How Many Al Qaeda Militants Escaped From Abu Ghraib?

How Many Jihadis Just Escaped From Abu Ghraib? -- Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor

The answer will determine just how big a setback the overnight attack on the Iraqi prison will be for the Maliki government.

Sophisticated overnight attacks on two Iraqi prisons on the outskirts of Baghdad involving mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and dozens of attackers are a sign of growing potency for the country's Sunni insurgents.

These weren't attacks on mosques or markets, designed to spread terror by killing unprepared civilians in public spaces. These were attacks on the militarized prisons of Abu Ghraib and Taji, both of which have large contingents of insurgents among their inmates and have long been targets for Iraq's jihadis. Yet the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was forced to scramble attack helicopters and rush troops to join pitched battles. Even so, they may not have staved off a stunning symbolic defeat.

Though early today government officials claimed the attackers had been kept from their ultimate objective – freeing jihadi comrades – as the day wore on scattered claims were made of a stunning insurgent success. Member of Parliament Hakim al-Zamili asserted to Reuters that 500 insurgents escaped from Abu Ghraib alone and that most of them were members of the Al Qaeda-aligned Islamic State in Iraq.

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My Comment: This was a massive and coordinated attack that appears to have resulted in the escape of hundreds of insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda. There is no question in my mind that this is a stunning defeat for the Iraqi government, and one that will have severe repercussions on the stability of Iraq.

Al Qaeda In Iraq Merges With Jihadist Groups In Syria

Iraq’s Branch Of Al Qaeda Merges With Syria Jihadists -- New York Times

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Iraq’s branch of Al Qaeda said Tuesday that it had merged with the Nusra Front, a group of jihadists fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in a marriage that appeared to strengthen the role of Islamic militants in the Syrian insurgency and further complicate Western assistance efforts.

The United States has already blacklisted the Nusra Front over evidence of its links with the Islamic State of Iraq, the Qaeda branch. But the news of the merger, made by the branch’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in an audio statement posted on jihadist Web sites, was the first time he had announced that they were a single organization.

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More News On Al Qaeda In Iraq Merging With Jihadist Groups In Syria

Iraqi al Qaeda wing says Nusra Front is its Syria branch: SITE group -- Reuters
Al-Qaida in Iraq admits links to Syrian jihadist fighters -- The Guardian
Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims merger with Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra -- The Telegraph
Al Qaeda group in Iraq unites with extremists in Syria -- L.A. Times
Al-Qaida in Iraq Merges with Syrian Jihadist Group -- Voice of America
Syria's al-Nusra Front 'part of al-Qaeda' -- BBC
Syrian militant group unites with al-Qaida in Iraq -- Houston Chronicle/AP
Syria Jihadist Al-Qaeda Link to Aid Assad, Opposition Says -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Syrian Radicals Join Al-Qaida -- Investors.com

Al Qaeda Making A Comeback In Iraq

'Al-Qaeda' Gunmen Kill 27 Police Officers In Coordinated Iraq Attack -- The Telegraph

Gunmen believed to be linked to al-Qaeda attacked police targets across the Iraqi town of Haditha on Monday, killing at least 27 officers.

The incident was among the bloodiest since America's last combat units withdrew from the country in December. It appeared to confirm the continuing ability of "al-Qaeda in Iraq" to carry out large scale, complicated attacks.

The assault began at about 2am when two senior policemen were abducted from their homes in Haditha and later killed. The attackers then fanned out and struck police checkpoints across the town, found in western Iraq near the frontier with Syria, 140 miles from Baghdad.

