Killing the terrorists in Iraq

This is good:

A U.S. military helicopter fired a guided missile to kill a wanted al-Qaida in Iraq leader from Saudi Arabia who was responsible for the bombing deaths of five soldiers from Fort Carson, a spokesman said Sunday.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said Jar Allah, also known as Abu Yasir al-Saudi, and another Saudi known only as Hamdan, were both killed Wednesday in Mosul.

According to the military, al-Saudi conducted numerous attacks against Iraqi and U.S. forces, including the Jan. 28 bomb attack in Mosul that killed the five U.S. soldiers from Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. In that attack, insurgents blasted an Army patrol with a roadside bomb and showered survivors with gunfire from a mosque. The soldiers died in the explosion, the deadliest attack on American forces since six soldiers perished Jan. 9 in a booby-trapped house north of Baghdad.

Intelligence gathered in the Mosul area led the U.S. military to al-Saudi, who was in a car with Hamdan. A precision helicopter strike killed both and destroyed their vehicle. U.S. forces then confirmed the men’s identities.

Smith said their deaths brought to 142 the number of al-Qaida insurgents killed or captured in Mosul since the end of January.

Al-Saudi was the man who headed up the al-Qaida network in southeast Mosul, an insurgent hotbed where U.S. forces wage daily battles against the group. Fort Carson’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment deployed in December with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and was sent to Mosul. The brigade’s other five battalions are serving in and around Baghdad.

“Mosul is the center of al-Qaida’s terrorist activities today. Mosul is a critical crossroads for al-Qaida in Iraq. Baghdad has always been al-Qaida’s operational center of gravity, but Mosul remains their strategic center of gravity as it provides access to the flow of foreign fighters,” Smith said.

But I still don't see a sense of urgency by the Iraqi government to get their act together. Our guys are still dying while they bicker. I don't see Bush and Rice and Gates working their fingers to the bone to clean up this deadly, costly mess. Bush is happy to see the next president have to do his work. (Boy, that's the story of his life.)

And I don't see how keeping us in Iraq for 100 years is going to vanquish al Qaeda and allow us to regroup and go kill bin Laden and al Zawahiri. They're probably as sanquine about the future as Bush is.............