Droid on Droid Action

An unmanned USAF aircraft in Iraq destroyed a remote controlled Jiahdist vehicle laden with explosives.

Begun, the Robot Wars Have.

Victory?

Is the war in Iraq over?

Michael Yon says yes.

The Medium is the Message

From The Times:

Britain made a fresh appeal today for the release of five British men who were kidnapped exactly one year ago from a finance ministry building in Baghdad.

Unless that message is delivered by a squad of Royal Marines with the safeties off, I doubt if it will get much attention.

Breaking News: Head of Al Qaeda in Iraq Captured

According to the BBC, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq has been captured.

This still needs to be confirmed, but in the meantime:

RESULT!

Grim Reporting

With grim crocodile tears, grim the MSM grimly reported that the grim United states grimly passed the grim milestone of grimness in the grim war in grim Iraq as grim American grim casualties of grimiosity grimly reached the grim number of 4000.

When grimly asked why the grim MSM grimly gives grim front (grim) page grim-prominence to such an out-of-grim-context number while grimily ignoring non-grim grim-type other grim news about grim-positive grim developments since the grim surge grimly started working with grimness or, indeed, why the grim MSM never reports on grim grim milestones of any other grim conflicts or grim armed grim forces (especially those of the grim enemy), the grim MSM just looked grim.

If the MSM wasn't working so hard to make political capital out of Coalition deaths while giving succor to the enemy, this would almost be funny.

Almost.

An Un-Grim Milestone

Sometimes one image just says it all.

Al Qaeda in Iraq is Defeated

From Michael Yon:

“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.

Let us sincerely hope so. The situation in Iraq reminds me of war game simulations that I used to run. You'd be fighting forever, apparently making no progress against an enemy who seems to have infinite reserves, and then suddenly the front collapses like a wet paper bag and what's left of the hostiles is running for the hills.

Update:

Some graphic evidence.

Shooting One's Foot

Al Qaeda has not only moved the Swedish Cartoon War from a question of "sensitivity" to deadly serious by putting a price on the head of the cartoonist and his editor, but they've also responded to their waning support in Iraq by declaring war on the very Sunnis they claim to champion.

Yup. All the foresight of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March.

The Mask Slips

Neil Clark, in a piece in the Guardian titled "Keep these Quislings out" weighs in on the question of whether or not Iraqi interpreters who have been working for the Coalition should be granted Asylum because the Jihadists have marked them for death. Where he stands isn't too much of a mystery, given that in the title itself he compares the interpreters to pro-Nazi traitors and, by implication, calling the Coalition forces Nazis. However, his attitude summed up in this quote is particularly striking (emphasis added):

The interpreters did not work for "us", the British people, but for themselves - they are paid around £16 a day, an excellent wage in Iraq - and for an illegal occupying force. Let's not cast them as heroes. The true heroes in Iraq are those who have resisted the invasion of their country.

As Seumas Milne wrote in yesterday's Guardian: "More than any other single factor, it has been the war of attrition waged by Iraq's armed resistance that has successfully challenged the world's most powerful army and driven the demand for withdrawal to the top of the political agenda in Washington."

"Resisted" in this case being stretched to include blowing up markets, beheading journalists, kidnapping aid workers, baking children and feeding them to their families, wiping out whole villages, and trying to recreate the Taliban all over again. The quote in the second paragraph is also revealing in that it shows the nostalgia that the Left has injected into the war. Mr. Clark may hark back to French Resistance, but it's clear that his real models are rose-tinted and sanitsed versions Che Guevara other Communist "resistance" leaders who the Chattering Classes lauded as the true representatives of The People to be supported against the evil, Capitalist West, but whose fruit was invariably the gulag and the guillotine.

As the old saw goes, they're not anti-war, they're just on the other side.

A Plague of Badgers

The Prince of Wales Badger Brigade goes into action.

Mata Hari, Call Your Service

The BBC has hit rock bottom and started to dig. From the Telegraph comes this innocent little BBC request-- In a time of war, mind you (emphasis added):

Politicians reacted in disbelief to the revelation that for over two hours yesterday, the BBC News website carried a request for people in Iraq to report on troop movements.

The request was removed from the website after it sparked furious protests that the corporation was endangering the lives of British servicemen and women.

But according to accounts last night, a story on a major operation by US and Iraqi troops against al-Qa'eda somewhere north of Baghdad contained an extraordinary request for information about the movement of troops.

Last night the BBC confirmed the wording of the request was: "Are you in Iraq? Have you seen any troop movements? If you have any information you would like to share with the BBC, you can do so using the form below."

No doubt the BBC would have been happy if anyone had cared to send along any photographs, maps, battle plans, and code books they'd happened to come across.

To paraphrase an old Cold War quote, If the BBC was working for the other side, what would it do differently?

Also Stable?

Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, is reported dead in a fire fight with rival Jihadists.

Until it is confirmed that Abu is sharing a pew with Castro in a very warm spot, I'm holding off on the celebrations.

