If in doubt, blame AQI

From the Washington Monthly

AQI AGAIN?….U.S. military officials say they’ve captured the man who murdered sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha last Thursday:

During a raid of three buildings west of Balad on Saturday, U.S. soldiers captured Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli, also known as Abu Khamis, a man described in a military statement as “closely allied with senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region.”

Look, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if AQI was responsible for Risha’s murder. But am I the only one who finds this statement to be disturbingly weasel-worded? “Closely allied” with AQI “leaders in the region”? I imagine that’s something you could say about most of the Sunni extremists in Anbar province.

Was AQI really involved with the murder, or is this just another strained attempt to somehow mention “al-Qaeda” in a high-profile case? Straight answers, please.

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