With that said, here's my first post as guest contributor to Wake Up America:
The Twin Cities Conservative spied this article in CBSNews.com, and my first reaction was such that I was positive I would read endless news reports, press releases, etc. from the Left decrying the surge as a complete and abhorrent failure.
CBS News is reporting that the a top U.S.-allied Sunni sheik was killed in an explosion near his house in al-Anbar province.
Here’s the moral of the story: the Left lacking will, resolve, strength, heart, etc. (you get the idea) is akin to a small child (I’ve been using this analogy the past day or so). In their twisted, perverse, warped world, Iraq should be a Babylonic-paradise by now.
Little do they know about nation building. The adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is appropriate here. Evidently, Iraq should have been rebuilt by now, jihadists appeased, utopia discovered, etc.
For they lack the attention span to see through an endeavor, during time of struggle they turn tail and run, or cry in a vain effort to be heard and get their world.
Once again, we on the Right will hear the endless reports that the surge isn’t really working, but rather, creating more “jihadists.” It would kill the Leftist movement if the surge actually worked, for under the shameless guise of progressive patriot, they are destroying this country as well as its collective psyche.
Pure children…
Here’s the complete article:
(CBS/AP) The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al Qaeda in Iraq was killed Thursday in an explosion near his home in Anbar province, Iraqi police and tribal leaders said.
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening - an alliance of clans backing the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.
Abu Risha and two of his bodyguards were killed by a roadside bomb planted near the tribal leader's home in Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, said Col. Tareq Youssef, supervisor of Anbar police.
No group claimed responsibility for the assassination but suspicion fell on al Qaeda in Iraq, which U.S. officials say has suffered devastating setbacks in Anbar thanks to Abu Risha and his fellow sheiks. It's unclear how his death would affect U.S. efforts to organize Sunnis against the terror network.
Abu Risha was among a group of tribal leaders who met President Bush earlier this month at al-Asad Air Base in Anbar province.
In Washington, Pentagon officials said they were still trying to confirm the report of his death.
But privately, two officials said his assassination would be a huge setback for U.S. efforts in Iraq, because it sends a message to others who are cooperating with coalition forces or thinking about cooperating against al Qaeda.
Abu Risha began cooperating with Coalition forces in 2006 and his decision sparked a sharp security turnaround in Anbar, reports CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick, who filed a special report from Ramadi on the progress being made in January this year.
His most important role, says McCormick, was recruiting Sunnis to the local security forces, in particular the police, which had been all but wiped out.
But his decision to help wasn't based solely on his support of the Americans, but rather attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq against Sunnis and their leaders in Anbar. While enlisting other tribal leaders to join him, he told them the sooner security progress was made in Anbar, the sooner the Americans would leave.
Last January, U.S. military officials told CBS News that they provided Abu Risha with security. It isn't clear whether he still had American security, but his recent meeting with President Bush put him in the spotlight again and likely made him an attractive target for al Qaeda in Iraq.
A Ramadi police officer said Abu Risha had received a group of poor people at his home earlier in the day, as a gesture of charity marking the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, said authorities believed the bomb was planted by one of the guests.
A senior member of Abu Risha's group, Sheik Jubeir Rashid, called the assassination a "criminal act" and blamed al Qaeda.
"It is a major blow to the council, but we are determined to strike back and continue our work," Rashid said. "Such an attack was expected, but it will not deter us."
After the bombing, police announced a state of emergency in Ramadi and set up additional checkpoints throughout the city, Rashid said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said that after the first blast which killed Abu Risha, a car bomb exploded nearby.
"The car bomb had been rigged just in case the roadside bomb missed his convoy," Khalaf said. There were no casualties from the car bomb, he added.
The Interior Ministry swiftly ordered plans for a monument built to honor Abu Risha as a "martyr," Khalaf said. It would be build either at the explosion site, or at the center of Ramadi, he said.
Anbar police were investigating the attack, and the Interior Ministry would send a committee to assist, Khalaf added.
It was not the first time Abu Risha and his colleagues have been targeted.
In June, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the lobby of Baghdad's Mansour Hotel during a meeting of U.S.-linked Sunni tribal leaders, killing 13 people and wounding 27. Among those killed was the former governor of Anbar and sheik of the al-Bu Nimir tribe, Fassal al-Guood - a key ally of Abu Risha. A day later, al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.
In other developments:
• By promising that the extra combat troops sent to Iraq will come home next year if conditions allow, President Bush hopes to buy enough patience from politicians and the public for success to bloom in that fractured, violent country. The president's pitch for more time - which has aggravated Democrats as well as many rank-and-file Republicans - is to be made in a televised speech at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. Not willing to wait, Senate Democrats were already discussing legislation to limit the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq.
• While members of Congress scrambled to respond to Gen. David Petraeus's testimony on the progress made in securing Iraq, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric sat down with the general in Washington. He said he welcomed the chance to respond to critics who have accused him of cherry picking and twisting the facts. (Read interview transcript)
• Iraqi police said Thursday six people were killed and 18 wounded when a bomb hidden under a parked car exploded in the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City. The bomb was apparently aimed at an American convoy, but missed its target - killing all civilians and setting shops in the area on fire, police said. In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed one person and injured two others, police said. Near Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, authorities said about 60 gunmen attacked a police station and ignited clashes with residents and police - leaving four assailants dead and two policemen wounded.
• The U.S. military issued a statement Thursday saying it had begun releasing between 50 and 80 Iraqi prisoners a day as a gesture during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month which began Thursday for Iraq's Sunni Muslims, and Friday for the country's majority Shiites."
crossposted at The Twin Cities Conservative
