When Good News is Bad News

Sometimes even a cynical viewer can be amazed by the media spin regarding the war in Iraq. The breaking news out of the Middle East states that Abu Ayyub al-Masri A.K.A Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, was likely killed yesterday in al-Nibayi, north of Baghdad. In and of itself this isn't a unique situation. Coalition forces killed Saddam's sons, found the former dictator himself hiding in a hole and killed al-Masri's predecessor al-Zarqawi. The real news is how he was killed. The international press stresses that he was killed during infighting between Sunni militants; read "not a U.S. victory."

So what's the straight poop? He was killed by fellow Sunnis, this much is true, but he was killed by Iraqi Sunnis. Why is this important? It is the difference between al-Qaeda IN Iraq and al-Qaeda OF Iraq. al-Masri was the head of the prior (the latter doesn't exist) and hailed from Egypt (his nom de guerre means Egyptian); al-Zarqawi was Jordanian; bin-Laden is Saudi. These are foreigners traveling to Iraq to kill indiscriminately. It has been so frustrating to see news reports of a group led by Saudis and Egyptians killing Iraqis of all stripes and having it portrayed as an American failure (or as our fault). We are striving to protect the innocent civilians of the nation - and I can admit this - that we broke (see Micheal Yon's latest).

Back to al-Masri...he was killed by coreligionists from his branch of Islam who are clearly willing to use violence to achieve their goals. Is this a sign that the situation has deteriorated beyond what the mighty Americans can handle? Quite the contrary (and for the record, I don't believe we are even close to that threshold); if the news reports I am hearing are true, this is a staggering success for the United States Armed Forces and perhaps a vindication of Bush's goal to spread democratic ideals to the Middle East.

I know this is a wild claim, but it has been reported that al-Masri died at the hands of an Iraqi Sunni militia that deeply resents the al-Qaeda foreigners fomenting civil war by killing both Sunni and Shia Iraqis. I have also heard (not confirmed) that the group has actually worked on a limited basis with coalition forces against al-Qaeda forces. I know that there are those that will contend that this amounts to U.S. sanctioned "death squads" but in a place such as Iraq (it isn't Iowa), they might be more like a neighborhood watch group prone to vigilantism (too violent, but with mostly admirable goals). I see this type of unofficial pro-Iraqi sentiment as one of many necessary steps needed to bring Iraqis together to combat their common enemies. This is what makes a nation.

This gets to the heart of the surge strategy. It is not just an increase in man-power; rather it involves de-centralizing the military base structure to create "neighborhood" COPs or combat outposts (once again, see Michael Yon). If further progress can be made to bring into the public political process groups such as the one responsible for al-Masri, there may be hope that the situation will improve within the year.