Need source for Al-Qaida increasing their operations...

[usregimechange]

I think it was Hagel or McCain recently that were talking about Al-Qaida being stronger than ever. Anything on this topic is what I need but I think it was McCain or Hagel.

[countmyvote4real]

1. Check the death reports.

It doesn't matter what McCain or Hagel have to say. The proof is in the pudding. So sad to say it.

[EuroObserver]

2. In Iraq, distinguish between parties

in the resistance.

See eg. recent on-the-ground report here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,12469,1601506,00.html

<snip>

The stakes were high for Abu Theeb and his men. Al-Qaida forces in Iraq - forces that are, at least on paper, allies of the Sunni insurgents - had vowed to kill anyone who took part in the referendum. But in the Sunni areas of Iraq, the people and the local Iraqi insurgents among them had a different view: they were eager to vote. There was a widespread sense of regret about the boycotting of the last elections, which left the parliament in Baghdad dominated by Shia and Kurdish parties - and left the Sunnis, who held the power in Saddam's Iraq, out in the cold. The Sunnis wanted to take part in last week's referendum; they wanted a "no" vote on the draft constitution.

This left Abu Theeb, a man who has devoted himself and his resources to fighting the Americans, in a curious position. His battle on polling day would be to secure a safe and smooth voting for his people - in a referendum organised by the enemy. In doing so he would be going up against the al-Qaida forces, and risking a split in the insurgency in Iraq.

I spent five days with Abu Theeb and his people last week, and I witnessed a very curious thing: a bunch of mujahideens talking politics and urging restraint. "Politics for us is like filthy dead meat," Abu Theeb told me. "We are not allowed to eat it, but if you are passing through the desert and your life depends on it, God says it's OK." This is a profound shift in thinking for these insurgents, a shift that might just change the way things develop in Iraq.

.../more