What can I say – Bill Roggio has sources and I have Google, so of course he has much more on the Diyala front, including time tables regarding when the Province should start to turn around (early summer – which is soon).

The U.S. and Iraqi security forces have preparing the battlefield in Diyala until the full compliment of U.S. forces are in theater and able to finish securing the Baghdad “belts” – the regions surrounding Baghdad. The Diyala Campaign is only is its opening phase, with U.S. and Iraqi forces conducting raids, search and destroy missions, establishing forward operating bases and logistic nodes in preparation for the full assault sometime early this summer. The establishment of the yet to be named Diyala Salvation Front is a crucial element to establishing local intelligence networks and an auxiliary force to hunt al Qaeda.

The influence of Sheikh Sattar al Rishawi and his Anbar Salvation Council cannot be underestimated in the formation of the anti al Qaeda tribal alliance in Diyala. The Anbar Salvation Council has been operating outside its provincial boundaries and has sent emissaries into Diyala, Salahadin, Niwena and other provinces in an effort to expand his anti al Qaeda Awakening movement nationwide.

Yep, this is the ‘civil war’ we wanted. The Sunnis our taking back their country from al Qaeda and we are helping. And as the news of success in Anbar with our new Sunni allies is starting to percolate back here in the US we can see shifts in the American people’s perceptions. Check out this latest Gallup Poll for some interesting trends:

Likelihood Each Would Happen Based on Status of U.S. Troops

May 4-6, 2007

A full-scale civil war would occur in Iraq and result in the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis:

If U.S. keeps troops in Iraq – 47
If U.S. removes troops from Iraq – 68

Al Qaeda would use Iraq as a base for its terrorist operations:

If U.S. keeps troops in Iraq – 47
If U.S. removes troops from Iraq – 66

America gets it. America, unlike the Surrendercrats, sees the implications of the folly of the liberal proposals to leave Iraq based on impatience (and political opportunism). They just do not like Sen Surrender’s (Harry Reid) claim the war is lost:

If the United States is viewed as having lost the war in Iraq, how much would that bother you — a great deal, a moderate amount, not much, or not at all?

Great deal – 33
Moderate amount – 22
Total: 55

Not much – 19
Not at all – 24
Total: 46

America is starting to see the difference between Dems and Bush (sorry, the Reps are not in this game right now). Bush is trying to win to help America and back our troops and Dems are trying to gain political points by pushing defeat. The Dems cannot afford to play this game any longer – but they are. New polls show that instead of hurting Bush, the Dems have been hurting themselves and they are now seen as bad as Bush:

The survey found only 35 percent approve of how Congress is handling its job, down 5 percentage points in a month. That gives lawmakers the same bleak approval rating as Bush, who has been mired at about that level since last fall, including his dip to a record low for the AP-Ipsos poll of 32 percent last January.

Only difference – Bush will never face the voters again in his life. Dems are not so lucky. Bush is playing the Dems like a fiddle. They passed another DOA Bill in the House (probably the House Dems last Hurrah) which even the media knows will not pass the Senate. And Bush came out and – honestly – pretended to compromise by agreeing to add benchmarks for the Iraqis (as long as there are not strings attached to the war funding or the other aid to Iraq – of course). Just check out this Der Spiegel article to see how clear it is on who is NOT participating – the Surrendercrats.

The Dems seem hell bent on self destruction this time around. There is no room for logic or strategy. They are running on full emotion over the cliff. It is actually quite sad to watch what has happened to my party, my family’s party, my gandfather’s party (House of Reps).