Iraq vs. Al-Qaeda
Big fight in Baghdad. AP writes with a note of grudging astonishment about Iraqis who actually want American help.
It’s necessary to cite unnamed Iraqis as the source ahead of the named American commander, due to the lack of credibility of U.S. officers. AP is forced to refer to trend anti-terrorist trend, does so in passing with “trumpeting” and “terrorist group more dangerous than America” digs. Neglects to mention that the same thing has also happened repeatedly in Diyala province:
U.S. troops battled al-Qaida in west Baghdad on Thursday after Sunni Arab residents challenged the militants and called for American help to end furious gunfire that kept students from final exams and forced people in the neighborhood to huddle indoors.
Backed by helicopter gunships, U.S. troops joined the two-day battle in the Amariyah district, according to a councilman and other residents of the Sunni district.
The fight reflects a trend that U.S. and Iraqi officials have been trumpeting recently to the west in Anbar province, once considered the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. Many Sunni tribes in the province have banded together to fight al-Qaida, claiming the terrorist group is more dangerous than American forces.
Obligatory American death count, several more graphs, and then the buried quote.
“The events of the past two days are promising developments. Sunni citizens of Amariyah that have been previously terrorized by al-Qaida are now resisting and want them gone. They’re tired of the intimidation that included the murder of women,” Kuehl said.
Here’s another buried quote:
“The Americans came this afternoon and it got quiet for a while. We are staying home, frightened. We have no idea what’s going on. There’s nothing to do. There has been shooting outside since last (Wednesday) night,” the resident said.
Iraq the Model isn’t buying it. Says its mainly Red on Red, al-Qaeda vs. some Baathists for control of this district, with peripheral U.S. involvement.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:36 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2007
One Response to “Iraq vs. Al-Qaeda”
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June 1st, 2007 at 1:46 am
Let them all kill each other, just as long as they leave innocents alone. But, of course, they don’t do that, do they. Murderous thugs.