ISIS executed 70 Sunni tribesmen in Iraq’s Anbar

Oh, by the way, for any folks who were at this blog a few months ago...the concerted effort by Obama, the Iraqi government, the Shia militias and the mullahs of Iran to retake Ramadi has STILL gone NOWHERE.

The story comes from Al Arabiya.

ISIS executed 70 Sunni tribesmen in Iraq’s Anbar

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group executed 70 members of a Sunni tribe allied to the government in western Iraq earlier this week, a tribal leader and the United Nations said Wednesday.

The victims, members of the Albu Nimr tribe, were executed on Sunday in the Tharthar area north of Ramadi, the capital of the western Anbar province, tribal elder Naim Gaoud told AFP.

“These people who were executed were the fathers and brothers of members of the police, the army... and of tribal fighters who are battling Daesh,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

“Daesh executed them by shooting,” he said.

Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, launched a vast operation west of Ramadi Sunday to tighten the noose on ISIS, which captured the Anbar capital in May and controls most of the province.

Hatem al-Gaoud, another clan member reached by phone, said ISIS had trapped dozens of tribe members in the Khanzir area of Tharthar since the jihadist group launched its major offensive in Iraq last year.

“They gathered them outside Khanzir and shot them all in the head,” he said.

“I don’t know what ISIS did with the bodies, but it is likely they buried them in mass graves near the site of the execution,” he said.

The U.N. Mission in Iraq’s human rights office said it had been able to confirm the mass execution.

“This is not the first attack on the Albu Nimr, since they have been actively opposed to ISIL (ISIS),” it said in an email to AFP.

Possibly as many as 300 of the tribe's members were killed around a year ago, when anti-IS forces were still holding out in some parts of Ramadi, which is the Albu Nimr’s main hub.

The tribe was very active in the Awakening Councils, groups of Sunni tribal fighters the U.S. military paid and armed a decade ago to fight against ISIS’s previous incarnation in Iraq.

Local tribal fighters are seen by the United States as a key component of any successful effort to retake control of Anbar and other Sunni regions of Iraq IS took over virtually unopposed last year.

They no longer receive direct support from the US, whose assistance is channeled through the Shiite-dominated federal government.

ISIS has massacred hundreds of former Awakening fighters in an effort to intimidate Sunni residents from taking up arms against them.

Iraqis Figure Out They Can't Do What American Marines Could...Retake Fallujah

 Masked Sunni gunmen chant slogans during a protest against Iraq's Shia-led government, demanding that the Iraqi army not try to enter the city, in Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad January 7, 2014. — Photo by Reuters

The Iraqi government and military is learning very quickly just how damn good American Marines are...as they have now "delayed" trying to retake Fallujah from al Qaeda in Iraq.  Delayed?  Ha!  Hell, they will NEVER retake Fallujah or Ramadi - it's done, stick a fork in it.

Once again, the military and foreign policy genius of Barack Hussein Obama ensures that al Qaeda will be with us for another 50 years.

The story comes from DAWN.

Iraq delays Fallujah assault as 29 killed in Ramadi


RAMADI: Iraqi troops will delay assaulting the militant-held city of Fallujah, an officer said Tuesday, citing possible civilian casualties, as fighting and missile strikes in nearby Ramadi killed 29 people.

Bombings and shootings elsewhere killed 27 people, among them 12 members of the security forces. Parts of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and all of Fallujah have been outside government control since last week.

It is the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the insurgency that followed the 2003 US-led invasion.

“It is not possible to assault (Fallujah) now” over concerns about civilian casualties, defence ministry spokesman Staff Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

Attacking the Sunni-majority city would also be extremely politically sensitive, inflaming already high tensions between the Sunni Arab minority and the Shia-led government.

And it would be a major test for Iraqi security forces, which have yet to undertake such an operation without the backing of American troops.

Overnight, security forces and allied tribesmen sought to retake south Ramadi from al Qaeda-linked group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but the assault failed.

“Security forces and armed tribesmen tried last night to enter areas controlled by ISIL fighters in the south of the city,” a police captain told AFP.

He said that after seven hours of fighting, “security forces were not able to enter these areas and ISIL fighters are still in control”.

Four civilians were killed and 14 wounded, said Ramadi hospital's Dr Ahmed Abdul Salam, who had no casualty figures for security forces or militants.

