The Viciousness of al Qaeda

How quickly we forget al Qaeda's deadly attack on the Yezidi last week, which killed more than 500 people in Northern Iraq and is the second deadliest attack carried out by al Qaeda behind the 9/11 attacks.

Those kinds of attacks make discoveries such as this all the more important because it displays the viciousness of the enemy we face. And by we, I mean Iraqis, Americans, and anyone who doesn't adhere to the Islamic vision of the jihadists.

Coalition forces operating in Iraq discovered an al Qaeda execution and dumping grounds for victims along with weapons caches.

As Coalition Forces entered the Arab Jabour area, they immediately received small arms fire. The assault force returned fire, killing one terrorist.

During the 24-hour operation, Coalition Forces discovered an area used by terrorists as an execution and dumping site. The ground forces found human skulls, decomposing bodies and bones wrapped in bloody clothes. Wild dogs were rampant around the area, which was characterized by a crater where most of the human remains were dumped. Inside a nearby building, the ground forces found blood spatter and other signs indicating executions had taken place there. In another building, Coalition Forces found several improvised explosive devices in the area and a weapons cache that included trigger wires.

Intelligence reports indicate that al-Qaeda in Iraq operates in the area, and weapons caches in the area contain materials used in the Baghdad car-bombing network. Local Iraqis helped Coalition Forces find a stash of homemade explosives and a building that was suspected of being a car bomb factory. Inside the compound, the ground forces found numerous items used to make and mix homemade explosives for use in car bombs. An air strike destroyed the explosives cache. Eight suspected terrorists were detained during the operation for their association with al-Qaeda in Iraq and conducting terrorist activities in the Arab Jabour region.

While the media might focus on the more spectacular attacks for a time, disrupting al Qaeda operations large and small are necessary and prudent to improve the security situation in Iraq. A small group of ruthless terrorists can inflict pain and misery far outstripping their physical size. A media that focuses only on the terrorists' casualties without noting that the terrorists have been taking a fearsome pounding doesn't help as perceptions sway public opinion and those of many of our politicians whose sense on Iraq is often no more than sticking a finger in the air to see which way the wind blows.