Declining tolerance for terrorists

The Lebanese Army has Fatah al Islam trapped in the south end of Nahr al Bared.  It has been the army's position that Fatah al Islam has one option --  surrender.  Fatah al Islam has sought others.

Amid the ongoing battle, Palestinian mediators continued their efforts to try to negotiate a cease-fire, after Fatah al-Islam reportedly agreed to the conditions of the initiative proposed by the Palestinian Clerics Association. A delegation from the clerics' group met Wednesday with military intelligence chief General Georges Khoury.

Delegation leader Sheikh Mustafa Daoud said "the army command is examining the plan" proposed by the clerics, but gave no further details.

Defense Minister Elias Murr was quoted as telling the An-Nahar's youth supplement Wednesday that "the army will be victorious and will not negotiate."

When asked about the meeting, the army source would not comment on its outcome.

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi forces have adopted a similar strategy against al Qaeda as 10,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops execute operation Arrowhead Ripper.  This differs from earlier offensives because of a greater emphasis on preventing al Qaeda from slipping away.

The U.S. military has been sharply criticized -- particularly from within its own ranks -- for earlier offensives against al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents that allowed them to slip away and regroup in other areas. As soon as U.S. forces withdrew, the insurgents typically returned.

This time, military planners are trying to avoid that outcome by drawing a tight ring around Baqubah that locks insurgents inside, where they can be captured or killed.

Ralph Peters points out a larger difference.  Our troops are on offense now, not sitting back and playing defense.

Things have changed. And terrorists, not just Iraqi civilians, are dying.

The 10,000-man operation reported in the Baquba area is only one part of a broader effort. In the words of a well-placed officer in Baghdad, "Operations like that are going on around Fallujah, Salman Pak, in Eastern Anbar, the belts around Baghdad, in Arab Jabour, outside of Taji and throughout the Diyala River Valley."

This widespread offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorists is part of a carefully developed, phased plan. The first step as the troop surge proceeded was to establish livable conditions in key neighborhoods of the capital.

That step was vital, but insufficient in itself. Terrorists fled, but they didn't disappear. They just sought refuge elsewhere. And while neighborhood pacification involved aggressive tactical actions, it ultimately put our forces in a defensive posture.

And you can't win solely by playing defense, either in the NFL or in war.

Unfortunately, congressional Democrats don't want to win the war.  They are focused on the next election, and winning the war in Iraq is not projected to aid them in this effort.  So they have contrived to revisit the issue of funding for the troops once again in September.  Theirs is the hope that the havoc wrought by al Qaeda in the meantime will further erode public support for victory and provide cover for them to defund the war effort.  While it's a move that invites violence from our enemies, it's a move that may work to their disadvantage.  The September vote looms as an incitement to al Qaeda to step up and fight just at the time U.S. and Iraqi forces have embarked on a large scale operation to trap and kill them.