More and more areas of Iraq are joining forces to protect their areas from al-Qaeda and Mahdi terrorists:

U.S. forces have brokered an agreement between Sunni and Shi’ite tribal leaders to join forces against al Qaeda and other extremists, extending a policy that has transformed the security situation in western Anbar province to this area north of the capital.

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“We want to protect innocent civilians from killing and kidnapping,” said Nadeem al-Tamimi, a Shi’ite tribal leader. “We have been working against al Qaeda for two years and paying for it from our own pocket. But we’re not just against al Qaeda. We’re against all murderers and thieves.”

Shortly after that meeting, Mr. al-Tamimi received a call saying one of his relatives had been assassinated in what was described as a “warning” from the Mahdi Army, a Shi’ite militia nominally loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

It is becoming all too apparent in Iraq that those who are murdering Muslims are not Americans but bloodthirsty Muslims. It is becoming clear to the Arab/Muslim street that their futures are actually best with the Iraqi government and its American allies because the bloodlust of Islamo Fascism is too brutal for sane people.

mmediately after Saturday’s agreement, soldiers from the Seventh Regiment of the First Cavalry Division calmly walked through Jurf al-Mila and nearby Falahat, both Sunni areas, to demonstrate the change since the tribal leaders first approached them.

Men from the village, most of the them carrying weapons, greeted the soldiers warmly, shaking hands and kissing cheeks in traditional Iraqi fashion.

Right now we are creating the best possible impression of America and Americans in the region. We have become the protectors who fight the blood-mad terrorist who seem to be trying to compete as to who can be the most brutal against Muslim people. It has become so apparent that Sunni and Shia tribes are seeing the simple choice they have in front of them. To protect their people they need to work together with the Iraq central government:

The Taji agreement, however, is the first involving both Sunni and Shi’ite sheiks, and the U.S. military hopes it will help temper the increasing influence of the Mahdi Army in and around Baghdad.

For those so blind they cannot see progress in Iraq note this milestone. Both Shia and Sunni making an oath to protect each other from terrorists from all sides. As the wave that came out of Anbar changed Iraq from allying to al-Qaeda to fighting al-Qaeda, this could be the beginning of another level of alliance that will make stable and give it a chance to succeed. The Muslim street is rising up against the violent bloodlust of the Islamo Fascists,w which is what we need to provide us security here in the West. Without local support the visions of the Islamo Fascists will wither and die out.