quote: Local insurgents in the city of Fallujah are turning against the foreign fighters who have been their allies in the rebellion that has held the U.S. military at bay in parts of Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland, according to Fallujah residents, insurgent leaders and Iraqi and U.S. officials.
Relations are deteriorating as local fighters negotiate to avoid a U.S.-led military offensive against Fallujah, while foreign fighters press to attack Americans and their Iraqi supporters. The disputes have spilled over into harsh words and sporadic violence, with Fallujans killing at least five foreign Arabs in recent weeks, according to witnesses.
"If the Arabs will not leave willingly, we will make them leave by force," said Jamal Adnan, a taxi driver who left his house in Fallujah's Shurta neighborhood a month ago after the house next door was bombed by U.S. aircraft targeting foreign insurgents.
Located 35 miles west of Baghdad in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, Fallujah has been outside the control of Iraqi authorities and U.S. military forces since April, when a siege by U.S. Marines was lifted and Iraqi security forces were given responsibility for the city's security. Local and foreign insurgents gradually gained control, and Iraqi and U.S. officials say Fallujah has become a principal source of instability in the country.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities together have insisted that if Fallujah is to avoid an all-out assault aimed at regaining control of the city, foreign fighters must be ejected. Several local leaders of the insurgency say they, too, want to expel the foreigners, whom they scorn as terrorists. They heap particular contempt on Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian whose Monotheism and Jihad group has asserted responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks across Iraq, including videotaped beheadings.
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Abu Barra, commander of a group of native insurgents called the Allahu Akbar Battalions, said: "Please do not mix the cards. There is an Iraqi resistance, a genuine resistance, and there are other groups trying to settle accounts. There is also terror targeting Iraqis.
Now, without commenting on the reliability of the report, because I have no way to judge that, I think this may be one of the most significant developments in a long time. Not because it supports the contention that the resistance has been instigated by outside agitators. I think the article shows that a good portion of the resistance is internal.
Rather, I think the importance here is that an Iraqi insurgency can be negotiated with. If these people are opposing the U.S. occupation out of a desire what's best for Iraq, there's hope that a settlement can be reached between them and the interim government. There's also a significant chance that these insurgants have a motivation to support fair elections.
I don't want to overstate the good news here. There's still a group of Iraqis unhappy enough to oppose the interim government and the U.S. with armed force. But, if these people are acting out of concern for Iraq as a nation, then there is a starting point of common ground that can help an accord be reached.
And that has encouraged me more than anything I've heard out of Iraq for months.
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Yeah, I saw that this morning, and it sure made me feel a lot better than any other war-related news I've seen since...well, forever. It gives me hope that we might still be able to salvage the situation there.
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I've got to say, if this is true, then it is a very good thing.
I've been wondering how the Iraqi citizens in the opposition have felt when their fellow countrymen were attacked and killed by Zarqawi's and others' attacks.
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I really hope everything works out for Iraq.
Hopefully, Iraqis are realizing that as soon as the U.S. leaves, these foreign jackasses are going to be planting bombs in Iraqi neighborhoods to terrorize the Iraqi people into overthrowing any democratically elected Iraqi government.
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Actually, I think they're realizing that until they kick out the foreign terrorists and take over the job of keeping them out, the U.S. is going to do it for them. The quickest way to get the U.S. out of Iraq is to make sure that they are no longer needed.
And that is exactly what everyone wants. The sooner Iraq can take care of itself, the sooner everyone can go home. Thankfully, the Iraqis are not at all stupid, and they know this.
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I was wondering if anyone knew about current developments in this situation? It's something that I was hoping for and something we should be hearing more about.
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Permit the cynic to wonder if we would stand by and let the Iraqis elect someone we actively disliked. Democracy is the right to choose, whether or not we happen to like the choice.
As for the news - it was only a matter of time. The "friend of my enemy is my friend" only goes so far in some places and as Mr. Franklen once noted, "fish and visitors stink after three days."
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