Fun Fact from GlobalSecurity.org:

He probably came into Iraq in 2002, before Zarqawi's arrival, and may have helped establish the first al-Qaeda cell in the Baghdad area.

But Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda and is just a distraction from the "real" war.

Al Qaeda Round Up

From the Times:

A top al-Qaeda commander linked to a string of international terror attacks has been captured trying to enter Iraq and is in US custody, the Pentagon said today.

Between that and the Saudi's scooping 172 terrorists (if the report is credible), this has been a very good day.

US Congress Turns French

The United States Congress has voted to surrender in Iraq-- apparently unconditionally, as they have yet to contact the Jihadists about terms and concessions.

High fives all around at Al Qaeda HQ.

Update: Courtesy of the EI time scanner, we present a view of the American embassy in Baghdad, March 2008.

Sexing a Tomato

Tomato cucumber salad: The light lunch of Crusader depravity

From the AP on Al Qaeda in Iraq:

American commanders cite al-Qaida's severe brand of Islam, which is so extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col. David Sutherland said.

The question is, which one gets the burkha?

Larry and Bob were unavailable for comment.

Not Required On Voyage

How does patriotism rate at the BBC? Look no further.

In March 2005, Private Johnson Beharry won the Victoria Cross for his valiant efforts in Iraq on two separate occasions when, with extreme bravery, he rescued a foot patrol that had come under heavy enemy fire and then a month later when his Warrior vehicle was struck by a rocket attack and he was able to bring his machine and crew to safety despite suffering severe personal injuries.

The BBC has decided to cancel the teleplay about his story because it is "too positive."

Can't have the Auntie supporting Britain against a brutal enemy, old boy. Just not done.

Vote of Confidence

According to ABC news, Moqtada al Sadr has fled to Tehran because "He is scared he will get a JDAM dropped on his house."

That's at least one person who thinks the Americans' "surge" is effective.

News Blackout

Who is Al Qaeda's No. 1 man in Iraq?

Don't bother checking the New York Times. They're not really interested.

Don't Mention the War

Victory: The option that dares not speak its name.

At least, at the New York Times.

Where Reality is a Distant Land

Not everyone is ecstatic about Saddam's departure, as "wilbur" over at Daily Kos demonstrates in the most lurid of prose.

We destroyed Saddam Hussein’s history. We went in to his village, his tribe, and we wiped away the footsteps of his lineage. We made sure that Saddam Hussein knows that everything about him, who he was, where he came from has ended. We turned him around and made him watch his footsteps in the sand, watch them disappear as the ocean washed over them. As a man who has reached middle age I feel an emptiness inside of me when I think of this – to watch yourself slowly disappear. It was an insane, almost psychotic cruelty. It was my society that not only did this, but cheered this – we were beating a dog over and over again because he bit us, making him yelp, humiliating him so he no longer had an identity, so that he was an empty shell. And when we knew he was an empty shell, we kept beating, our eyes on fire, snot dripping from our nose, wheezing under the strain of our constant blows. The dog had bitten somebody – he must be made to pay. Nobody regrets what we are doing – because he was a junkyard dog who attacked others.

It isn't often that one comes across such a mind-boggling disconnect from anything resembling facts, history, commonsense or even basic decency. It should be cast in Lucite and preserved for all time as the purest strain of moral relativism

Justice Served

Saddam Hussein Hanged

Now approaching room temperature.

Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq and infamous mass murderer, was executed at 6 AM Baghdad time.

I've had to deal with the smell of that dictator from varying proximity for over a quarter of a century ever since I started doing archaeological excavations in the Middle East. I have seen first hand the effects of his actions and the lives of friends and acquaintances have been affected, damaged, and even lost due to his evil. On my wall is a union jack from the First Gulf War and I've been following the second closely ever since it became the main front in the war against the Jihadists, so I was particularly keen to see this outcome.

However, It isn't because of any personal animosity that I hold for the monster that I am so openly pleased at this moment. I have very few truly driving passions in my life, but one of them is a deep-seated loathing of tyranny that makes me literally cheer when one is brought to task for his crimes. Any time a murdering tyrant does a Ceausescu I am absolutely delighted just as I am disappointed every time a Stalin dies in bed.

It doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, I have hope for the future of our sorry planet.

My wife reminds me that saying such things as Saddam now being three inches taller and wears a size six collar is unchristian. Therefore, I shall finish by saying that Saddam has now gone to meet his Maker and may God have mercy on his soul.

The Last Saddam Update?

Now it looks as though Saddam is going to be executed early Saturday morning Baghdad time-- which means it could happen any moment.

Stay tuned.

Update: Official: Saddam hangs by 6 AM Baghdad time.

Set the Tivo.

Saddam's Last WeekEnd

According to sources, Saddam Hussein, one of the bloodiest dictators of that bloodiest of centuries, is to hang on Sunday.

I'll bring the popcorn.

Saddam to Hang

Saddam Hussein has lost his appeal and will hang within the next thirty days.

It's a shame they can only do it once.

1939 Redux?

Is the Baker report our Munich agreement with the Jihadists?