Iraq Hunts Al-Qaeda in Its Last Urban Stronghold
Operations are now underway in Mosul to rid the city of al-Qaeda. The streets are calm, indicating that the terrorists realize they are too weak to fight.
Although we haven’t written anything about the operation in Mosul which started a week ago, I’ve been closely following its developments. The reason why I waited is that we had often heard about a new operation, which would then turn out to be just a rumor. Anyway, the operation this time has actually started, and the arrival of Maliki and his defense and interior ministers in the city leaves no room for doubt about the seriousness of the government in seeing to the plan’s success.
The interesting thing about the operation is that it’s been suspiciously quiet, to the extent that one wonders if there’s actually any operation going on. In fact, Mosul has seen the calmest eight days of the last five years.
The operation won broad approval and support even before it started, which -especially among Sunni blocs- is another positive product of the Basra operations. As we can see, the usual sectarian rhetoric about biased targeting of Sunni regions without Shia ones has been absent this time. In addition to the parliamentary approval, the operation won public support represented by the tribes’ willingness to take part in the operation. The chief of the awakening councils in the province, Fawaz Jerba, said that there were ten thousand men ready to take part in the operation.
However, the government preferred not to get them involved right now and is moving forward to form seven battalions of police from the residents of the province. These battalions are likely to have an important role in maintaining security and order after the operation ends. Two of these units will be assigned to Tal Afar: one will guard the bridges in the city, another will operate fixed checkpoints on the main highways leading to the city. The rest will be added to the existing security forces in Mosul. All are to be led by former army officers.
Initial results of the operation included the capture of 1,100 suspects and wanted individuals, according to the spokesman of the defense ministry, Mohammed Askari. Most of those are officers in the former army and members of the military bureau of the Ba’ath Party, along with a bunch of al-Qaeda emirs; yet to be named, three of them are described as being among the most dangerous in Mosul.
What’s special about the name of the operation – “the Mother of Two Springs” – is that it’s the adorable second name of the city which it gained from the relatively nice climate it enjoys. It’s a smart replacement for “Lion’s Roar,” which some found to be needlessly scary, especially since we need a real lion more than we need the roar!
What’s unique about this city is its prestigious military history. The Iraqi army had long relied on Maslawis to build its officer corps, which is a source of pride for the city. In the beginning there were rumors in the Sunni community that stemmed from the fear that the operation might turn into an organized act of cleansing against those officers or a twisted implementation of the de-Ba’athification law. However, the defense and interior ministries strongly rejected that allegation and announced that 80 of those detained were released after they were not found guilty of crimes. The Ministry asserted that arrests were based on accurate intelligence. Actually, some in the government are boasting that this is the first operation in which most arrests have been made according to legitimate warrants.
In my opinion, the suspicions of both sides are understandable due to many years of distrust between Mosul and the government. On the one hand, the targeting of former officers and Ba’ath Party members is based on the fact that they made up the bulk of al-Qaeda hosts and supporters in many places in Iraq. On the other hand, there are former officers who don’t have blood on their hands but are terrified by the countless stories of Shia militias –particularly the Badr Brigades– undertaking acts of revenge against officers who fought against Iran in the 1980s.
As in Basra, the government gave an ultimatum for militants to hand in their weapons and offered amnesty to those not involved in crimes involving murder in order to make the operation as bloodless as possible. And indeed reports indicate that scores of militants have already handed in their weapons – an encouraging sign in a turbulent city that hardly ever trusted the government.
Among the results of the operation was the discovery of many weapons caches, which included several thousands of pounds of explosives and hundreds of rockets and artillery/mortar rounds. The amount may sound small given what’s expected to be found in a city that is the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda, but it’s still an encouraging start since the operation began only a week ago.
Another important thing that distinguishes this operation from previous ones is the active participation of the infant Iraqi air force through transportation and daily reconnaissance sorties. Iraqi officers say that this is the first time they are able to rely on the Iraqi air force for valuable live imagery of the spread-out city.
Some of the critics of the operation noted that announcing the operation before its launch gave al-Qaeda a chance to leave the city for other places, including neighboring countries, thus enabling them to dodge the strike which might waste the chance to crush them in their last remaining stronghold. I personally disagree with this argument. What matters, after all, is to clean the city of al-Qaeda, preferably without fighting. This illustrates a very important trend that we first saw in the Baghdad operations last year; that al-Qaeda now knows that it cannot afford to confront the security forces anymore. Now, instead of digging in and fighting “glorious battles” in Fallujah or elsewhere, al-Qaeda is more inclined to run away than fight. This is a true sign of al-Qaeda’s weakening and of their ultimate defeat.
