Al Qaeda On the Ropes?U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker says Al Qaeda in Iraq has

[TYLERTECHSAS]

And no, CNN and MSNBC are not reporting this one either.


Al Qaeda On the Ropes?

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker says Al Qaeda in Iraq has never been closer to defeat; praises Iraqi government.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,358002,00.html

[techstudent09]

Great news! I am just waiting for CBS, CNN, etc. to put that POSITIVE story up any day now.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

Great news! I am just waiting for CBS, CNN, etc. to put that POSITIVE story up any day now.

Not going to happen. Here's CNN's lead online story this morning at 7:15.

Military veterans being buried at record pace

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/24/vet...als/index.html

[tenacious_dog]

So much of the current Iraqi news is slanted to fulfill the media's desire to elect a Democrat as POTUS. It took weeks (couple of months) for the main stream media to admit the 'surge' was working. Short of Al Queida literally running up a white flage and publically surrendering their arms, you'll not be seeing them reporting anything positive.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

Al Qaeda's New Recruits

Are terror groups pursuing the mentally disabled?

May 28, 2008 | Updated: 4:03 p.m. ET May 28, 2008


A failed restaurant bombing in England last week has raised concerns among U.S. and European counterterrorism officials that Al Qaeda and other radical Islamic groups are recruiting mentally disabled people to carry out suicide attacks.
Authorities in Britain have mounted an intensive investigation into how and why a 22-year-old mentally handicapped man, Nicky Reilly, built a nail bomb and then attempted to set it off last Thursday. The bomb, which was intended to detonate at lunchtime in a crowded restaurant in Exeter, a county seat in southwest England, apparently misfired, and Reilly was the only one injured in the partial explosion. According to British news reports, he suffered minor eye injuries and burns to his face. Earlier this week, he was released from the hospital and transferred to the custody of local police, who are now expected to question him with the help of Scotland Yard's antiterrorist division.
CONTINUED
http://www.newsweek.com/id/138992

[DogtorEvil]

U.S. Cites Big Gains Against Al-Qaeda
Group Is Facing Setbacks Globally, CIA Chief Says

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 30, 2008; A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...904116_pf.html

Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda's allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group's core leadership.

While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents. Two years ago, a CIA study concluded that the U.S.-led war had become a propaganda and marketing bonanza for al-Qaeda, generating cash donations and legions of volunteers.

All that has changed, Hayden said in an interview with The Washington Post this week that coincided with the start of his third year at the helm of the CIA.

"On balance, we are doing pretty well," he said, ticking down a list of accomplishments: "Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. Significant setbacks for al-Qaeda globally -- and here I'm going to use the word 'ideologically' -- as a lot of the Islamic world pushes back on their form of Islam," he said.