Word: qaeda
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...which point, Obama dropped the hammer. The current situation in Iraq was "messy," he said. "There's still violence; there's still some traces of al-Qaeda; Iran has influence more than we would like. But if we had the current status quo and yet our troops had been drawn down to 30,000, would we consider that a success?" Crocker, semi-speechless, chose to misinterpret the question, saying a precipitous drawdown to 30,000 troops would be disastrous. But Obama's question was more diabolical. He was saying, Hey, al-Qaeda's on the run, and Iran is probably...
...Obama's question was slightly disingenuous. Few people believe that the Sunni Awakening movement-the insurgents who flipped to our side after a fling with al-Qaeda-would stay peaceful if the U.S. military weren't there as a buffer between them and the Shi'ites. The Iraqi army remains a mess of militias in camouflage. But we have had a significant success in Iraq and dealt al-Qaeda-style extremism a resounding defeat. So why not continue the judicious withdrawal that has begun...
During the appearance of General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker before lawmakers this week, one major aspect of the picture in Iraq got scant mention. Iraq's Sunni insurgency and its most vicious wing, al-Qaeda in Iraq, was hardly discussed, even though Petraeus stressed that the Sunni insurgency remained alive and a potent threat. Anyone tuning in to C-SPAN - including al-Qaeda - might have gleaned a few lessons from the testimony about the U.S. strategy and vulnerabilities in Iraq...
...their bloody acts in Baghdad would be mid-August, when Petraeus and other American commanders will come to the end of what he called a 45-day "period of consolidation and evaluation" following the departure of the last surge troops in July. Hardcore jihadists like the fighters of al-Qaeda in Iraq want American forces to stay, not go. They enjoy the opportunity to confront them with guerrilla warfare and care little about what that does to Iraq. They want the fight to go on. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has in the past shown deftness in timing gruesome attacks...
Lesson Four: Al Qaeda may seize the opportunity to make dramatic gestures. The Sunni insurgency has genuinely been put back on its heels in the face of the surge, and there may be a temptation among insurgent strategists to lie low and regroup in their remaining havens around Iraq. But any insurgent pause now may mean lost chances to attack American troops and to score political points just as the disposition of U.S. military strength is up for debate...