Iraqis Lead Final Purge Of Al-Qaeda Out Of Iraq

You've probably noticed that Iraq is no longer prevalent in the news. No more daily stories about bombings, IEDs, ambushes or American service personnel being killed on a daily basis. Perhaps we should take note of the reason why Old Media isn't jamming the stuff down our throats anymore.

It's because we are winning. Even Jack Murtha, the back-stabber from Pennsylvania, went on TV in Pittsburgh and admitted that the surge is working. But the Times of London spells it out more precisely:

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror. After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

Wouldn't it have been nice if this was on the front page of the New York Times? But don't expect a leftist-liberal rag to print anything that shows terrorists in a bad light.

More:

Even in the district of Zanjali, previously a hotbed of the insurgency, it was possible to accompany an Iraqi colonel on foot through streets of breeze-block houses studded with bullet holes. Hundreds of houses were searched without resistance but no bomb was found, only 60kg of explosives. American and Iraqi leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside to the south. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, who has also led a crackdown on the Shi’ite Mahdi Army in Basra and Baghdad in recent months, claimed yesterday that his government had “defeated” terrorism. “They were intending to besiege Baghdad and control it,” Maliki said. “But thanks to the will of the tribes, security forces, army and all Iraqis, we defeated them.”

Even if Old Media refuses to report on the truth, we bloggers in New Media can still access it.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Iraqis Lead Final Purge Of Al-Qaeda
Marie Colvin
TimesOnLine.com
July 6, 2008