Yesterday there was news of 11 anti al-Qaeda Sheiks, and today we here that 8 of them (Sunni and Shiite) have been rescued:

Iraqi security forces rescued eight of 11 kidnapped Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders Monday, said Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari.

“The operation, based on reliable intelligence reports, began this afternoon by al-Rasafa security forces in Baghdad,” al-Askari told Voices of Iraq.’

The tribal leaders allied with U.S. troops against al-Qaida were kidnapped from their convoy while returning home Sunday from Baghdad.

The minor mention of “reliable intelligence” is a hint some locals snitched out the operations – maybe even a mole. To have found and rescued so many so fast would seem to indicate the tide has turned on al-Qaeda and is swamping it fast. They really cannot survive once the Iraqis had turned on them and wanted them dead for all their atrocities. The end of al-Qaeda and Islamic extremism is probably dead for a long time in Iraq.

And some conservative news organizations are rightfully having some fun at al-Qaeda’s ‘Quagmire in Iraq‘. While the left frets and prays for failure, the rest of us can enjoy some reasonable optimism about Iraq now.