In this previous post, where I noted the atrocities al-Qaeda is inflicting on Muslims across Iraq, I asked an important question (or two):

Is this [continued carnage] causing the Sunnis to turn on the Americans and the Iraqi government? Or are these atrocities going to strengthen the resolve of the Iraqis to support the current government and join forces in killing al-Qaeda?

We seem to have an answer in the southern part of Iraq. al-Qaeda’s brutality is so severe the Basra area is begging the UK to return and shore up their protection:

British troops in Basra are being urged to return to the front line and help their Iraqi counterparts in the battle against insurgents after two bombs in as many days left eight people dead and many more wounded.

Not the kind of reaction al-Qaeda needs if it is to survive in Iraq. If everytime they show up the locals call in air strikes al-Qaeda is going to be extinct in Iraq very soon. And I think that is just what will be happening. The carnage of al-Qaeda is devastating. They have performed more horrific and brutal criminal acts upon Muslims than any other group in modern history (maybe with the exception of Saddam Hussein).

The results of this blowback against al-Qaeda by the Muslim street is stunning. The numbers keep falling across the board. September is on track to go down as one of the lowest for US casualties in a year. And the security The Surge is producing is serving its purpose and providing the political leaders an opening to make key progress. The most amazing news to me is the news that the top Sunni political leader is recruiting the assistance of a top Shiite cleric to push a 25 point plan forward which would address a lot of the thornier political issues still open:

Iraq’s Sunni vice president held a rare meeting yesterday with the country’s top Shi’ite cleric to seek support for a 25-point blueprint for political reform, the latest effort by the two branches of Islam to promote unity amid unrelenting violence.

…

Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani praised his initiative during their two-hour meeting in the holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad.

The reclusive Shi’ite spiritual leader has previously met with Sunni clerics, but it was his first meeting with a senior government official from the disaffected minority Islamic sect, aides said.

“He generally blesses the initiative,” Mr. al-Hashemi said, saying he found Ayatollah al-Sistani politically “neutral” and eager to promote national unity. Ayatollah al-Sistani wields considerable influence over Shi’ite politicians and their followers.

If the politicians in Iraq are able to forge a way forward al-Qaeda is beyond doomed. They are probably doing as much to help push Iraq into success as anything we are doing. Their continued atrocities against Muslims is actually forcing, through fear, the Muslims of Iraq to forge a unity pact allied with the West. The instict to survive is powerful and can overpower many prejudices and biases.

It doesn’t hurt that the propaganda about the West (whether from Saddam’s career liars or the liberal fevered swamps in the West) were so over the top that when Iraqis experience the real Americans they find the honorable, brave, strong and respectful. The stories told by liberals and Husseins Ministry of Lies over the years about Americans are being played out by al-Qaeda. The brutality of power being used to abuse and strike fear into others is being applied by al-Qaeda. The atrocities and mass civilian deaths in Iraq are from al-Qaeda. We provide the only force able to protect the good people from these animals. So their survival instincts force them to give us a second look and they find an oasis of goodwill and hope. Al-Qaeda cannot counter that with Muslim blood in the streets.