A major milestone has been achieved in Iraq’s path towards a peaceful democracy with the announcement of Sunni support to the Shia Prime Minister:

Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive al Qaeda out of Iraq’s most restive province met the Shi’ite premier on Wednesday, marking what Washington hopes will be a breakthrough alliance against militants.

Sattar al-Buzayi, a Sunni sheikh from Anbar province who has emerged in recent weeks as a leader of a tribal alliance against Osama bin Laden’s followers, said he and about 15 other sheikhs had offered their cooperation to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

“We agreed to cooperate,” Buzayi told Reuters. “We haven’t agreed to anything specific, but we agreed to cooperate.”

…

Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch has seized control of towns and villages throughout the Euphrates river valley along the 250 km (180 miles) from Falluja, near Baghdad, to the Syrian border.

But their strict interpretation of Sunni Islam and violent rule has alienated traditional-minded Sunni Muslims, including groups that have supported the insurgency against U.S. forces.

The United States says its 30,000 troops in Anbar — by far the deadliest province for U.S. forces in Iraq — cannot defeat the insurgency on their own. Senior commanders say they have been delighted by recent developments in Ramadi.

The fact Sunni Tribal Leaders have publically stated they will work to drive Al Qaeda from Iraq is quite significant. And of course this provides our coalition in Iraq a key ally in our fight to cleanse the country of terrorists and help Iraq, and the ME, on the path to a peaceful future. Of course the Democrats and the liberal media will either ignore, minimize or criticize this groundbreaking event. If it is good for America it is then good for Bush and therefore they will oppose it. That is why we call it knee-jerk liberalism. Some people on the left are like Pavlov’s dog when it comes to foreign policy these days – they oppose all things positive until they win some elections.