Petraeus: Iraqi "Mafia" Is Latest Danger
U.S. Commander Says As Al Qaeda In Iraq's Presence Is Reduced, Focus Is On Crime
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An Iraqi policeman shows photos of the local head of police patrol in Sadr City, Lt. Col. Imad Taklif Sayhud, who was arrested by U.S. troops during an overnight raid, October 27, 2007. Sayhud was believed to hold close ties with rogue radical Shiite militants, many of whom are engaged in "criminal" actions. (Getty Images/Wissam Al-Okaili)
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A car bomb ripped through a bus terminal, in the town of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 26, on Oct. 28, 2007. Some of the injured are shown being transported to a hospital. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)
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Iraqi army soldiers are deployed to the Turkish border near the town of Zakho, 300 miles northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 28, 2007. The new U.S. commander for northern Iraqi said that he hopes diplomacy will resolve the standoff over a threatened Turkish incursion against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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Amanda Iwasinski and Tracy Taylor of Chicopee, Mass., sister and mother of Army Pfc. Kenneth J. Iwasinski, hold one another during funeral services for Iwasinski in Belchertown, Mass., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007. Iwasinski, 22, an infantry soldier in Iraq, was killed earlier this month by an improvised explosive device. (AP/The Republican, C. Evans)
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Photo Essay Peace Marches From New York to Los Angeles, demonstrators speak out against the war in Iraq.
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
Gen. David Petraeus stressed, however, the terror organization remained "a very dangerous and very lethal enemy" - a comment underscored by the abduction Sunday in Baghdad of 10 Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders who joined forces against al Qaeda (see below).
"Its presence has been significantly reduced and its activity and freedom of action have been degraded," Petraeus told a small group of reporters at a U.S. base near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad.
He singled out success in what had been some of the most volatile Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad, including Ghazaliyah, Amariyah, Azamiyah and Dora.
"Having said that ... al Qaeda remains a very dangerous and very lethal enemy of Iraq," he said. "We must maintain contact with them and not allow them to establish sanctuaries or re-establish sanctuaries in places where they were before."
Petraeus said the reduced threat from al Qaeda had given way to nonsectarian crimes - kidnapping, corruption in the oil industry, and extortion.
"As the terrible extremist threat of al Qaeda has been reduced somewhat, there is in some Iraqi neighborhoods actually a focus on crime and on extortion that has been ongoing and kidnapping cells and what is almost a mafia-like presence in certain areas," he said.
Petraeus made his comments after a transition ceremony as the 1st Armored Division, which is based in Wiesbaden, Germany, assumed command of northern Iraq from the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division.
The new commander for the region, Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, said the number of attacks so far in October had dropped by 300 from the previous month, although he did not provide more specific numbers.
There is in some Iraqi neighborhoods actually a focus on crime and on extortion that has been ongoing and kidnapping cells and what is almost a mafia-like presence in certain areas.
Gen. David PetraeusOn the continuing efforts to resolve the standoff over a threatened Turkish incursion against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus said the military was playing a role in trying to defuse the tensions, but he declined to elaborate. "I am actually not going to say anything about what we may be doing with our longstanding NATO allies [and] Turkey although we clearly are doing things with them, nor will I say what we are doing with our Iraqi partners to endeavor to stabilize the situation to ensure that the sides are talking and taking actions to reduce the tension and eventually resolve some of the differences," he said.
In Other Developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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For this job well done, the detestable, fawning Betrayus moved up the War Pig feeding chain to his present position, where he obsequiously tends to the contents of Admiral Fallon''s chamber pot. Currently, he is busy praising the lying dog, Chalabi, the creature who with Judith Miller of the Israel-first War Pig rag, the NEW YORK TIMES, invented lie after lie to sell the war in Iraq to the American people.
Justin Raimondo has a good story on the PKK that deals with Betrayus at:
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11828
Here is a story on Betrayus praising the Interpol-wanted Chalabi:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Guess_whos_back_in_Iraq_1029.html
And, I thought OBL was there all along. Silly me.
You''ve already seen how useless it is to vote for the Democratic mainstream--they are not a genuine opposition party...the fact that a former IDF''er representing Israel in the guise of a congressman from Illinois ran the Democratic Congressional Election effort and actively sabotaged the efforts of anti-war Democrats should clue Americans into this.
Troops Home Now! The enemy is in Washington!
Not only should the monsters who run the Washington Regime be arrested and brought to justice, but their acts should be overturned--their debts disavowed and the funny-money entity...the FED...from which they take an endless supply of paper to run their war...should be taken from their hands and a Constitutional Money restored.
What Petraeus might have said if he were more honest is that the "al Qaeda" branding program for insurgents had outlived its usefulness and that a new insurgent branding program will be brought forward to replace it.
Posted by CBS_Oliver at 03:43 PM : Oct 28, 2007
-rightly said, Oliver.
Or is he behind the crimes....
At Least 27 Dead, Witnesses Say Bicycle Bomber Must Have Had Inside Help
"Akram Salman said it must have been an inside job because the suicide bomber apparently was able to penetrate heavy security surrounding the police camp without being searched. "There are two main checkpoints on the main road leading to the camp, it would be impossible for a man on a bicycle to pass without being properly searched."
The surge is working! Riiight.
Who was providing security? If this was indeed an Al Qaeda attack, then the answer to this question shows who controls Al Qaeda and why.
Next I''ll hear that Whitey Bulger is involved in Iraq and Iran.
Where''s OSAMA???????
The only similarity with MAFIA and OSAMA is that the''re five letter words each containing two As.
Does anybody have the stones to SPEAK THE TRUTH???
This whole war has been one big racket. Didn''t we lose 9 billion dollars over there without a trace? If the Sopranos aren''t running this debacle, they should be.
"Petraeus said the reduced threat from al Qaeda had given way to nonsectarian crimes - kidnapping, corruption in the oil industry, and extortion."
Is Petraeus behind the times? Corruption, kidnapping, extortion etc have been flourished since the US led invasion - not just since al-Qaeda took a backseat in Iraq.
Petraeus is an idiot - no wonder GW Bush likes him.
Birds of a feather ...
Posted by Smirk5 at 12:54 AM : Oct 29, 2007,,,
I always said too bad Osama bin Laden didn''t attack a mob business, bin Laden would have been whacked a long time ago, even well hidden in his cave! LOL
Gunmen in Baghdad snatched 10 Sunni and Shiite tribal sheiks from their cars Sunday as they were heading home to Diyala province after talks with the government on fighting al-Qaida, and at least one was later found shot to death.
18 new recruits were killed and 10 wounded Monday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police camp in the city of Baqouba northeast of Baghdad, police said.
Posted by socalleroy
So apparently you are quite familiar with such aromas, eh?
How much effort has the federal government really put into finding the persons responsible for mailing the anthrax? Not as much as they''ve put into getting to the bottom of the whole steroids in sports issue.
The US federal government is a protection racket. Create the danger, then promise to protect from it. That''s good business. The people on the street know what you''re up to, but like the sheep looking at the shepherd, we graze on and ignore our fate.
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