The descriptions of the attack on the Abu Ghraib prison that was repelled last week only make sense as a method of recruiting more terrorists:
The U.S. military said dozens of insurgents carried out the attack, detonating two car bombs and firing rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. forces before the assault was repelled.
Though the attackers failed to kill any of our troops, they claim a glorious victory and there will be film at eleven:
The group said it would provide a film of the attack soon.
They seriously need to portray success to bring new people in. It will surely take some imaginative editing to portray an attack that was repelled with no US soldiers killed into some type of jihadi victory. Maybe they can dress up a GI Joe in hand cuffs or something and take a real close up photo.
And it wasn't just an effort to recruit more new guys. It was an attempt to free those terrorists captured:
Some sixty gunmen used two car bombs, assault rifles and RPGs to attack Abu Ghraib prison. Among the 3,000 prisoners there are many terrorists and Sunni Arab nationalists, and there have been previous attempts to get prisoners out by force.
It isn't in these accounts, but I read that the attackers used the car bombs to try and breach the gate. When people who usually like to get really big body counts per suicide bomber use them against doors, they are telling us something.
Like maybe they aren't getting the volunteers from Iraq anymore. Because ordinary Iraqis are turning in the terrorists more and more:
Omar Mohammed Abdullah, a 30-year-old college student in Samarra, said he'd had enough of the explosions that shattered windows and terrified children in his neighborhood. After the militants refused to take their fight outside of the city, he reported a group planting roadside bombs on his street in Samarra, where security forces broadcast the telephone numbers for hotlines over loudspeakers.
"Before, the people sympathized very much with the resistance. They were helping and encouraging them," Abdullah said. "Now, the people are hurting and are seeing no benefit in this. They started attacking the Iraqi forces because they want chaos to prevail."
And the problem isn't just in Iraq. In Europe, the jihadis can't get decent recruits. Younger teens are being recruited by the jihadis. Although the article tries to say that Iraq caused the upsurge in youthful volunteers for Iraq, the article notes that Iraq is the new Chechnya. So I guess Iraq isn't new. The article also notes that the children are alienated in a society that keeps them separate. Hmm. That wouldn't be our fault either. And unfortunately for the claim that lots of kids are heading out, the article mostly seems to note adult-aged Moslems.
And the recruits? Well, whatever their age, they aren't exactly Prussians:
"No training," said a senior French intelligence official, whose agency does not permit him to be quoted by name. "These are guys who go to get themselves blown up. Once they arrive at the destination in Iraq, they are very quickly prepared because the insurgents need fighters."
"The insurgents need fighters." Sounds like that reinforces the other pieces on the jihadis looking for bodies. Recruiting ill-trained kids instead of adults? Sounds like a recruiting problem when this happens. Not to mention a morals problem when you trick little kids into fighting your cause.
Getting killed and getting beaten aren't good combinations when you try to recruit.
