Is al Qaeda in Iraq fighting a Sunni backlash?

[underpants]

Source: CNN International

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Reports of fighting between al Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni militants surfaced Tuesday, the latest hints of rising tensions between the two allied groups.

Militant groups in the region "have been trying to put a more Iraqi face" on their movement and have been trying to "exclude the foreign militants from a public role," Bergen said.

There has been talk among indigenous Iraqi insurgents that such attacks, which claim civilian lives, are counterproductive.

In addition, Bergen notes that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq has adopted an alias that reflects his Iraqi roots: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

Hints of rifts among Sunni-allied insurgents emerged April 12 when two claims of responsibility were announced by Islamic State of Iraq after the deadly attack on Iraqi parliament. (Read more about the attack that claimed eight lives)

Much more at link

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/01/iraq.insurgent.rift/

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Yes, I think there is something going on on two different fronts. I noticed this story awhile ago.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/03/ap_insurgency_leader_070327/

Posted : Tuesday Mar 27, 2007 22:07:47 EDT

BAGHDAD — A military leader of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, was killed Tuesday west of Baghdad, the group announced in an Internet statement

The killing of al-Dhari is likely to deepen the increasingly bloody rift between government-backed opponents of al-Qaida and supporters of the terror group in the Sunni Arab communities west of Baghdad.

The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been making progress rallying tribesmen in Anbar province, the epicenter of the Sunni insurgency, to join in the fight against al-Qaida, the deadliest terror group in Iraq.

Government-backed tribal militias have been trying to chase al-Qaida fighters out of the vast province, and al-Qaida has responded with bomb attacks on leaders and key supporters of the tribes allied against them.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-insurgents27mar27,0,4291272.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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.



The other thing is the increased usage of 'al-Qaeda' when reporting US military actions in the western section of Baghdad. It's like the US is trying to tie all Sunnis into al-Qaeda terrorists.

[TwilightGardener]

4. I have noticed the Sunni-AQ tie-in, too--was

looking at quotes from Petraeus, who was blaming recent car bomb attacks on "elements" that may be affiliated with AQ, or on foreign fighters--how vague is that? They are desperate to make AQ the focus of this war, so that way the folks that think Afghanistan is the "good war" will see Iraq the same way--same enemy, right?

[Igel]

2. Yes.

The news was widely reported last fall that a mess of Sunni Arab tribes had had enough with AQ, and it's been reported off and on.

It's hard for the MSM to keep it straight, however, since (1) they have no reason to do so and (2) it requires being sensitive to facts.

The result was to have a lot of Sunnis go and join the police forces in these areas. Many are former "terrorists", and it's aided the situation in a lot of towns and villages in Anbar.

Complicating matters is that not *all* the tribes are anti-AQ/ISI. Some are pro. This makes the matter not just one of ISI/anti-ISI, but also a case of intertribal conflict.

And, further complicating matters, is the fact that the tribes now working with the US aren't pro-US. They considered the two enemies they were facing, and found the US to be far safer, and far, far more amenable to the kinds of security that will allow the tribal leaders to both stay leaders and run the clan businesses. This has given the US a fine opening: (1) They can show they're not anti-Arab and anti-Muslim; (2) they can show that they want to help; (3) they can also show that they're not interested in a long-term bootjack occupation. To some extent, that's precisely what they're doing.

[endarkenment]

3. This psyops campaign re-appears in Freidman Units. nt.

[Parche]

5. AL KIDA

"AL KIDA, AL KIDA, AL KIDA" thats all you talk about...:rofl: :bounce: :hi:

[MrPrax]

6. Dunno...Is Bush's government still fabricating stories?

Jeez, somebody should stop that guy.

[ohio2007]

7. I see al Jazeera has picked up the story

If you can't trust al Jizz?......


Al-Qaeda denies death of Iraq chief
Tribe claims credit



Late on Tuesday, the leader of a Sunni Arab group opposed to al-Qaida told Iraqi television that his fighters tracked down and killed al-Masri along with seven of his aides, two of them Saudis.



"Eyewitnesses confirmed his death and their corpses are still at the scene," Abdul-Sattar al-Rishawi, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said.



