They Followed The Money To The Golden Dome
The Iraqi Army, with Americans along as advisors, captured two high-value al-Qaeda figures on Tuesday. One of them served as AQI's banker, pushing more than $50,000 per month into the terrorist network and possibly as much as $100 million during his tenure with the network:
Iraqi forces, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, detained two individuals believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda in Iraq criminal network Oct. 2, near Baghdad.During one of the operations, Soldiers from the 6th Iraqi Army Division detained a suspected al-Qaeda financier in Kindi. The extremist financier is suspected of traveling to foreign countries to acquire financial support for terrorist activities and is suspected of supplying more than $50,000 to al-Qaeda each month. He is believed to have received $100,000,000 this summer from terrorist supporters who cross the Iraq border illegally or fly into Iraq from Italy, Syria and Egypt.
The terrorist is linked to financing cells in Doura, Tarmiyah and Baqubah, and uses a leather merchant business as a front to smuggle weapons and explosives from surrounding countries. Intelligence shows he has stores in Fallujah, Syria and Jordan.
That might hurt AQI more than the loss of their leader, al-Tunisi, last month. The network already has had its lines of communication thoroughly disrupted and their ability to coordinate curtailed. A lack of funds coming into the network will mean even fewer resources to rebuild those connections. That translates to fewer attacks of declining effectiveness, great news for Iraqis and Americans.
It also could lead to more captures. According to the report, this man had responsibility for 30-40 terrorists, and paid them $3,000 for each successful attack. That indicates that (a) the primary motivation for the terrorists might be money rather than ideology, and (b) he can identify a large number of cells in the field. In fact, the announcement itself within two days of his capture might indicate that he's already talked, and that the Iraqis and the Americans have started rolling up those cells already. They will also be focusing on those international connections and tracking down the terror supporters who sent the cash.
And there's a bonus for this: the detainee also financed both Golden Dome attacks in Samarra, which nearly touched off a civil war. He also has direct responsibility for the deaths of three US soldiers in al-Mansour this past April. He's a great catch, and without doubt the Iraqis and Americans know exactly what to do with him.
Let's see how long it takes for this to get reported in the mainstream news media.
UPDATE: I forgot to hat-tip the Worldwide Standard for this link. My apologies!
Posted by Ed Morrissey on October 4, 2007 10:12 AM | Comments (20) | TrackBacks (1)
Comments (20)
Posted by Dale Michaud aka TexasDude | October 4, 2007 10:52 AM
Screw the mainstream media!
Posted by Paul | October 4, 2007 10:55 AM
Ack! Please don't use "Golden Dome" in the headline unless you're referring to Notre Dame.
My heart skipped a beat before I read further...
Posted by Otter | October 4, 2007 11:07 AM
He's just a reconstructionist plant for the Bush Admin.
Posted by Insufficiently Sensitive | October 4, 2007 11:07 AM
YES!!!
The Seattle Times this morning has great news on Iraq. It spends damn near a whole page bashing Blackwater, and unlike its standard practice, doesn't even throw into the last couple of paragraphs the usual 'IED kills Tacoma soldier', or 'Iraqi Parliament Deadlocks', or 'UN deems US a Rogue State'.
Nor, heaven forbid, any news whatever about the capture of two al-Quaeda financiers. The Times has its standards, you must understand, and giving public view to allegations published by
Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342
is simply beyond the pale. Such press releases simply fail to pass the incorruptible screens of multi-layered MSM editorial fact checking.
Posted by Lokki | October 4, 2007 11:08 AM
If we have to put panties on his head to get the information out of him to save American lives, it's not worth it!
Do I really need to use a /sarc tag? Really?
Posted by RBMN | October 4, 2007 11:27 AM
If you remember, Iraq's most violent gangsters--the ones too-far-gone to even work for Saddam's secret police, torturing people--were let out of prison by Saddam--one of his last official acts. And since then, these criminals have been hired by terrorists to do things like steal cars, steal trucks, or find (and steal) abandoned munitions and trigger devices. I'm sure that's where a lot of the jihadist’s cash went. For Iraq’s professional criminals, it was about the cash, and about keeping the government unstable enough so that they can stay out of prison. They're happy to be out, but living on the outside costs money. Especially the way they like to live.
Posted by GarandFan | October 4, 2007 12:13 PM
The MSM is not interested in good news. Defeat is just around the corner.
Posted by dhunter | October 4, 2007 12:15 PM
Follow the Money. Wonder how much this guy gave to Hillary and congressional/senate Dems?
After all they have been doing a valiant job of carrying the Jihadis water.
Posted by Trosp | October 4, 2007 12:21 PM
Can we consider this one as disclosing to the enemy a military secret?
Posted by Carol Herman | October 4, 2007 12:25 PM
I'd make a solid bet that Bush is no fan of Maliki's. And, there's further news, today, where it's possible Maliki has finally stepped in enough shit, he's in it now, above his head.
Here's what happened.
In Baghdad, the Polish Ambassador's convoy was hit by Shi'a. (Well, he was traveling through a Shi'a neighborhood. And, the Polish Ambassador is okay. His bodyguard, however, is dead. As the convoy (and if you know anything of diplomacy ... diplomats are NOT targets!) Came under live fire. Plus, 3 detonated IED's.
Called into rescue the Ambassador from Poland, was BLACKWATER! They did a helicoper insertion; pulling an injured ambassador from his burning vehicle. While Maliki went out on a limb, and again INSULTED Blackwater for daring this rescue.
