Diary of the decline and fall of al Qaeda in Balad, Iraq

Washington Post:

On Nov. 3, U.S. soldiers raided a safe house of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq near the northern city of Balad. Not a single combatant was captured, but inside the house they found something valuable: a diary and will written in neat Arabic script.

"I am Abu Tariq, Emir of al-Layin and al-Mashadah Sector," it began.

Over 16 pages, the al-Qaeda in Iraq leader detailed the organization's demise in his sector. He once had 600 men, but now his force was down to 20 or fewer, he wrote. They had lost weapons and allies. Abu Tariq focused his anger in particular on the Sunni fighters and tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and joined the U.S.-backed Sunni Sahwa, or "Awakening," forces.

"We were mistreated, cheated and betrayed by some of our brothers," Abu Tariq wrote. "We must not have mercy on those traitors until they come back to the right side or get eliminated completely in order to achieve victory at the end."

The diary is the U.S. military's latest weapon in a concerted information campaign to undermine al-Qaeda in Iraq and its efforts to regroup and shift tactics. The movement remains strong in northern areas, and many U.S. commanders consider it the country's most immediate security threat. In recent days, U.S. officials have released seized videos showing the Sunni insurgent group training children to kidnap and kill, as well as excerpts of a 49-page letter allegedly written by another al-Qaeda leader that describes the organization as weak and beset by low morale.

"It is important we get our story out," a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity. "I firmly believe the information part of this conflict is as very vital as the armed element of it, as well. We don't want to lose that to al-Qaeda."

A scanned copy of the diary with names redacted with black ink was provided to The Washington Post on Saturday. Its contents provide a rare glimpse into the thoughts of an embattled al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, as well as a snapshot of an insurgent movement that is in turmoil in some parts of Iraq. It also reflects a growing conflict among Sunnis. Since October, attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq against the Awakening fighters have doubled, said Maj. Winfield S. Danielson III, a U.S. military spokesman.

...

The U.S. military officials cautioned that the diary was not a portrait of the insurgency across the country. "This is the state of al-Qaeda in this area," the U.S. military official said.

...

Abu Tariq devoted much of the diary to a list of remaining al-Qaeda in Iraq members in his sector and those who had betrayed his group, naming individuals, families and tribes. "My request to you is not to be negligent with the deserters/traitors at all," he wrote in an Oct. 28 entry, apparently addressing his followers.

...

Abu Tariq's diary ends with a list of people still working for him. There were 38, although he had written two weeks earlier that he had "20 or less" fighters left.

Some of those on the list had remarks next to their names, such as "We have not seen him for more than 20 days so far" or "Left three days ago."

"And that is the number of fighters left in my sector," Abu Tariq wrote.

This is good stuff. It not only is valuable intelligence, but all can be used to further demoralize the al Qaeda forces that are still at large. Democrats should be asked if any of this could have or would have happened without the surge that they opposed. Will it continue to happen if they force the troops into an unnecessary retreat?

The AP reports on a seperate document from an al Qaeda leader in Anbar. ''We lost cities and afterward, villages ... We find ourselves in a wasteland desert,'' the document said. It also indicated what I have reported previouslt, that the enemy is having "increasing difficulty in moving around and transporting weapons and suicide belts because of better equipped Iraqi police and more watchful citizens." That is what happens when you get an adequate force to space ratio and get the people on your side.