Steve Schippert's article at FrontPageMagazine.com describes evidence of progress in Iraq that is measured not in military terms, but in terms of recent developments with some of Iraq's major political factions.
With the Shiites there has been the recent "seismic shift" of Iraq’s largest political party. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq has dropped "Revolution" from its name, becoming the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. This is part of a move away from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini, who promotes Shiite Islamic theocracy, toward Najaf's Grand Ayatollah Sistani, who believes Islam can flourish within democracy.
In an interesting side note, Schippert points out a Boston Globe report that says a growing number of Iranian merchants from Tehran's central bazaar are sending their 20 percent tithes to Iraq's al Sistani rather than to Iranian clerics -- a sign that al Sistani's support goes beyond Iraq.
With the Sunnis there is been the rise of the Anbar Salvation Council under Sheikh Abdul Sattar. This has presented al Qaeda with a new and formidable enemy and has been the catalyst for what Schippert calls the forced migration of al-Qaeda from Anbar to Diyala. It means that former insurgents are now cooperating with the Iraqi and U.S. forces who are fighting al Qaeda.
At the end of the day, it must be acknowledged – particularly by American political leaders – that the situation is improving going forward, particularly because Iraqis themselves are taking ownership of the survival and security of their own country, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city and troubled province by troubled province. While the Sunni tribal leaders increasingly reject al-Qaeda and transform into the terrorists’ newest and most damaging new enemy, the Shi’a leadership also has begun to internally acknowledge the shallowness and duplicity of Iran’s stated support for them.
There is much work to be done, both by Iraqis and by Coalition forces, and much fighting lay ahead, particularly in the coming bloody house-to-house street fighting against increasingly desperate al-Qaeda terrorists who have lost Anbar and see the cordon beginning to encircle their new Diyala powerbase. Americans should be prepared for the necessary fight ahead.
Expect increasingly desperate Democrats to seek new ways to withdraw or delay funding for the troops who carry the battle. Having declared the war lost, to allow an Iraqi and American victory over al Qaeda without a fight would be unthinkable for them at this point. They've bet their presidential hopes on it.
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