The Awakening movement, which was started in Anbar province by local tribes and Sunni insurgents that opposed al Qaeda's attempts to Talibanize Iraqi society, has now spread to all of the provinces bordering Baghdad. Over the past month, Awakening movements formed in Diyala and Salahadin, and, this week, the Babil Awakening was formed. Al Qaeda in Iraq immediately targeted the leader of the Babil Awakening, Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoud, seriously wounding him and his wife in the city of Iskandaria. Al Qaeda is working to destroy the nascent Awakening movements in the provinces, where they provide a political and ideological alternative to al Qaeda's Islamic State....
While al Qaeda was attacking the residents of Fallujah, in western Baghdad fighting broke out between the 1920 Revolution Brigades and the Islamic Army in Iraq on one side, and al Qaeda in Iraq on the other. Other reports indicate the U.S. joined in the fight against al Qaeda. "The al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained," in a battle with Coalition forces, noted the Associated Press. A significant portion of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, in addition to elements of the Islamic Army in Iraq, have turned on AQI in Anbar and other provinces. The two insurgent groups have given substantial support to the Awakening movements spreading throughout Iraq. Many Sunni insurgent groups have opposed al Qaeda's attempts to usurp command of the insurgency, and they have no interest in the establishment of an Islamic State that will be used as a springboard from which to attack neighboring states or foreign governments.
What a snappy name! Awakening Movement. But this isn't just the Weekly Standard -- President Bush himself went to Al Anbar province in early September, and met with one of the leaders of this new Sunni alliance, who later on was assassinated. Here the BBC reported on the Sheikh, the movement, and Bush meeting with him:
Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, 37, led what was known as the "Anbar Awakening", an alliance of Sunni Arab tribes that rose up against al-Qaeda in Iraq.US President George Bush met and endorsed the sheikh last week in Iraq.
...
Abu Risha was the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening, an alliance of clans which sided with US forces and the Iraqi government in order to try to reclaim Anbar province from al-Qaeda.
"This is a spontaneous popular uprising against al-Qaeda, because, as you know, al-Qaeda killed our people," he told al-Arabiya TV this week.
...
The US held the group up as a success story and wants to use it as a template to organise Sunni tribes elsewhere.
Only on Monday, in his testimony to Congress, the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said Anbar province showed how Iraq could throw off its violence and move forward.
"A year ago the province was assessed 'lost' politically," he said.
"Today, it is a model of what happens when local leaders and citizens decide to oppose al-Qaeda and reject its Taleban-like ideology."
Well, looks like the template is moving forward. Unfortunately, as often happens is the law of unintended consequences:
On Sunday afternoon, Salih Saif Aldin set out for one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods. He knew exactly where to go. He nodded, smiled, grabbed his camera. There was nothing he needed to say.Saif Aldin always came back -- from death threats, from beatings, from kidnappings, from detentions by American soldiers, from the country's most notorious and deadly terrain -- but on Sunday he didn't. The 32-year-old Iraqi reporter in The Washington Post's Baghdad bureau was shot once in the forehead in the southwestern neighborhood of Sadiyah. He was the latest in a long line of reporters, most of them Iraqis, to be killed while covering the Iraq war. He was the first for The Washington Post.
...
Residents of the neighborhood and Iraqi military officers at the scene said Saif Aldin was killed while taking photographs on a street where several houses had been burned. His wounds appeared to indicate he was shot at close range. His body was later observed lying on the street, covered with newspapers.
The area Saif Aldin was visiting is dominated by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Some residents at the scene said they feared that soldiers from the Iraqi army, believed to be infiltrated by the militia, were responsible for his death.
"They killed him," one man whispered, pointing at members of the Iraqi army brigade on the street.
Iraqi police officers said they believed Saif Aldin was killed by Sunni men belonging to the nascent organization known as the Awakening Council, a tribal organization aligned with the U.S. military that started in the western province of Anbar and has spread to parts of Baghdad. Iraqi government officials have accused these Sunni tribesmen of abusing their partnership with the Americans to kill and kidnap residents.
Now, the reason why I put "may" in the title is there are conflicting stories here as to who killed the journalist. But, anyone notice who is in conflict? Shi'ite militias, Shi'ite police, and .... the Sunni Awakening Council. Huh, where is al Qaeda in Iraq in the equation? They appear to be irrelevant in this story, don't they? What is equally maddening here is that our own troops warned us that the Great Success had a troubling underbelly:
Working with 1920s - A Sunni insurgent group we've been battling for months, responsible for the death of my friend and numerous attacks, agreed to fight Al Qaeda alongside us. Since then, they've grown into a much more organized, lethal force. They use this organization to steal cars and intimidate and torture the local population, or anyone they accuse of being linked to Al Qaeda. The Gestapo of the 21st century, sanctioned by the United States Army.
I hope that the Washington Post makes sure this gets properly investigated. It is still possible that the Shi'ites did this, but it is equally clear that the Sunni groups we allied with, now that al Qaeda in Iraq is "crippled", are moving onto Phase Two of their plan, and that is war with the Shi'ites and the Shi'ite led government. Let us repeat the mantra: there is no military solution in Iraq, only a political one. Only when there is political reconciliation between the Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds, will there be "good news" to report from Iraq.
H/T Andrew Sullivan
Graham talked about how the Sunni's were "on our side, etc., etc."
Webb made a wise distinction here:
And with respect to al-Qaeda, quite frankly, al-Qaeda didn't come to Iraq to try to destroy a democracy. That's a very, very flimsy democracy there. We all recognize that. Al-Qaeda came to Iraq because the United States was in Iraq, and the people in al-Anbar are not aligning themselves with the United States. It's "The enemy of the enemy is my friend."
In other words, we shouldn't view this as a convergence of interests on a number of issues, but rather as a short-term alliance in reference to our fight with Al Qaeda. This is at best qualified good news (still good news).
That doesn't mean though that these Sunni tribal leaders are likely to be long-term, reliable strategic allies -- they still engage in assassinations of civilians, and they are just about as corrupt as the Shiite leadership.
The Sunni "Awakening" needs to be viewed from this perspective.
No one involved with this occupation, at this point in time (year 5 now??!!!) can consider it a success. It's simply absurd to assume we are making a difference. If in doubt of that view ... ask General Sanchez.
The factions that exist in Iraq will test each other's will ... often to the death. Our presence in the region just delays the inevitable reckoning .... a civil war? Certainly the modern equivalent ... also known as the Lebanon-zation of Iraq.
Thoughts going out to your brother, and that he comes home safely.