DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAQ: JIHADIS ANALYZE U.S. PLANS TO EVACUATE FORCES FROM IRAQ

Jihadis Analyze U.S. Plans to Evacuate Forces from Iraq
By Abdul Hameed Bakier

Since the beginning of the year, jihadi internet forums have carried many postings concerning the future of U.S. forces in Iraq and American plans to change the current military/political status quo in Iraq. These postings come despite a declaration from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that al-Qaeda has been completely eliminated in Diyala, Salah al-Din and Tamim provinces, with preparations underway to drive al-Qaeda militants from their last safe haven in Iraq’s Ninawa province (al-Ghad [Jordan], January 26).

A posting entitled “Will 2008 be the year of American escape from Iraq?” focuses on the direction U.S. plans will take (hanein.info, January 18). An active member of this forum—nicknamed “the Muslim”—suggested that Washington’s withdrawal plan from Iraq was devised in 2006 and only began to materialize in 2007. The plan aims to destroy Iraqi resistance movements—particularly al-Qaeda and its Islamic State of Iraq—before commencing any evacuation effort. “The Awakening Councils were therefore set up by Sunni tribesmen to aid al-Maliki’s government in dissolving the insurgency,” the poster wrote. In addition, U.S. diplomacy intensified to isolate Iran on the international front, while plans were made locally to set up a federation that would include Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions with extended autonomy. These plans are designed to make sure no external force can interfere and influence Iraqis to act against U.S. interests in the country after the withdrawal.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Jihadis Analyze U.S. Plans to Evacuate Forces from Iraq

2) Jihadis Analyze U.S. Plans to Evacuate Forces from Iraq (PDF File)