Posted on 06/01/2007 8:19:23 AM PDT by ASC2006
Several indications point to US progress at co-opting Iraq's Sunni minority, which has been the backbone of the insurgency in that country.
Tired of the random violence wrought by al Qaeda terrorists, some Sunni political leaders and communities appear to be allying themselves with the US in an effort to rid themselves of al Qaeda. If those trends are confirmed, they could amount to a key watershed for the US mission. Meanwhile, US military leaders have sought to arrange separate ceasefires with different Sunni groups.
The Washington Times reports, "A battle raged yesterday in western Baghdad after residents rose up against al Qaeda and called for US military help to end random gunfire that forced people to huddle indoors and threats that kept students from final exams, a member of the district council said."
The AP says the Amariyah fight "reflects a trend that U.S. and Iraqi officials have been trumpeting recently to the west in Anbar province." Many Sunni tribes "in the province have banded together to fight al-Qaida, claiming the terrorist group is more dangerous than American forces."
The Washington Post notes the mayor of the Amiriyah neighborhood, Mohammed Abdul Khaliq, "said in a telephone interview that residents were rising up to try to expel al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has alienated other Sunnis with its indiscriminate violence and attacks on members of its own sect."
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
The Sunnis are Islamist idiots.
The Sunnis want us in Iraq to protect them from Iraq.
Something like this has to get going so we can get going and let them live in their $@@@hole in peace.
Asc2006, I think you mean protect them from Iran.
This is the reason why the Sunnis in Iraq eventually will remain aligned with us. They are scared to death by Iran and the Shia majority. They maybe don’t have genuine love or sympathy for us. But as long as there is the Iranian threat, they will need us and we will need them.
Yes, I meant to say Iran.
Agree.
I don’t think people understand how pro-American shiek Sattar actually is. He is as pro-American as Talibani and he is smart too. He could be our Sunni Talibani if we keep backing his movement.
That is excellent to know ASC2006.
Let me put it this way. Shiek Sattar is the only Iraqi politician with both an Iraqi and American flag in his office.
Even Talabani in his office has a Kurdish and Iraqi flag.
Yeah, I figured that the Shia would strive for a Sharia nation, but felt that they, as the “liberated” ones, would readily embrace a free Iraq with the Baathists gone. The Sunni benefited from Saddam (as much as was possible anyway).
Al-Qaeda knew that the divisions were deep, and they played on that, so that Iraq may become lawless and provide them safe haven. It is the new Afghanistan for them.
Iran is not interested in sharing a border with yet another democratic country, so they are pouring money and violence in to keep it unstable. Both the Sunni and Shia have taken the bait from Iran and AQ.
Yes, the Sunni of Iraq are much more interested in cars and bazaars than they are into Allah’s strict ways. That is why Al-Qaeda, a Sunni fundamentalist group, is having to import it’s fighters, since Iraq’s moderate Sunni don’t hate America.
As I have said before, we won the “Iraq War” when we overthrew Saddam. The aftermath has just been an extension of the General War on Terror, and I believe that by planting another democracy in the heart of Babylon and killing lots of Al-Qaedas, we will be delivering a serious blow to both Iran and Osama.
I wonder if that was the whole plan from the beginning: to battle both Iran and AQ in the same place, at the same time, while creating conditions in the region that will make terrorism an unacceptable practice. Did Bush know?
There is still going to be tremendous pressure put on the forces and the administration by many folks who think we measure sucess by how many American are killed or wounded. Why there is also pressure by many on this db who don't seem to understand why we are making ceasefire peace deals with and why.
I just wish more people would follow Bill's comments and updates at billroggio.com or the comments at Iraqthemodel.blogspot.com
The good news is that President Bush is a great Leader who only does what he think is right and will not follow polls or pressure to end the war before we win.
WOW!!! I did not know this. We should have a 100 of our brave troops protecting this brave man.
Perhaps of interest to you.
The most significant local ally of Coalition and Iraqi government in Anbar province — and surely in all of Iraq — is Sheikh Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi. He is a powerful Sunni from Anbar province, and, on Iraqi national television, he pledged his allegiance to Prime Minister al-Maliki and to the democratically elected Iraqi government.
In an overt and televised gesture of his determination and solidarity with the Iraqi government, Sheikh Abdul Sattar sliced the palm of his hand with a knife and proceeded to pound the blade into the table before him. “Sattar said, “The time for dictatorship is gone, and we are welcoming the new dawn of democracy and freedom here.”
http://www.aina.org/news/2007042594726.htm
(Some interesting quotes about Shiek Sattar)
Now, “If you talk to these sheiks, they’ll tell you that they’re in no hurry to see the Americans leave al-Anbar,” “One thing Sheikh Sattar keeps saying is he wants al-Anbar to be like Germany and Japan and South Korea were after their respective wars, with a long-term American presence helping ... put them back together,” MacFarland said.
“The negative example he cites is Vietnam. He says, yeah, so, Vietnam beat the Americans, and what did it get them? You know, 30 years later, they’re still living in poverty.”
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=42745&archive=true
“Sheikh Sattar is authentic to his culture, supports the tribal system in the confines of democracy, and despises al Qaeda in Iraq,” said Colonel John A. Koenig (USMC), the head of the II Marine Expeditionary Force G-5 (Governance and Economics), in a recent interview. Sheikh Sattar is also described as both a nationalist and a friend of America. “In Sattar’s office, there are two flags - one is Iraqi, the other American.” Sattar, according to Col Koenig and other sources in the military and intelligence establishment, wants to build a nationalist, non secular party.
We are. There are two American tanks protecting Sattars fortified Residence.
I am glad to hear this SW.
Ummmm.........are you sure about this? I know they 'ruled' during the nightmarish Saddam Hussein decades, but.....hundreds of years? Not saying you're wrong, but......?
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