As one might say...al Qaeda in Iraq is a mess. U.S. forces in Iraq have made available al Qaeda letters from the organization's #2 leader, al Zawahiri, to the leadership of al Qaeda in Iraq, namely al Masri that detail how badly al Masri has been conducting the operations in Iraq - the letters are from back in April of this year. Those letter were found on the dead, cold body of another al Qaeda leader, Abu Nizar. It really is a fascinating article here at The Long War Journal and is a must read - here are some details of it:
There is a ton of great information here but the overall recap of it is all good news! You can see by those last two statements by recent captives, that al Qaeda in Iraq is absolutely neutered.
It is interesting to see al Qaeda senior leadership bitching out al Masri...one can almost to the day see when al Masri took over by the failures of al Qaeda in Iraq. Let's face it, when the al Qaeda in Iraq leader was the now dead al Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq was a formidable force. Now, it appears they are left with little territory to call home...they have a fuck up for a leader and from other reports, most of them have fled the country.
Coalition forces found the letters in the possession of a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader called Abu Nizar, whose real name is Ali Hamid Ardeny al Essawi. He was killed after he stopped at a checkpoint in Baghdad and later identified by al Qaeda operatives in custody.
The series of letters highlights the divisions within al Qaeda in Iraq and highlights al Qaeda's senior leadership's questions about the leadership in Iraq. Al Masri is portrayed as an ineffective leader who is refusing to respond to questions by al Qaeda's senior leadership based in Pakistan. Leaders also criticize al Qaeda in Iraq's propaganda campaign, stating the group has intentionally deceived followers by releasing old footage and inflating enemy casualties.
Zawahiri then asks for a status update and chides al Masri for failing to respond to prior inquiries.
"We also want to repeat to you our request to write to us full detailed reports about your current conditions," Zawahiri stated. "Also, the brothers request to know about your experiences … and I have asked you about this many times."
An operative captured on Aug. 21 said the group has "lost the overall fight" and suffers from "extreme financial difficulties." Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq do "not presently have any long time plan and are only focused on short time fighting," the operative told US forces.
Another operative, also captured on Aug. 21, said "foreign fighters in Iraq are on the brink of extinction and the group's "biggest concern right now is where to sleep at night without being arrested."
There is a ton of great information here but the overall recap of it is all good news! You can see by those last two statements by recent captives, that al Qaeda in Iraq is absolutely neutered.
It is interesting to see al Qaeda senior leadership bitching out al Masri...one can almost to the day see when al Masri took over by the failures of al Qaeda in Iraq. Let's face it, when the al Qaeda in Iraq leader was the now dead al Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq was a formidable force. Now, it appears they are left with little territory to call home...they have a fuck up for a leader and from other reports, most of them have fled the country.
Letters from Al Qaeda leaders show Iraqi effort is in disarray
Al Qaeda's senior leadership has lost confidence in its commander in Iraq and views the situation in the country as dire, according to a series of letters intercepted by Multinational Forces Iraq earlier this year.
The letters, which have been sent exclusively to The Long War Journal by Multinational Forces Iraq, are a series of communications between Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the leader of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq. These letters were intercepted by Coalition forces in Baghdad on April 24, 2008. One of the letters written by Zawahiri is dated March 6, 2008.
Coalition forces found the letters in the possession of a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader called Abu Nizar, whose real name is Ali Hamid Ardeny al Essawi. He was killed after he stopped at a checkpoint in Baghdad and later identified by al Qaeda operatives in custody.
At the time of his death, Nizar served as al Qaeda in Iraq's information minister. His responsibilities included running al Qaeda in Iraq's propaganda network as well as the primary link to the regional terror group and al Qaeda's senior leadership.
These communications with al Qaeda in Iraq leaders matched the US military's view that the terror group suffered a major setback in Iraq.
"The letters confirmed our assessment that Al Qaeda has suffered significant damage and serious reverses in Iraq, including widespread rejection of [al Qaeda in Iraq's] indiscriminate violence, extremist ideology, and oppressive practices," General David Petraeus, the Commander of Multinational Forces Iraq told The Long War Journal. "Even Zawahiri recognized that [al Qaeda in Iraq] has lost credibility in Iraq."
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