just kidding yourself. It isn't me you have to believe.

And Amy, Patraeus, never said any such thing. Especially under oath.

RV - so why are you equating 9/11 with Iraq? Are you pissing in your pants over what 15 Saudis and 4 Yeminis can do? What has that got to do with Iraq, and the Iraqi people. Do you ever even consider the refugees, much less the dead?

[Amy Proctor]

Why can't you provide proof for your own assertions? because there IS no such proof, mudkitty.

Give me a while and I'll post what Petraeus said about this. I've poured hours over his briefings and in an interview he gave to Fox News (I believe it is but I'll verify it) he described what I said above,that al-Qaeda is driving what's left of the insurgency.

I'll be back with the quotes and links in a bit.

[robert verdi]

MudKitty,
The Jihadist logic behind Al Qaeda that leads to terrorists blowing up Mosques and funerals in Iraq as a way to defeat the United States, is the same ideology that led to 9/11. Not all of the same people, but the same evil ideology of genocide and oppresion. I guess my point was do not underestimate what a couple thousand people who are willing to die and kill hundreds of thousands people can do.

[mudkitty]

Give you a while? I'll give you all eternity to prove your false assertion, Amy. You are the one who made the claim, now it's up to you to prove it.

Actually, Verdi - Muslims don't blow up Mosques. If you actually believe that, and want to convince the world of it, you need to provide proof. U.S. bombs have fallen on Mosques - that much is true. Not that
you guys really care.

Jihadist "logic" is anything but, and it compares to the Army's Of God mentality in Western Xianity. (X being the original Greek symbol for "the Christ.") Jehadist, if you don't know, believe in Jesus.

[Amy Proctor]

Yep, mud, I'm a DOD contractor on my military post. Sorry to inconvenience you but I have a very active, happy, satisfying life outside of this blog. I see you're still unable to produce a shred of support your assertion that "AQ is only 2% of the insurgency." Imagine that!

I can't believe you're saying I made the claim and I need to prove it when you're the one who made the 2% claim and cannot back it up fact!

Petraeus on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace talking about al-Qaeda and the Sunni insurgency:

WALLACE: But again, the Pentagon quarterly report tells a very different story, and let's put that up. It says, "Much of the violence is attributable to sectarian friction."

And as you pointed out, there was a substantial jump in sectarian violence in May. Isn't the Sunni-Shiite conflict much more responsible for the violence in Iraq these days than Al Qaeda, sir?

PETRAEUS: I'm not so sure about that, Chris. In fact, Al Qaeda is the Sunni violence. Al Qaeda is the face of what is happening on the extremist Sunni side.

They are carrying out the bulk of the sensational attacks, the suicide car bomb attacks, suicide vest attacks and so forth.

This is, I think, all of the individuals in the intelligence community — General McCrystal, the head of our Joint Special Operations Command — all of us feel that the central front of Al Qaeda's terror war is focused on Iraq.

So I think it is appropriate to emphasize the role that Al Qaeda Iraq is playing and the role that they play in provoking and giving excuses to the extremist militias of the other side, of the Shia side, as a justification for what they are doing, ostensibly, to protect the Shia people, but then in their own turn carrying out violence of their own.

There is no question but that there is sectarian violence between, again, Al Qaeda, certainly between some other Sunni insurgent groups and these extremist militias.

And that is, in fact, what we are trying to try to break the cycle of, the cycle of violence that can really damage a neighborhood, the cycle of violence that, in fact, tore the fabric of society in Iraq and particularly in Baghdad, and especially in the mixed neighborhoods, during the latter part of 2006 and into the early part of this year, with really enormous damage as a result.

WALLACE: General, you talked briefly before about the fact that you're trying to split off some of the Sunni insurgents from Al Qaeda, especially out in Anbar province, and in fact, you've even gone to the lengths of arming some of the Sunni insurgents to fight Al Qaeda.

How do you know — or do you worry that they are going to end up using those weapons to either attack U.S. forces or to fight their civil war against the Shiites?

And how do you respond — we understand that aides to Prime Minister Maliki objected strongly about arming Sunni insurgents to Defense Secretary Gates yesterday, so how do you respond to that concern?

PETRAEUS: Well, those are legitimate concerns, and we have the same concerns. We have a good discussion going with the government of Iraq.

As I mentioned, the process really is to identify these individuals, try to vet them as best we can. By the way, we do biometric data on all of them. We link that to serial numbers of weapons and so forth.

And then what you want to do is you want to get them linked into legitimate government of Iraq institutions, starting out perhaps as what are called police support units; then, as they prove themselves, getting a ticket to the police academy so they can become full-fledged police, or volunteering for the Iraqi army.

