Major Update: It seems Masri may have been killed in al Qaeda-on-al Qaeda action:

Some information… needs confirmation, but this information is very strong,” said Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf, interior ministry operations director.

“The clashes took place among themselves. There were clashes within the groups of al-Qaeda. He was liquidated by them.”

That would make this news all the more important. If al Qaeda is in the middle of a bloody internal battle, then we must be closer to success than we thought. This is not much different than when Nazi officers try to assassinate Hitler. Obviously the reporting is preliminary and could be in error, but if accurate it will have huge repercussions – end update

As was clear in previous news I posted on the Iraqis and US forces were trimming the al Qaeda leadership in Iraq, closing in on its leader the same way they took out Zawaqiri, the previous al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Today they finally got Zawaqiri’s replacement. What is amazing is the US and Iraqi forces did not get him – the insurgent civil war did (if the report holds up)!

The al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been killed in a fight between insurgents north of Baghdad, the interior ministry claimed today.

Brigadier General Abdul Kareem Khalaf told Reuters: “We have definite intelligence reports that al-Masri was killed today.”

Another source in the ministry said al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, had been killed. Brig Gen Khalaf said Iraqi and US forces were not involved. The US military said it could not confirm the death.

Note to Democrats: It was our efforts in rounding up al Qaeda leaders that helped us locate both leader of al Qaeda. It was our efforts in engaging the Sunnis that turned many of them against al Qaeda and behind Prime Minister Maliki’s government (even if with reservations). It was our people on the ground and their efforts that made this possible. So stop trying to surrender and undermine their work and start actually SUPPORTING them. Read this Surrendercrats, and try and shake your Bush Derangement Syndrome and note what is says:

Reports of al-Masri’s death came amid increasing friction between Sunni al-Qaida militants and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups in Iraq, particularly over al-Qaida’s policy of targeting civilians through suicide bombings at mosques and markets.

It says America is not causing the bloodshed. It says even Iraqis are not causing the bloodshed. It says al Qaeda is causing the bloodshed and it has created a backlash inside Iraq. The Arab/Muslim street is rising up. They are rising up against al Qaeda and working with us. Don’t blow it now that things are actually turning towards the success you claim you want to see in the ME. Don’t prove Schumer was right and this is all about seats in Congress. That is NOT America.

Addendum: We keep getting daily reports on how Anbar province and its cities like Ramadi have gone from terrorist havens to nearly terrorist free zones. And as the Surge was expected to work, areas cleared out remain cleared out – pushing al Qaeda and its junior partners into smaller and smaller enclaves. One the last of these is Diyala Province, which will be the bellweather of whether we will succeed in Iraq (and prove once and for all Democrats have no business in power because they simply become dangerous Surrendecrats). And in Diyala we see the same pattern – locals turning on al Qaeda:

Local citizens in Baqubah’s Tahrir neighborhood led Iraqi Army, police and Coalition Forces to more than 20 caches and assisted in capturing five suspected terrorists and engagements that left approximately 25 anti-Iraq forces dead.

The most significant cache items, many of which were found due to tips by local citizens, include small-arms weapons, more than 5 mortar tubes, nearly 140 artillery and mortar rounds, more than 10 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, approximately 55 RPG rounds, more than 10,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, grenades, and improvised explosive device materials to include several hundred pounds of home-made explosives, timers and blasting caps.

Aside from the caches, the security forces have also discovered and cleared more than 20 IEDs emplaced throughout the neighborhood.

The Iraqis know these weapons will kill more of them than Americans. On the order of 100 to 1000 times as many more killed. We cannot succeed from Okinawa as Mad Murtha insanely claimed. But we can win because al Qaeda is that grotesque and blood thirsty. I grew up in the Democrat Party and, if we succeed in Iraq, I will live to see its final days. I will miss it. But al Qaeda is as bad as the Nazis ever were and we cannot coexist with a Nazi-like kingdom on this planet. Mainly because the Nazi-like Jihadists will never abide our existence as a reminder of all they will never be. Everyone is starting to get it – but the Surrendercrats.

