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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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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Add a Comment See all 191 Comments
- The problem is that Bush has shown that he will not recognize the result of a democratic vote, if it goes against his agenda.
Posted by brianbwb
Hahaha "Democracy" at its finest!! That is George Bushs democracy--"you can vote but if I disagree with you it doesn''t count" sort of what he did here with 2 elections!! - Reply to this comment
- Mosul has protected Mazri for too long. He uses it as a sanctuary for Qada Iraq. But, weaklings like Mazri have one real vulnerable point. He has become unpopular and distrusted. Qada Iraq may need a new leader. That would make Mazri expendable to Bin Laden and Zawahiri.
- Reply to this comment
- "Al Sadr says the Iraqi people should vote on whether the U.S. forces stay. I agree. And this will make for a graceful exit from the country, since they will overwhelmingly vote to get us out." Posted by mortal3
The problem is that Bush has shown that he will not recognize the result of a democratic vote, if it goes against his agenda. - Reply to this comment
- For me to be a Democrat I must buy into the lies and hate and slander and misquotes and blatant fabrications?
I think not.
Posted by bhoogren
But to be a good "Republican" you do. - Reply to this comment
- "oBUM ah!, oBUM ah!, oBUM ah!
BUM! BUM! BUM....BUM! BUM!! BUM!!!...
SONG OF THE OBAMITES!" Posted by dumbshun
McSame, McLame, McShame,
Mc! Mc! Mc!...Mc! Mc!!, Mc!!!
McBloodstain, McInsane, McInane
Song of the neocon-derthals! - Reply to this comment
Has anyone warned the Bu$h administration about this?- Reply to this comment
Dear CBS Newz,
Is this story about the "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" ruse, or the "Islamic State of Iraq" hoax?
You seem to be having trouble keeping your propaganda straight. Maybe you can hire Scott McClellan as a propaganda consultant?
Also, if the guy in the propaganda photo accompanying this article has nothing to do with the story, then why is his photo posted along with this yellow-journalism submission?- Reply to this comment
Re: "We Will Choose The Time For Retaliation" Al Qaeda Group Threatens Over Mosul Crackdown"
Sounds like Der Reich Marshal Hayden is preparing to re-activate the "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" ruse, so that "our troops" can re-defeat them, yet again.- Reply to this comment
- Go get em,kick some but,these clowns alway, talk BS, Nail em to the wall,they deserve it,it''s there destiny.
- Reply to this comment
- " "We Will Choose The Time For Retaliation" Al Qaeda Group Threatens "
which is another way of saying ''we been whupped!'' - Reply to this comment
- SHIPWRCKSOUL,,,, Good night, catch you tomorrow
- Reply to this comment
- Catch you later J I am hitting the sack.
- Reply to this comment
- At least your stomach is full.
- Reply to this comment
- It''s always too greasy,,,, I''d cook it myself, but I can''t figure out why the chicken won''t stay in the skillet.
- Reply to this comment
- Was the chicken good this time of night?
- Reply to this comment
- SHIPWRCKSOUL Sorry,, I went to KFC for dinner.
- Reply to this comment
- i WAITED OVER AN HOUR FOR YOUR REPLY!
- Reply to this comment
- SHIPWRCKSOUL,,,, Who knows ?? -- I can tell you from the events today shows McBush''s VP will be related to corporations & lobbyists.
- Reply to this comment
- bhoogren,,,, I think you think not --- You just claimed "For me to be a Democrat I must buy into the lies and hate and slander and misquotes and blatant fabrications?"
You should vote Democrat like I do.
Why do you want to vote the Republican ticket?
Posted by bhoogren at 09:57 PM : May 27, 2008 - Reply to this comment
- You accused me of being GOP, misquoted President Bush egregiously and in general made yourself to be a person interested in hate based Kool-aid such as moveon.org brews.
For me to be a Democrat I must buy into the lies and hate and slander and misquotes and blatant fabrications?
I think not. - Reply to this comment
