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FirmhandKY -> RE: Neocons better STFU and get to work! (3/28/2007 12:12:07 AM)
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This is what FB and his "ilk" want to prevent:
US captures car-bombing ring in Iraq
The US military has captured the leaders of a car-bombing ring blamed for killing hundreds of Iraqis.
The news came as the departing US ambassador said Americans are in ongoing talks with insurgent representatives to try to persuade them to turn against al-Qaeda.
The US command said one of the car-bombers, Haitham al-Shimari, was suspected in the "planning and execution of the majority of car bombs which have killed hundreds of Iraqi citizens in Sadr City," a Shi'ite enclave of Baghdad.
Another, identified as Haidar al-Jafar, was second-in-command of a cell that killed some 900 "innocent" Iraqis and wounded almost 2,000, the military said. Three other men believed connected to that cell also were in custody.
The suspected bombers were rounded up last week by American forces during continuing security sweeps in Azamiyah, the Sunni stronghold in northern Baghdad, the military statement said.
In a farewell news conference, outgoing US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said American Embassy and Iraqi officials had talked to people representing insurgent groups.
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Khalilzad has said previously that US officials have met with people linked to the Sunni insurgency, and the new top US general in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said this month that dialogue was necessary because force alone cannot halt the violence.
But Khalilzad said the talks have shifted from "unreasonable demands" by the groups for a US withdrawal to forming an alliance against al-Qaeda. He said the effort has gained support among tribal leaders and even some insurgents.
"Iraqis are uniting against al-Qaeda," he said.
"Coalition commanders have been able to engage some insurgents to explore ways to collaborate in fighting the terrorists. These insurgents are also in touch with the government seeking reconciliation and cooperation in the fight against the al-Qaeda terrorists and joining the government in a reconciliation program."
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"We have talked to groups who have not participated in the political process, who have ties with some of the insurgent groups who are reconcilable insurgents," he said.
"The terrorists are irreconcilable. There cannot be reconciliation with al-Qaeda. They have to be brought to justice, but there are groups that resisted the democratic change, the change in Iraq."
The ambassador said he was cautiously optimistic about efforts to bring stability to Iraq.
"In my view, though difficult challenges lie ahead and there is a long way to go, Iraq is fundamentally headed in the right direction and success is possible," he said, pointing to a nearly 25 per cent reduction in violence during a six-week-old security crackdown in Baghdad as well as economic progress.
Wars are often not won or lost by feat of arms. They are won by the refusal to lose.
FirmKY
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