Posted on 01/14/2006 8:27:13 PM PST by FairOpinion
Battles have erupted between local insurgents and al-Qaeda's mainly foreign fighters in several Iraqi towns in the clearest evidence yet of bitter divisions among anti-American forces in Iraq.
Local armed factions and tribal groups have sought to expel al-Qaeda from parts of the rebellious Sunni heartlands, as Iraqis have become increasingly disillusioned with the foreigners' extreme Islamic fundamentalism, murderous tactics and disregard for civilian casualties.
Iraqi guerrillas and tribesmen have recounted details of the clashes, while American and Iraqi intelligence officials said they had evidence of battles in rebel strongholds. Encouraged by the big number of Sunnis who voted in elections last month, US and Iraqi officials and military commanders have begun making political contacts with rebel factions in the hope of exploiting rifts between insurgents and al-Qaeda.
In many areas, the two groupings remain united in their common hatred of the American military presence - and rank and file members of al-Qaeda are mostly Iraqi. But most Iraqis still see the terrorist group as a foreign presence led by Arab extremists.
According to one of the accounts gathered by The New York Times, a violent battle erupted in the town of Taji, north of Baghdad, between an al-Qaeda group and the Islamic Army, an Iraqi nationalist group. Abu Lil, the nom de guerre of an Iraqi who fought, described a tense meeting with foreign al-Qaeda fighters when the locals expressed their anger at the civilian death toll. "They said: 'Jihad [holy war] needs its victims. Iraqis should be willing to pay the price'. We said: 'You are not Iraqis. Who gave you the power to do this?' "
In another incident, a Sunni tribe in Samarra executed three al-Qaeda fighters who had killed a sheikh, according to tribesmen and an Iraqi intelligence official. The official said: "The tribes are fed up with al-Qaeda and they will not tolerate any more."
But the US may have limited success in exploiting the rifts. "It is against my beliefs to put my hand with the American," an Islamic Army fighter was quoted as saying. But he also said he was happy if his hated enemy killed a member of al-Qaeda.
Now if we could get the Liberals to do even more of that here!!!
Now THAT would be a good sign.
Gotta love that last statement. Thanks.
More good news! Thanks for posting this.
They got his name backwards. I've always known him as Li'l Abu.
Is it my imagination or is this phenomenon getting a ton of coverage in international media but being ignored by our home-grown purveyors of what they consider news?
Did he do a duet with L'il Bow Wow?
I know, and it's good news that the Iraqis have been giving up the terrorists.
But now it seems, that even their staunches allies, the Sunnis are turning against them.
With no allies in Iraq the terrorists are toast, because they won't find safe haven.
The Dems were right. These elections did lead to civil war. (sarc)
"The Dems were right. These elections did lead to civil war. (sarc)"
LOL...I am sure they are 'deeply saddened' by this news.
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