US General Says 'Spectacular' Qaeda Attacks Rise In Iraq

[Purveyor]

Source: AFP

BAGHDAD (AFP) — A US commander on Wednesday said the number of "spectacular" assaults by Al-Qaeda in Iraq has increased although the overall number of attacks was down and 20 key militants have been killed or caught.

Major General Mark Hertling, commanding general of coalition forces in northern Iraq, gave no specific examples of what he termed "spectacular" attacks, referring only to big car bombs and to suicide attacks.

"These spectacular events and intimidation are designed to incite fear in the population," Hertling told a news conference in Baghdad.

Suicide bombers have continued to carry out bloody attacks in recent weeks, with one killing 25 people and wounding 85 on Christmas Day, when he slammed his vehicle into a truck carrying gas cylinders at a checkpoint in the northern oil town of Baiji.

The same month, a woman suicide bomber killed 16 people in the offices of a local anti-Qaeda front in Muqdadiyah, in Diyala province, while another bomber killed 13 people inside a cafe near the Diyala provincial capital Baquba.



Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jzLP_dLPraPKWxcHJNFEtp4Aaphg

[Historic NY]

1. So the surge worked, surge in new spectacular attacks..............

now we know why the State Dept. employees will not go there besides the incompetent * administration policies. :nuke:

[Supersedeas]

6. nothing to see here -- expect more off the cuff 'surge is a success' remarks from the superficial

pundits -- ala Matthews and Russert

[mother earth]

2. I'm waiting for the "spectacular" threat that will be hurled at us

here, since this is what they will need to drum up support for their Bushite sorry butts. Gotta keep fear alive I tell ya, otherwise people will start "thinking", certainly can't have that.

[Javaman]

3. They're real and they are SPECTACULAR! NT

[Hulk]

4. We can expect one "Major General Mark Hertling" to be reprimanded for speaking to the press....

"the surge is working, the surge is working, the surge is working...." Does anyone see a crack in the dike besides me? Not necessarily in events but in the "positive praise coming out of Iraq and Washington". This ISN'T what the neocon menu has on order.

I don't get how "it's working", as the death figures for US soldiers seems to be right up there, the incidents seem to be continuing, and the political front is frozen in place. Some right wingnut tell me how it's working, please?

[rockybelt]

5. The surge worked damn it!

How can there be so many attacks when this glorious surge has worked perfectly as planned by the greatest military minds in the world? This must just be some kind of propoganda to even suggest that the surge is not working. Why, anybody can walk down the streets of baghdad nowadays and buy anything from the multitude of vendors selling their wares. Mr. McCain has even told me as much. You nay sayers are giving war a bad name!

[LynnTheDem]

7. WOW!!! So george''s doing a heckova surge job!!!

:eyes: