The most stunning turn around in Iraq is how the Koran is being now used to inspire people. When people still bought into the propaganda of al-Qaeda, before the reality of their brutality and bloodlust came out, the Koran was used by al-Qaeda to rally people and forces to fight The Great Satan. Mosques were used to indoctrinate terrorists – and the blood of Muslims ran through the streets of Iraq.

Today, after tasting the jackboot of al-Qaeda’s Islamo Fascist storm troopers first hand, the Koran is now being used for a totally different purpose: to bring the fight to al-Qaeda and its offshoot organizations massacring Iraqi Muslims by the hundreds:

Operation Lightning Hammer concluded today with a milestone oath as Diyala’s most powerful sheiks swore on the Qu’ran to uphold a number of security provisions during a meeting fostering reconciliation efforts among muqtars, local political leaders, security officials and influential tribal members in Sheik Mazen Village, Iraq, Aug. 19.

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“If we believe terrorists and al-Qaida are like a thorn in our eye, then we will have to remove that thorn,” he said. “We have to protect our tribes.”

“The sheiks have to deny the terrorists because those people only bring hate to Iraq,” said a sheik from Abu Sayda representing the al-Tamimi tribe.

“As I’ve said before, there are not 25 major tribes and more than 100 sub-tribes in Diyala,” said Sutherland in his closing comments. “There is one tribe – the tribe of Diyala.

“You are not Sunni, Shia or Kurd,” he continued. “You are Iraqis.

To swear on the Koran is no small event in Islam. You are swearing your own life to Allah to make your promise come true. The Koran was once used by al-Qaeda to sow injustice and murder. Now it is being used as a symbol of peace, protection and destroying al-Qaeda.

And as goes Diyala, so goes Iraq, and then something major can happen in the Middle East:

For the past two months, I’ve been traveling around the Middle East for this paper, looking for trends, and it’s no wonder why I haven’t written anything throughout that time — nothing looks certain.

My itinerary has taken me to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey — each of them has ongoing major stories — but it’s been one long murky summer where much seems to be in flux. The one trend that seems crystal clear to me is that Iraq will make it; Iraq will turn out fine.

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The Sunni insurgency in Iraq has been broken, and Al Qaeda is getting crushed; its remaining strength is being marshaled to visit retribution on those unsavory Sunni “renegades” who once worked with Al Qaeda and now have turned on it. Everyone likes a winner, and Al Qaeda is losing big.

Interestingly, Al Qaeda’s front organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, had admitted in its last biweekly report — the 31st such report spanning the period between August 1 and August 15 — that it has had an 80% decrease in its violent output over the course of the last two months.

Ten months ago, a Marines Intelligence report concluded that Anbar Province was irrevocably lost to Al Qaeda. Today, Anbar’s capital city, Ramadi, is one of Iraq’s safest. Diyala Province switched from being a bastion of Al Qaeda’s to relative stability within a couple of weeks of a troop surge there. Al Qaeda can’t claim to control a single neighborhood or village in Iraq — just two years ago, they were masters of major towns like Fallouja.

The author is way too pessimistic on the Middle East. The sea change that is sweeping Iraq regarding al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism is not going to stop at state boundaries. It could sweep the region. al-Qaeda is losing big – and those who have taken up arms against them are winning big.

I predicted back in May Diyala would the the nail in al-Qaeda’s and Islamo Fascism’s coffin in Iraq. al-Qaeda’s knee jerk reaction of increasing their brutality on the local Muslims as a way to get US headlines, scare the Democrats and attempt to enforce the control over the Iraqis would back fire. Here is what I said in early May:

If al Qaeda had been smart they would have chilled and waited until the US left Iraq. But being the bloodthirsty, mindless folks they are they have been bleeding the Muslim street trying to get the Dems to panic (which of course they did). The Dems are so wedded to their doom & gloom predictions (since when were Pols fortune tellers?) that they are oblivious to the shifting ground under them. If Diyala and Baghdad follow the example of Anbar and things settle down significantly the Dems would be known as the ones who pushed as hard as they could to make America fail when it was on the verge of major progress.

But it has been clear for months that the wave that started in Anbar would crash across Iraq and sweep al-Qaeda to defeat. Here is my first post on the opening a brutal al-Qaeda had offered us during the war funding debates back in February:

The letter is the latest indication that all is not well in the “Islamic State of Iraq” established by al Qaeda in Iraq and several other groups in October 2006.
The letter protests to the “Emir” of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Abu Hamza al Muhajir, that some of the group’s militants are targeting members of other insurgent groups, including Ansar al-Sunnah, whenever they disagree with them. “We have warned you before about the behavior of some of your members,” says the letter, which criticizes AQI members for considering any Muslim who disagrees with them a non-believer.

What we need to do is sow the seeds of more conflict and frustration amongst the various factions. What we DON’T want to do is give them a victory by abandoning Iraq en masse. The Democrat’s timing is uniquely and consistently dangerous. Right now is the worst time to ‘redeploy’ into a fetal position. Right now is the time to put pressure on. And the reason is al Qaeda seems to be getting more and more desperate. Not only is the Arab street starting to rise up in opposition to them, not only are there huge rifts in their ranks, but the US and her allies are making a difference. So much so it seems al Qaeda is ready to go for broke.

It did not take long after this for the wave of change to be seen eminating out of Anbar, because al-Qaeda did go for broke. When faced with pressure they massacred local Muslims – and that was the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the end of the Iraq instability.