After all of the months of reports hammering the notion of the troop Surge is responsible for the calming of the violence in iraq, it turns out that
it was Iraqi spies tired of the BS.
An enigmatic military intelligence officer from the old Iraqi Army is leading a revolt that has reduced the bloodshed in Baghdad
www.timesonline.co.uk...
Amariyah has experienced a startling rebirth since that western-style shootout. In May its streets were filled with corpses being picked over by stray
dogs. American troops ventured in rarely. When they did, they used heavily armoured vehicles, several of which were blown apart by mines.
Now the shops and cafés are open, and schoolchildren and women stroll the streets. Mr al-Obeidi’s men patrol on foot with American troops and Iraqi
soldiers.
It has been a precarious journey from al-Qaeda fiefdom to what US commanders see as a possible model for the future of Iraq. The process has not been
made clearer by the mystique surrounding the enigmatic man at the centre of the revolt.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Meanwhile, Iran has apparently been helping to curb the violence and weapons trafficking on the end:
US general says Iran helping stop Iraq bloodshed
afp.google.com...
BAGHDAD (AFP) — A US general on Wednesday acknowledged Iran's role in helping quell the bloodshed in Iraq, saying Tehran had contributed to
stopping the flow of arms across the border into the country.
Lieutenant General James Dubik, who is in charge of training Iraqi security forces, said Tehran was keeping to its pledge of stopping the smuggling of
weapons to Iraqi extremists.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Troops Find Iraq Torture House; Iran Helping Stem Weapons Flow
www.foxnews.com...
Brig. Gen. James Boozer said forces found execution equipment and chains in the house in the Diyala River Valley, an Al Qaeda stronghold north of
Baghdad, as he touted progress in bolstering Iraqi security forces and said Iran seems to be holding to a commitment to thwart the flow of weapons
into Iraq.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
Al Qaeda
who?!:
Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.
www.nytimes.com...
BAGHDAD — Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of
the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American
military officials.
The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near
Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid's target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign
fighters into Iraq.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
But the anti-Iran propaganda continues:
As violence continues to drop and hundreds of Iraqis return home each day, a result of extinguishing the influence of Al Qaeda, many eyes are
focusing on the negative impact of Iran's involvement in Iraq.
With Al Qaeda's violence waning, Iran's meddling is increasingly sky-lined against Iraq's reformation.
www.yorknewstimes.com...
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
In the GOP debate Wed. Ron Paul stated that much of the 'success' was a result of the British pulling out in the south and the Iraqi's taking
charge of their own turf. Anybody have any good snippet liks on that??
[edit on 30-11-2007 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss]