If you didn’t read this Times Online article, you’d likely never know that AQI is getting their heads handed to them in Mosul. But that’s exactly what’s happening:

American and Iraqi forces are driving Al-Qaeda in Iraq out of its last redoubt in the north of the country in the culmination of one of the most spectacular victories of the war on terror.

After being forced from its strongholds in the west and centre of Iraq in the past two years, Al-Qaeda’s dwindling band of fighters has made a defiant “last stand” in the northern city of Mosul. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10.

Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in the death of Abu Khalaf, the Al-Qaeda leader, and the capture of more than 1,000 suspects.

The first question that liberals will undoubtedly ask is what this operation has to do with keeping us safe. That’s a fair question, one which I’ll answer this way:

Because al-Qa’ida declared that Iraq had become its central front in its war against western civilization, that’s where they poured their resources into. They’ve focused on Iraq instead of New York during that time. The proof is obvious. We haven’t been hit in almost 7 years. That’s verifiable and irrefutable.

American and Iraqi leaders believe that while it would be premature to write off Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni group has lost control of its last urban base in Mosul and its remnants have been largely driven into the countryside to the south.

It’s been an awful couple years for AQI. They once had total control of Anbar Province. That disappeared when they started killing fellow Sunnis. That’s what started the Anbar Awakening.

When Diyala Province heard about AQI killing fellow Sunnis, that news turned that province against AQI. That turned much of western Iraq against AQI. Before long, AQI had only a few strongholds left. It appears as though Operation Lion’s Roar is eliminating the last of those strongholds:

Brigadier General Abdullah Abdul, a senior Iraqi commander, said: “We’ve limited their movements with check-points. They are doing small attacks and trying big ones, but they’re mostly not succeeding.”

It’s obvious that al-Qa’ida can’t put together big attacks at this point. That doesn’t mean that terrorist organizations like Hezbollah can’t plan and execute attacks on American soil. There just isn’t any history of that happening.

Captain Ed has the most astute observations on this development here:

And what have we won? AQ has sustained an unmitigated defeat in Iraq. They have lost tens of thousands of recruits and fighters, men that would have otherwise volunteered for other missions in which they didn’t have to face the American military. They have lost their supposedly divine endorsement; why would Allah have called them to action, just to see them destroyed by the infidels? The sheer bloodthirstiness of their actions in Iraq have exposed them as drug-driven demons, not righteous jihadists.

Simply put, AQI have had their asses handed to them. Decisively. It wasn’t pretty if you’re a jihadist.

After this, I’d love to hear a Democrat explain why we aren’t as safe now as when we started the war. (Alleging that doesn’t count. Proof is required for credibility.)

Technorati: Mosul, Operation Lion’s Roar, AQI, Anbar Awakening, Diyala Province, Nouri al-Maliki, National Security, Defeatocrats

Cross-posted at California Conservative