Later Tuesday, missile strikes in Ramadi killed 25 militants, Askari said.

Near Fallujah, the army deployed reinforcements including tanks to an area about 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of Fallujah, police told AFP.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called on residents to expel ISIL to stave off a military offensive.

But senior tribal leader Sheikh Ali al-Hammad told AFP Monday ISIL had left Fallujah which was now held by tribesmen.

US 'working with Iraq'

As violence in Anbar entered its second week, the Pentagon said Washington would accelerate delivery of 100 Hellfire missiles, which were due to be sent to Iraq in the next few months.

Colonel Steven Warren said an additional 10 ScanEagle surveillance drones would also be supplied.

He said Washington was working with Iraq to develop a “holistic strategy to isolate al Qaeda-affiliated groups so the tribes working with the security forces can drive them out of the populated areas”.

But Warren also reiterated statements by US Secretary of State John Kerry that no American forces would enter the fray.

Fighting erupted near Ramadi on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old protest camp where Sunni Arabs had demonstrated against what they see as the marginalisation and targeting of their community by the government in Baghdad.

The violence spread to Fallujah, and militants moved in and seized the city after security forces withdrew. Maliki had long sought the closure of the camp, dubbing it a “headquarters for the leadership of al Qaeda”. But its removal has come at the cost of a sharp decline in Anbar's security situation.

Both Ramadi and Fallujah were insurgent strongholds in the years after 2003, and Fallujah was the target of two major assaults in which US forces saw some of their heaviest fighting since the Vietnam War.

They eventually wrested back control of Anbar from militants, with the support of Sunni Arab tribesmen who formed the Sahwa (Awakening) militias, which allied with US troops against al Qaeda from late 2006.

But two years after US forces withdrew from Iraq, Sunni militants have regained strength, bolstered by the war in neighbouring Syria and widespread Sunni Arab anger with the federal government.

Anbar was not the only focus of violence on Tuesday.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed 12 people at a brothel, and seven police officers were shot dead at a checkpoint north of the capital.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, a suicide truck bomber targeted a police station, killing five people, among them two police, and three security forces members died in other attacks.

Iraqis Need To Resort To Airstrikes To Battle Al Qaeda In Anbar

U.S. Marines battled their asses off, lost a lot of brave men and performed a miracle in uniting the Awakenings in Anbar province of western Iraq and now, the Iraqis have let it go...they let al Qaeda sneak back in and once you get al Qaeda back in Anbar, you're toast, you're screwed.

Go to this link at The Telegraph to see a video of Iraqi airstrikes on al Qaeda in Anbar.

Iraq government release footage of air attack on 'al-Qaeda base'


The Iraqi government release video taken from an offensive to hunt down al-Qaeda-linked militants in the country's volatile western desert

Video released by the Iraq military on Monday showed an airstrike hitting what appeared to be a camp, the capture of militant banners and the capture of one individual.

The military operation in Anbar province followed the killing of a senior military commander, along with a colonel and five soldiers during a raid on a militant hideout early on Saturday.

A government statement said ground level security forces backed by helicopters have been combing the desert near the borders with Syria and Jordan.

Syria's civil war has led to widespread cross-border movement of al-Qaida fighters between the two countries.

A fresh wave of insurgent attacks across Iraq, including an attack on a TV station, killed at least 26 people on Monday.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks across Iraq in the past months, with violence directed at civilians at its highest level since 2008.

Monday's attacks brought the total number of people killed so far this month to 400.

According to UN estimates, more than 8,000 people have been killed since the start of the year.

25 Iraqi Police Killed In Suicide Bombing Attacks In Anbar Province

You'll remember from the Iraq War that Anbar province in Iraq, the western province was the most fiercely fought as al Qaeda in Iraq had become entrenched there - it was only U.S. Marines that could have unseated that kind of stranglehold by the terrorists and they did exactly that.  Well, it appears that al Qaeda wants it back really bad and thus we are seeing some of the most coordinated terror attacks there since the end of the War.

The story comes from DAWN.

Suicide bombers, gunmen kill 28 in Iraq: officials


RAMADI: Gunmen and suicide bombers driving explosives-rigged vehicles launched a wave of coordinated attacks in Iraq’s Anbar province overnight, killing 25 police and three civilians, officials and medics said on Wednesday.

