Meanwhile in Iraq

The al Qaeda terrorists are not attacking “our way of life” or “our freedom.” Their goals are strategic war plans.

And it’s no use Mr Blair telling us yesterday that “they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear”. “They” are not trying to destroy “what we hold dear”. They are trying to get public opinion to force Blair to withdraw from Iraq, from his alliance with the United States, and from his adherence to Bush’s policies in the Middle East.

On the same day as the London bombings the Egyptian Ambassador to Baghdad Ihab al-Sherif, kidnapped for a week, was killed. Egypt is an Arab powerhouse, and Iraq needs its support. This conflict will isolate Iraq from the Arab world. Egypt is recalling its diplomats from Iraq.

The killing of the Egyptian top envoy has been condemned around the world. Egypt was on the verge of elevating its diplomatic mission to an embassy in Baghdad. This week, the insurgents have also fired on envoys from Bahrain and Pakistan, and Turkey has condemned the terrorist attacks against diplomats in Iraq.

…a dramatic escalation in the insurgency’s campaign to isolate Iraq diplomatically in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Earlier this week, gunmen fired on senior envoys from Bahrain and Pakistan, apparently with a view to kidnapping them.

Al-Sherif’s case also may have strained Iraqi-Egyptian relations at a time when Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s government needs the cooperation of its Arab neighbors, primarily to stop the flow of Arab militants seeking to join the insurgency.
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The strategic plans of al Qaeda are to isolate the USA from its allies and to isolate Iraq from Arab and Muslim support. This has been bin Laden’s stated goal all along, Militant Islam vs the United States.

Little Badhdad girl weeps after her home is destroyed by a car bomb.