Progress in Iraq. Kerry's wrong. There's good news in Fallujah.

opinionjournal.com ^ | Thursday, October 21, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT | REVIEW & OUTLOOK

[crushelits]

With polls showing a tight Presidential race, it's possible John Kerry could be our commander-in-chief soon. So it would be nice to think he's paying enough attention to what's going on in Iraq to know that conditions there aren't, as he said a few days ago, "getting worse each week."

The kidnappings, mortar attacks and roadside bombs continue--and will until the insurgency is defeated. But recent weeks have actually seen progress by American and Iraqi forces toward reasserting control over Saddam's old stronghold in the Sunni Triangle. That, in turn, means credible nationwide elections in January are more likely than ever.

The first of the troublesome cities to return to Iraqi government control was Samarra early this month. In recent days American and Iraqi forces have also carried out successful anti-terrorist raids in several towns just south of Baghdad populated by disgruntled ex-employees of the old regime's military-industrial complex. Insurgent cells in Mahmudiya, Yusufiya and Latifiya are the reason the road between Baghdad and Najaf has been so dangerous.

Most important, allied forces seem poised finally to take control of Fallujah, which has been a no-go zone since the end-of-April deal that turned the town over to ex-Baathists called the Fallujah Brigade. That decision was easily the biggest mistake of the war, since it caused both friend and foe to question American resolve and gave the thugs a safe haven from which to stage car bombings and other attacks.

[MEG33]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/religion.
htm

The Sunni population of Iraq is predominately Hanafi, while the Shi’i population is predominantly Ja’fari. Kurdish Muslims are mostly of the Sunni branch, but mainly follow the Shafi’i school of Sunni Islam, which distinguishes them from the majority of the Iraqi Arab Sunni Muslim population, which is primarily of the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. There is also a strong Sufi mystic following among the Kurds. Sufism contributes to a less orthodox practice of Islam among much of the Kurdish population.

Not the same...different "branch"