Last but not least, I was surprised to see the leading opposition newspaper Azzaman, which had always been skeptical of everything the government does, praise the operation. To see a headline on Azzaman that says “Al-Qaeda Is Limping, Its Leaders Flee Mosul” means a lot to anyone familiar with Iraqi affairs.
Mohammed Fadhil is PJM Baghdad editor. His own blog is Iraq the Model.
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26 Comments
1. dougf:Golly with all the ‘defeats’ that the Al-Maliki Government has suffered recently according to the accursed media we have to endure here, it is a wonder that he felt safe to even venture near Mosul. Maybe he was just fleeing Baghdad before Al-Sadr assaulted the Green Zone.
Defeated in Basrah.
Defeated in Sadr City.
Defeated (soon)in Mosul.
Any more ‘defeats’ and the War will be effectively over. I note that the brain-dead Speaker of the House was just in Baghdad and was quoted as saying that she was sure that the October Elections would now proceed as advertised, and that signs of political progress were now fairly obvious.
What a complete ditz that woman is. Everyone else(apart from her, her ‘media’ supporters, and the carping defeatists) saw this 6 months ago. If she had any sense of shame or honor she would resign.
But no fear of that happening. She’ll just pretend she never said anything to the contrary previously. Like all of the usual suspects will do now that they have been proven ignominiously WRONG.
May 19, 2008 - 11:13 am 2. Dave:“To see a headline on Azzaman that says “Al-Qaeda Is Limping, Its Leaders Flee Mosul” means a lot to anyone familiar with Iraqi affairs.”
Unfortunately, that doesn’t include the MSM here…
May 19, 2008 - 11:14 am 3. Daniel Anderson:Thanks for your good story too bad the Media ignores that victory will happen in Iraq.
May 19, 2008 - 11:15 am 4. David Thomson:I predicted awhile ago that the American people will dramatically change their minds concerning Iraq by no later than the end of June. The good news coming out of Iraq can no longer be ignored. Even Nancy Pelosi is having a difficult time staying loyal to the Democratic Party’s defeatist line. Knock on wood, let’s hope that I wasn’t being overly optimistic.
May 19, 2008 - 12:33 pm 5. juan:This is great news, amazing none of the networks carry it here stateside. I applaud the Iraqi gov’t efforts to reign in this terrorist.
May 19, 2008 - 2:09 pm 6. Fat Jolly Penguin:dougf:
I heard about Pelosi’s little jaunt too. Odd, isn’t it, how the MSM are all over these trips when they think things are going badly, but when good news comes out of it no one hears about the trip until it’s over (and often not even then)?
You watch. For saying this, Pelosi will be branded a racist and a traitor to the Democrat Party. Those who aren’t sane will call for her arrest on charges of crimes against humanity.
/I really wish I was kidding, but I’ve seen it happen
May 19, 2008 - 2:59 pm 7. John Samford:Journalists are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. When I was attending dear ol’ cow flop U., you could always tell the ‘communications’ ( as they call it nowdays) majors. They were either stoned, drunk or hungover. It was the party major of the 60’s. I doubt that has changed any over the last 40 years or so.
May 19, 2008 - 3:28 pm 8. An update from Mosul « Internet Scofflaw:[...] update from Mosul Pajamas Media reports. Not a lot of news, but what there is, is generally good. (Via Instapundit.) I [...]
May 19, 2008 - 6:24 pm 9. JDB:“[Y]ou could always tell the ‘communications’ ( as they call it nowdays) majors. They were either stoned, drunk or hungover.”
I resemble that remark! I’m a wasted youth/Comm Arts Major (BA ‘86) and Mr Samford is right. It’s why I’m more inclined to hold media-types in contempt than most of my friends and family.
The best advice I ever heard given to aspiring journalists was: Study anything BUT journalism! That way, you actually know something about something and the writing technique will take care of itself. Worst case scenario–an editor can shine it up but only if you know what you’re talking about.
Proof: Mr Fadhil does an amazing job as a journalist (in a second language no less!) because he knows what he’s writing about and he didn’t study at Columbia or Medill to learn how to do it.
May 19, 2008 - 7:09 pm 10. ic:Fat Jolly Penguin: don’t you worry, our courageous form-shifting Speaker has already reverted to form.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
(note: please scroll down to “Never Mind”)
Yesterday, in an interview on NPR, Pelosi was her old self:
PELOSI: My message to them is a constant message. …that we had passed last week legislation that would call for the responsible, honorable and safe redeployment of our troops out of Iraq by the end of 2009.