The attacks between 10:00 pm and midnight Tuesday in the west Iraq province also wounded 26 police, they said.

Militants, including those linked to Al Qaeda, frequently target Iraqi security forces and other government employees.

Four of the attacks struck targets in or near the town of Rutba, about 110 kilometres (68 miles) from the border with war-racked Syria.

A suicide bomber detonated a tanker truck packed with explosives at a federal police checkpoint east of the town, while militants armed with heavy weapons struck the police station in Rutba itself and another bomber detonated a vehicle at a police checkpoint to its west.

Those attacks killed 18 police and wounded 25, while three civilians died when another suicide bomber blew up a tanker truck on a bridge west of Rutba, the officials and a doctor said.

Al Qaeda in Iraq Strikes In Anbar Province, 26 Iraqi Police Killed in Checkpoint Attacks

Police, army and forces from the rest of Anbar province are searching the entire city, and a curfew has been imposed. — Photos by AP


And here we go. Most of you will remember the affection that al Qaeda in Iraq held for Anbar province back before U.S. soldiers and Marines finally came along and wrestled the province away from the jihadis - well, al Qaeda operatives donned Iraqi military uniforms and used stolen military vehicles to wipe out upwards of 25 Iraqi police at security checkpoints in the city of Haditha.

From the report at DAWN:

Dozens of gunmen, some dressed in army uniforms, killed 26 policemen in a wave of coordinated attacks on checkpoints and officers’ homes across the western Iraqi city of Haditha on Monday, police said.

The assault, launched at 2:00 am (2300 GMT on Sunday), saw insurgents dressed in military uniforms and riding in stolen army vehicles simultaneously attacking two checkpoints in the east and west of Haditha before storming other security posts and raiding the homes of two officers.

“They then entered the city and were distributed throughout Haditha, where other gunmen were waiting for them in civilian cars,” said police Lieutenant Colonel Owaid Khalaf, who said he was involved in some of Monday’s firefights.

First off, the planning and coordination of this attack is stunning and secondly, one can't help but surmise that this is the first shot heard in Anbar which means al Qaeda is ready to try and take this province back. I said it many, many months ago that al Qaeda would desperately try to get Anbar back, which includes Ramadi and Fallujah, and part of the reason is that the Iraqis probably don't have the muscle to take it back as U.S. forces did.

It's my guess that we will start to see car bombings of security checkpoints and more attacks such as these - it's my opinion that al Qaeda in Iraq has had all of these plans in place for over a year.



Checkpoints attacked in Iraq, 26 police killed


FALLUJAH: Dozens of gunmen, some dressed in army uniforms, killed 26 policemen in a wave of coordinated attacks on checkpoints and officers’ homes across the western Iraqi city of Haditha on Monday, police said.

The assault, launched at 2:00 am (2300 GMT on Sunday), saw insurgents dressed in military uniforms and riding in stolen army vehicles simultaneously attacking two checkpoints in the east and west of Haditha before storming other security posts and raiding the homes of two officers.

“They then entered the city and were distributed throughout Haditha, where other gunmen were waiting for them in civilian cars,” said police Lieutenant Colonel Owaid Khalaf, who said he was involved in some of Monday’s firefights.

Khalaf said the attackers also targeted two senior police officers’ homes, Colonel Mohammed Shauffeur and Captain Khaled Mohammed Sayil. They killed three bodyguards at each of the officer’s houses, and kidnapped both.

Shauffeur’s body was found in a Haditha marketplace and Sayil was discovered in an alleyway, blindfolded with fatal gunshots to the head.


“Right now, police, army and forces from the rest of Anbar are searching the entire city, and a curfew has been imposed,” Khalaf said, referring to the province where Haditha lies.

“A total of 26 policemen were killed, including a colonel and a captain, and three others were wounded when several armed men wearing security uniforms and carrying forged arrest warrants attacked several checkpoints,” said Haditha police spokesman Major Tareq Sayeh Hardan.

“Al-Qaeda is responsible for this,” Hardan said, noting that investigators found Al-Qaeda literature in a vehicle that the attackers left behind.

The attack in Haditha, 210 kilometres (130 miles) northeast of Baghdad, is the first major instance of violence in the town since a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a bank, killing nine people, including three police, and wounding eight others on March 3, 2011.

