Posted on 11/19/2007 7:46:14 AM PST by Ooh-Ah
QARGHULIA, Iraq — Despite persistent sectarian tensions in the Iraqi government, war-weary Sunnis and Shiites are joining hands at the local level to protect their communities from militants on both sides, U.S. military officials say.
In the last two months, a U.S.-backed policing movement called Concerned Citizens, launched last year in Sunni-dominated Anbar province under the banner of the Awakening movement, has spread rapidly into the mixed Iraqi heartland.
...
"What you find is these people have lived together for decades with no problem until the terrorists arrived and tried to instigate the problem," ..."So they are perfectly willing to work together to keep the terrorists out."
As late as this summer, there were no Shiites in the community policing groups. Today, there are about 15,000 in 24 all-Shiite groups and 18 mixed groups, senior U.S. military officials say. More are joining daily.
Here in Qarghulia, a rural community east of Baghdad, the results are palpable. Killings are down dramatically and public confidence is reviving.
"Sunnis-Shiites, no problem," said Obede Ali Hussein, 22, who stood at a checkpoint built by the U.S. Army along the Diyala River. "We want to protect our neighborhood."
For commanders in areas where Sunni-Shiite warring had brought normal life to a standstill, the unexpected flowering of sectarian cooperation has proved a boon.
"I couldn't do it without them," said Capt. Troy Thomas, whose 1st Cavalry unit is responsible for securing the Qarghulia area.
Thomas said 42 of the 49 traffic checkpoints in his area are manned by local groups, including Sunnis and Shiites. He said they both extend his reach and perform with a sensitivity that no U.S. soldier could match.
"They grew up in the area," Thomas said. "They know who should be there and who shouldn't."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Let me be the first to shout out “QUAGMIRE! SECTARIAN VIOLENCE! Harry Reid told me the war is lost! The surge failed!”
/lib rant
LA Times? Heart be still. What will Nancy and Harry do if one of the big liberal newspapers declares victory in Iraq?
*sigh*
Poor LA Times... they can't even get basic reporting correct. It's called CLC (Concerned Local Citizen groups)! That's okay, us FReepers knew about this MONTHS ago!
Liberal news. Months late and dollars short.
How Bush is screwing up the quagmire ping.
Thanx for the post.More good news from Iraq.
Sunni and Shi’a religious leaders signing the unprecedented “fatwa against violence” will give clear evidence the troop surge, applying counterinsurgency warfare principles, provides the security General Petraeus envisioned. He said, “The object is to improve security for the people of Iraq in order to give Iraqi leaders the time and space they need to come to grips with tough political issues.” Sheikh Ahmed al Kubaisi and Ayatollah Sayyid Ammar Abu Ragheef will sign a fatwa becoming statutory authority for all Iraqi Shi’a and Sunni believers. These senior religious leaders for Iraq also have tens of million followers throughout the region.
Yet they are too astute to far outstrip their followers’ dispositions, because neither has armies or police forces to compel behavior. In their estimation, Iraqis are sufficiently ready to use government institutions to solve tough political issues, that they can in turn risk their positions of moral authority in a manner never attempted in all history. They risk Muslim community stature when most Iraqi legislators, moderate local political and spiritual leaders, and sheiks are just now relaxing from thoughts dominated by assassins stalking them and their families. These leaders rely upon our security reinforcing emerging moderate constituencies, which can facilitate and/or force consensus on formidable issues of de-Ba’athification, energy sharing, provincial laws/elections, and amnesty.
The extraordinary courage displayed by these two men should not be subject to displays of “Ugly Americanism” in resolutions setting arbitrary, Westernized timetables for troop withdrawals.
Good new about Iraq from the LA Times ?
I understand why it is snowing early this year !
BTTT
The liberal media is late as expected in talking about VICTORY but never the less they have to talk about it despite all their hard attempts to hide it.
Better late than never. ;-)
Send all the good news articles to the Dem leadership en masse. Perhaps they will choke on their anger and fear.
So the LASlimes decided the inevitable has happened. We can expect more L/MSM to produce some unbiased reporting as things continue to improve. But what has me worried is how the hill is taking such a cavalier attitude in producing required appropriations for our military at this time. Call it blackmail.
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