U.S. describes Sunni rebels battling al-Qaida
Infighting a plus, general says, but ‘we’re not making allies with anybody’
Updated: 2 hours, 57 minutes ago
MUQDADIYAH, Iraq - At least two major insurgent groups are battling al-Qaida
in provinces outside Baghdad, American military commanders said Friday, an
indication of a deepening rift between Sunni guerrilla groups in Iraq.
U.S. officers say a growing number of Sunni tribes are turning against
al-Qaida, repelled by the terror group's sheer brutality and austere
religious extremism. The tribes are competing with al-Qaida for influence
and control over diminishing territory in the face of U.S. assaults, the
officers say. The influx of Sunni fighters to areas outside the capital in
advance of the security crackdown in Baghdad may have further unsettled the
region.
"This is a big turning point," U.S. Maj. David Baker said Friday in the
Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba. "If they are fighting against each
other, it's better than them fighting against us."
Even Sunnis who want to cooperate with the Shiite-led government are
becoming more emboldened to speak out against al-Qaida. In Anbar province,
more than 200 Sunni sheiks have decided to form a political party to oppose
the terror group, participants said Friday.
The clashes have erupted over the last two to three months, pitting al-Qaida
in Iraq against the nationalist 1920 Revolution Brigades in Diyala and
Salahuddin provinces north of Baghdad as well as Anbar to the west, U.S.
officers said. In Diyala, another hard-line militant Sunni group, the Ansar
al-Sunna Army, is also fighting al-Qaida, they said.
'Goals ... at odds'
"It's happening daily," Lt. Col. Keith Gogas said Thursday in an interview
at an Army base in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. "Our read on
it is that that the more moderate, if you will, Sunni insurgents, are
finding that their goals and al-Qaida's goals are at odds."
American commanders cite al-Qaida's severe brand of Islam, which is so
extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place
tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col.
David Sutherland said.
Such radicalism has fueled sectarian violence in Iraq and redrawn the
demographics of many mixed Sunni-Shiite towns in Diyala, where tens of
thousands of Shiites have been forced to flee large population centers.
Previously 55 percent Sunni, 45 percent Shiite, Baqouba — where rival
insurgents also have clashed — is today 80 percent Sunni and 20 percent
Shiite, Sutherland said.
The rift among insurgents has also been sparked by reports that some
militants have been negotiating with the government and U.S. officials, who
are trying to draw Sunni groups away from al-Qaida.
Iraqi police and security forces — not Americans — have been negotiating
with 1920 Revolution Brigades fighters, who have said "they want some help
against al-Qaida," Baker said.
"That's a plus for this place, and we're going to try to exploit that," he
said. "We're not making allies with anybody ... but we are monitoring what's
going on."
American officers say the clashes have weakened the insurgency. In the last
month in Diyala, 1920 Revolution Brigades fighters eased up attacks on
Americans, largely turning their guns on al-Qaida, Baker said.
On Tuesday, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who heads al-Qaida's umbrella group
Islamic State in Iraq, urged militants in an audiotape to stop spilling each
other's blood and unite against American forces and the government. He told
rival groups he wanted to end their disagreements and vowed to punish any of
his fighters who kill other militants.
Well, I'll be damned.....some GOOD news.
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