Now, it's possible Maliki "didn't know" about the Polish ambassador. Who was taken to an American hospital in the Green ZOne. Treated. (20% burns. His head and right arm.) But he will be okay. And, he's been sent home to Warsaw.
So there you have it.
Maliki up to his eyeballs, still; in trying to "control" Baghdad with terrorists. Leaving the goons belonging to the Shi'a "alone."
However, the Polish GOVERNMENT has just come out with a PRO American statement. (Not one towards Maliki, though.)
And, Congress? Well, they're all more phoney that you can get, here. And, they'll have to decide under what rock prefer going towards, to take cover. And, hide.
Hitting, and nearly killing an ambassador? Not very smart. Even the UN pants dancers have a stake in this particular "dance." And, they've gone back into Irak. Where they want to stay alive.
Maliki doesn't seem to understand that one, at all.
So he went on like a raving lunatic. As if Blackwater was WRONG. And, he's upped the ante now, too. Claiming Blackwater killed almost 200 bad buys. (Well, not on this run.) Just in the total of things.
As if Americans are gonna be convinced to "tread softly on Maliki's toes.
HA. HA.
Maliki may not be painted into a "corner." But he is now strictly the Shi'a terrorists "boy toy." Lots of luck to him as he gets to convince Iraqis he knows what he's doing. Which I find hardly likely.
We must not forget, Irak is still a war zone.
And, we haven't gotten Maliki to surrender, yet. Let's see how far Maliki gets on the Bonkeys talking points?
Posted by John Steele | October 4, 2007 12:29 PM
I can't wait until the outpourings of concern for his civil rights begin. I'd like to know when he will be allowed access to our courts so he can be represented by the ACLU to sue the US military for illegal detention.
Posted by NahnCee | October 4, 2007 12:49 PM
If MSM does mention this capture, it will be centered around hand-wringing angst over his treatment, and comparisons of American soldiers to terrorists. Let's hope the Americans use the threat of handing him over to the Iraqi's to question as a pry to get him to spill his guts ... before his guts are spilled for him.
Posted by Terry Gain | October 4, 2007 1:35 PM
If we have to put panties on his head to get the information out of him to save American lives, it's not worth it!Do I really need to use a /sarc tag? Really?
Yes, the left (and the libertarians) are now beyond sarcasm and parody.
Posted by PD Quig | October 4, 2007 3:16 PM
Since the CIA is pathetically incapable, it's time to hand over the list of terror supporters...to the Mossad.
If it takes a couple of years, one bullet, one rat poison pill, one prick with a nerve agent needle, one drained master brake cylinder at a time these folks ought to go to Allah. Time for the guys with the manicured moustaches and clean hands to start attracting flies.
Posted by Tim W | October 4, 2007 4:06 PM
While it is good news that we caught this guy it is distressing that they are getting so much money from multiple sources.
PD,
I agree that the financiers need to be killed but a more colorful way to say it is that they will have flies walking on thier eyeballs. That is what Cofer Black of the CIA told the cabinet shortly after 9/11 about killing Al Qaeda operatives. He is now known in the Bush inner circle as the flies on the eyeballs guy. To the Bush administrations everlasting credit, their have been LOTS of flies walking on Al Qaeda eyeballs.
Posted by Colonel_Prop | October 4, 2007 5:00 PM
Great News!!!
More and more of the AQ network is being taken down worldwide and what is the MSM feedin us?
More Brittany - sheesh, can they just go off and evolve out of the news now? This war is being won in spite of their traitorous deeds.
Maybe we can drag some of the Inkatha Freedom party goons out to give these slime a chat. They'll squeal.
Posted by Terry Gain | October 4, 2007 5:47 PM
Bush needs to make the good news from Iraq a state secret. He should also announce that he is converting to Islam. It will end support within the United States for Islamofascism overnight. He can announce he's converted back in mid November 2008. Or just leave them wondering.
Posted by Carol Herman | October 4, 2007 10:23 PM
Among arabs, a man with money, knows how to grease the police.
So, I'm sure that if necessary, this dude will have to be turned over to Blackwater FOR SAFE KEEPING!
The Iraqi police? Wouldn't trust 'em as far as I could throw them. And, this goes double for Maliki.
Posted by NahnCee | October 4, 2007 11:29 PM
Iraqi police were the ones with the death squads operating out of and inside their very own police stations. Betcha they've got some well-honed drills all ready to go on convincing him ... if, as Carol Herman suggests, he's not been paying off Mr. al-Maliki and gets sprung by some Maliki governmental minister in the middle of the night.
I know our proprieter here at Captains Quarters thinks Mr. Maliki is doing an OK job under difficult circumstances, but I still think he's a corrupt idiot, and will sell his country and what's left of his soul out to the highest bidder. And that includes Russia and Iran, and probably China except I'm not sure that he's educated enough to know what or where China is. I wonder how much we've been paying that slug under the table to more or less keep plodding along like he's actually trying to accomplish something.
Posted by eaglewings | October 5, 2007 11:00 AM
While the news of his capture is good to boost morale, I for one would have liked to have kept his capture secret to ensure that his links in the third countries would not have time to flee before we get all the useful intelligence out of this genocidal maniac, and then dispatch him to his virginal duties servicing his mass murdering fiend associates in Hades.