Beyond the death of Zarqawi, it has been a hard couple of weeks for terrorists in Iraq. I like to think of the current scene in Iraq as “Wrapping up al Qaeda.”

General Happenings Around Iraq Prime Minister al-Maliki finally finished naming his officials in the government on Thursday:

In a stormy session, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki presented Shiite Jawad Polani as interior minister, Sunni Abdel Qader Al Obeidi as defense minister and Shiite Shirwan Al Waili to head national security.

All the candidates were approved by an overwhelming majority of the parliament after they read out their credentials and were subjected to questioning from parliamentary members.

I mention this not because it wasn’t covered, but because of an interesting statement made by the speaker of the parliament after the debate:

“We are doing like our uncle America; it is democracy speaking,” he said.

The Pentagon has released an unclassified version of its quarterly report on Iraq. Of particular interest is the section on Iraq’s security forces:

The report says the Iraqi army and police forces are growing in numbers and capability. It says 71 army units are taking the lead in combat, and 40 others are fighting in support of foreign troops. Iraqi units have taken primary responsibility for security in several parts of the country.

General Barry McCaffery was in Iraq in April of this year, and his conclusions about the situation are far different from what the mainstream media would have you believe:

1. The morale, fighting effectiveness, and confidence of U.S. combat forces continue to be simply awe-inspiring. In every sensing session and interaction – I probed for weakness and found courage, belief in the mission, enormous confidence in their sergeants and company grade officers, an understanding of the larger mission, a commitment to creating an effective Iraqi Army and Police, unabashed patriotism, and a sense of humor.

2. The Iraqi Army is real, growing, and willing to fight. They now have lead action of a huge and rapidly expanding area and population. The battalion level formations are in many cases excellent – most are adequate.

3. The Iraqi police are beginning to show marked improvement in capability since MG Joe Peterson took over the program. The National Police Commando Battalions are very capable – a few are simply superb and on par with the best U.S. SWAT units in terms of equipment, courage, and training. Their intelligence collection capability is better than ours in direct HUMINT.

You can download the entire document here.

In news related to the morale of the U.S. soldier, many who have sustained serious wounds in Iraq are choosing to stay and finish the job:

Nearly 18,000 military personnel have been wounded in combat since the war began in Iraq more than three years ago, according to Defense Department statistics. Some have lost legs and arms, suffered horrific burns to their bodies and gone home permanently.

But the vast majority have remained in Iraq or returned later – their bodies marked by small scars and their lives plagued by aches and pains.

“I wear my scars proudly,” said Skidis as he gingerly lifted his pant leg to show the railroad-like tracks where doctors made incisions to save his foot. Why didn’t he stay home? “I felt guilty because I wasn’t sharing the same hardships that they were,” Skidis said shyly, while another soldier nodded at his side.

What Zarqawi’s End Means Bolstered by the death of Zarqawi, Prime Minister al-Maliki offered a plan to stabilize the country. The plan focuses on reigning in Shiite militias, strengthening Iraq’s security forces, continuing the rebuilding of the country’s infrastructure, and overseeing a “national reconciliation” between Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian groups. The national unity plan is an extensive one:

In the near future, the Iraqi prime minister’s government will begin to implement an extensive program of national unity. This program establishes achievable and sustainable objectives to improve security, restore Iraq’s energy and public utility infrastructure, encourage economic growth and foreign investment in private business ventures, enhance general health, education, and welfare programs for all citizens, and strengthen the bonds between national, provincial, and local government agencies.

After the death of Zarqawi, while the media aired once again Michael Berg blaming George Bush for his son’s death, it missed the story of the family of another of Zarqawi’s victims, Jack Hensley, saying that justice had been served by Zarqawi’s death. Hensley’s brother commented:

“I’m thankful this guy can’t hurt anybody else,” Ty Hensley told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday.

But Ty Hensley, who lives in Charlotte, N.C., also said he feels renewed sadness and anger toward Al-Zarqawi.

“It is a personal thing,” he said. “He desecrated my family.”

Now that is a sentiment I can understand.

Zarqawi’s death won’t end the violence in Iraq, but it will have an effect on al Qaeda:

Western intelligence sources and analysts said the killing of the 42-year-old Al Qaida network chief would not end the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. But they said Al Zarqawi’s death would significantly hamper Al Qaida operations throughout the Middle East, particularly in the Levant.

“Al Zarqawi created a terrorist laboratory in Iraq for the training of foreign fighters who would then return to their home countries,” a U.S. intelligence source said. “Without Al Zarqawi, this effort could be damaged.”

Insecurity–For the Bad Guys Zarqawi isn’t the only top terrorist to be stopped in Iraq recently. On May 31, the Iraqis announced the arrest of a terrorist who claimed to have beheaded hundreds:

The Iraqi government, meanwhile, said its security forces had arrested a key terror suspect, Ahmed Hussein Dabash Samer al-Battawi, who it said had confessed to beheading hundreds of people.

Battawi was arrested by an Iraqi antiterrorist combat unit, which also seized documents, cellphones and computers that contained information on other suspected terrorists and Islamic extremist groups, the prime minister’s office said.

In addition, Hamzi al-Aini was also captured:

Iraq’s Interior Ministry announced Thursday it had arrested its second “high-ranking terrorist” in a week.

Hamza Khair al-Aini, accused of killing dozens of Iraqi civilians and security forces, was hiding in the town of Abu Saydah north of Baghdad, where police said they caught him. They found a bloody saw and clothes in his hideout, the ministry said.

Iraqi forces also arrested seven members of the “Mujahideen Shura Council,” a group closely affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq, after they fled to Baquba following the death of Zarqawi:

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim pledged to launch attacks on insurgent hideouts in Iraq.

“In the coming days Iraqi and other security forces will launch multiple activities to chase terrorists and attack their cells and hideouts,” Jassim said in a statement.

This is part of a security plan that will be carried out soon.”

A police official from the northern oil hub of Kirkuk confirmed the arrest of seven members of the Mujahideen Shura council, a group of militant organisations led by Al-Qaeda.

The seven men had fled from Baquba after the killing of Zarqawi.

Other operations following Zarqawi’s death led to the capture of several important terrorists:

On Friday Abbas al-Mufraji, described as an aide to Zarqawi, was also arrested in security sweeps south of Baquba, an officer in the Iraqi army said.

Twenty-three other suspected followers of the Al-Qaeda leader were also picked up in sweeps throughout the villages south of Baquba.

Caldwell said Zarqawi’s death on Wednesday led to a number of operations on against his men.

“There were certain personnel that we have been watching and monitoring that coalition forces had made the decision not to take down, because they had given key indicators at different points of time where Zarqawi might be–so they were monitored, watched and tracked,” Caldwell said.

“When Zarqawi went down, that enabled us to go in and conduct those operations,” he said.

The mainstream media mercifully couldn’t help but cover Zarqawi’s demise, but the amount of news they are still ignoring is staggering. The last few weeks have been hard on terrorists in Iraq, and al Qaeda in particular. In the end of May, three al Qaeda members were killed near Yusafiyah.

Near Lake Thar Thar, four terrorists were killed, and two detained.

In Tikrit, no civilians were injured by a planned multiple car bombing because of the quick thinking of Iraqi police. The police officers noticed two suspicious vehicles and began to clear the area. One car exploded, but the second was disarmed before it could go off. Two terrorists in the second car were killed. No civilian injuries were reported.

Near Abu Ghraib, three terrorists were killed while they were digging holes for IED’s.

Fifteen terrorists were detained in three separate incidents in Baghdad.

Six al Qaeda terrorists were captured at a gathering in Ramadi. Information about the gathering was gained from detainee interrogations.

Seven al Qaeda terrorists, and a pile of EID-making materials, were captured near Ramadi. One car bomb and several IEDs were destroyed at the location.

Two of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted al Qaeda terrorists are being held by the Kurds in northern Iraq:

Two Saudis on the kingdom’s most-wanted list of suspected Al-Qaeda militants are being held in Iraqi Kurdistan, a Saudi-owned daily reported yesterday.

Abdullah Mohammed Al-Ramian and Mohammed Saleh Al-Rushoodi were arrested in September 2003 as they crossed into Iraq’s Kurdish region from Turkey after transiting through Jordan and Syria, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said.

In Ramadi, three terrorist were killed, and one wounded, as they were transporting several IEDs.

In Balad, an IED terrorist cell was wiped out by Iraqi forces:

This cell is responsible for at least two attacks against Iraqi security and police forces in the Karada area. The first attack, in December 2005, resulted in no casualties. The second attack, in January of this year, killed several Iraqi police officers riding in a vehicle.

No Iraqi forces were killed or wounded during this operation.

Iraqi forces raided a compound in Baghdad and captured three members of a VBIED (military lingo for “vehicle-borne IED”) cell.

Members of the 6th Iraqi army division detained 19 terrorists during a raid planned and executed solely by Iraqi forces:

“This was a complex operation, that netted 19 suspected terrorist leaders from 14 different locations,” said Maj. Gen. J.D. Thurman, commander, MND-B. “It was planned and executed by 2/6 Iraqi Army. It is not only indicative of their capability, but shows the Iraqi people their Soldiers are not only taking the fight to the enemy, they are winning.”

Iraqi and multinational forces continue to uncover terrorist weapons caches, often with the help of tips from Iraqis, tired of the terrorist violence in their country:

‐–Bill Crawford lives in San Antonio, Texas. He blogs at All Things Conservative.