Deminsions of al Qaeda's retreat from Iraq

Rowan Scarborough:

Al Qaeda is retreating from Iraq in the face of constant allied military raids that have killed and captured hundreds of operatives, intelligence sources tell HUMAN EVENTS.

Al Qaeda once directed nearly 20,000 operatives -- foreign and domestic -- inside the country. Today, an official U.S. intelligence estimate puts the number at less than 5,000 and perhaps as low as 2,000, HUMAN EVENTS has learned.

"They have been dealt some very severe blows, particularly in the past year, and it's fair to say they are in retreat," said a senior U.S. intelligence official who requested anonymity. "Al Qaeda in Iraq's overall strength is down by well over half in the last year."

This officials said the word "retreat" does not mean al Qaeda has abandoned Iraq altogether but that its operatives are retreating to several northern Iraq locations or are leaving the country.

"Al Qaeda central is well aware of the setbacks, but they haven't abandoned the effort or given up," said the official, noting the group's ability to still carry out deadly suicide bombings. "They are still a force to be reckoned with."

That continued threat was underscored over the weekend when suicide bombers carried out several attacks in Baghdad.

Al Qaeda continues to operate networks in nearby Lebanon and Syria and works to find young Muslims to enter Iraq as fighters and suicide bombers.

In July, Gen. David Petraeus, then the top commander in Iraq, talked of al Qaeda redeploying some forces out of Iraq to fight elsewhere.

But intelligence sources now say the al Qaeda exodus has the look of a retreat as well as a tactical shift. The network cannot find sufficient foreign fighters to enter the country, and those that are there often get eliminated.

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A military intelligence source said U.S. interception of emails and cell phones reveal al Qaeda operatives complaining that virtually every safe house they establish is located and raided by the Americans.

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This is a significant defeat for al Qaeda that people like Obama ignore at their peril. Obama never understood the strategic significance of Iraq to al Qaeda and his naive statements about our operations in Iraq demonstrate someone who does not understand warfare or strategy.

Obama has never overcome his initial objection to the liberation of Iraq, because he thought it would be too hard. He continues to make his uninformed criticism of Iraq as taking our "eye off the ball" and doe snot realize to what an extent Iraq was a distraction for al Qaeda. Al Qaeda would have used it resources in Afghanistan where it would have been more difficult to beat them than Iraq.