Democrats and Media Ignore the Fall of al-Qaeda in Iraq

The other day we reported that although the prevailing theme from Iraqi's and American officials, are that al-Qaeda in Iraq is on the run, being defeated and the trend of decreasing violence levels show that our counterinsurgency tactics under the guiding hand of General Petraeus and the Iraqi's determination to rid themselves of al-Qaeda, has led to the conclusion that al-Qaeda in Iraq has been mortally crippled, yet it was too soon to make it a declaration.

Via Michael Yon, we see that the Iraqi Islamic Party does not agree that it is too soon and are declaring "Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated".

“Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated,” according to Sheik Omar Jabouri, spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the widespread and influential Jabouri Tribe. Speaking through an interpreter at a 31 October meeting at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters in downtown Baghdad, Sheik Omar said that al Qaeda had been “defeated mentally, and therefore is defeated physically,” referring to how clear it has become that the terrorist group’s tactics have backfired. Operatives who could once disappear back into the crowd after committing an increasingly atrocious attack no longer find safe haven among the Iraqis who live in the southern part of Baghdad. They are being hunted down and killed. Or, if they are lucky, captured by Americans.

Read the rest...

In our piece on October 15, 2007, we showed some of the recent progress and success we have been seeing, not only against al-Qaeda, but against any and all insurgents and with the lowering death tolls hitting record lows:

U.S. military deaths in Iraq fell to 64 in September, the fourth straight drop since peaking at 121 in May and driving the toll to a 14-month low."

Civilian deaths also have plunged, dropping by more than half from August to 884. Remember just six months ago all the talk of an Iraqi "civil war"? That seems to be fading."

The just-ended holy month of Ramadan in Iraq was accompanied by a 40% drop in violence, even though al-Qaida had vowed to step up attacks."

Other good news that has come out of Iraq in the recent weeks:

Last month, 1,200 Iraqis waited patiently in line in Iraq's searing heat to sign up to fight al-Qaida. They will join an estimated 30,000 volunteers in the past six months — a clear sign the tide has turned in the battle for average Iraqis' hearts and minds."

Five million Iraqi children returned to school last week, largely without incident, following their summer vacations."

The surge of 28,500 new troops announced by President Bush last February, and put in place in mid-June by Gen. Petraeus, seems to have worked amazingly well. Al-Qaida, though still a potent enemy capable of committing mass atrocities, is on the run."

Al-Qaeda will still try for what they call "spectacular" bombings and massive deaths, they have been trying but we have the momentum against them.

More importantly, the Iraqi people have turned their back on al-Qaeda and are working with our forces.

Just yesterday we saw that another Sunni chief struck a deal with U.S. military.

Protein Wisdom has 50 other stories that many Americans, that get their news from our major newspapers or television, probably have never seen.

It is not just the lowering levels of violence, it is also the Iraqi's themselves showing their appreciation to America, one such example being they donated monies to the people of San Diego that are suffering from wildfires, they are having parades to show their pride, in, Ramadi, to the point where they invited the American Military to witness it and this was after bin Laden sent his desperate plea to Iraqis to unite against the American military forces.

This is not only ignored by our media in what Michael Yon called the Bizarro world of media coverage in Iraq, but it is ignored by the Democratic politicians as evidenced today when Steny Hoyer said:

"The president has consistently refused to follow Congress' lead to change flawed and failing policies in Iraq."

Whatever makes Hoyer think that just because he chooses to ignore the actual news coming out of Iraq, that the rest of America will?

Gateway Pundit puts this perfectly:

Michael Yon says Al-Qaeda in Iraq is beat.
Osama says Al-Qaeda in Iraq is beat.
The numbers say Al-Qaeda in Iraq is beat:
But... Democrats say the US is failing.

This goes back to what House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)said back in July about good news coming out of Iraq would be bad news for the Democratic politicians.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Monday that a strongly positive report on progress on Iraq by Army Gen. David Petraeus likely would split Democrats in the House and impede his party's efforts to press for a timetable to end the war.

Clyburn, in an interview with the washingtonpost.com video program PostTalk, said Democrats might be wise to wait for the Petraeus report, scheduled to be delivered in September, before charting next steps in their year-long struggle with President Bush over the direction of U.S. strategy.

Clyburn noted that Petraeus carries significant weight among the 47 members of the Blue Dog caucus in the House, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats. Without their support, he said, Democratic leaders would find it virtually impossible to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal.

"I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course and if the Republicans were to stay united as they have been, then it would be a problem for us," Clyburn said. "We, by and large, would be wise to wait on the report."

That makes this last paragraph from Michael Yon especially worrisome for the Democratic politicians:

Omar’s influence extends beyond tribal and party levels, to include important channels within the Iraqi government and the US military in Baghdad, as evidenced by the agenda of the hours-long meeting. But for the talk about al Qaeda, the focus was mostly on other topics, such as returning displaced persons to their homes, efficiently delivering basic services and jumpstarting the economy. In fact, more and more meetings in Iraq are turning to day-to-day business, and less time is required on military and security topics like targeting and addressing intelligence-type matters, which until recently monopolized most meetings across Iraq.

Alphabet City brings our attention to Talking with Heroes that have videos and interviews with our heroes in Iraq, telling us what is actually happening and how the media is ignoring it.

We knew that though, because Robin Wright from Wapo and Barbara Starr from CNN, publicly stated that good news from Iraq should not be reported.

Seraphic Secret asks two simple questions that I hear more and more Americans asking as the news is filtering into their homes that we are winning in Iraq:

I have a question.

If there is good news from Iraq is that bad news for the Democrats?

And if the answer is yes, what does that say about the core ideology of the Dems?

Robert, from Seraphic Secrets, should see the emails I get asking that very question, every single day.

I will tell him what I reply to my emailers.... it speaks to the Democrats need for us to fail because they have banked their careers on Americas failure and have placed their bets against our troops.

Always a bad idea and the public will remember who wanted to surrender and who insisted on fighting for victory.

A victory that the Iraqi citizens, the Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi military, the U.S military, the troops on the ground, the Administration and the commanders in Iraq, all see, acknowledge and continue to fight for.

The Democratic politicians, supporters and the mainstream media are the only entities that continue to live in denial.

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