How an ex-Sunni Insurgent Became a US Ally
He [Abul Abed] hailed the car carrying the feared leader of Al Qaeda in the neighborhood, a man known as the White Lion, on one of Amariyah's main streets. "We want you to stop destroying our neighborhood," he told the man.
"Do you know who you are talking to?" said the White Lion, getting out of his car. "I am Al Qaeda. I will destroy even your own houses!"
He pulled out his pistol and shot at Abul Abed. The gun jammed. He reloaded and fired again. Again, the gun jammed.
By this time, Abul Abed said, he had pulled his own gun. He fired once, killing the White Lion. ...
The next day, a firefight erupted. Al Qaeda fighters closed in on Abul Abed. Most of the 150 men who had joined him fled. Holed up in a mosque with fewer than a dozen supporters, Abul Abed thought the end was near. "The blue carpet was soaked red with blood," he recalled. Then the imam of the mosque called in American help.
Read the whole thing.
posted by wretchardthecat at 11/23/2007 10:57:00 PM
8 Comments:
Im not sure that the Lion's pistol is such a keeper. Id prefer one of Mr. Browning's M1911's. A pistol that failed twice is not recommended in a place like Iraq.
Totems belong on a wall.
Tell that to Patton.
"The implications of creating this network of trained, armed paramilitaries loyal not to the government but to an assortment of local strongmen have yet to be played out. U.S. officials said they are relieved that the revolution within the Sunni community has helped to sharply reduce the number of attacks. According to the military, attacks in Iraq fell 55 percent between March and October."
There's a concept in marketing called "satisficing". It means it's not perfect, but its good enough to satisfy the customer. That appears to be the new goal for our policy in Iraq. What, then, constitutes "good enough"? It depends on who you ask.
We need to ratchet up the pressure on Iran between now and the next election because they will be using their influence in Iraq to try to pressure us and influence the results of our next election.
According to the source below, the White Lion's pistol was a Glock. Of what model, we know not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,2208819,00.html
Given that Abu Abed is a homicidal maniac dedicated to overthrowing the Shi'a led government, is our alliace with him really "satisficing"?
Well, the Kennedy's cozied up to Sam Giancana and the Mafia to get JFK elected, and that turned out all right.
Other than that little assassination thing.
I'm sorry, but that White Lion story sounds fake.
I had a willing suspension of disbelief until I got to this part, "...as an American Army captain seated in the corner nodded his head in affirmation of the account."
At which point I chalked it up to another one of those "mothers of" stories that the Arabs are so fond of spinning.
THere may be an Iraqi criminal who may have shot an Al-Queda leader, but all the rest of it (including the thousands of dollars of bribes every month AND the White Wolf AND the enchanted gun) starts to stink like urban legend Ali Baba style.
I don't understand why he shot the "white Lion"....
After all, just as they say about Iran's involvement in Iraq, clearly there was "no smoking gun"....
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