SO MUCH FOR THE AL-QAEDA MEME

I and others have noticed that there's been a suspicious increase in reports of our military engaing "Al Qaeda" terrorists in the past few weeks. This AP report seems to get us back to reality:

Iraq Ambush Caps Bloodiest Months for US
Jun 29, 11:07 PM (ET)
By ROBERT H. REID

Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., who heads U.S. forces in the Iraqi capital, said U.S. casualties had mounted because Sunni extremists are "starting to fight very hard" as U.S. forces press into areas of the capital where militants once had free rein.

[snip]

Sunni insurgents have used similar "swarming" tactics for years, mostly in rural areas to the north and west of the capital. Militants have also been burying explosives deep in the ground, making them difficult to detect and triggering them as vehicles pass by.

Gen. Fil hasn't caught on yet:

"As far as the assessment, we believe that we are into an area" of south Baghdad "where we're seeing a very strong al-Qaida cell," Fil said. "Those areas are now denied to them ... They are starting to fight very hard and that's what we saw yesterday."