PELOSI: …
[T]he Iraqi government has had the opportunity with the secured time that the surge has given them to make the political changes necessary. They have not done that. ***
PELOSI: There may be a little progress. I don’t know. It’s not obvious.
And whatever it is, it’s certainly not enough for the cost it has been to us in terms of lives and dollars and reputation and military capability.
May 19, 2008 - 9:13 pm 11. Sam:Iraq will be an “unmitigated disaster” until the media finds a way to credit the Democrats for its undeniable success.
Feel free to steal my line
May 19, 2008 - 10:50 pm 12. jvon:Maybe McCain will pick Lieberman as his running mate, and then we’ll have two pro-war Democrats in the White House.
May 20, 2008 - 12:18 am 13. Thomas H. AGEE:Been reading you (and your brothers, god bless you & all freedom loving Iraqi’s) for a long time. If it weren’t for Milblogger’s and guys like you, we wouldn’t have a clue as to what is happening over there. I hope you prosper, stay safe & KEEP BLOGGING.
May 20, 2008 - 3:59 am 14. willis:The Badr Brigades. Weren’t they beaten by the Goodr Brigades?
May 20, 2008 - 4:17 am 15. SAF:Sam, VERY well said.
May 20, 2008 - 4:38 am 16. Christine:If you were watching the Iraq war with an eagle eye in the sky from the beginning, it would have been seen as a flow. With the occasional brushing away of debris. We now find ourselves at al-qaeda’s last stronghold. In time, the walls will be shored up and debris causing elements will be eradicated.
There are some weak spots that need extra special attention. Included in these are Iran and honor killing. Iran is an obvious problem floating over the scene. The honor killing is a pulsing bulge, calling for attention.
A free and democratic Iraq cannot include these elements.
May 20, 2008 - 6:45 am 17. Iraq « I Think ^(Link) Therefore I Err:[...] the meantime, Iraqi forces are also on the offensive in Mosul! Another important thing that distinguishes this operation from previous ones is the active [...]
May 20, 2008 - 7:22 am 18. Eye From Iraq:Readers like only to hear victories and decisive battles, in that Mohammed Fadhil and his brother are very good, but the picture is not so.
May 20, 2008 - 7:25 am 19. Brian H:It’s not only about the war or fighting terrorism, we are speaking about an entire nation that lost its past present and of course the future.
Republicans refuse to admit that they had made a bad choice when they supported the current GoI. That is if they had to make a choice at the first place otherwise I think they have a hand in bringing such a government and by the name of democracy this government has controlled all the joints in Iraq and no one can beat it even with tens of elections…Democracy had said its word once and for all.
Democrats had realize, though too late, that everything went wrong in Iraq is mainly because of the GoI not the terrorism as it is obvious that terrorism can be beaten anytime unlike this government .
God will be with us the Iraqis if another republican would show up at the White House for the next four years.
JDB: “Proof: Mr Fadhil does an amazing job as a journalist (in a second language no less!) because he knows what he’s writing about and he didn’t study at Columbia or Medill to learn how to do it.
May 19, 2008 – 7:09 pm”
Unfortunately, that’s where (Columbia) Omar is right now. We are all praying daily the place doesn’t rot his brains!
EfI;
May 20, 2008 - 8:02 am 20. Always Wonderful To Hear « Tai-Chi Policy:Sounds like you’d prefer someone else in power. Be explicit: who? You show a very weak understanding of electoral democracy, actually.
[...] To Hear May 20, 2008 Posted by taoist in Iraq War. trackback Iraq the Model reports on the current operation in Mosul, to drive Al Qaeda from its last stronghold in Iraq. The operation is going quite [...]
May 20, 2008 - 11:06 am 21. ic:two pro-war Democrats in the White House is better than two pro-defeat Democrats in the White House
“we are speaking about an entire nation that lost its past present and of course the future”
Without the Republican war, past: Saddam, present: Saddam, future: Udday brothers (I can’t remember their names now)
past:present:future: mass graves, mass rapes, human shredders
May 20, 2008 - 11:28 am 22. Neo-andertal:Eye From Iraq:
“It’s not only about the war or fighting terrorism, we are speaking about an entire nation that lost its past present and of course the future.”
Iraq lost it’s past, present, and future some time in the late 70’s when Saddam took full control of the country, purged the Iraqi assembly, and invaded Iran.
