Dear Mr. Obama

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

A shitload of what the Pentagon were calling "AQ", battling us in Iraq, said they are not AQ, they are Iraqis. They then joined with the U.S. Coalition in defeating the other ones the Pentagon had labeled AQs.

Letters from Ayman al Zawahiri (AQ 2nd in cmd) to AQ in Iraq leaders:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archiv...om_al_qaed.php

Al Qaeda's senior leadership has lost confidence in its commander in Iraq and views the situation in the country as dire, according to a series of letters intercepted by Multinational Forces Iraq earlier this year.

The letters, which have been sent exclusively to The Long War Journal by Multinational Forces Iraq, are a series of communications between Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command, Abu Ayyub al Masri, al Qaeda in Iraq's leader, and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, the leader of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq. These letters were intercepted by Coalition forces in Baghdad on April 24, 2008. One of the letters written by Zawahiri is dated March 6, 2008.

Coalition forces found the letters in the possession of a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader called Abu Nizar, whose real name is Ali Hamid Ardeny al Essawi. He was killed after he stopped at a checkpoint in Baghdad and later identified by al Qaeda operatives in custody.
...
The series of letters highlights the divisions within al Qaeda in Iraq and highlights al Qaeda's senior leadership's questions about the leadership in Iraq. Al Masri is portrayed as an ineffective leader who is refusing to respond to questions by al Qaeda's senior leadership based in Pakistan. Leaders also criticize al Qaeda in Iraq's propaganda campaign, stating the group has intentionally deceived followers by releasing old footage and inflating enemy casualties.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Letters from Ayman al Zawahiri (AQ 2nd in cmd) to AQ in Iraq leaders:

Yes, they are there. But Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al Baghdadi, aren't in control/command of all the opposition to the U.S.(coalition) in Iraq.
My point is, even though the Pentagon seems to want to lump them all together, there are different groups with different agendas, in the fray, and their alliances seem to shift frequently.
If a bunch of them hadn't gotten fed up with AQ's abuse of civilians, and joined with the U.S. in routing the AQs, the surge would have been fruitless.