Top Iraqi Al Qaeda Leader Arrested

A top Al Queda leader was caught in Iraq earlier this month. His name is Abu Shahid and he apparently was in communication with Osama Bin Laden and he had significant influence in Iraq. But really now, theres no reason for our military to be in Iraq right.... I mean it's not like there are any real terrorists there....

U.S.: Top Iraqi Al Qaeda Leader Arrested
Wednesday, July 18, 2007


The U.S. command said Wednesday the highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been arrested, adding that information from him indicates the group's foreign-based leadership wields considerable influence over the Iraqi chapter.

Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, also known as Abu Shahid, was captured in Mosul on July 4, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman.

"Al-Mashhadani is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in the Al Qaeda in Iraq network," Bergner said. He said al-Mashhadani was a close associate of Abu Ayub al-Masri, the Egyptian-born head of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani served as an intermediary between al-Masri and Usama bin Laden and Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"In fact, communication between the senior Al Qaeda leadership and al-Masri frequently went through al-Mashhadani," Bergner said. He added: "There is a clear connection between Al Qaeda in Iraq and Al Qaeda senior leadership outside Iraq."

The degree of control and supervision between bin Laden's inner circle and the Iraq branch has been the subject of debate, with some private analysts believing the foreign-based leadership plays a minor role in day to day operations.

Some have suggested that linking Al Qaeda in Iraq to bin Laden is simply an attempt to justify the Iraq war as an extension of the global conflict that began with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

But the U.S. military has insisted that there are links between the local Al Qaeda group and the bin Laden clique and has released captured letters from time to time, suggesting the foreign-based leaders provide at least broad direction.

Pointing to the foreign influence in Al Qaeda also undermines support for the organization among nationalistically minded Iraqis, including some in insurgent groups that have broken with Al Qaeda.

Bergner said that al-Mashhadani and al-Masri "co-founded a virtual organization in cyberspace called the Islamic State of Iraq in 2006."

"The Islamic State of Iraq is the latest efforts by Al Qaeda to market itself and its goal of imposing a Taliban-like state on the Iraqi people," Bergner said.

In Web postings, the Islamic State of Iraq has identified its leader as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, with al-Masri as minister of war. There are no known photos of al-Baghdadi.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that al-Baghdadi is a "fictional role" created by al-Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Web.

"In his words, the Islamic State of Iraq is a front organization that masks the foreign influence and leadership within Al Qaeda in Iraq in an attempt to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq," Bergner said.

Bergner said al-Mashhadani had told interrogators that Al Qaeda leaders outside the country "continue to provide directions, they continue to provide a focus for operations, they continue to flow foreign fighters into Iraq."

He said al-Mashhadani was a leader of the militant Ansar al-Sunnah group before joining Al Qaeda in Iraq 2 1/2 years ago. Al-Mashhadani served as the Al Qaeda media chief for Baghdad and then was appointed the media chief for the whole country.

Al Qaeda in Iraq was proclaimed in 2004 by Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who led a group called Tawhid and Jihad, responsible for the beheading of several foreign hostages, whose final moments were captured on videotapes provided to Arab television stations.

Al-Zarqawi posted Web statements declaring his allegiance to bin Laden and began using the name of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Diyala province in June 2006 and was replaced by al-Masri

All Nighter pizza party in the Senate.

Last night our senate pulled an all nighter to try and pass the newest surrender bill and it seems that thier lastest stunt has failed once again. You would think they learned the first time that a surrender bill is not going to pass because even if it gets enough votes, the president will veto it, as he should. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different result, so it seems that our politicians are insane. And we're paying them for this! All nighter pizza party stunts.



After All-Night Debate, Senate Rejects Measure to Bring Troops Home From Iraq
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Senate rejected a plan Wednesday to bring home U.S. troops from Iraq by early next year after spending an all-night session debating whether to demand President Bush change the mission.

