Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Al Qaeda In Iraq Claims Iraq Bombings, Sets the Stage For Standoff With Iran


You couldn't choreograph this any better if you were one of the mullahs in Tehran as al Qaeda in Iraq has laid claim to all of the bombings last week in Iraq that killed nearly 70 people but what should get the attention of the whole world is what al Qaeda in Iraq said in their statement.

From the article at The Long War Journal:

Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed credit for the suicide attack and series of bombings that took place last week and killed scores of Iraqis.

The Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's political front, claimed the Dec. 22 Baghdad bombings in a statement that was released on jihadist Internet forums yesterday. The statement was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The claim took place just one day after a suicide attack on Dec. 25 outside the Interior Ministry killed seven policemen.

More than 60 Iraqis were killed and an additional 18 were wounded in more than a dozen attacks that took place at security installations, markets, and schools in the capital on Dec. 22.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said the attacks were the latest in what they described as a "series of special invasions ... to support the weak Sunnis in the prisons of the apostates and
to retaliate for the captives who were executed by the Safavid [Persian or Iranian] government."

The term "Safavid government" refers to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shia politician who is accused by al Qaeda in Iraq of being under Iran's sphere of influence. Malaki has cracked down on Sunni politicians, and immediately after the US withdrawal of its troops this month, has issued an an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq Hashemi. The move has plunged Iraq into political crisis.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said the targets in the Dec. 22 attack in Baghdad "accurately surveyed and explored," and the "operations were distributed between targeting security headquarters, military patrols and gatherings of the filthy ones of the al-Dajjal Army [Shia warlord Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army]."

I've put in bold the key phrases above that show the fact that al Qaeda in Iraq is literally goading the Iranians into entering the fray in Iraq. Remember, this is the same al Qaeda organization that was assisted by Iran in the 9/11 attacks and in many situations since then, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty...when it is Shia versus Sunni, al Qaeda falls on the side of Sunni and that is going to pose one helluva problem for al-Maliki and his gang in Iraq.

What the U.S. and coalition forces were so good at in the Iraq War was stopping the efforts of al Qaeda in Iraq to create a sectarian civil war but now that we are gone from there, it appears that al Qaeda is back on that game plan and perhaps this time it will succeed.




Al Qaeda in Iraq claims Baghdad suicide attack, bombings


Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed credit for the suicide attack and series of bombings that took place last week and killed scores of Iraqis.

The Islamic State of Iraq, al Qaeda's political front, claimed the Dec. 22 Baghdad bombings in a statement that was released on jihadist Internet forums yesterday. The statement was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The claim took place just one day after a suicide attack on Dec. 25 outside the Interior Ministry killed seven policemen.

More than 60 Iraqis were killed and an additional 18 were wounded in more than a dozen attacks that took place at security installations, markets, and schools in the capital on Dec. 22.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said the attacks were the latest in what they described as a "series of special invasions ... to support the weak Sunnis in the prisons of the apostates and
to retaliate for the captives who were executed by the Safavid [Persian or Iranian] government."

The term "Safavid government" refers to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, a Shia politician who is accused by al Qaeda in Iraq of being under Iran's sphere of influence. Malaki has cracked down on Sunni politicians, and immediately after the US withdrawal of its troops this month, has issued an an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq Hashemi. The move has plunged Iraq into political crisis.

Al Qaeda in Iraq said the targets in the Dec. 22 attack in Baghdad "accurately surveyed and explored," and the "operations were distributed between targeting security headquarters, military patrols and gatherings of the filthy ones of the al-Dajjal Army [Shia warlord Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army]."

The terror group said it "knows where and when to strike, and the mujahideen will never stand with their hands tied while the pernicious Iranian project showed its ugly face and what it wants with Sunnis in Iraq became obvious and exposed."

Al Qaeda in Iraq briefly described the suicide attack that targeted a security headquarters in Karrada in Baghdad, and said that details of the other attacks that day would be "published later on."

Al Qaeda in Iraq, which was degraded by years of Iraqi and US military operations, is taking advantage of the deepening political crisis and Sunni fears that Maliki is an Iranian agent to expand its base of support. Al Qaeda in Iraq has urged Sunnis, particularly members of the Awakening councils, which are made of tribes and former insurgents, to abandon the government. The terror group has portrayed itself as the only legitimate protectors of Sunnis in Iraq.

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