Iraq honey trap works--al Qaeda claims 4000 killed

CBS News:

The new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq said in an audiotape posted on the Internet Thursday that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir - also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri - the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, though the voice could not be independently identified.

The Arabic word he used indicated he was speaking about foreigners who joined the insurgency in Iraq, not coalition troops.

He also told Muslims on the recording that their holy month should be turned into what he calls a "month of holy war."

Ramadan began last weekend across the Muslim world.

Al-Masri appealed directly to insurgents in Iraq, urging them to take Westerners prisoner.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice said.

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I think he is talking about attempting a swap for Khalid Sheik Mohammed. I guess he is trying to make the Democrats look bad when the go to the mat to give these guys Geneva Convention rights and in some cases constitutional rights and here they go bragging about murdering prisoners if we want work a swap.

The most significant aspect of the story is the admission to losing 4,000 terrorist in Iraq. Since our objective is to destroy the terrorist, it is might convient of them to send these guys to die in Iraq. Al Qaeda has alienated the population of Iraq as its jihadis have been killed or have killed themselves. One of the myths of the people who want to lose the war in IRaq is that these guys are coming their for training to be used elsewhere. Despite the lack of any supporting evidence for this theory, what is clear from our experience as well as this admission is that these guys are not coming for training they are coming to act as ordinance.