So, we are forced to go elsewhere to get the news, and Times Online doesn't disappoint us. (Hat Tip to memeorandum)
Al-Qaeda faces rebellion from the ranks
Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person’s face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.
The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.
“They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace,” said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area.
Read the entire article, it is fascinating to say the least.
In the last couple of weaks we have brought you quite a bit of encouraging news from Iraq and this is simply the latest.
We have shown, via multiple sources, that the Iraqi Army is stepping up to the point that our commanders are announcing that they may be able to step down in those parts of Iraq, that the 50 Tribal leaders have decided to help the U.S and Coalition forces, we have also shown you that the everyday Iraqi's, sickened by al-Qaeda's methods have been working with our forces and providing tips that have led to some major progress, and this is just a small sample of the news we bring you every week from Iraq.
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Some of the reactions to this Times Online article have some very good points to make.
Starting with Captain's Quarters:
Even their leadership seems disgusted by their atrocities. An American officer described the capitulation of a captured mid-level AQI leader, who needed no prompting to cooperate with the Americans. When asked why he decided to talk, the detainee said, "I hate them, and I am done."
Strata Sphere:
When pressured al-Qaeda reacts with mindless bloodbaths. They kill Muslims in large numbers so as to get attention in the media and by those in Congress who have shown themselves to be too weak to stand up to this modern fascist movement. But they also get the attention of the Muslim masses, and they are not happy with what they see.....
Betsy's Page:
Of course, those who deny that Iraq is part of the fight against Al Qaeda or that the surge is achieving anything, will discount stories like these. The rest of us realize that this is exactly what we have been hoping would happen if we adopted General Petraeus's plan for counterinsurgency. And we can picture how stories like this will end if the Americans start an early pull out like the antiwar activists and their allies in the Democratic party are trying to make us.
TownHall:
UPDATE: Powerline's John Hinderaker notes the article as well, and added this comment: "Currently, there are two tides running in opposite directions: a trend toward success on the ground in Iraq, and a seemingly inexorable drive toward defeat, or will to lose, in Congress."
Hinderaker's right, of course. It may be that despite the MSM's general indifference to or distrortion of the facts on the ground in Iraq, enough information about the successes there is getting through to the American public that it will not support the Democrats demand for retreat and defeat.
We are seeing a trend over the last month but let me be very clear here, completely destroying al-Qaeda in Iraq will not be the be all end all of our problems there.
There is much work to be done, hard work, violence to quell which the people of Iraq are helping with , greatly, and now and there is still political progress to be made.
The very fact that our media, over the last few weeks, has found themselves forced to start acknowledging the tremendous successes being seen on the ground in Iraq, in and of itself, is very telling.
To our Military, to General Petraeus, to the Coalition Forces, to the Iraqi Army and Security Forces and to the people of Iraq, let me say:
Well done and good luck to the continued success to help Iraq become the stable, independent country that everyone hopes you can be.
We here at Wake up America are rooting for you!!!
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