Despite the ludicrous assertion made by John Edwards (D-SC), that the War on Terror is merely a "bumper sticker slogan" crafted by the Bush Administration to rally support for his policies, the following three news reports speak to the very real and perpetual threat we face from al-Qaeda.
One story tells of Iraqis who were rescued recently by US forces. The captives, including a child, had been kidnapped by al-Qaeda terrorists and sadistically tortured. In this same story is the revelation of the discovery of a manual, detailing the modus operandi of al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq toward prisoners of war. The terrorists are serious about this fight...is John Edwards?
14 Arrested in Spain on Terror Charges
By CIARAN GILES, Associated Press Writer
Police arrested 14 people Monday on charges of recruiting volunteers for terror training in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Eleven suspects were arrested in Barcelona and in two other northeastern towns. Two others were arrested in the central town of Aranjuez, and one in the southern city of Malaga, a National Police spokesman said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as police force rules forbid him from being identified.
The suspects were believed to be Moroccan and they faced charges of recruiting people to be sent for training in camps in Afghanistan and Iraq. The spokesman said the police operation was continuing and that there could be more arrests.
A substantial amount of computer material was seized during the pre-dawn raids, he said.
Spanish police have arrested dozens of terror suspects since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, and again after the 2004 train bombings in Madrid.
Currently, 29 suspects, mostly Moroccans, are on trial in the Spanish capital for their alleged roles in the Madrid train attacks.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces have freed 42 Iraqi citizens who were kidnapped, held by al Qaeda in Iraq for as long as four months and possibly tortured, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.
U.S. forces received a tip on where the hostages were held, said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver.
"There was some evidence of torture," he said.
Garver said he believed the kidnappings were part of al Qaeda's "fear and intimidation" campaign against Iraqi civilians.
"They will take members of a community, and hold them, trying to get the community to act in ways they want with the threat of killing these hostages," Garver said.
"We don't see much from al Qaeda in terms of actual monetary gain coming out of kidnappings, but we do see them trying to use kidnappings to hold whole communities hostage."
Some detainees had broken bones and are being treated for their injuries, he said.
"Some had stated that they had been hung from the ceiling," he said.
The overnight raid took place in Iraq's Diyala province, north of Baghdad, Garver said.
The military spokesman said tips that come from Iraqi citizens, including the one that led to the Diyala raid, are a sign of the growing trust with the U.S. military.
But not all the leads pan out, he said.
"In this instance we got very lucky," Garver said.
According to the U.S. military, disenchantment with al Qaeda is also evident in Iraq's predominantly Sunni Anbar province, where coalition forces recently freed 17 kidnapped Iraqis who were found in two separate torture rooms.
U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said last week that one of those freed was a 13-year-old boy, who "literally had been tortured, electrocuted, whipped, beat by these al Qaeda terrorists."
He said freed people told troops that one or two captives had died during the torture sessions, and the remaining captives expected to be ransomed off to their families, with the money going to support the al Qaeda insurgency.
In a raid earlier this month, coalition forces found a laptop computer containing an apparent al Qaeda manual on how to torture victims, Caldwell said.
The manual, illustrated by graphic drawings, shows how to use drills to torture people, sever hands, drag people behind vehicles, use a blowtorch or clothes iron on skin, remove eyes and electrocute people, among other tactics.
"They made it in a cartoon manner, so that no matter what your literacy rate, what nationality you are, all you've got to do is look at these pictures to understand how to conduct tortures of innocent people," Caldwell said on CNN's "The Situation Room."
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