US Commander in Iraq Says al Qaeda Was Warned Ahead of Raids

[babylonsister]

And here I thought we were 'fighting them over there...'

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html?ex=1340251200&en=e2280835dc0b3d3d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Militants Said to Flee Before U.S. Offensive

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: June 23, 2007

BAGHDAD, June 22 — The operational commander of troops battling to drive fighters with Al Qaeda from Baquba said Friday that 80 percent of the top Qaeda leaders in the city fled before the American-led offensive began earlier this week. He compared their flight with the escape of Qaeda leaders from Falluja ahead of an American offensive that recaptured that city in 2004.

In an otherwise upbeat assessment, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the second-ranking American commander in Iraq, told reporters that leaders of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia had been alerted to the Baquba offensive by widespread public discussion of the American plan to clear the city before the attack began. He portrayed the Qaeda leaders’ escape as cowardice, saying that “when the fight comes, they leave,” abandoning “midlevel” Qaeda leaders and fighters to face the might of American troops — just, he said, as they did in Falluja.

Some American officers in Baquba have placed blame for the Qaeda leaders’ flight on public remarks about the offensive in the days before it began by top American commanders, including Gen. David H. Petraeus, the overall commander in Iraq. But General Odierno cast the issue in broader terms, saying Qaeda leaders were bound to know an attack was coming in light of President Bush’s decision to pour nearly 30,000 additional troops into the fight in a bid to secure Baghdad and areas around the capital that have been insurgent strongholds. That included Baquba, which lies 40 miles north.

“Frankly, I think they knew an operation was coming in Baquba,” General Odierno said in a teleconference briefing with Pentagon reporters from the American military headquarters in Baghdad. “They watched the news. They understood we had a surge. They understood Baquba was designated as a problem area. So they knew we were going to come sooner or later.”

Still, he implied American commanders may have played a part by flagging the offensive in advance. “I think they were tipped off by us talking about the surge, the fact that we have a problem in Diyala Province,” he said.

more...

[trumad]

1. This is the same knucklehead that called Al Qaeda cowards

for not staying and fighting. LOL

[acmavm]

2. Sheesh, their big offensive nets no one to parade in front of the cameras

so they cry foul. And since they obviously caused a lot of harm to the civilian population, they try to buy them off with some groceries.

I am sooooooooooo ashamed.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. If we kill off al Qaeda, we won't have anyone left to blame everything on

and the war on terra will end. We couldn't afford that because Karl needs a "War President" and Poppy needs the bucks.

[Gman]

6. The RW learned that lesson when the Iron Curtain came down

for years they were disoriented and sad because they had no one to hate. Now they have Muslims and Mexicans to hate. Happy days are here again.

[glowing]

4. ok... first in Falluja we weren't fighting al quada.. it was insurgents

which really means Iraqi people defending themselves from occupation... Now that they've hit the city all these al quada mysteriously fade into the night as civilian body counts continue to pile up...

This is such a bull shit report. Read through the lies people.

[babylonsister]

5. You're doubting a top commander's word? And

didn't you hear? Anyone not on our side, including insurgents, is now Al Qaeda:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1169333&mesg_id=1169333

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. The genius general should spend less time at the Officers Club and look up the word "tactics".

And that, even the other side uses them.

[Bonhomme Richard]

8. I guess all 5 of them skedaddled.

Maybe they took a bus or something.
I am so tired of the bullshit.

[frogcycle]

9. They are hiding in the warehouses where the WMD's are kept

this is such absolute bullshit.

I want someone in a position of authority anywhere in this administration to utter a simple declarative sentence. I don't care what it is. It could be "today is Wednesday." But if that's it, it has to be uttered on a fucking Wednesday.