The fact is that over time in any of these conflicts, individuals at some point have had to end up sitting across the table from those who at best tacitly were aware of what was going on against their adversary, and that we perhaps aided and abetted it.

Interestingly, we have a British three-star general — my deputy is the head of our particular effort here, the engagement and reconciliation cell that we have established in part because they've had some pretty tough experience in this regard themselves, having sat down at tables in northern Ireland and other places with individuals who, say, 10 years earlier were swinging pipes against their lads.

That's been instructive for us. We think that it has been carried out with sufficient safeguards in Anbar province. It has certainly completely changed the dynamics of Anbar province.

Here's the video I posted of the interviews.

Here's another post on the Sunni insurgency and al-Qaeda according to GEN Petraeus.

Here is GEN Petraeus briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sunni militias/insurgents turning away from al-Qaeda toward the Iraqi government and coalition forces. Al-Qaeda is what funded and supported the now fledgling insurgency.

Those are just a few ciations I found on my site alone.

[robert verdi]

Mudkitty, Come on.
Just today and Afghan govenor was killed by a Taliban bomb while he was in a Mosque. One of the top targets of Al Qaeda is funerals in Iraq. After they murder a Muslim who doesn't toe the line, they wait for a crowd of his family and freinds at the funeral. They then kill 20-30 or more people. This happens all the time. As for US bombs and Mosques, I have no doubt in the past 6 years you can find a mosque destroyed by the US. I also have no doubt that the troops involved did what they could to prevent such attacks, and that at many times those Mosques had been turned into firepoints and weapons depots by terrorists who understood we have certain guidelines we follow. Guidelines our enemies will take full advantage of.

[robert verdi]

Amy,
I was reading today how Al Qaeda has killed 50 people mostly teenage boys in a Baghdad pet market. Can you believe people can't see the genocidal campaign being launched by this group?

[Amy Proctor]

robert, suicide bombings are usually far less successful than car bombings but they have become al-Qaeda's weapon of choice because most of the car bomb making "factories" have been closed down and al-Qaeda cannot sustain large operations.

We shouldn't stop until all Iraqis are safe from these genocidal maniacs.

[mudkitty]

American deaths are up in Jan. over Dec.

[robert verdi]

Amy,
Yes the US and Iraqi people are getting better at stoping these crimes, and the fact that the great Al Qaeda heros may be reduced to duping mentaly handicaped women to massacre innnocent Muslims shows their evil and their weakness.
To Mudkitty,
The reason casualties are up is because we decided to purse Al Qaeda into the last province they were a major factor. Bush and Petereaus could have sat on their success in turning Anbar into a much safer place. When the US military says its going for the win, that is not jingoism. They really are trying to kill and root out every member of that genocidal death cult known as Al Qaeda.

[mudkitty]

RV(of the mind) - AQ is responsible for less than 2% of the violence in Iraq. I recommend the Pentagon's website, so you can get up to speed.

[Amy Proctor]

Mudkitty, you've really painted yourself into a corner on this 2% thing that you cannot produce any evidence for at the DOD web site. Noticed how I linked to the comments by GEN Petraues at his briefings.

[mudkitty]

You can't be serious, Amy.

EVERY defense related GOVERNMENT SITE, if you do a search, acknowledges that AQ makes up only 2% of the Iraq insurgency. Also, at every government hearing, every single Bush administration representative has acknowledged that FACT (clearly non of you watch C-Span.) A fact, btw, is not an opinion. This information is so pervasive, and as far as the hearings are concerned, are soooooo all over YouTube, that, to not be aware of this shows your willful ignorance, and, as I'm not your teacher, nor your classmate, I'm not here to do your homework for you.

Just google : "percentage of AQ compared to entire insurgency." Really. It's two clicks away, children.

Even Jenn of the Jungle knows this to be a fact. Even DG, knows it.

[Amy Proctor]

mud, I did google that and non-government or opinion sites come up. I've never seen that 2% figure on any gov. site and have posted at length GEN Petraeus contracticion to your assertion.

Maybe you're just allergic to government sites or the military but I don't see what the big deal is, if it's so easy and information so abundant, that you go to a DOD site and substantiate your claim.

I did that. I posted GEN Petraeus' comments along with video when he says that "AL-QAEDA IS THE SUNNI VIOLENCE/INSURGENCY"

You can't get clearer than that.

[Amy Proctor]

Here's GEN Petraeus' quote from my citation above:

PETRAEUS: I'm not so sure about that, Chris. In fact, Al Qaeda is the Sunni violence. Al Qaeda is the face of what is happening on the extremist Sunni side.

[mudkitty]

Suni vs Shia...brillant. Not.