May 20, 2008 - 6:34 pm 23. Christine:Eye From Iraq,
Which past are you speaking of? The Saddam one or your countries ancient history? If it is the Saddam one you speak of, it tells me you were one of “his chosen people”, in that case, I don’t care.
If it is your countries ancient history, then that will never be lost. It is carried in each of you and can never be truly lost.
The present? Yes, the present is extremely difficult. I won’t deny that. You need to absorb the present and never forget it. Because, the future belongs to you and all of your fellow citizens. Prepare and become involved in your future, with the present in mind. Create your countries future in a manner that will prevent the Saddam history and this painful present, from ever happening again.
Iraq is not the first, only or last who have had to go through this. There are many examples (including the US) of countries who have gone through war and become stronger and better coun tries because of it.
Don’t let the lives lost be in vain. Eye From Iraq, hating the war will not do your country or your people any good. Make good come out of it. Help your country become strong, you deserve it.
May 20, 2008 - 7:12 pm 24. Eye From Iraq:First may be I was not clear in this point but “I was not speaking about Saddam but Iraqis themselves”.
May 26, 2008 - 3:07 pm 25. Christine:Iraq lost most of its antiquities, libraries and not to forget its brilliant academics who were assassinated in some way or another and those were lucky enough have already fled the country.
When I said the present it was clear, what I meant ,but if I would add I can say for Brian H; that democracy is two wolves and a sheep discussing what they will have for dinner that is democracy in Iraq “as far as I understood” and for ic; I can say that mass graves, mass rapes and human shredders are even more than before nowadays in Iraq, moreover, there is no need for graves as corpses are left in streets, farms or in best dumped in a nearest garbage. Last but not least, Christine, the war in Iraq is between Iraqis themselves and to be more precise the dominating Iraqi political powers to dominate even more and steal as much as they can and they don’t let and won’t let any takes what they got so far.
Eye From Iraq,
I can hear the frustration in your words. This process cannot be easy for any of you. Yes, the loss of antiquities and libraries are one of the unfortunate losses and I understand that they cannot be replaced. As far as the academics who have left, hopefully many of them will start to return as Iraq becomes safer. In the meantime, you have young people who are still going to school, they in part are the future.
As far as the current government is concerned; this is where your freedom comes in. You have a right to your say now. The government does not have a right to steal anything, anymore. The people of Iraq need to come together and demand your rights and the rights to what is yours. Keeping in mind of course, that no “group” is more deserving any longer. Everything must be done in the interest of your country as a whole. It is in unity as a country that you will win. And win, I mean this war and the future prosperity of your country.
As time has gone on, I have seen from the outside a change taking place. More and more of you have stepped up and taken responsibility for your country. Don’t let people with “old attitudes” take over the government or your lives. Demand that they give you your rights. If they do not, then vote them out of office.
This is what democracy is. No, it’s not perfect, but it’s the best that can be had in this world.
Eye From Iraq, this process has taken time and lives. Nobody expected it would be an easy process. The transformation to what your country became took a long time. How long it takes to get back to peace and prosperity, is up to you.
Envision the Iraq in your dreams and help create it. As I said before, you deserve it.
May 29, 2008 - 6:54 am 26. Eye From Iraq:I totally agree with you, Christine, but it’s not that simple in Iraq now. I am not complaining here but just to state that the situation is not the pink image pictured by Fadhil brothers at all.
May 30, 2008 - 10:33 amUnfortunately; the “group” has become several ones with the same “old attitudes”. Their ideology is now being taught in schools of south Iraq just like the Baath Party did before. An Iraqi must be a member of one of these potent parties to get a job and the list is long.
I read your blog, though I disagree with you about Islam as a religion, but I agree with you about extreme Muslims and they are many in power now in Iraq. Some backed up by Mullahs of Iran and others by Saudi Arabia. It’s official for example to have a Sunni and Shiite judge in one court.
It took us three decades under Saddam regime and with a help from the US he was removed…Think about it now with tens Saddam-like leaders and the US with them!!!!
In order to stay in the subject, I want to tell American readers especially republicans and repeat what I said before it’s not about battles in Iraq anymore. Corruption, extremism, sectarianism and disagreements between the Iraqi politicians are more dangerous.
And for Fadhil brothers, when I recall your first year of blogging and analysis, it was convincing but it’s not anymore. You ended that year with The First Candle but this year the anniversary passed even unnoticed by your blog, though it was expected and typical ITM,. I advise them to enjoy their life in the US and stop blogging and thoughtful analysis.