Breaking News:No. 2 al-Qaida leader in Iraq arrested He then Names 20 more

Just Breaking now via AP and Reuters. Coalition forces and Iraqi officials say they have captured the number two man in Iraq for al-qaida. Now that alone is good news, however it gets better yet. It would appear he is a good singer and has given up several other key members and several minor players in Iraq.



Now the question is will this have a dramatic effect on the war? I say yes but only to a point. Hopefully the others he turned in will also turn into song birds

[edit on 9/3/2006 by shots]

Im being pedantic but I feel there is a slight error in the thread title, The terrorist group in question is called 'Al-Qaeda in Iraq'. When you say '2 al-Qaida leader in Iraq' it changes the meaning somewhat.

Of course, this small point could be put down to pure semantics, but it brings forth the bigger issue of who these people really are, and what their link is to the actual 'Al-Qaeda'. On this point, we see many of these splinter groups with their names, taking hostages and publicly taking responsability for terrorists attacks and kidnappings.

And the big problem in Iraq now is the division of Sunni and Shiites, like in Baghdad the people are relocating to be amongst their own, to feel safe. Thats not solely down to these terrorists groups, its down to lawlessness and that elements of both the Sunni and Shiite communities are taking up arms. Thus, I believe this will have no dramatic effect on whatever is happening in Iraq, you say war.

Thats another thing I think is skewed, people calling whats happening in Iraq, a war on terror, Im sure Iraqi's are really happy its happening in Iraq, I doubt many would say it is a war on terror though.

I say no - of course it won't. Appears to be more of a PR move to give a lift to the PR campaign Bush is running right now.

The situation in Iraq has become a civil war, and the arrest of a few of Al-Qaeda's leadership is going to do nothing to diminish that.

i agree, this sounds like election time palaver. it would be interesting if all of these leaders were actually caut early on in the first months of the war and are just being held aside for times when the administration needs a little boost...it seems every time moral gets low they reel in another top man in. maybe with the close of Abu Ghraib the government needs something to do with a few left over detainees?

You ever notice that the #2 leader of al-Qaida seems to be a revolving door position? Anyway, smells like a PR boost.

PR boost yes, I'm sure the timing is not accidental.

On the other hand, AQ in Iraq seems have been on the way out for a while anyway.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this to bring the Iraq insurgency to an end.
Al Quaeda seems to have been mostly a bit player in the insurgency anyway, albeit one whose spectacularly bloody attacks have been quite effective in driving up sectarian violence.

Hey xmotex, weren't you the one who posted a thread about how come the new Al Qaida leader was not much talked about by the U.S. govt. and the Pentagon after Zarqawi's death?

Well it seems they did seem to care about hunting this guy down after all. What do you have to say for yourself?

There are some who believe he is dead, and all these confessions are a bunch of crap.

For fairness, I link to this thread for another angle:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Personally, from my own viewing, this dude looks alive, just ugly, beat up, and inbred. However, i could be wrong, and well, stranger things have happened. Who knows.