Apr 26 2007
The Iraq War America Doesn’t Know About
Another must-read on what IS happening in Iraq and why the Dems call for surrender or possibly even too late – let alone dead wrong.
The most significant local ally of Coalition and Iraqi government in Anbar province — and surely in all of Iraq — is Sheikh Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, or, more properly, Sheikh Abd al-Sattar, where “Abd†translates into “slave†or “totally subordinated†(to God, of course). Sheikh Abdul Sattar is instrumental in fighting and defeating al Qaeda; the incredibly influential Ramadi man sees al Qaeda as terrorists who seek to destroy his country and who are exploiting and murdering his people, Sunni and Shia alike. Al Qaeda wants him dead more than any other man in Iraq, and they have tried numerous times to kill him.
Sattar said recently, “The time for dictatorship is gone, and we are welcoming the new dawn of democracy and freedom here.†He is a powerful Sunni from Anbar province, and, on Iraqi national television, he has pledged his allegiance to Prime Minister al-Maliki — a Shia — 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.
Between Sattar and Shia cleric Sistanni and the natural Kurdish support Iraq is well on its way to becoming stable. If Diyala is tamed then I predict there will be no way for Reid’s dreams of US defeat can come true. Diyala is and will be the pivotal key over the next few weeks. And it is possible the timeframe is weeks. Which would be interesting to watch Dems stubbornly claim “all is lost” while Diyala shifts to show just the opposite.
I posted a similar story just now over at Macranger’s place. All signs are positive at this point. What people need to understand is that the “root system” of the terrorist networks is being severely damaged and it takes a while for the rest of the organism to die. We recently removed a major suicide bomb trainer but the ones that have already been trained are yet to do their deeds. The point is that there are a lot of bad people out there still and a lot of death and destruction yet to come, but the ability to sustain the pace of destruction is being severely degraded.
I am now starting to understand more clearly why General P said that we would have a clear idea of the success by June. By then the damage to the support structure should be showing its effect.
We have the best troops in the world, we have some amazingly bright officers leading them. I am so proud of those guys and I am increasing proud of the Iraqis themselves. The tribes of Anbar are winning my respect and admiration and they stand up and take their country forward.
I think people underestimate how long it takes to bring about these kinds of changes.
I agree Terrye. If we understand that None of these people have ever lived under democracy, how can we say they are doing so poorly? Is it coincidence that the defeatocrat party is becoming so shrill just as the Iraqis are beginning to understand self-government? Thank you to President Bush! And, welcome back Tony Snow!
Bush apparently was smart enough to know that we must win with this surge AND take away the agenda the Democrats have for ’08 election. I read somewhere that the Democrats WANT Iraq off the table so they won’t have to campaign with it for ’08.
In this case, we must continue the PR game that we *WON* the war but still need to continue helping Iraq.
Unfortunately, the Democrats’ bill appear to time with the success of the surge.
Therefore, it would be wise for Bush to veto the defense pork bill so that a US president retains the Executive Authority to manage wars. That’s why it is critical that the timeline be removed from the defense bill.