Paper Bags: The Next Terrorist Weapon

To the troops in Iraq: beware of seedy young men carrying plain brown paper bags. No, it's not porn in the bag. It's a mortar.

From a short video showing the pair dropping the bag, firing the mortar from it, and then running like hell. I'm guessing the paper bag mortar isn't exactly accurate.

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Sadr: No More Attacks on U.S. Troops

Why do I get the feeling that sometime last night a phone call was made to a certain ugly radical Shiite cleric telling him that the next Sadrist killed will be him?

Check and mate. AP:

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered a six-month suspension of activities by his Mahdi Army militia in order to reorganize the force, and it will no longer attack U.S. and coalition troops, aides said Wednesday.

The aide, Sheik Hazim al-Araji, said on Iraqi state television that the goal was to "rehabilitate" the organization, which has reportedly broken into factions, some of which the U.S. maintains are trained and supplied by Iran.

"We declare the freezing of the Mahdi Army without exception in order to rehabilitate it in a way that will safeguard its ideological image within a maximum period of six months starting from the day this statement is issued," al-Araji said, reading from a statement by al- Sadr.

In Najaf, al-Sadr's spokesman said the order also means the Mahdi Army will no longer launch attacks against U.S. and other coalition forces.

"It also includes suspending the taking up of arms against occupiers as well as others," Ahmed al-Shaibani told reporters.

I guess we're still not winning in Iraq?

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The New Worst Problem in Iraq

Greyhawk is blogging from Baghdad and he's a little upset about reports that the media and the Left are already spinning the Petraeus report. When this biggest problem is solved the next biggest problem is considered just as bad.

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U.S. reportedly detains Iranians in Iraq raid

This just in from AP via MSNBC:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American troops raided a Baghdad hotel Tuesday night and took away a group of about 10 people that a U.S.-funded radio station said included six members of an Iranian delegation here to negotiate contracts with Iraq’s government.

The Iranian Embassy did not confirm the report. But it said seven Iranians — an embassy employee and six members of a delegation from Iran’s Electricity Ministry — were staying at the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel, which was the one raided by U.S. soldiers.
...
Videotape shot Tuesday night by Associated Press Television News showed U.S. troops leading about 10 blindfolded and handcuffed men out of the hotel in central Baghdad. Other soldiers carried out what appeared to be luggage and at least one briefcase and a laptop computer bag.

A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, declined to comment, saying the action was part of an operation that had not been completed. In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, “I’ve seen that report but I can’t verify it.”

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Women Suffraging in Iraq, Plight of Yankee Imperialist Women Revealed

I think we all know why Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert really showed up at the Women's Equality Day celebration at Camp Taji. I mean, how often do you find a room full of American women in Iraq? more...

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Will Petraeus Downplay Surge Success?

Matt Sanchez is in Iraq and says the surge is working. So well, in fact, that he expects Petraeus will downplay surge success because it might look too partisan.

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Political Progress in Iraq: Leaders Agree on Benchmarks

Good news on the Iraq political front, which is of course bad news for the Democrats. Now that they can't deny the military progress, they'll be trying to deny the political progress as well. From FAUX NEWS Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's top Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders announced on Sunday they had reached consensus on some key measures seen as vital to fostering national reconciliation.

The agreement by the five leaders was one of the most significant political developments in Iraq for months and was quickly welcomed by the United States, which hopes such moves will ease sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands.

We'll see how long it lasts. Given our Democrats, they'll try to see to it that this ends yesterday.

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COPS in Baghdad

Saturday stupid from Iraq.

Another COPS in Iraq video below more...

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Support PMI's Iraq Coverage

Bill Roggio from "The Fourth Rail" and PMI is asking for a bit of help.

Over the next six weeks, Public Multimedia Inc. will have six reporters in Iraq. Wesley Morgan is currently writing from Iraq, and Joe Talley, a television producer and documentary filmmaker, just arrived in country and will be providing updates. In September, Bill Ardolino, who embedded in Fallujah in this past January, is going back to follow up on the progress of the Iraqi Police and Army, and their Police and Military Transition Teams. I will be in Baghdad with David Tate, a photojournalist, for most of September. Blake Powers, who writes at BlackFive, is scheduled to be in northern Babil and Anbar provinces in late September.