Al Qaeda in Iraq Reminds Us They Haven't Left Anbar Province, Police HQ Attacked, Hostages Taken

On a day when the Iraqi government appears to be agreeing that all U.S. troops should leave the country, al Qaeda in Iraq has sent a reminder to everyone that they haven't left the lawless western province of Anbar when they donned fake police uniforms, entered a police station, and then began firing their weapons and one of the insurgents even blew himself up. Numerous hostages have been taken including the town's mayor.

From the report at Breitbart:

Insurgents disguised as police officers burst into a police station in western Iraq Monday, opened fire and blew up an explosives vest before taking a number of people hostage, including the town's mayor, Iraqi officials said.

The Iraqi Army was surrounding the police station in the town of al-Baghdadi, some 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Baghdad in Anbar province, said the deputy provincial governor, Dhari Arkan. It was not immediately clear how many people were being held inside the station, or whether the attackers had made any demands.

The ongoing standoff in western Iraq's Anbar province demonstrates the vulnerability of the Iraqi security forces at a time when American troops are swiftly drawing down their presence after more than eight years of war.

The attackers broke into the police station wearing police uniforms to disguise themselves and immediately opened fire upon entering, provincial police officials said. Then one of the insurgents blew himself up, the officials said.

Among the hostages is the mayor of al-Baghdadi, whose office is on the second floor of the police station, according to the officials.

Every time I see one of these stories I wince ...when it pertains to Anbar province...when I think of the price that our American troops paid to retake Anbar back from al Qaeda in Iraq it truly bothers me when the Iraqi government seems way too confident that they can control this western province. Believe me, al Qaeda in Iraq believes they have a right to the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi and I am simply not comfortable that they have been sufficiently cleared from those areas.

Insurgents take police hostage in western Iraq


BAGHDAD (AP) - Insurgents disguised as police officers burst into a police station in western Iraq Monday, opened fire and blew up an explosives vest before taking a number of people hostage, including the town's mayor, Iraqi officials said.

The Iraqi Army was surrounding the police station in the town of al-Baghdadi, some 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Baghdad in Anbar province, said the deputy provincial governor, Dhari Arkan. It was not immediately clear how many people were being held inside the station, or whether the attackers had made any demands.

The ongoing standoff in western Iraq's Anbar province demonstrates the vulnerability of the Iraqi security forces at a time when American troops are swiftly drawing down their presence after more than eight years of war.

The attackers broke into the police station wearing police uniforms to disguise themselves and immediately opened fire upon entering, provincial police officials said. Then one of the insurgents blew himself up, the officials said.

Among the hostages is the mayor of al-Baghdadi, whose office is on the second floor of the police station, according to the officials.

This mayor of the nearby town of Hit, Hikmat Juber, confirmed the attack and hostage standoff. He said a number of officials working on the second floor of the building where some provincial offices were located were also taken hostage.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Anbar province has been a hotbed of Iraq's insurgency for years. Sunni militants aligned with terror groups such as al-Qaida often attack the local police and military who they see as traitors and supporters of the Shiite-led government.

Under a 2008 agreement, all American forces must leave Iraq by the end of this year, although U.S. and Iraqi officials have been discussing whether to have a small U.S. military presence in Iraq into next year.

U.S. Marines, Victorious In Anbar, Victorious Over al Qaeda, Turns Things Over To The U.S./Iraqi Army

What a proud day for America and for the fighting Marines in Iraq. Today, marked the day when our victorious Marines turned over the once "unwinnable" Iraqi province of Al Anbar over to the control of the U.S. and Iraqi armies in an emotional changing of the guard.

From the report at Canoe:

The Marines formally handed over U.S. responsibility for Sunni-dominated Anbar, Iraq's largest province, to the Army during a ceremony at a base in Ramadi, the scene of some of the war's most intense fighting. Overall control of the province shifted from the U.S. military to Iraq in September 2008, but the U.S. continues to provide support for Iraqi forces.
Iraqi and American colour guards stood together at attention as both countries' national anthems were played by a U.S. military band.
As many as 25,000 Marines were in Iraq at the peak of the fighting, mostly in Anbar province. Fewer than 3,000 remain. All but a handful of those will ship out in a matter of weeks.

