BAGHDAD, May 27, 2008
U.S.-Iraqi Forces Given Ominous Warning
"We Will Choose The Time For Retaliation" Al Qaeda Group Threatens Over Mosul Crackdown
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Photo
A man (not shown) claiming to be a spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq in Ninevah province warned in a videotape posted Tuesday that insurgents were prepared to fight back against a crackdown by U.S.-Iraqi forces in Mosul. (AP)
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Gunmen killed a policeman near his station in Mosul, when attackers opened fire with machine guns shortly before noon about 100 yards from the Hadba police directorate, officials said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf ordered an immediate investigation and expressed concern that the policeman had been killed in broad daylight Tuesday in an area that was crowded with Iraqi policemen and pedestrians.
Mosul, located 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been dubbed by the U.S. military as al Qaeda's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. The Iraqi government launched an offensive, dubbed Operation Lion's Roar, there earlier this month to clear the area.
Officials have claimed initial success, saying more than 1,200 suspects have been detained, and Iraqi security forces have met little resistance.
But a man claiming to be a spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq in Ninevah province, which includes Mosul, warned in a videotape posted Tuesday that insurgents were prepared to fight back.
"Until now, we have not been engaged ... because we are the ones who control the hour to start the initiative and we will choose the time for retaliation or engagement," the unidentified spokesman said, sitting with his face covered behind a table with a laptop and wearing a white Arab robe.
"We are at full strength and have not had a single soldier killed or arrested contrary to your alleged reports" of major arrests, he said.
He said that during the first week "of the so-called the Lion's Roar operation" many people from Mosul were arrested, but he claimed they were merely former army officers, university teachers and students.
There was no way to authenticate the comments. But the video was said to have been produced by al-Furqan, one of al Qaeda's media production wings, and it was posted on a number of Islamic Web sites that usually carry militant statements.
The spokesman also said members of the group would not comply with a government call to hand over weapons, drawing a comparison with similar offensives against Shiite extremists led by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City.
"We tell (Prime Minister Nouri) al-Maliki that the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq are not like those from the charlatan Mahdi Army who surrendered their weapons to the soldiers of the crusade for few dollars," he said. "We will not hand over our weapons."
The U.S. military said Sunday that al Qaeda in Iraq was "off-balance and on the run" after recent operations against it but remains a very lethal threat.
Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, the top American commander in northern Iraq, also said last week that the military expected the insurgents to try to regroup and strike back against the two-week-old offensive with car bombs and suicide attacks.
In other developments:
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See all 191 Comments"We Will Choose The Time For Retaliation" Al Qaeda Group Threatens Over Mosul Crackdown
=Hey towel heads, put a friggin sock in it.
Posted by Repent6 at 01:26 PM : May 27, 2008
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Weren''t you vannies claiming victory over Al Qaeda in Iraq? Isn''t Freedom on the March? Didn''t the Surge work? What''s the deal Retard6?
Posted by notblue at 01:17 PM : May 27, 2008
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That you''ve lost dismally. FreakVanpublican Failure.
Posted by notblue
the problem is that WE made Iraq into the front line--we enabled Al-Qaida to develop a following and have training bases. Saddam would not let such a thing happen because he was the only power in Iraq before--our stupidity and our stupid president and henchmen destabilized the entire area and put our oil supply etc at risk--Bush and Cheny should be impeached then tried as traitors, then tried for violating international norms and war crimes--they could not have done worse had they tried...
Well DUH, they ALWAYS choose the time, it''s not chosen for them LOL
"This statement should make it perfectly clear to everyone that the ENEMY thinks Iraq is the front in this war.
Posted by notblue "
It is, because WE are there, it WASNT before we invaded.
AMERICA IS NOT BUYING THIS ANY MORE!
REPIGS GO AWAY!
WAR CRIMES CHARGES ARE FILED FOR THIS IRAQ WAR!
AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!