Some of these embeds were unexpected, and we are asking for your help to fund these efforts. We are looking to raise $20,000 over the next three weeks to cover the costs of the embeds. If you haven't donated, please consider doing so. Any amount you can give will help support our mission to provide embedded reporting from Iraq and other conflict zones. Remember, your donations are 100% tax-deductible as PMI is a nonprofit organization.
Thank you for your continued support.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

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al-Qaeda Murders Imam, Destroys Mosque, Kidnaps Women & Children

Via BBC:

A Sunni leader in the Iraqi province of Diyala, who encouraged his community to confront al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed by the group, police say.

The militants exploded a bomb in his house in the town of Kanaan, and fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at other houses and a Sunni mosque.

There are conflicting reports, but police in nearby Baquba said a total of 22 civilians died in the dawn attack.

The attackers then seized at least seven people before retreating.

Some of those kidnapped were women and children, residents said....

..."They blew up the mosque then they bombed houses crowded with family members," he told the AFP news agency.

One of the houses belonged to Sheikh Yunis al-Tai, an imam well known in the area for his opposition to the al-Qaeda in Iraq, he said. They killed him and at least one of his family members and wounded others.

al-Qaeda supporters have only one response. It's a lie/not true/propganda. So tell me was it a lie/not true/propaganda when al-Qaeda/Islamic State of Iraq vowed revenge against those who failed to yield to al-Qaeda? Are all these people talking to AFP, who normally calls al-Qaeda's murderous thugs freedom fighters, lying? I think not.

It seems the Jihadi supporters now call the 1920's Brigades liars too? Eh boys. Murdering Muslims, blowing up mosques, killing and kidnapping women and children, does this not sound like al-Qaeda? What justifies this?

it was the house of a sheikh affiliated with the socalled "awakening council"

Just what I thought. al-Qaeda's normal method of dealing with opposition, murder the opposition. more...

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Heartache Video: 5 Year Old Set on Fire in Iraq (Updated, Bumped)

Jesus wept. There has been some discussion in the Sandcrawler over whether or not the Shriners might be able to help. I hope so.

It's not clear who set this five year old child on fire, the assailants were wearing masks. We can be certain of one thing: it wasn't U.S. soldiers, regardless of what future Scott Beauchamps might suggest.

Warning: tears may flow.

UPDATE 6/23: CNN adds this addendum to the story:

This story has generated an amazing amount of support for Youssif and his family. CNN is in touch with aid organizations that may be able to help. We know how concerned you are and how much you want to help. So we'll pass on information as soon as we have it.

We certainly hope this child will be helped. And soon.

Update II 6/23 (by Howie) Great news, help is on the way for Youssif!

Via CNN: The Children's Burn Foundation -- a non-profit organization based out of Sherman Oaks, California, that provides support for burn victims locally, nationally and internationally -- has agreed to pay for the transportation for Youssif and his family to come to the United States and to set up a fund so you can donate. Photo See photos of Youssif before and after the attack »

The foundation says it will cover all medical costs -- from surgeries for Youssif to housing costs to any social rehabilitation that might be needed for him. Surgeries will be performed by Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon with the affiliated-Grossman Burn Center who is donating his services for Youssif's.

Officials are still trying to get the appropriate visas for his travels. Youssif could be in the United States for up to a year for the various treatments he needs.

You can make a donation at the foundation's site by clicking here. There's a drop down menu under the "general donation" area that is marked "Youssif's fund."

When informed of the news in Baghdad, Youssif ran around his house, saying, "Daddy, daddy, am I really going to get on a plane?!"

"I feel like I am going to fly from happiness," his father told CNN's Arwa Damon, who reported the story on what happened to Youssif.

What a great response from people all over the internet and around blogosphere. I truely believe that things like this are just as important as fighting the enemy. Some times allies must be won one at time.

Jesus smiles again! more...

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Iraqi Spies Like Us

Totten rides along for some intel gathering, which consists mostly of sitting around and eating food. There seems to be genuine affection building between American soldiers and Iraqis. Their biggest fear seems to be that we would leave prematurely, not stay too long.

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Iraq Car Bombs Revenge for Stoning?

A series of 4 massive car bombs in the Kurdish area of Iraq, near the Syrian border, killed more than 250 people yesterday. The attacks were aimed at the Yezedi sect, a pre-Islamic religious community that has been persecuted for centuries. Tensions escalated earlier this year however, when a 17-year-old Yezedi girl was stoned to death for falling in love with a Muslim boy and converting to Islam.

Via the New York Times:

The bombs — including at least one rigged to a fuel tanker — detonated in quick succession around 8 p.m. in Qahtaniya and Jazeera, two towns populated mostly by Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking sect that mixes elements of Islam with the teachings of an ancient Persian religion.

