Hellfire for al Qaeda

Fox News:

U.S. commanders in Iraq have released dramatic video showing a car containing Al Qaeda operatives being blown up by hellfire missiles attached to Apache attack helicopters.

The car was destroyed in the mission that military officials say demonstrates greater cooperation between locals and coalition forces in Iraq.

One of the terrorists killed in the attack on Sunday is an insurgent who had been imprisoned on Nov. 11 but released shortly afterward. He conducted two attacks on U.S. and coalition forces, including one on Thanksgiving, before being killed, officials said.

One of the "high value" individuals targeted "is believed to be an Al Qaeda cell leader known to facilitate attacks and orchestrate suicide bomb attacks," said Major Alayne Conway, a spokeswoman with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. "He was also involved in attacks against forces in 3rd Brigade's area of operations. One of his most well-known attacks was a vehicle-borne IED against the Australian Embassy."

Local Iraqis gave coalition forces the tip that led to the targeting, officials said. Prior to the hit, the men had been observed crossing the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad. After leaving the boat dock, they had walked around a building on a farm for a few minutes then proceeded to a parked car. Five men got in the car and two others went to a second car located nearby. When the first vehicle had car trouble the two drove their car over to the first. As many as six of the insurgents were killed.

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You can view the al Qaeda in the kill box at • VIDEO: Al Qaeda Insurgents Killed.

One of the interesting aspects of the kill is the cooperation between the US forces and the Iraqis who provided the actionable intelligence on the movement of the enemy. That is the formula for defeating this kind of enemy. A combination of an adequate force to space ratio and an aware public to help spot the enemy makes their movement to contact much more difficult. It is something the anti war left never imagined was possible. Many of them are still in denial. Hopefully a Republican candidate will emerge who can force them to face the facts.