And So It Begins...16 Days After U.S. Combat Troop Withdrawal, Iraqi Army Faces Complex Attack On Baghdad Base

Al Qaeda in Iraq did its best to bide their time...waiting...patiently...for the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq. The last combat troops left on August 19th and this morning, al Qaeda unleashed a complex attack on an army base in Baghdad.

Here are some of the details from The Long War Journal:

Iraqi soldiers defeated a complex and coordinated suicide assault today on an Army base in central Baghdad.

The daylight attack was carried out by a five-man team of armed al Qaeda in Iraq fighters wearing suicide vests, and included a minibus packed with explosives.

The assault began when the al Qaeda team arrived at the back gate of the Rusafa Military Command headquarters in central Baghdad, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, told Reuters.

Two of the suicide bombers, armed with assault rifles, dismounted from the bus and attempted to storm the back gate and clear a path for the minivan. The two fighters were shot by Iraqi guards and then detonated their vests.

Two other fighters dismounted from the van, again to open up a lane for the van to hit the back gate. Iraqi soldiers shot the driver before he could reach the gate. The driver then detonated the car bomb. The two remaining al Qaeda fighters fled to a nearby building and were killed after an hour-long standoff.

In addition to the five al Qaeda fighters killed, four Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were reported killed while defending the base.

I truly believe that this is just the start - what commences after this will be a combination of similar attacks along with suicide bombings at police stations along with VBIED attacks on other military installations. What we need to be watchful for is whether the borders see a resuming of the flow of al Qaeda types BACK into Iraq.

Let's face it - the al Qaeda's of the world know the designs that Iran has on Iraq and they want it for their own. The question is whether or not al Qaeda in Iraq can sufficiently regroup and attain the stature they had prior to the Surge in Iraq...and if they can, then will the Iranians come in to assist the Iraqis or will Barack Hussein Obama feel that is our role?

I have said all along that we are leaving too soon. Sure, we have 50,000 troops there but their role is limited and the insurgency knows it. The dogs of Hell have been unleashed to flow back into Iraq and if we do not reassume our position there, the Iranians will - the difference is that the Iranians will never leave.

The reality is this - it is going to be one bloody ass Fall for the Iraqis.

Iraqi troops repel al Qaeda suicide assault on Baghdad base


Iraqi soldiers defeated a complex and coordinated suicide assault today on an Army base in central Baghdad.

The daylight attack was carried out by a five-man team of armed al Qaeda in Iraq fighters wearing suicide vests, and included a minibus packed with explosives.

The assault began when the al Qaeda team arrived at the back gate of the Rusafa Military Command headquarters in central Baghdad, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, told Reuters.

Two of the suicide bombers, armed with assault rifles, dismounted from the bus and attempted to storm the back gate and clear a path for the minivan. The two fighters were shot by Iraqi guards and then detonated their vests.

Two other fighters dismounted from the van, again to open up a lane for the van to hit the back gate. Iraqi soldiers shot the driver before he could reach the gate. The driver then detonated the car bomb. The two remaining al Qaeda fighters fled to a nearby building and were killed after an hour-long standoff.

In addition to the five al Qaeda fighters killed, four Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were reported killed while defending the base.

Background on recent al Qaeda attacks against Iraqi security forces

In recent months, al Qaeda in Iraq has stepped up attacks against the Iraqi police, the Iraqi army, and the pro-government Awakening auxiliaries, in an effort to destabilize the country and force it to slip into a civil war. Iraqi soldiers, policemen, and Awakening fighters are killed on a daily basis. The police have been hit especially hard in Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul.

The most recent major attack took place on Aug. 25, when al Qaeda in Iraq launched coordinated suicide attacks on Iraqi police stations in Baghdad and Al Kut, and also targeted police in bombings in Karbala, Basrah, and Buhriz. More than 60 people were reported killed and over 250 were wounded in the attacks.

On Aug, 20, an al Qaeda suicide bomber killed 57 Army recruits and soldiers at a recruiting station in Baghdad. Days later, the Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's front group, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. "Our brother triggered and exploded his vest after plunging himself into the crowd," the terror group said in a statement released on the Internet.

On July 18, al Qaeda suicide bombers killed 46 Awakening fighters in attacks in Baghdad and Al Qaim.

The attacks on Iraqi security forces are occurring as the US has drawn down its forces from a peak of 170,000 troops in 2008 to below 50,000 currently. The US has withdrawn its combat brigades from Iraq and reconfigured its remaining forces to conduct an "advise and assist" mission. More than 4,500 US special operations forces with their Iraqi counterparts are actively hunting members of al Qaeda in Iraq as well as Iranian-sponsored Shia terrorists.

In early June, the US military claimed that al Qaeda in Iraq's leadership had been dealt a near-fatal blow during a series of raids.

"Over the last 90 days or so, we've either picked up or killed 34 out of the top 42 al Qaeda in Iraq leaders," General Ray Odierno, the commander of US Forces - Iraq, told reporters during a Pentagon press briefing in early June. "They're clearly now attempting to reorganize themselves ... They're struggling a little bit. They've broken -- they've lost connection with AQSL [al Qaeda Senior Leadership] in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

But al Qaeda in Iraq, while unable to hold territory and directly threaten the Iraqi state, has been able to reorganize and launch high-profile terror attacks against the Iraqi security forces and government institutions.

The recent attacks are being directed by Nasser al Din Allah Abu Suleiman, al Qaeda's new 'war minister' for Iraq. Suleiman was appointed in May after his predecessor, Abu Ayyub al Masri, was killed in a US raid along with Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq. Also in May, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi al Hussieni al Qurshi was named the new emir of the Islamic State of Iraq, and Abu Abdullah al Hussieni al Qurshi, was named the deputy emir.

Al Qaeda in Iraq is supported primarily through its networks in eastern Syria. Last year, al Qaeda's central leadership based in Pakistan reportedly sent a senior ideologue to Syria to partner with a dangerous operative who ran the network that funnels foreign fighters, cash, and weapons into western Iraq. Sheikh Issa al Masri is thought to have left Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan and entered Syria in June 2009, where he paired up with Abu Khalaf, a senior al Qaeda operative who had been instrumental in reviving al Qaeda in Iraq's network in eastern Syria and directing terror operations in Iraq, a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

Sheikh Issa is believed to be based in Damascus and is protected by the Mukhabarat, Syria's secret intelligence service. The US killed Abu Khalaf during a Jan. 22 raid in the northern city of Mosul.