The group has long been a minority in Iraq, and after some Yazidis stoned a Yazidi woman to death for dating a Sunni Arab man in April, members of the sect became frequent targets of Sunni attacks. When a video of the Yazidi woman being stoned appeared on the Internet, gunmen stopped minibuses full of Yazidi laborers and killed 23 of them. Many Yazidis have recently moved to villages farther west, where they make up a majority. The deadly assault on Tuesday crushed the hope that there would be safety in numbers — especially near the border with Syria, which American officials have long described as an entry point for foreign fighters.

The Yezedi practice a syncretic religion that has been considered to be devil worship, because they believe that Satan repented of his rebellion against God and was restored to his position as head of the angels. They worship him as a manifestation of God. There are about 500,000 Yazedis living in areas of northern Iraq which the Kurdish autonomous government would like to annex in a referendum set for later this year.

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Compare and Contrast: Insurgent Video & U.S. Video of Same Event

I posted this as an update, but it's just too good not to have it's own post.

Compare and contrast: two videos shot of the same event. One shot by insurgents. The other video from a U.S. Apache AH-64.

No, the Apache doesn't engage the insurgent. It's just surveillance. But it's an interesting study in how insurgents take raw video like this and turn it in to propaganda. I can almost imagine the nasheed (Islamic song) running and a few allahu akhbars thrown in. I've seen dozens of videos of insurgents firing off rockets. Of those, maybe three actually show anything getting hit. Usually it just shows the launch. Nothing else. more...

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Insurgents Using U.S. Rockets to Kill U.S. Soldiers?

The DOD today released a video taken by insurgents who were later captured. The nine minute video shows at least two rocket attacks against U.S. positions. One of those rocket attacks, on July 11th, killed a U.S. soldier.

What's so odd is that the second set of rockets appear to be U.S. or British. At least, all the identifying marks on them are in English. Can any one help identify these? UPDATE: Looks like these are Iranian missiles, just not 107mm. Bigger, 230mm. Possibly Iranian Oghab missiles.

I did a Google search and didn't find anything on the "M Rocket" or on the "FL1-A". And you'll notice that these rockets appear to have been made this year, 2007.

Are we looking at some of the vast quantities of ordinance that have recently been reported as missing? Were these insurgents using our own weapons against us?

UPDATE: Just to clarify, there is a news story running that a number of Iranian made 107mm rockets were found, that Matt at Blackfive cites in his post, as does SeeMonk in the comments. And BohicaTwentyTwo thinks they are of Chinese design, Type 63.

But I'm not sure if the stories that are being run aren't referring to the first set of rockets in the insurgent video. Here are a couple of vidcaps:

I'm also told in the comments that English isn't necessarily indicative of U.S. or British make. The Iranians, they say, also print in English for export. Update: I'm getting all sorts of advice that these are Iranian rockets, but just not 107mm. They are definitely not anything NATO uses.

I've posted the video as well as the story about how it was found below:

UPDATE: I've added video of an Apache AH-64 actually filming very same insurgents! I. Kid. You. Not. The dates, July 12th, and the location, FOB Hammer match up exactly.

Compare and contrast: our video vs. their video.

Apparently, this Apache was circling overhead even as they proudly filmed themselves. According to the DVIDS info that came with the video, the 34 rockets were disarmed before they were fired. more...

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Al Qaeda's War Crimes in Iraq

Mike Yon on al Qaeda's war crimes, atrocities, and crimes against humanity in Iraq. NY Daily News:

Behind the village was a palm grove. I stood there, amid the crushing stench of death, and photographed the remains of decapitated children and murdered adults. I can still smell the rotting corpses of those children....

Anyone who says Al Qaeda is not one of the primary problems in Iraq is simply ignorant of the facts.

What's so odd is that al Qaeda in Iraq and other Salafi groups in league with them film themselves murdering people and post them on the internet. So, they celebrate their own atrocities and yet many on the Left still deny either their existence or the threat they pose? Madness.

Hat tip: Once-a-Jawa-always-a-Jawa.

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HIMARS - Highly Mobile Artillery Rocket System

This is the first launch of a HIMARS in a combat zone.

Get Some!

More information about the HIMARS below the fold.
Hat Tip: "scotte" at LiveLeak more...

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Another al Qaeda "Emir" Bites the Dust

Mwuahahahahaaa! more...

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Hitchcock & the Baghdad PD

Totten in Baghdad:

This is what it is like most nights during counter-insurgency warfare. “It’s like we’re Baghdad PD,” one soldier put it. It isn’t always open war and explosions and bang-bang. Much of it entails patient police work and the chasing of ghosts....

