Moving against Al Qaeda and the election of '08

We’re making a strike today, with the help of Iraqi forces, against Al Qaeda:

U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major operation to strike against al-Qaida in Iraq and other extremists, the U.S. military said Tuesday, in an effort to build on a recent overall reduction of violence and push militants from their strongholds.

The division and brigade-level operation, dubbed Phantom Phoenix, will cover the entire country, the military said.

“Phantom Phoenix will synchronize lethal and non-lethal effects to exploit recent security gains and disrupt terrorist support zones and enemy command and control,” the military said in a statement.
Violence across Iraq has fallen dramatically in recent months, an improvement attributed to a combination of 30,000 extra troops sent into the Baghdad area; the work of U.S.-backed predominantly Sunni tribal groups who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq; and a cease-fire declared by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for his Mahdi Army militia.

“Al-Qaida in Iraq is attempting to regain strength and establish new support areas in northern Iraq,” said Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for the U.S. military. “AQI has fled its former sanctuaries and remains a dangerous foe.”

While the nation is getting starry-eyed over Barack Obama, and the GOP fumbles around trying to find “the perfect conservative,” let’s keep in mind that whoever we elect president will have to be CIC in a most serious and dangerous age. I mean, is anyone paying attention to Iran? More here.

Also Gateway Pundit posts on Iraqis saving Iraqis.

An Iraqi Army soldier gets a kiss from a civilian moments before the civilian was killed in a suicide attack on a celebration marking Army Day in the Karradah neighborhood of central Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Two Iraqi army soldiers threw themselves atop a suicide bomber, but the attacker was able to detonate an explosives vest, killing the two soldiers and another nine people, including the man at right, attending a gathering commemorating Iraq’s Army Day, the U.S. military and police said.