Al Qaeda in Iraq Scores Big
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD, NYT
Jailbreaks are common in Iraq, but the brazen assaults on the prisons at Abu Ghraib and Taji last week are in a class by themselves. The attacks freed perhaps as many as 800 militants, who are now sought by Interpol as a “major threat” to global security. The attacks showed the fearsome and growing strength of Al Qaeda in Iraq, seemingly on the decline only a few years ago. They also raised new questions about the effectiveness of Iraq’s authoritarian prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, as well as the stability of Iraq itself.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, waged a virulent insurgency that plunged the country on the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007, then suffered major defeats at the hands of Iraqi tribal groups and American troops. It has since rebounded and is believed largely responsible for a surge in daily bombings that have killed an estimated 700 people this month alone.
The Abu Ghraib and Taji operations were synchronized and sophisticated. Western experts told The Times that the militants used mortars to pin down Iraqi forces, sent suicide bombers to penetrate their defenses and followed up with an assault force to free the inmates. A former American ambassador in Baghdad, James Jeffrey, said Iraqi forces performed poorly, suggesting that their skills had deteriorated since American forces departed at the end of 2011.
Oddly, having spent so much money strengthening Iraq’s security forces administration officials have said little, publicly or privately, about why in this case their investment failed so spectacularly.
(More here.)
Jailbreaks are common in Iraq, but the brazen assaults on the prisons at Abu Ghraib and Taji last week are in a class by themselves. The attacks freed perhaps as many as 800 militants, who are now sought by Interpol as a “major threat” to global security. The attacks showed the fearsome and growing strength of Al Qaeda in Iraq, seemingly on the decline only a few years ago. They also raised new questions about the effectiveness of Iraq’s authoritarian prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, as well as the stability of Iraq itself.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, an affiliate of Al Qaeda, waged a virulent insurgency that plunged the country on the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007, then suffered major defeats at the hands of Iraqi tribal groups and American troops. It has since rebounded and is believed largely responsible for a surge in daily bombings that have killed an estimated 700 people this month alone.
The Abu Ghraib and Taji operations were synchronized and sophisticated. Western experts told The Times that the militants used mortars to pin down Iraqi forces, sent suicide bombers to penetrate their defenses and followed up with an assault force to free the inmates. A former American ambassador in Baghdad, James Jeffrey, said Iraqi forces performed poorly, suggesting that their skills had deteriorated since American forces departed at the end of 2011.
Oddly, having spent so much money strengthening Iraq’s security forces administration officials have said little, publicly or privately, about why in this case their investment failed so spectacularly.
(More here.)
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