The Iraqi counter-insurgency would be a hard war to film accurately. Most of the time it’s so quiet. But it’s the quiet of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, not of rural Middle America.

Read the rest.

Bonus: Is the New York Times about to concede that we just might win in Iraq?

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Iraq Wins Asian Cup

Congratulations to the Nation of Iraq. You Win! About time.

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'The Rule, Not the Exception'

While the left tries their hands at supporting war crimes committed by their own, take this piece from Michael Totten (and a soldier/'Chickenhawk' in Iraq) in and be staid:

Having served with an infantry battalion much like the one subjected in the post during a year in Ar Ramadi when Ar Ramadi was at its most conflicted, I can assure you that the violence is not as you might expect. Our unit suffered pretty massive causalities during our year. However, we patrolled every single day of that year. Those patrols lasted many hours. And, typically, even in then “chaotic” Ramadi, most patrols followed the same peaceful format as the one described in Mr. Totten’s post.

Even in the worst places, day-to-day activity is mundane and quiet. When attacks occur, they do so viciously. In my case, these resulted in my unit’s heavy causalities. Nonetheless, I rarely patrolled in fear. I knew that on most days, our patrol would result in an absence of action. Again, this was in a city considered to be one of the most violent of the war. This peculiar dynamic of the situation in Iraq is lost on Big Media.

It’s not totally their fault either. They can’t be privy to such conditions because most Big Media types don’t patrol everyday, get to know the citizens, or understand the social dynamics. They are reactive types instead of proactive. But we can’t necessarily expect them to be otherwise.
I just wanted to do my part to make everyone aware that Mr. Totten is not reporting the exception, but is instead becoming aware of the “rule.” I base this on my two years experience in the country, on the streets. I implore you to trust my judgment and, because of it, trust Mr. Totten’s assessment as well.

Hey! Liberal military haters! What do you think?

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Imperialist Occupation Surge Failing

Totten reports from Iraq on the surge:

We slowly rolled into the market area. Smiling children ran up to and alongside the convoy and excitedly waved hello. It felt like I was riding with a liberating army.

Graya’at’s streets are quiet and safe. It doesn’t look or feel like war zone at all. American soldiers just a few miles away are still engaged in almost daily firefights with insurgents and terrorists, but this part of the city has been cleared by the surge.....

“Most of what we’re doing doesn’t get reported in the media,” he said. “We’re not fighting a war here anymore, not in this area. We’ve moved way beyond that stage. We built a soccer field for the kids, bought all kinds of equipment, bought them school books and even chalk. Soon we’re installing 1,500 solar street lamps so they have light at night and can take some of the load off the power grid. The media only covers the gruesome stuff. We go to the sheiks and say hey man, what kind of projects do you want in this area? They give us a list and we submit the paperwork. When the projects get approved, we give them the money and help them buy stuff.”

There is some scary stuff in there, toward the end, but I think the most common adjective used by Totten and the soldiers he's embedded with was bored.

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Baghdad: Embracing the Suck of 'Not-War'

Totten is in Baghdad, again:

I tried to embrace the suck....

After having spent several days Baghdad’s Green Zone and Red Zone, I still haven’t heard or seen any explosions. It’s a peculiar war. It is almost a not-war....

You’d think explosions and gunfire define Iraq if you look at this country from far away on the news. They do not. The media is a total distortion machine. Certain areas are still extremely violent, but the country as a whole is defined by heat, not war, at least in the summer. It is Iraq’s most singular characteristic. I dread going outside because it’s hot, not because I’m afraid I will get hurt.

Wow, you mean to say the media distorts the picture? It's almost too shocking to believe...

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Michael Moore's Minutemen Torture Iraqi Man

Via a B-Roll from operation Ithica in Diyala province, we see evidence of how al-Qaeda in Iraq treats the Iraqi people in areas they control and why the Iraqis want them gone.

Via MNF-Iraq: BAQOUBA, Iraq – Iraqi Army and Coalition Forces, using tips from local citizens, targeted al-Qaida operatives outside Diyala’s provincial capital July 11, in a continued effort to deny any safe-haven to the terrorist group.

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Division, and 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted Operation Ithaca, targeting al-Qaida operatives near the villages of Haimer, Abu Nasim, and Jamil, Iraq, resulting in 29 al-Qaida gunmen killed, 23 detained, eight hostages released, two weapons caches discovered and a safe house destroyed.

There is some video of hostages that al-Qaeda held from this operation. In the video, al-Qaeda guards flee a safehouse. Upon entering the safehouse, US forces find three prisoners --- one has obviously been tortured. One of the marks is shaped rather like an iron. As you may recall, one of the methods in al-Qaeda's torture manual is to burn hostages with a hot iron.