THERE ARE MORE FRONTS THAN WE''VE GOT TROOPS & RESOURCES
At first the GOP last said if they only lose 4 seats in the senate it would be a win now they are saying if they only lose 30 seats in congress it will be a win. What next if they have anyone left it will be a win.
You neo cons are getting desparte aren''t you. You know what you guys should have done was start your own party and left the Republicans alone because now the true Republicans have all left and joined the Democrats.
We own the right to live the fight, we''re here for all of you, Now enjoying your freedom and never let it die, stand and fight together beneath the desert sky !
Chickenhawk warmongers make me sick.
And were among the dead ones in the audience that Ubama was addressing, yesterday! ROFL!
Not attack the Wrong Friggin Country -- Not turn this country into a nation of FEAR & HYPE
Not turn our nation into one that launchs Wars of Aggression as Hitler & Tojo did
Not destroy American Values by Torture
Posted by LibH8er
Most of the troops are afraid that Democrats will unconditionally surrender to the terrorists before the soldiers have time to kill all terrorists. The American Military is in a race to win the war while the Democrats are in a race to lose the war. When O''bama is elected the Democrats will be happy to announce our defeat.
Posted by MIKETNT303 at 02:34 PM : May 27, 2008
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Demslie == Republidoof
Hybrid Cars/ Plenty of Nuclear Energy - just as Connecticut and France has done. why not more ?
McCain is a bit out of date with that idea --- Out of Touch
Elimination of GOP favorite contractors who steal from the War Effort & their prosecutions --- Re-establishing a Moral Authority we''ve lost.
Policies that work instead of policies of "Keep digging, we will reach the bottom of the hole someday"
Sounds good to me!
Secondly as usual you are flat out wrong in regards to ANWAR. ANWAR, Prudo bay and the coasts of America hold enough oil to power U.S. energy needs in autos and homes for the next 200 years, that is a FACT. THe problem is politicians who refust to tap those rsources and no new refineries have been built since the 70''s.
[Posted by notblue at 01:17 PM : May 27, 2008]
you''re not picking and choosing which statements to pay attention to again ... are you?
Solving the problems in Israel for a change instead of ignoring their violations -- An American Jewish lobbying group has started up in D.C. called J Street that needs support instead of AIPAC who adds to the problems.
There are a lot more fronts in the War on Terror -- The most important is Afhaganistan & Pakistan, others in Arab countries this GOP panders to & gets nowhere on. African nations & other underdevolped countries need a hell of a lot more attention than we pay to them. Bosnia is becoming another front.
[Posted by notblue at 03:46 PM : May 27, 2008]
you got numbers to back those facts? are usgs estimates considered facts?
anwr recoverable reserve estimates are roughtly 7-10 billion barrels. daily us consumption of oil is 20 million/day. there appears to be some missing factors here.
can you explain what you mean by how? Like what woul dhappen if we just shipped everyone back home? Isn''t that how we would do it? BTW, this is a genuine question. :)
- It''s not "surrender of a precipitious withdrawal" as McCain dishonorably tells you at all, not even close.
Oh I see. But then, couldn''t the Iraqi government clean it up? Or other Arab countries help them to clean up the disaster?
Posted by demslie at 02:21 PM : May 27, 2008
Kill the terrorist---ALL of them? ALL over the world? We would have to invade every country on the planet to "kill all the terrorists"--they''ve been trying to kill each other off since the beginning of time and they''re still here?
THERE IS NOTHING TO WIN IN IRAQ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is that you Lady Jane?
How and where have you been?
It''s me sweetheart!! I''ve been flying under (or is the expression ''over'') the radar but I''ve always been here. I''ve missed you! :) xoxoxo
BTW, did you see the latest on Obama claiming his uncle liberated Aushwitz? Come to find out, the Russians liberated Aushwitz and he does not have an uncle.......
But why?
Good to see you; I was worried about how you were doing.
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