The 3 paragraphs in red should be the story! They aren't of course.
The Kurd area is a model of what could happen (model being very subjective but given the history of the area, it is a model of stability). The sh'ia area is also doing much better. With the exception of al Sadr, the shite areas are under control and stable. al Sadr is a loose canon but for the moment is quiet. Two of three areas pacified. Any time the shite areas have unrest, it is al Sadr flexing his muscle and trying to intimidate. In the end it will not work and is not as serious an issue as Anbar province, which now seems to be much better.
With 2 of 3 areas out of al qaida hands, and the third about to be turned over to the Iraqis, we will have accomplished the major part of our contract with Iraq. they can do the rest, with very little involvement by the US, but for the occasional al qaida attacks and al Sadr.
When Anbar province is turned over is when Bush SHOULD HAVE DONE the landing on the carrier and said Mission Accomplished. This SHOULD be the point at which we begin removing troops - a few weeks after Anbar is turned over.
And we should do it quietly - not publicly so al qaida knows when to blow stuff up. Another thing we should not do is tell any Losercrats we are removing the troops or they will ensure al qaida finds out.
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The Los Angeles Times
U.S. postpones transfer of authority in Iraq province
By Alexandra Zavis
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 28, 2008
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military on Friday postponed a weekend ceremony to hand over responsibility for security in Anbar province to the Iraqi government, citing forecasts of bad weather.
Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, a military spokesman, said the decision was not connected to a suicide bombing Thursday at a community meeting in the Anbar town of Karmah that killed 25 people, including three U.S. Marines and two interpreters.
High winds and dust storms were expected today. Hughes said the conditions would prevent U.S. and Iraqi officials from flying to the event.
The military provided no new date for the transfer but said it would take place soon.
Anbar, the vast province west of Baghdad that stretches to the borders of Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, was long the center of the Sunni Arab-driven insurgency against U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies. But the number of attacks has plummeted since late 2006, when local tribal leaders rebelled against the militant groups among them, including Al Qaeda in Iraq.
The collaboration between U.S. forces and tribesmen became the model for the so-called Sons of Iraq program, which is credited with reducing violence in other Sunni-dominated parts of the country. The U.S. program pays men about $10 a day to help protect their neighborhoods.
Anbar would be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to return to Iraqi control and the first one that is predominantly Sunni Arab. The others are mostly Shiite Muslim or dominated by ethnic Kurds.
Thursday's attack led some local officials to question whether the transfer of security responsibility was premature. Some contended that the provincial police force should first be cleansed of insurgent collaborators.
The bomber, who blew himself up at a meeting of tribal sheiks and government officials, wore a police uniform.
U.S. officers said the attack appeared to be the work of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni militant group that dominated the province at the time of the tribal uprising. A member of the cell believed to be responsible for the bombing was captured Friday, the military said.
In another development, police said Friday that a senior judge was killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in east Baghdad. Judge Kamil Shewaili, the head of one of Baghdad's two appeals courts, was driving home when he was attacked.
Iraq
sunni
shia
al qaida
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