Surge That Democrats Don’t Support And Preemptively Say Is Unsuccessful Isolates Al Qaeda
This is progress, people. Progress.
BAGHDAD — Insurgent leaders and Sunni Arab politicians say divisions between insurgent groups and Al Qaeda in Iraq have widened and have led to combat in some areas of the country, a schism that U.S. officials hope to exploit.
The Sunni Arab insurgent leaders said they disagreed with the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq over tactics, including attacks on civilians, as well as over command of the movement.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, on his last day in Iraq, said Monday that American officials were actively pursuing negotiations with the Sunni factions in an effort to further isolate Al Qaeda.
“Iraqis are uniting against Al Qaeda,” Khalilzad said. “Coalition commanders have been able to engage some insurgents to explore ways to collaborate in fighting the terrorists.”
Meanwhile Democrats called Iraq a “hopeless failure,” but decided to put off ending it for a year so they could continue to tack billions of dollars of pork spending to the must-pass war appropriations bills.
