Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
February 7, 2008
Pg. 1
New tactics seek to raise local image
By Charles Levinson, USA Today
MOSUL, Iraq -- Al-Qaeda militants operating here have shifted tactics to try to improve their image among Iraqis and avoid the mass civilian killings that alienated the public in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. military says.
The changes include warning locals to take cover before bomb attacks, relaxing the enforcement of strict Islamic laws and staging fewer attacks on Iraqi police.
The strategy has made the population of Mosul less likely to follow the example of Iraqis elsewhere who have turned on al-Qaeda, U.S. commanders say. U.S. and Iraqi forces may have to work harder to retake Iraq's third-largest city, which is the militant group's largest remaining urban stronghold.
"It appears (al-Qaeda) learned from their past mistakes," says Capt. Pat Ryan, an Army intelligence officer in Mosul.
President Bush has cited the recent shift in popular opinion against al-Qaeda as a major reason for declining violence in Iraq. In Baghdad and Anbar province, many former insurgents took up arms against the hard-line Islamic group out of frustration with its indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Lt. Jason Dickinson, the executive officer for a U.S. Army unit struggling to tame violence in Mosul, says al-Qaeda "pushed their luck a little too hard" in Baghdad but is more careful here.
"I don't believe you're going to see the same sort of night-and-day turnaround" against al-Qaeda in Mosul, he says.
There are as many as 30 attacks a day against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Mosul, according to the U.S. military. However, insurgents take precautions such as warning shopkeepers before bombings, Ryan says.
After a child was hit by a stray bullet during an attack against a U.S. patrol last month, local insurgent leaders moved quickly to rein in their members, according to intercepted al-Qaeda intelligence traffic. "The leadership was unhappy that it had gone that far that they had wounded the locals," Ryan says. "The traffic said, 'Take it back a notch. We need to make sure that the locals aren't getting too upset with us.' " Ryan declined to elaborate on how the information was gathered.
There have been few reports in Mosul of al-Qaeda trying to impose its extreme interpretation of Islamic law by beheading barbers for shaving beards or executing women accused of immodest behavior, says Lt. Col. Chris Johnson, who commands a battalion in charge of the eastern part of the city.
Although the tactics of insurgents here may have shifted, less cautious foreign al-Qaeda fighters have streamed into Mosul before a possible U.S.-Iraqi offensive, resulting in injuries to civilians.
Capt. Josh McLaughlin, operations officer for the Army battalion in eastern Mosul, said the increase in civilian casualties was "unfortunate," but he added, "That's the best way to get the population to say 'Enough is enough.' "
February 7, 2008
Pg. 1
New tactics seek to raise local image
By Charles Levinson, USA Today
MOSUL, Iraq -- Al-Qaeda militants operating here have shifted tactics to try to improve their image among Iraqis and avoid the mass civilian killings that alienated the public in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. military says.
The changes include warning locals to take cover before bomb attacks, relaxing the enforcement of strict Islamic laws and staging fewer attacks on Iraqi police.
The strategy has made the population of Mosul less likely to follow the example of Iraqis elsewhere who have turned on al-Qaeda, U.S. commanders say. U.S. and Iraqi forces may have to work harder to retake Iraq's third-largest city, which is the militant group's largest remaining urban stronghold.
"It appears (al-Qaeda) learned from their past mistakes," says Capt. Pat Ryan, an Army intelligence officer in Mosul.
President Bush has cited the recent shift in popular opinion against al-Qaeda as a major reason for declining violence in Iraq. In Baghdad and Anbar province, many former insurgents took up arms against the hard-line Islamic group out of frustration with its indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Lt. Jason Dickinson, the executive officer for a U.S. Army unit struggling to tame violence in Mosul, says al-Qaeda "pushed their luck a little too hard" in Baghdad but is more careful here.
"I don't believe you're going to see the same sort of night-and-day turnaround" against al-Qaeda in Mosul, he says.
There are as many as 30 attacks a day against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Mosul, according to the U.S. military. However, insurgents take precautions such as warning shopkeepers before bombings, Ryan says.
After a child was hit by a stray bullet during an attack against a U.S. patrol last month, local insurgent leaders moved quickly to rein in their members, according to intercepted al-Qaeda intelligence traffic. "The leadership was unhappy that it had gone that far that they had wounded the locals," Ryan says. "The traffic said, 'Take it back a notch. We need to make sure that the locals aren't getting too upset with us.' " Ryan declined to elaborate on how the information was gathered.
There have been few reports in Mosul of al-Qaeda trying to impose its extreme interpretation of Islamic law by beheading barbers for shaving beards or executing women accused of immodest behavior, says Lt. Col. Chris Johnson, who commands a battalion in charge of the eastern part of the city.
Although the tactics of insurgents here may have shifted, less cautious foreign al-Qaeda fighters have streamed into Mosul before a possible U.S.-Iraqi offensive, resulting in injuries to civilians.
Capt. Josh McLaughlin, operations officer for the Army battalion in eastern Mosul, said the increase in civilian casualties was "unfortunate," but he added, "That's the best way to get the population to say 'Enough is enough.' "