Patterico's Pontifications

10/1/2007

“We are so Desperate for Your Help”

Filed under: War — DRJ @ 4:40 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Remember Abu Osama al-Tunisi, an al-Qaeda leader who was killed earlier this week in Iraq?

Shortly before he died, Al Tunisi wrote a letter that warned of a threat to Al Qaida operations in Karkh. The letter, found by the U.S. military, sought guidance from Al Qaida leaders amid coalition operations that hampered Al Tunisi’s network.

“We are so desperate for your help,” the letter read.”

Al-Tunisi was the leader of foreign operatives in Iraq and the second member of al-Masri’s inner-circle to be killed in the last month. His operatives were responsible for 80% of Iraq suicide bombings:

“Al Tunisi was termed the emir, or commander, of foreign operatives in Iraq. Anderson said Al Tunisi was responsible for the arrival of Al Qaida recruits into Iraq and their placement in operational cells.

Officials said more than 80 percent of suicide bombings have been by foreign operatives. They said most of the Al Qaida recruits arrive in Syria by air and continue overland into Iraq.”

One of al-Tunisi’s aides, captured by the Coalition, gave information that led to his location.

— DRJ

More thoughts on this from the Instapundit and Tigerhawk.

25 Responses to ““We are so Desperate for Your Help””

  1. C’mon, he was just writing what Murdoch told him to say.

    Obviously al-Tunisi was a member of the neocon wing of al-Qaeda.

    There ya’ go Alphie, you can take the day off; I put in your 8 hours.

    SMG

    SteveMG (f7ac62)

  2. With American and Iraqi casualties declining and Sunni leadership getting together with Sistani, the quagmire just looks worse and worse. It’s time to focus on national healthcare for a change of pace okay. Don’t look over there.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  3. They said most of the Al Qaida recruits arrive in Syria by air and continue overland into Iraq

    Another instance showing how Syria has sponsored terrorism far more intensively and for a far greater period of time than Iraq.

    kishnevi (c8fdff)

  4. How so kishnevi. It is only a reference to the current splodey dopes in Iraq, not an historical reference.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  5. Yawn. Daleyrocks and his ilk have been telling us for years that we’re finally winning. Remember how the Sunni and the Shiites were getting together for the Interim Constitution? The Constitution? How the big turning point was the capture of Saddam? Mission Accomplished? Our success in Iraq is as elusive as the payoff in a 4-1-9 scam, always almost within reach if we just pony up some more.

    Write back after they manage something real like an oil-sharing law. The PR nonsense: deal is near. When it was time to negotiate about actual dollars, there was no deal.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (7a1ace)

  6. AJL – There you go again, attributing words and positions to people they didn’t write or take. Are you ever honest?

    daleyrocks (906622)

  7. Haha, SteveMG,

    To believe both that it doesn’t matter whether we get Osama or not and that this guy’s death is somehow super important is a special kind of madness I have nothing to say about.

    alphie (99bc18)

  8. Write back after they manage something real like an oil-sharing law.

    Because the end game has always been an oil sharing deal.

    Are those motorized goalposts, Andy? What kind of mileage are you getting with those?

    Pablo (99243e)

  9. Pablo – I thought Murthatard was measuring electricity or some such. To tell you the truth I gave up all hope when Harry Reid said the war was lost this spring and he would pay attention to anything Petraeus said, so all this casualty declining stuff is just like a positive surprise. I wonder what Harry thinks. I bet you could knock him over with a feather.

    He probably wishes he hadn’t said some of the stupid shit he’s said I bet.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  10. Pablo, just so we can get the goalposts in view, can you document for us what “victory” meant for you in 2003? Right now it means hoping we can balance off factions so their civil war is neither too bloody, destabilizing, or plain embarrassing. Back in 2003 the Administration was dreaming of a pro-American pro-Israeli(!) democracy. Oh, and all but 30K troops home by Xmas. Xmas 2003.

