Officials have claimed initial success, saying more than 1,200 suspects have been detained, and Iraqi security forces have met little resistance.
But a man claiming to be a spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq in Ninevah province, which includes Mosul, warned in a videotape posted Tuesday that insurgents were prepared to fight back.
"Until now, we have not been engaged ... because we are the ones who control the hour to start the initiative and we will choose the time for retaliation or engagement," the unidentified spokesman said, sitting with his face covered behind a table with a laptop and wearing a white Arab robe.
"We are at full strength and have not had a single soldier killed or arrested contrary to your alleged reports" of major arrests, he said.
He said that during the first week "of the so-called the Lion's Roar operation" many people from Mosul were arrested, but he claimed they were merely former army officers, university teachers and students.
Certainly, the enemy will likely regroup after the dislocations of the Iraqi offensive. That is a natural course of events. Whether the enemy is strong enough to strike back in strength is another question. Sure, I figured most of those swept up were potential sympathizers rather than terrorists, but the idea that al Qaeda has suffered not a single loss is rather far fetched.
We shall see if the terrorists can regroup and work up actual attacks to match the defiant statements made by their press spokesman. At least in a recording, this Ninevah Nick won't face the embarassment of having American tanks rolling in the background even as he says we aren't anywhere near Baghdad.
The jihadis are still capable of killing. That doesn't mean they aren't losing.