The man then turns around and his back is completely covered with bruises.

That some group of freedom fighters you have there Mr. Moore.

More images and video below the fold. more...

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Leader of Islamic State of Iraq Captured, al-Baghdadi is Sock Puppet

I have good new in my inbox this morning. The Islamic State of Iraq has been beheaded. VIA ABCNEWS:

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the al-Qaida in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.

"In fact, communication between the senior al-Qaida leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said.

"Along with al-Masri, al-Mashhadani co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006," Bergner said. "The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by al-Qaida to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people."

This man was the the leader of the infamous Ansar al-Sunnah before he joined ISI. Ansar al-Sunnah is a particularly brutal group of terrorists who are famous for beheading hostages on video. Personally, knowing we got a leader of Ansar al-Sunnah and the Islamic State of Iraq is the greatest news ever. It's like a two for one sale on terrorist scumbags.

By golly I was right, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi can be anyone on any day. He has been described a a "phantom" by many including some groups opposed to al-Qaeda's front group. Turns out al-Baghdadi is just another sock puppet on the internet.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.

"In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within al-Qaida in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq," Bergner said.

He said al-Mashhadani was a leader of the militant Ansar al-Sunnah group before joining al-Qaida in Iraq 2 1/2 years ago.

Hat Tip: Hot Air.

UPDATE by Rusty: Let me add a few words to Howie's post. First, for those of us who have been following the "insurgency" in Iraq, we know just how brutal Ansar al Sunnah was. We remember the dozens and dozens of sickening beheading videos they produced while Al-Mashhadani was with them. One particular moment in their history that stands out was the desecration of the body of Corporal Jeffrey Boskovich. The death sentence is too good for this guy.

It's not clear, to me at least, when al Mashhadani left Ansar al Sunna to join the Mujahidin Shura Council, which later became the fictitious entity called The Islamic State of Iraq. I had noticed a sharp drop in the number of Ansar al Sunna produced videos over the last year. I guess I now know why.

As to the al Qaeda connection, the current debate about al Qaeda in Iraq vs the al Qaeda is stupid and pointless. Those engaged in it --mostly journalists and politicians -- fundamentally misunderstand the global Salafi jihad. These jihadis do not see themselves as "al Qaeda operatives", they see themselves as true Muslims and mujahideen--warriors for God. We could kill every single al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, and the global jihad would continue under another banner. Al Mashhadani and the Islamic State of Iraq illustrate the point.

The al Qaeda in Afghanistan sent aid to local Islamists opposed to the secular Kurds who had established an independent region under the U.S. no-fly zone in the North of Iraq. Those local Kurdish and Arab fighters called their group Ansar al-Islam. Al Qaeda's emissary to them was one Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

After the invasion, Ansar al Islam's bases were completely annihilated and its fighters fled to Sunni Arab regions of Iraq. Here, Zarqawi rallied some of the remnant under the banner of Tawhid wal Jihad. Other, mostly Kurdish Islamists, operating around Arabized Kurdish cities, such as Mosul, gathered under the banner of Ansar al Sunnah. But both Tawhid wal Jihad and Ansar al Sunnah had prior contact with and financing from the al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Later, after Zarqawi had become famous for beheading hostages and posting those videos on the internet, he "pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden". But only the ignorant or those with a political agenda would ever suggest that Zarqawi wasn't already a member of al Qaeda before he ever got to Iraq. "Al Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers (Iraq)" may have been born at that moment, but clearly the two groups were linked prior to that time.

After Zarqawi's death, al Qaeda in Iraq decided it needed to rebrand itself. Some will recall that Zawahiri had castigated Zarqawi for too many brutal beheading videos, especially of civilians. It just didn't look good to the consuming public. So, after Zarqawi died, al Qaeda formed The Mujahideen Shura Council. (MSC) A "shura council" is an Islamic court and ruling body, thus legitimizing the many murders carried out by al Qaeda as the implementation of Islamic law.

When nobody bought the MSC, they came up with the Islamic State in Iraq and its fictitious leader. But, in the end, the Islamic State of Iraq is really the Mujahidin Shura Council, which is really al Qaeda in Iraq, which is really Tawhid wal Jihad and Ansar al Sunnah, which is really Ansar al Islam, which is really al Qaeda. Different names, same goals and methods.

I'm happy this piece of human filth is captured, I'll be even more happy when he is hanged. For more on this see Bill Roggio.

Video celebration and more below. more...

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