Addendum: Two great editorials on why we need to see the Surge through and why the Surrendercrats are, basically, out of their partisan minds. First this one:

The president will rightly veto the measure. But mere passage of this bill has already done significant damage.

Start with our fighting men and women. The ones in Iraq can’t be encouraged by the impression that Congress doesn’t feel their continued efforts are worthwhile.

And what about our warriors in Afghanistan? Should they be willing to put it all on the line against the Taliban and al Qaeda while waiting for a congressional call for their withdrawal as well?

…

What of our Iraqi partners? Congress’ vote of “confidence” has to make them feel like no good deed goes unpunished.

At our urging, the Iraqi government is moving a wealth-sharing bill to portion out Iraq’s oil riches to the disaffected Sunni community, as well as a “de-deBaathification” bill to bring former regime members – again, mostly Sunni – back into politics, society, government and the workforce, a shift that can help bring a peaceful end to the insurgency.

And, according to Petraeus, sectarian violence is down by two-thirds since January. Sunni tribes in Anbar and Diyala have switched sides and are now fighting al Qaeda and foreign extremists – an enemy intent on attacking us here at home.

Congress’ call for retreat threatens all these gains. If the Iraqis feel like it’s just a matter of time before America bails out on them, why keep dealing with us? It might make more sense to them to just sign on with the Iranians or Syrians now . . .

The consequences of the Surrendercrats actions was clear and they were warned, but their greed for new Congressional seats blinded them (or they never cared in the first place). Many of us take our leads not from craven partisans but real people dealing with Iraq first hand, and the second editorial is one example of many on how they military sees the situation

Today the civil-military relationship has righted itself, yet soldiers like me who believe that Iraq can be stabilized face a bitter irony. On one hand, the military is finally making meaningful adjustments to the complex fight. On the other, the politicians are finally asserting themselves. The tragedy is that the two groups are going in opposite directions.

Most Americans who have served side by side with Iraqi units, especially those of us who have been advisers to Iraqi companies and battalions, believe that significant numbers of our soldiers will be needed in Iraq for another decade. This timeline is about average for a classic insurgency, and optimistic for one so muddied by tribal feuds and religious hatred.

…

t’s hard for a soldier like me to reconcile a political jab like Senator Harry Reid’s “this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything” when it’s made in front of a banner that reads “Support Our Troops.” But the politician’s job is different from the soldier’s. Mr. Reid’s belief — that the best way to support the troops is by acknowledging defeat and pulling them out of Iraq — is likely shared by a large slice of the population, which gives it legitimacy.

It seems oddly detached, however, from what’s happening on the battlefield. The Iraqi battalion I lived with is stationed outside of Habbaniya, a small city in violent Anbar Province. Together with a fledgling police force and a Marine battalion, these Iraqi troops made Habbaniya a relatively secure place: it has a souk where Iraqi soldiers can shop outside their armored Humvees, public generators that don’t mysteriously explode, children who walk to school on their own. The area became so stable, in fact, that it attracted the attention of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. In late February, the Sunni insurgents blew up the mosque, killing 36.

If American politicians pull the marines out of Anbar, the Iraqi soldiers told me, they too will have to pull back, ceding some zones to protect others. The same is true in the Baghdad neighborhoods where the early stages of the surge have made life livable again.

Then America will be left with a dilemma: we could either vainly try to patrol Iraq’s borders to keep the murderous foreign insurgents out and the swollen ranks of Al Qaeda in, or we could make assaults every six months or so into fallen cities and neighborhoods, like the bloody fight to retake Falluja in 2004. Either way, the cost of quitting will be heavier fighting by American troops.

The Surrendercrats are willing to throw all these people into al Qaeda’s hands for killing or slavery. The Surrendercrats cannot open their eyes to see progess is taking hold as the strategy shifted (months ago) because of their self centered obsessions. The Surrendercrats should be dismissed on this issue. We have to live with them for another year and a half, but no one needs to listen to them or take them seriously any more.