The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate and move toward passage. Four Republicans voted with the Democrats, but only one new backer emerged after the 24-hour Democrat-orchestrated talkathon: Susan Collins of Maine who is seeking re-election next year. She joined three previously known Republicans supporting a troop withdrawal plan: Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman voted against the troop withdrawal plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who strongly supports the withdrawal approach, voted no as a technical move that allows him, under Senate rules, to bring the troop withdrawal plan back to a vote at a later date.


After the vote, Reid temporarily pulled the defense authorization bill that also includes pay raises for service members, missile defense programming, rules on habeas corpus rights for Guantanamo Bay detainees, equipment development plans and other policies that help shape the military spending bill for the coming fiscal year.

Reid blamed Republicans for stalling forward motion.

"We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to pass the defense authorization bill. Why? Because we must," Reid said.

But Republicans argued that pulling the bill proves Democrats are only interested in Iraq, not the military overall. As Reid tried to move on to other issues, including homeland security and education authorization, GOP lawmakers objected, saying that the Senate should stay on defense authorization.

Calling it a "colossal waste of time," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said the previous 24-hours of debate had been an "indignity" for the Senate, but the defense authorization package is still necessary.

The amendment to the defense authorization bill offered by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., called for combat troops to be out of Iraq by April 8, 2008, Thousands of troops would have been left behind for other missions, such as fighting Al Qaeda terrorists in that country.

"Just about everybody agrees there's no military solution to Iraq," Levin said during the debate. If Republicans get their way and block this change in mission, "We will be denied the opportunity to vote on an issue that just about every American has strong feelings on."

Senate Democrats had staged an all-night debate, complete with cots for lawmakers to sleep off the Senate floor, in a dramatic attempt to wear down Republicans who refuse to vote to begin to bring troops home by fall.

Republicans responded with a yawn — agreeing to stay around and respond to any votes that might be scheduled around-the-clock but remaining steadfast in their opposition to the Democrats' anti-war legislation.

Labeled a publicity stunt by Republicans, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the debate ended up "substituting our amateur theatrics for statesmanship."

"This is nonsense," said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

Added Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., of his Democratic colleagues: "I bet I can stay up longer than they can."

During debate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Levin's bill was unclear and wouldn't accomplish what Levin said it would do, and he said the president's security plan should be given until September to see if it works.

"Yesterday, I characterized the Democratic leadership's decision to hold us here through the night as a theatrical display more worthy of Hollywood than Washington. Indeed, anyone who watched it unfold might have thought they were tuning into an episode of 'The Twilight Zone,' " McConnell said.

As the Senate prepared to vote, nearly all the members were seated quietly, and none of the usual ruckus was going on during the vote. A few lawmakers could be seen whispering in conversations of twos and threes.

Throughout the night, the audience for the speeches was sparse despite Reid pushing through a motion on a 41-37 roll-call vote that instructed the Senate sergeant-at-arms to "request the attendance of absent senators" in an effort to keep them near the chamber. Having made his point, Reid than announced there would be no further votes before 5 a.m. EDT.

Thus, most senators got a chance for a few hours of shuteye even while a handful of their colleagues took turns droning on through the night with floor speeches. There was no indication how aggressively the sergeant-at-arms had been in carrying out his official instructions to keep members near the chamber — or whether he was insisting that they be awake.

As the vote was being taken, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice walked over to the Senate side of Capitol Hill where she was to lobby lawmakers on Bush's Iraq policy.

Rice's plans included spending up to five hours in the morning and early afternoon in group and private meetings in both the Senate and House. The focus would be Iraq and other foreign policy issues, including the Middle East, the official said.

While the issue was momentous — a war more than four years in duration, costing more than 3,600 U.S. troops their lives — the proceedings were thick with politics.

MoveOn.org, the anti-war group, announced plans for more than 130 events around the country to coincide with the Senate debate, part of an effort to pressure Republicans into allowing a final vote on the legislation. A candlelight vigil and rally across the street from the Capitol was prominent among them, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., among those attending.