    Casualties have declined before, and daleyrocks plus friends got all overconfident and ridiculed us antiwar skeptics, and the casualties went up again and we had to keep our mouths shut about another strategic failure so as not to upset the troops, lather, rinse, repeat.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (1af20a)

  11. Daleyrocks: assuming you are sarcastic in your remark #2, and not possessed of new wisdom, my summary of your views is completely accurate. You imply that there is no quagmire, that the situation is so good the Democrats will have to look to health care instead of the Iraq failure as campaign material.

    Is that not a fair restatement of your comment?

    And is it not also true that we have been told the situation is finally improving over and over again? Never have so many made so much progress for so little achievement on the ground.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (1af20a)

  12. AJL,

    If you want to skewer the US over military “failures,” don’t forget D-Day and Iwo Jima.

    DRJ (ec59b5)

  13. AJL – You and your friends at MorOn.org are looking like certifiable geniuses right now. It seems like you never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

    daleyrocks (906622)

  14. Andy:

    Are you referring to the dhimmierats promise to rein in government corruption or to end earmarks?

    Ever hear about the antipersperiant that’s strong enough for a man but pH balanced for a woman? It gave you third degree burns. You do sound like Gollum going “my precious, my precious.” Some people just love those ideological blinders.

    Thomas Jackson (bf83e0)

  15. AJL,
    Nearly a year ago, the Dems were elected by promising to end the war. They just voted to continue funding the war. Are they making much progress on their promise?

    Perfect Sense (b6ec8c)

  16. DRJ: Hunh? That’s like denying this year’s San Francisco Giants finished last because they won the World Series in 1954. On the other coast.

    Can you show me four years of Eisenhower babbling about making progress in Normandy while the situation on the ground got, if anything, worse? Oh, wait! We managed to win WW2 completely in less time than we have spent stuck in the Iraq Quagmire. Fantasy, meet reality.

    I’m disappointed in the Democrats’ performance so far, but it’s better than Bush’s.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (0d8141)

  17. Yes! We got… uh… whoever that guy was!

    I fully expect to see an 80% drop in suicide bombings, now that this guy is dead.

    Leviticus (b987b0)

  18. Levi – Probably not. Bombings and IED’s are the principal source of casualties as opposed to armed confrontations. Don’t you read?

    daleyrocks (906622)

  19. ” His operatives were responsible for 80% of Iraq suicide bombings”

    -DRJ

    Don’t you?

    Leviticus (b987b0)

  20. The difference between WWII and today is that back then we had Democrats with balls that clanged when they walked and now we have Democrats whose balls ting out “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.

    nk (7d4710)

  21. The difference is that in WWII we had an Administration that wanted to defeat the foreign enemy. Now we have an Administration that’s hell-bent on defeating what they perceive as the domestic enemy. But thanks again, nk, for illustrating with your rainbow remark how many warmongers are just afraid of being seen as impotent if not effeminate.

    Andrew J. Lazarus (7d46f9)

  22. The difference between World War II and today has nothing to do with balls and everything to do with brains.

    You can’t fight an unconventional war with conventional tactics… that ought to be pretty fuckin’ easy to grasp.

    I wonder where daleyrocks is?

    Leviticus (3c2c59)

  23. Andrew #22,

    The three Glenns’ screed that real men are only those who cruise teenage cabana boys in Rio de Janeiro has been fisked by so many others that I will not even venture it. Let me just say that I have infinitely more respect for you and for the opinions that you have expressed here than I do for Messrs. Ellersburg.

    Leviticus, war is a stupid thing to begin with. Reptilian brain in my opinion and one of the ways human beings are worse than animals. I guess the only thing I can say back to your comment is that before you can start to use your brain to think about how to win the war you need the intestinal fortitude to want to win the war.

    nk (7d4710)

  24. If war is a stupid thing to begin with, and unnecessary (in the case at hand) to boot, then the smart thing to do (regardless of intestinal fortitude) is to avoid it altogether.

    By the way, I wasn’t implying that you don’t grasp the problem I pointed out in #23 (I’m sure you do). I was implying that the people who started this war don’t grasp that same problem.

    Leviticus (b987b0)


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