Per the Associated Press:
http://hosted.ap.org/...
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi and coalition forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al-Qaida in Iraq, Iraq's national security adviser announced on Sunday, saying the group now suffered from a "serious leadership crisis."
Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured north of Baghdad a few days ago "along with another group of his aides and followers," Mouwafak al-Rubaie said.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm certainly relieved. I'm almost as relieved this time as I was the last time they captured a Super Important Al Qaeda Dude.
Let's look back.
Today's capture of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi makes me almost relieved today as I was on June 8, 2006, when we bombed the shit out of this dude:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq, was killed early Wednesday by an airstrike --north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday.
...
U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house in which Zarqawi was meeting with other insurgent leaders.
...and that was almost as good as capturing this dude, from June 18, 2005:
http://www.cnn.com/...
The U.S. military on Thursday reported the capture of a man described as al Qaeda's leader in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Donald Alston identified him as Abu Talha -- whose actual name is Muhammad Khalaf Shakar -- and said he was captured on Tuesday.
We took another Major Step Forward on May 5, 2005:
http://www.csmonitor.com/...
The capture of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, Al Qaeda's new No. 3 leader, in a remote region of Pakistan is a major step forward in the fight against terrorism, according to government officials and terror experts.
Then there's this dude, from August 3, 2004. (Somebody remind me again. When was the Democratic National Convention that year?)
http://www.cnn.com/...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan says it has captured a high-level al Qaeda suspect in a stand-off involving hundreds of police.
Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.
That was almost as good as the time that we caught this guy, because he was the Top Al Qaeda Dude in Saudi Arabia!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Western intelligence agencies have told the BBC that Ali Abdul Rahman al-Ghamdi, recently taken into custody, is al-Qaeda's top leader in Saudi Arabia.
We all remember this one, which really just about saved the fucking day. From March 4, 2003:
http://www.cnn.com/...
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials confirmed on Tuesday that another significant al Qaeda figure was captured in the weekend raid in Pakistan that nabbed suspected September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
...
An official told CNN that Al-Hawsawi is "not a huge fish, but he is not insignificant and he may know things." The identity of the new U.S. prisoner was first reported by The New York Times.
"Not a huge fish." Interesting. But anyway.
From November 22, 2002, a really significant capture. After all, this dude was the Suspected Chief Of Al Qaeda Operations In The Persian Gulf!
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
(CBS) The suspected chief of al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf is apparently cooperating with investigators, who hope Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will shed light on terrorist plans in the works and his own alleged involvement in deadly violence against Americans.
Yet another Senior Al Qaeda Leader was arrested on November 17, 2002:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Security officials in Kuwait have arrested a man local newspapers say is a senior member of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda group.
The papers said the man - identified only as Mohsen F, a 21-year-old Kuwaiti national - had been plotting to blow up a hotel in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, used by Americans.
Let's go on. From September 14, 2002:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/...
Ramzi Binalshibh - now in custody in Pakistan - is allegedly one of the most senior al-Qaeda members to be arrested over the past year.
US Attorney General John Ashcroft named him among the most wanted suspects within weeks of the 11 September attacks on the United States.
And then there was the time that we caught this dude, which was super signficiant, because he was the Most Senior Al Qaeda Member Captured Since 9/11!
http://archives.cnn.com/...
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One of the men captured in raids last week in Pakistan has admitted that he is Abu Zubaydah, the operations chief of the al Qaeda terrorist network, U.S. officials said Monday.
If so, he would be the most senior al Qaeda member captured since the September 11 attacks.
And shortly after 9/11, it was REALLY significant when we caught this dude. He was the #3 guy!
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/...
After a few days of confusion, the Taliban's only ambassador to the outside world, Mullah Abdel-Salam Zaeef, confirmed on Sunday the death of Mohamed Atef, the alleged military leader of Osama Bin Laden's Al- Qa'eda network. Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, said Atef died in a US raid while fleeing Kabul on Wednesday after the Northern Alliance captured the city, writes Khaled Dawoud.
Atef was third-in-command of Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network.
So anyway, I could probably go on, but I just want to make the point of how super safe and secure I personally feel, now that we're rounding up all these bad guys and getting ever closer to having our Mission Accomplished(TM) in the War on Terror(TM). I have just a few observations and questions.
1. Gosh, these Senior Al Qaeda Dudes sure seem to be good at regenerating themselves.
2. With everything going so swimmingly well, why do things in Iraq continue to suck so damn much?
3. With everything going so swimmingly well, why is it necessary for all of us to continue to live in a state of "higher vigilance" and why do we need to constantly "be on alert" and all of these other euphemisms for fear?
4. We sure are good at capturing the #2 and #3 Al Qaeda Dudes. We've done it about fifty times so far. So why do we seem to suck so much at capturing the #1 Dude?
5. Why does it seem that we're always asking these questions during election season?