A chance of a lifetime for the US and Iraqi Officials.
Wow, this from Col, fave site. the NY Times.
Al Qaeda and local Iraqi guerrilla groups are having trouble getting along. They seem to be having little wars of their own thru out Iraq. There have been reports that some eIraqi guerrilla groups are actually trying to remove and sometimes even kill Al Qaeda forces from some of the towns in Iraq.
The four men interviewed are, by all accounts, ordinary Iraqis. One worked as a trash collector. Another was a part-time mechanic in an ice factory. All of them said they had children. While they claimed to be members of the same group, different members provided lengthy accounts of operations in an array of cities in the Sunni Triangle. The men gave Iraqi nicknames and noms de guerre. Some of their assertions, including specific examples about clashes with Al Qaeda's forces, were confirmed by American and Iraqi officials.
It is true that there are some Iraqi people fighting to remove the US from their land. And perhaps they are justified in doing so. But they are also opening their eyes and seeing that those who act on behalf of Al Qaeda on doing more harm than good for the Iraqi people. Proof that love for their country and their people is more of the reason for fighting US forces than hatred for the US. We have to understand that they are fighting for their country, not necesarily for terrorist reasons.
This is a great opportunity for US and Iraqi Officials to try to convince the gerrillas to help defeat the Al Qaeda forces and drive them out of Iraq and possibly convince them that we are not the enemy. Of course with politics involved chances are the second action is probably only a dream, but I believe that dreams come true.
This could be a good turning point in favor of the US and Iraqi Govt towards a better Iraq.