February 15, 2007

Violent Enemies of Democracy in Iraq Are Being Destroyed

Al Qaeda in Iraq is being destroyed:

...most people believe al Qaeda in Iraq is finished. After boasting last Fall that they would establish a safe zone in western Iraq, and failing to do anything close to that, the Islamic terrorists lost whatever credibility they had left.

The Sunnis, who for years ran the country for Saddam and terrorized their countrymen - and who have been using IEDs to kill US troops, and bombs to kill Iraqi civilians - are fleeing:

Most of the five million Iraqi Sunni Arabs in Iraq have been driven from their homes. These people were the power base for Saddam Hussein and his Baath Parth. Since 2003, violence between Sunni Arabs, and the 15 million Shia Arabs, and five million non-Arab Kurds, has caused most of this population movement. The cause of all this has been the effort, over the last four years, by Sunni Arab terrorists, to regain control of the country. This effort has failed, but the numerous attacks on Shia Arabs has created a violent backlash.

The Iraq democratic government is led by Shias. The principal Shia leader opposed to democracy was Al Sadr, who was disrupting the government via military actions conducted by his militia. (Although his actions were not without some useful effect, given that he targeted the Sunnis who were using IEDs to target US soldiers, and bombs to kill Iraqi civilians.) After the announcement by GWB of the troop surge, Al Sadr has fled Iraq, and his militia is falling apart:

...the Iraqi Shia Arab militias, especially the Sadr forces (the Mahdi Army), have lost whatever unity and discipline they once had. Factionalism has taken over as several of Sadr's lieutenants compete for popularity and territory by driving Sunni Arabs out of Baghdad neighborhoods. Most of Iraq's Sunni Arabs have been chased from their homes since 2003, and that process has accelerated in the last year.

You won't hear much about this from MSM. They don't want to report news of US success. But the enemies of democracy and capitalism in Iraq are on the run.

P.S. Note the way ABC introduces its report of Al Sadr fleeing Iraq:

...the focus in Iraq is not on the arrival of more U.S. troops, but the departure of one of the country's most powerful men, Moqtada al Sadr and members of his army.

The story, declares ABC, is not the troop surge, but the departure of Al Sadr. ABC cleverly implies that Al Sadr was not fleeing precisely from the troop surge. ABC certainly hasn't interviewed Al Sadr to check with him about this -- and even if Al Sadr told ABC something like, "No, the troop surge had nothing to do with my decision to flee Iraq. I just felt like it was time for a little trip." -- I wouldn't be inclined to believe him.

GWB: Iran is Providing IEDs Used to Attack Our Troops

GWB:

“I can say with certainty that the Quds Force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated I.E.D.’s that have harmed our troops,” Mr. Bush said, using the abbreviation for improvised explosive device. “And I’d like to repeat, I do not know whether or not the Quds Force was ordered from the top echelons of the government. But my point is, what’s worse, them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and its happening?”