Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the killing of Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri, described as al-Qaida's information minister, had apparently led to confused reports that its top leader or the head of an umbrella group of insurgents had been killed.
Caldwell said the U.S. does not have the bodies of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, or Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, and doesn't know of "anybody that does."
He said the military had conducted numerous operations against al-Qaida in Iraq in the last six days.
Killing leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq may not stop the enemy in its tracks overnight, but it is a good thing. Why else do Lefties drone on about failing to get Osama bin Laden?
Yes, new leaders will step up. But it hurts the enemy until somebody new takes over.
And getting enemy leaders means we are able to penetrate their security and deny them safe havens. This is the importance of getting enemy leadership. If they aren't safe anywhere, they will spend more time trying to live through the next day rather than trying to kill innocent civilians and Coalition/Iraqi troops.
So yeah, it really is ok to be happy when we kill enemy leaders.
UPDATE: Two more reasons to be happy:
The military on Friday identified two of the other slain militants as al-Jubouri's spiritual guide Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, also known as Sabah al-Alwani and Abu Nuri; and a foreign fighter Abu Ammar al-Masri, who is said was helping with insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaida.
Keep after them. Although how we keep killing al Qaeda types in Iraq when the real fight is supposed to be elsewhere according to Speaker Pelosi and her Nancy Boy chorus is beyond me. Somebody in the Department of Defense really should brief her on a regular basis.
