Zarqawi Klan Roll-up?
The Iraqi government has announced the capture of two more lieutenants of terror kingpin Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. That makes three detained this month. Apparently the men were arrested a week to ten days ago. That’s an intel indicator– police and intelligence services have used the time since the arrests to follow “hot tracks” and leads. Tips lead to surveillance and arrest, then one arrest leads to another. The goal: cracking a criminal organization and getting to its leadership. Here’s an AP story via MSNBC. The article provides names but few details.
To crack the Zarqawi Klan (Ku Klux suggestion intended– it is a theo-fascist reactionary organization) means tracking men and following the money. US and coalition intelligence sources have openly discussed “money trails” runing from Persian Gulf nations and Syria to Iraq. Ultimately, defeating Zarqawi and Al Qaeda means cutting off their financial resources.
Psy-ops are an important part of US strategy in Iraq. When the fiancial backers of this terrorist network know they are going to be exposed, they will stop. At the same time it is important that the blogosphere began insisting that the MSM use the same terminology as the newspapers in Iraq, by referring to these people as terrorists and not as “insurgents”
Comment by regis hanna — 1/28/2005 @ 9:47 am
Excellent! Zarqawi Klan (Ku Klux suggestion intended– it is a theo-fascist reactionary organization)
Comment by jeffmoore — 1/28/2005 @ 10:39 am
despite truly fervent wishes, i have my doubts. i think at this time the AZ org–and the Klan metaphor is apt–has been so successful that it has become well planted. The capturing of the leadership helps a great deal in neutralizing the group, but I suspect it is now a many headed hydra viz Al Quada. the big value here, outside of morale, is where and who is financing this murderous bastard. I view Az now along the lines of Hizbollah and Hamas, especially Hamas. The ISraeli always seem to be slaughtering the hamas leadership, and yet Hamas always seems to be broadly effective in resisting the Israelis.
Comment by roddy — 1/28/2005 @ 12:47 pm
“The ISraeli always seem to be slaughtering the hamas leadership, and yet Hamas always seems to be broadly effective in resisting the Israelis.” Actually, Hamas has become far less effective since the Israelis started knocking off its leadership. Its not a cure, but certainly helps a lot.
Comment by Final Historian — 1/28/2005 @ 2:10 pm
The roll-up of these key Z-Klan members is great news. I think that while there are always “replacement thugs,” the capturing or killing of the experienced terrorists may, in some cases, make it harder for the Z-Klan to find effective replacements. At least that is my hope… We’ll have to see how it plays out.
Comment by Michael Cadrecha — 1/28/2005 @ 7:45 pm