AND THEN WE CAME FOR THEIR HEELS:

Al Qaeda Leader's Diary Reveals Organization's Decline (Seaman William Selby, USN, Feb. 9, 2008, American Forces Press Service)

U.S. troops found a diary belonging to an al Qaeda in Iraq leader that has Coalition forces believing the terrorist organization is “on its heels,” a senior military official in Baghdad said this morning.

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team on Nov. 3, 2007, captured a diary belonging to Abu Tariq, an al Qaeda emir in control of five battalions within two sectors, U.S. Air Force Col. Donald J. Bacon, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call.

The soldiers found the diary during a patrol conducted about 15 kilometers south of Balad. Bacon said the 16-page diary contains records about man power, operations, weapons, and finances, and it shows that al Qaeda is hurting badly in the belts of Baghdad.

“There were 600 al-Qaeda members in this sector, now there (are) 20 or less,” said Bacon.

In the diary, Tariq describes each battalion’s number decline and goes on to describe the 4th battalion as “scoundrels, sectarians and nonbelievers.” Tariq attributes his terrorist organization’s decline in large part to groups of concerned local citizens, who are also known as the Sons of Iraq.

Iraqi Police: Al-Qaida Leader Killed in Samarra (VOA News, 09 February 2008)

Iraqi police say they have killed an al-Qaida in Iraq leader in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad.

Police say Abu Omar was shot and killed Saturday in his house after resisting authorities.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 9, 2008 4:36 PM