Iraq's Al Qaeda attacks higher-impact targets

An Al Qaeda-linked group ambushed American troops on Saturday, capturing three.

from the May 14, 2007 edition

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"We don't know exactly who is behind these attacks, whether it is Al Qaeda or other groups or even the intelligence of some other countries, but we can say in any case that it is done to show that the government is unable to protect the people and these sites," Mr. Samarrai says.

This weekend two bridges spanning the Tigris River in the south of Baghdad were hit by truck bombs. The two blasts follow last month's bombings of the historic Sarafiyah bridge in north Baghdad and the Jadriyah bridge in the south. The Sarafiyah bridge, a key link between Shiite and Sunni banks of the Tigris, collapsed into the river.

"Al Qaeda's objective for a long time has been to drive a wedge between Iraq's sectarian communities, between the Shiites and the Sunnis, and this tactic advances that by making connections between them more difficult," says Mr. Dodge.

The area south of Baghdad, like Diyala to the north, presents different challenges than the more uniformly Sunni Anbar Province to both Sunni insurgents on the one hand, and the Iraqi and US militaries on the other, Dodge says.

"The population is much more mixed, so the sectarian divide is layered over everything. That frustrates the ability of the Iraqi authorities to establish a presence," he says, but "Al Qaeda has also found it more difficult to operate there."

The mayor of Mahmoudiya, Mouayad Fadhil, reported Sunday that people in his town are cooperating with authorities and offering any information they have on Saturday's attack.

Mr. Fadhil and his town are no strangers to the ugliest sides of this war. Last March Mahmoudiya was the scene of a rape and killings by US soldiers that rocked the US military and a violence-numbed Iraq. Six US soldiers took part in the rape and murder of a teenage girl and the murder of her sister and parents.

Dodge says Saturday's attack demonstrates Al Qaeda's ability to adapt to circumstances and bounce back from setbacks. "They've been forced to change their tactics and forced to change their areas of geographical operation," he says, "but they are a long way from defeated."

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Scott Wallace – Staff