This is bad.
On Monday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced that hundreds of al-Qa'ida in Iraq operatives were sprung from Abu Ghraib in a major assault on the prison. The attack was initiated by suicide bombers who breached the prison gates, followed by sustained suppressive fire by mortars and RPGs as assault squads wearing suicide vests stormed the prison and freed the inmates. Ten policemen and four militants were killed in the raid, and combined with a second, unsuccessful attack on Taji prison north of Baghdad, at least 26 members of the security forces total were killed. Iraqi parliamentarian Hakim al-Zamili told Reuters, "The number of escaped inmates has reached 500, most of them were convicted senior members of al-Qa'ida and had received death sentences."
So remember all that success JSOC had decapitating AQI through targeted raids during the Surge? Never mind, its back to square one.
More than 2,700 Iraqis have already been killed in suicide bombings this year, and AQI may have just further increased its strength by 25% in one fell swoop. Alternatively, they may redeploy these experienced jihadists to Syria now that they are the Islamic State of Iraq and Lebanon, further complicating an already wicked problem.
But, hey, at least by failing to negotiate a SOFA, handing over the prisons holding al-Qa'ida emirs captured by U.S. forces, and pulling all troops from Iraq, we ended the war in Iraq!
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