One day, when most of the harbingers of Bush Derangement Syndrome are either dead or put away in rubber rooms and when the Left has been driven from our shores, people in America will finally have a chance to truly view and recall one of the most dramatic victories in the history of the American military. American Marines brought victory in Iraq's al Anbar province...a province at one time considered the most dangerous place on earth. A province once so seemingly hopeless that most Americans were willing to concede it to al Qaeda in Iraq.

You can say all you want about "The Surge", you can say all you want about the Awakenings in Anbar but the bottom line of this victory was about U.S. Marines going into the belly of the beast in the most treacherous of areas on earth and beating the shit out of an enemy. This was Iwo Jima except it lasted for years, not days and weeks. This was a war where your every move could be your last from sophisticated IED's and snipers on every possible roof. This was hell on earth in cities like Ramadi and Fallujah where 80% of the civilian population was threatened and coerced into aiding the enemy. This was a province, al Anbar, that saw a steady stream of fresh jihadis coming in every week from Syria - and our Marines were facing fresh enemies while their own numbers were being stretched thin at one time.

There was a time when many didn't think the Marines could even get out of al Anbar alive. Yet, in the end, they won the fucking war. They didn't just take a city or two...nope, they annihilated al Qaeda in Iraq and purged the entire province of the vermin.

Yes, today may have seemed like just another military ceremony in the desert of Iraq but what it represents is one of the most incredible victories that the U.S. Marines have ever pulled off. And until the day when the truth is widely known of this incredible victory, we should all go out of our way to thank the U.S. Marines for this victory, for this example of good defeating evil, of America showing the world that NOTHING can stop us.

US Marines draw down in Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq - The U.S. Marines marked the end of nearly seven years in Iraq on Saturday by handing the Army their command of Anbar province, once one of the war's fiercest battlefields but now a centerpiece of U.S.-Iraqi co-operation.
The changing of the guard - overseen by military brass and some of Anbar's influential Sunni sheiks - signals the start of an accelerated drawdown of American troops as the U.S. increasingly shifts its focus to the war in Afghanistan.
American commanders are trumpeting security gains in places such as the western Anbar province as a sign that their partnership with Iraqi security forces is working, and that the local troops can keep the country safe.
But fears are growing about a possible resurgence in sectarian tensions - fed by the Shiite-dominated government's plans to blacklist more than 500 parliamentary candidates over suspected links to Saddam Hussein's regime.
In Baghdad, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden met with Iraq's leaders Saturday to try to alleviate the pressures. While he kept expectations of a breakthrough low - telling reporters after a meeting with President Jalal Talabani it was up to the Iraqis, not him, to resolve the issue - his visit alone underscored Washington's concern.
The White House worries the bans could raise questions over the fairness of the March 7 parliamentary election, which is seen as an important step in the American pullout timetable and a way to break political stalemates over key issues such as dividing Iraq's oil revenue.

