Since then the news has been exceptionally less grim, the Democrats on the internet and on tv have reacted primarily with SILENCE. Were they truely concerned about the fate of Iraq, the would join us in celebrating the amazing transformation taking place right now. But their silence is owing to their previous defeatist declarations. They predicted this was all a terrible waste and that there was no salvation save for our withdrawal. They offered no constructive critisism - nothing that would help us achieve our goals. They offered only constant complaints based upon the bad news, discounting any news that indicated progress toward the same. But progress we have made. Iraq is a constitutional democracy. It's security forces will soon be built out and by early next year their police force should also reach expected numbers. Their economy is improving along with their infrastructure. And since December 15th, the "home grown" Sunni Arab insurgency have come to realize that the foriegn terrorists don't have their best interests at heart.
The results of the December 15th elections:
An alliance of Shiite religious parties won the most seats in Iraq’s new parliament but not enough to rule without coalition partners. Sunni Arabs gained seats over previous balloting. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance captured 128 of the 275 seats in the Dec. 15 election, down from the 146 it won in January 2005 balloting, said commission official Safwat Rasheed. It needed 138 to rule without partners.
A Sunni ticket, the Iraqi Accordance Front, won 44 seats. Another Sunni coalition headed by Saleh al-Mutlaq finished with 11 seats, Rasheed said. A few other Sunnis won seats on other tickets. That will give the Sunni Arabs a bigger voice in the legislature than they had in the outgoing assembly, which included only 17 from the community forming the backbone of the insurgency. Many Sunnis had boycotted the January vote. Women hold 59 out of 275 seats though the constitution grants them 69.
Iraqis Taking Over Anbar Security
Haider Ajina sends what sounds like great news from Anbar province in Iraq, a part of the Sunni triangle which has been one of the main centers of the "insurgency." This is a portion of Haider's translation of an article from the Arabic newspaper Dar Alhayat.Dar Alhayat newspaper has learned that Iraqi Prime Minster Aljaafery has agreed to replace U.S. forces spread throughout Anbar province with locally enlisted forces. This agreement was drafted in a meeting between tribal leaders, Aljaafery, the U.S. Ambassador Khalil Zad and commander of the multi national forces General George Casey. The agreement was reached in a meeting last Sunday in the province. The local tribal leaders committed to expelling the foreign fighters and isolating the local Alqaida network lead by Zarqawi. In preparation for this local involvement local recruiting centers have been reopened and local training camps have been set up. These camps will prepare locals to take over full security responsibility in their province [as in Nejaf, Kerbala, Kut, parts of Baghdad etc…]. These newly (U.S.) trained local units' primary responsibility will be fighting, terrorists, and chasing down or chasing away-armed groups. This will be done as U.S. forces withdraw gradually. Alhilli [a high ranking member in the leadership of the Aldaawa party the head of which is PM Aljaafery] said: "This agreement resulted from requests of Anbar tribal leaders (including the Dulaimy tribe) for government, monetary, political and social aid to defy and get rid of Zarqawi’s organization. Haithem Alalusi, an official of the “Congress of the Islamic Revolution,” confirmed this request. Families and tribal leaders in the Alkhalediah, Alfelahat and Alkermeh areas (south of Felujeh) have formed local councils. Council members are Local Imams and educated individuals who will educate locals to reject violence and terror. Sources close to armed Iraqi groups said that Zarqawi’s organization is trying to gain favor with Iraqi resistance groups by shooting down three U.S. helicopters. But local fighters in Ramadi have labeled Zarqawi and his organization terrorist and have had armed clashes with them. These sources also said that the local resistance in Ramadi and the tribal leaders are trying to force Zarqawi out of Iraq and are looking for any means to get rid of Zarqawi. Some local families have asked for Zarqawi and his follower’s heads, after locals were killed in bombings while enlisting at police recruiting stations. Theses bombings have lead to armed clashes against Alzarqwi’s group, which resulted in the death a tribal leader. Samara has also formed local committees to chase and keep away foreign fighters and reestablish the local council. Albubaz family of Samara was able to kill four and chase away 11 foreign fighters in joint operation with Iraqi security and other tribes. Tribes of Samara have asked to reopen military and police recruiting centers, government offices and promised to guard the city from attacks.Haider comments - This area is no longer a safe haven for Zarqawi and his followers nor is it an open recruiting ground any more. This is a 180-degree turn around from just 8 months to a year ago when these areas provided support for Alqaida in Iraq. Now these areas are recruiting grounds for the fight against Zarqawi and his ilk.
Six Iraqi militant groups announced that they will unite their forces and join the rest of resident of Anbar and Salahiddin in fighting al-Qeda.
And fellow blogger Scaramonga at Curiouser and Curiouser points us to this supporting information as well:
The Anbar tribes’ campaign to rid the province of Zarqawi’s terror organization, al-Qaeda in Iraq is in its 2nd day and so far, 270 Arab and foreign intruders have been arrested. Usama Jad’aan, the leader of Karabila tribes in Qaim told al-Hayat that “the operation will continue to eliminate terror elements according to a quality plan” and added “270 Arab and foreign intruders have been arrested, in addition to some Iraqis who were providing them shelter”. Sheikh Jad’aan added “the operation is conducted in coordination between the tribes and the minister of defense Sa’doun al-Dulaimi and since we arrested hundreds of terrorists, I don’t expect the operation to take a lot of time”.
Democrats will continue to remain silent during this historic turn of events. The radical left will hope that the fledgling Iraqi democracy will fail. But their inaction will not make the progress disappear and their hope will not cause Iraq's new government to fail. Leftist Democrats and Al Qaeda terrorists are holding a losing hand.