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More News On Al Qaeda Attacks Against Policemen In Iraq

Gunmen kill 27 in raids on west Iraq checkpoints -- Reuters
Iraq checkpoint attacks 'kill 27' -- Irish Times
Iraqi forces targeted in deadly attacks -- Al Jazeera
Iraq attacks in Haditha 'kill 27 policemen' -- BBC
Officials: Gang of gunmen kills 25 police in early morning shooting spree in western Iraq -- Washington Post/AP
Officials: 25 Police Killed in Western Iraq -- Time/AP
'Qaida fighters' kill 26 police in west Iraq -- Ottawa Citizen/AFP
Iraq: Gunmen Wearing Military-Style Uniforms Kill 25 Police Officers In Haditha -- Huffington Post
Deadliest Iraq attacks since US pullout -- The New Age

Did The US Let al-Qaida Get Its Hands On An Iraqi Weapons Factory?

How The US Let al-Qaida Get Its Hands On An Iraqi Weapons Factory -- The Guardian

In an exclusive extract from his new book, A History of the World since 9/11, Dominic Streatfeild explains how despite expert warnings, the US let al-Qaida buy an arsenal of deadly weapons – then tried to cover it up

Haki Mohammed and his brothers were shovelling manure on their farm in Yusifiyah in the spring of 2003 when the soldier arrived. Dishevelled and distressed, the man had run a great distance. "Please," he entreated, "are you true Arabs?"

The Iraqis, raised in a culture of obligatory hospitality towards needy strangers, immediately understood the subtext. The man needed help. Even had he not been a soldier (Haki thought he recognised the uniform of a Special Republican Guard), they were honour-bound to offer assistance. "Of course," Haki assured the man. "What is it you need?"

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My Comment: Sighhh .... some more intelligence failures, and the cover-ups that follows.

US Troops Ask Syria To Thwart al-Qa'ida Offensive

Iraq says Syria has been more co-operative recently but that insurgents continue to cross the border. AFP/GETTY IMAGES

From The Independent:

Iraqi authorities say militants will launch attacks in order to claim credit for American military withdrawal

The Iraqi government expects al-Qa'ida and Baathist insurgent groups to launch a wave of attacks so they can take credit for compelling the US military to leave Iraqi cities by 30 June, according to a senior Iraqi minister.

An American military team was dispatched from Baghdad to Damascus at the weekend to demand that Syria help choke off a guerrilla offensive by imposing greater control over its border with Iraq, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari revealed in an interview with The Independent.

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My Comment: It is only 2 weeks away for U.S. forces to leave Iraq cities .... but violence has been (for Iraq) normal. If Al Qaeda wants to make a splash, they better do it now.

Al Qaeda's Foreign Fighter Network Inside Syria Is Disrupted In Yesterday's U.S. Strike

US Strike In Syria "Decapitated" Al Qaeda's
Facilitation Network -- Long War Journal

Al Qaeda leader Abu Ghadiya was killed in yesterday's strike inside Syria, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal. But US special operations forces also inflicted a major blow to al Qaeda's foreign fighter network based in Syria. The entire senior leadership of Ghadiya's network was also killed in the raid, the official stated.

Ghadiya was the leader of al Qaeda extensive network that funnels foreign fighters, weapons, and cash from Syria into Iraq along the entire length of the Syrian border. Ghadiya was first identified as the target of the raid inside Syria late last night here at The Long War Journal. The Associated Press reported Ghadiya was killed in the raid earlier today.

Several US helicopters entered the town of town of Sukkariya near Abu Kamal in eastern Syria, just five miles from the Iraqi border. US commandos from the hunter-killer teams of Task Force 88 clear the buildings sheltering Ghadiya and his staff.

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Al-Qaida Fleeing Iraq For Africa

From UPI:

BAGHDAD, July 8 (UPI) -- Fighters with al-Qaida of Mesopotamia are fleeing Iraq to set up safe havens in Somalia and Sudan, Iraqi security officials said Tuesday.

Former Basra police commander Maj. Gen. Abdul Jalil Khala told Gulf News attacks in Baghdad attributed to al-Qaida are down significantly since this time last year, adding the group is in decline.

"This also highlights the increasingly improving performance of the Iraqi armed forces and the speed by which they can operate in different places," he said.

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My Comment: Like rats leaving a sinking ship.