Al Qaeda on the loose after Iraq jail break

Bill Gertz:

Al Qaeda claimed credit this week for a sophisticated attack on two Iraqi prisons, including the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, that freed 500 prisoners including numerous al Qaeda leaders and members considered by U.S. officials to be dangerous terrorists.

The prison break is expected to sharply increase the regional and possibly global threat posed by al Qaeda terrorism. It also highlighted the U.S. government’s failure to fully stabilize and secure Iraq after the 2003 U.S. military intervention and pullout of troops in 2011, according to officials and analysts.

The raids on the prisons, including Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib and a second facility near Baghdad, involved a large number of armed men equipped with suicide car bombs, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and assault rifles. An estimated 20 guards were killed along with 21 prisoners

“These coordinated prison breaks are troubling,” said a U.S. official involved in counterterrorism efforts. “Clearly, there’s a concern that escaped inmates—who may include former al Qaeda members and other convicted terrorists—will seek to join al Qaeda in Iraq, strengthening the group.”
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Alternatively, they could be headed for Syria to fight on the side of the rebels.  What is clear is Obama's unilateral exit from Iraq was a monumental screw up that surrendered the benefits won by the US surge.  It should be part of his legacy of failure on foreign policy.