Strategy Page is reporting that US forces have been destroying Zarqawi's organization at a very rapid pace.
Currently, TF 145 is divided into four sub units. Task Force West has several dozen commandoes from the U.S. Navy SEAL DevGroup, and a company of U.S. Army Rangers. Task Force Central has several dozen men from U.S. Army Delta Force and a company of Rangers. Task Force North has a about a dozen men from Delta Force, and a company of Rangers. Task Force Black has a few dozen SAS commandoes, with a company of British "Rangers" (the new Special Forces Support Group). TF 145 has a small headquarters element, plus a large intelligence operation, most of which is back in the United States, and connected in real time via satellite. There are also SOCOM helicopters and aircraft present.
The SOCOM intel effort has its hooks into everyone else's intelligence operations, and gets any info related to al Qaeda, and especially al Qaeda leadership. The basic drill is for one of the four smaller Task Forces to grab a likely bit of info and quickly plan and execute a raid. The rangers provide muscle (perimeter security, read guard) , as needed, and keep any other unfriendlies away, while the SEAL, Delta or SAS commandoes go in after the main target. The objective is to capture people alive, if possible, because interrogations and examination of documents starts immediately. The idea is to get fresh information that will lead to other al Qaeda people. Often this is the case, in which the commandoes and rangers are immediately off to another raid. Most of this takes place at night, and several raids may be carried out between dusk and dawn.
The Task Force has been so successful that very few foreign fighters are even left in Iraq.
The Task Force has been so successful that, except for Zarqawi, there are no more foreigners (Saudis, Jordanians, etc) in the Iraqi al Qaeda leadership. It's all Iraqis, and these guys are proving just as vulnerable to informers as the foreigners (who stood out because of their accent and body language) were. Most Sunni Arabs are tired of all the violence, and are backing the government by passing on (and getting paid for) tips on where Zarqawi and his crew are hiding out.
Sounds like some very good news. It seems to me there have been fewer reports of violence in Iraq just lately. I did an in-depth search on Yahoo news, and that does seem to be the case.
Sounds like some very good news. It seems to me there have been fewer reports of violence in Iraq just lately. I did an in-depth search on Yahoo news, and that does seem to be the case.
Now let’s see if our paid watchdogs in the 4th Estate are on the job, or just too busy pushing Leftist nostrums to be bothered with actual news.
As an after thought, someone who still subscribes to a big city daily might want to consider a class action law suit against the paper for taking money under false pretenses.
MSM charges for a service they frequently decline to provide. Wouldn’t it be fun to see MSM called to explain their misbehavior on pain of legal sanctions? It could only strengthen the Republic.