Another member of the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of Iraqi tribes that are opposed to al-Qaeda's presence in the Iraqi insurgency, told AFP newsagency that al-Masri had been killed by members of the al-Dulaimi tribe.


"The clashes started between the Dulaim tribe, which is part of the Salvation Council, and Al-Qaeda at 9:00 am (0500 GMT) and continued until 11:00," Sheikh Hamid al-Hayis, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, said.

"They killed him along with two Saudi leaders and three Iraqis."

<snip>

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A276CC09-A0AD-4AB4-A5B8-6DF511F8187A.htm

AT least their details are more "Arab" in nature and understanding of tribal ways.

I've read articles about this "Anbar Salvation Council" from a few weeks ago.
They are throwing in with the current government an our friends at al Jazeera want to get that word out as to who is splintering away from the freedom movement.

[MrPrax]

8. So...

Actual Iraqis aren't falling for the AQ canard.

So finally guys like Sadr, Kurds, you name it are looking over their notes and figuring out 'who who's' and who did what. Now the guys we don't like are co-ordinating their efforts more; ergo the need for the surge. All the Arab alliances are shifting, but if you notice the US is staying the course and doing the exact same thing they were doing from the start. The elections and shit were just as much done as an distraction to them as to us.

But good news.

When I hear the Iraqis killed an Egyptian lawyer, trained in Afghanistan, part of well-connected criminal enterprise contracted by various western intel services, that magically shows up offering to help, I usually think: "What took them so long?" ;-)


Neither articles give a reason for it; as we know from the death squads we have deployed (Cubans, El Sal., later Sinn Fein), they don't have popular support and must raise money from somewhere. If the spigot gets cut off by the benefactor (for whatever reason), they always turn to kidnapping, crime, trafficking etc. That might be the only reason this group of criminals got whacked; perhaps they started selling booze in that 'hood? Money was made available for the hit?

All of it has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the illegal US occupation still goes on...

BTW only people in the US/Israel have a problem with Al-Jez. It was set up by ex-BBC employees and the like. It is also MSM. Am I suppose to think that one of the richest guys in the world who owns it interferes less than Rupert Murdoch? Not likely...you shouldn't either.

There is no AQ.
There is no 'exporting of revolution'
There is no threat

What it is, are people over there who want to be left alone; the white right wants the oil, the white left wants to tell them what to think. I don't blame them...do you?

[ohio2007]

13. Most people in Iraq have a prob w/ Al-Jez

But as you can see, nobody cared to comment on the this article;


Iraqi Shiites protest Al-Jazeera

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2834568


They like to put out the fire with gasoline

[anotherdrew]

9. maybe they're just moving on to stage two without us

getting ready for the post-US shakeout. If that were true, then talk of pulling out - rather than hurting the war effort - encourages the various insurgent groups to fight among themselves. bloody ironic

[Spinzonner]

10. I think it's a just a free-for-all now

[Screwfly]

11. Shades of Vietnam

Putting Sunni tribes up to hunting al Qaeda fighter sounds a lot like Operation Phoenix of the Vietnam war.

Operation Phoenix was a campaign of targeted assassination against the Viet Cong by U.S. backed indigenous mercenaries.

While the Phoenix program was very effective in destroying the VC as fighting force, it also led to a reign of terror when South Vietnamese officials targeted personal enemies as being VC...

[Vogon_Glory]

12. I Suspect That Almost All Iraqi Sunnis Hate Us, BUT

I suspect that almost all of Iraq's Sunni population hates the US and the US occupation, but some of Iraq's Sunnis have probably realized that they are going to have to find ways to live in peace with their Shi'ia neighbors if they expect to continue living in Iraq. Further, I expect that some Iraqis have figured out that Iraq's Sunnis are being pushed forwards as cannon fodder for Holy War by some of the wanna-be Jihadis living elsewhere in the Middle East, and that they probably resent it.

Regardless of the hopeful-sounding tone of the previous paragraph, that's a long way from saying that Iraq's Sunnis are ready to make peace with the American occupation or the US-backed government.