I am confident that Iraq's leaders are seized with this problem and are working to find a just solution," Biden said during his visit.
The Marines formally handed over U.S. responsibility for Sunni-dominated Anbar, Iraq's largest province, to the Army during a ceremony at a base in Ramadi, the scene of some of the war's most intense fighting. Overall control of the province shifted from the U.S. military to Iraq in September 2008, but the U.S. continues to provide support for Iraqi forces.
Iraqi and American colour guards stood together at attention as both countries' national anthems were played by a U.S. military band.
As many as 25,000 Marines were in Iraq at the peak of the fighting, mostly in Anbar province. Fewer than 3,000 remain. All but a handful of those will ship out in a matter of weeks.
The Marines' extended stay in Anbar went against the grain of the Corps' usual role as a fighting force designed to quickly seize territory and then turn it over to the Army to maintain control from fixed bases.
Sharing the front row at the handover ceremony with American Army and Marine generals were some of Anbar's influential tribal sheiks in traditional checkered headdresses and gold-embroidered robes. Their decision to shift support to the Americans is credited with sapping the Sunni insurgency - including al-Qaida in Iraq - of much of its strength in areas near Baghdad.
Maj. Gen. Terry Wolff, the Army commander who assumed responsibility for the province, said he hoped security gains cemented by U.S. troops and their Iraqi counterparts would ensure a smooth transfer despite the overall drawdown in American forces.
"The goal that we all seek is the Iraqis securing their own election, and that the election is fair and the election is free," he told reporters after the handover.
If all goes as planned, the last remaining Marines will be followed out by tens of thousands of soldiers in the coming months. President Barack Obama has ordered all but 50,000 troops out of the country by Aug. 31, with most to depart after the parliamentary election in March.
The remaining troops will leave by the end of 2011 under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact.
The changeover at Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometres) west of Baghdad, leaves the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division with responsibility over both Baghdad and Anbar, the vast desert province that stretches from western Baghdad to the borders of Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The province was once the heart of the deadly Sunni insurgency that erupted after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In the battles for control of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, the Marines saw some of the most brutal and deadliest fighting of the war.
Violence began dropping off in the province in late 2006 when Sunni fighters - known as Awakening Councils - turned against al-Qaida and sided with the Marines to fight the insurgency.
The upcoming parliamentary election is considered an important step toward speeding the U.S. troop pullout and seeking progress on stalled political initiatives. Among them: passing laws clarifying the rules for foreign oil investment and dividing the revenue among Iraq's main groups.
But plans to ban hundreds of candidates have raised deep concerns in Washington that the voting could widen rifts between the majority Shiites who gained power after Saddam's fall and Sunnis who are struggling to regain influence.
Biden, who arrived late Friday, had a full agenda of meetings with Iraqi leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has strongly supported the blacklist and has resisted attempts at possible American mediation.
Some Sunni leaders have accused the Shiite-led government of using the ban as a political tool. But al-Maliki insists that Iraq must purge all ties to Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime. A vetting panel has put 512 names on the blacklist and more are expected.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press that during the meeting with al-Maliki, Biden was careful not to "give the wrong message that America wants to interfere in the Iraqi affairs."
Biden later met with Talabani, who has asked for a legal review on the blacklist. The courts are expected to examine whether the vetting panel has legal grounding because it does not have formal parliamentary approval.
The panel includes two controversial Shiite figures: Ali al-Lami, who was once detained by the U.S. military over a 2008 attack in a Shiite district of Baghdad; and Ahmed Chalabi, who is blamed for supplying U.S. officials with faulty intelligence on Saddam's weapons program prior to the 2003 invasion.
Al-Lami is also a candidate in the March election - raising further complaints from Sunnis about possible political motives behind the list.

Suicide Bomber In Anbar Misses Sheik, Kills 6

A suicide bomber in Anbar Province in Iraq had targeted Sheik Aeifan al-Issawi who is one of the primary leaders of the Anbar Awakening Council but didn't quite get to the leader. Four of al-Issawi's guards stopped the bomber at the checkpoint to his farm and those guards were all killed.
The important thing to note here is this. Al Qaeda NEVER gives up. Anbar Province has been the quietest part of Iraq for over six months - there have even been stories how American troops have to battle boredom there. But, months ago, al Qaeda in Iraq made the threat to take down all of the leaders of the Awakening Council in Anbar. They have killed some and as you can see, they have not given up. Al Qaeda has NO chance of taking back Anbar Province and they know it but this is what separates al Qaeda and the Taliban from other groups - al Qaeda was embarassed by the Awakening Council and this is all about revenge. This isn't about an islamist jihad against islamists who have aided the U.S. - this is all about the Satanic side of al Qaeda - and the sooner we remember that this group is a pack unleashed from the Gates of Hell, a group that never gives up until they are exterminated, the quicker we will deploy the correct forces and tactics to rid the planet of the beasts.

Full story is here.

Suicide Bombing Kills 6 in Anbar, Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide bombing killed six people in Anbar province on Sunday, but the target of the attack, a U.S.-backed Sunni tribal sheik, was unhurt, police said.
The bomber detonated explosives in his belt after four guards stopped him at the checkpoint leading to the sheik's farm near Fallujah. The attack killed the four guards and two civilians and injured four people, according to a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.
The sheik, Aeifan al-Issawi, is a leading member of the Anbar Awakening Council, a Sunni group that has turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.
The U.S. military has credited the emergence of councils with a major part in the decline in violence nationwide over the past six months. Such groups, backed by the Americans, have also managed to expel al- Qaida from much of Anbar, a largely desert province in western Iraq.