The Sunni sectarian civil war with al Qaeda in Iraq

McClatchy:

Under cover of darkness, a convoy of Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M1 tanks loaded with American soldiers pulled up to a mosque Monday night in the al Qaeda-infested neighborhood of Amariyah.

More than a dozen members of Islamic Army of Iraq, a key Sunni insurgent group, and some local residents waited for them, armed with AK-47 rifles and dressed in tracksuits and T-shirts.

But the two forces didn't clash. Instead, they shared information and supplies, in a growing push by Islamic Army of Iraq and their neighborhood backers to push al Qaeda's foreign fighters from the formerly wealthy district that includes Baghdad's airport.

Capt. Andy Wilbraham, the commander of Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, called the men the "honorable insurgency" and "the good bad guys." He said the Iraqis' decision to ally with the Americans, in the battle against al Qaeda at least, had given him hope that Baghdad's Sunni Muslims would follow the lead of tribal heads in Anbar province west of the capital and help the Americans drive out the terrorist group.

That won't necessarily mean they'll be long-term allies, however.

One of the men present, who called himself Abu Bilal, said privately that he remained committed to expelling the Americans from Iraq. But for now, the battle was against al Qaeda's fighters, who he said had turned his neighborhood into a dump for garbage and bodies.

"They oppressed the area," he said. "They are kidnapping the innocents, destroying the houses and dumping dead bodies in the garbage."

Amariyah's problems with al Qaeda have come to a head in the past month as tribal leaders in Ramadi and Abu Ghraib to the west pushed the foreign fighters from their areas. The fleeing fighters came to Amariyah, which had long been where they treated their wounded and rested before returning to battle.

...

The two groups sat in the dark courtyard. Wilbraham got out a map and shined a flashlight on it.

"Mark the houses you are going to," he said.

This wouldn't be an American-led operation. Abul Abd had been leading about 40 men since Thursday in the local fight against al Qaeda. Tonight, they would raid houses occupied by al Qaeda fighters.

Rogers said it wasn't a simple decision to help these men.

...

By 3 a.m., the fighters signaled that they'd finished. They'd detained 15 men and turned them over to the Americans.

On Monday, the Islamic Army of Iraq issued an Internet statement justifying its Amariyah uprising against al Qaeda in Iraq.

It blamed the terror group's leaders for the suffering of Sunnis.

However, the group said it is still "anti-occupation."

...

Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of wisdom by more Sunnis. the best way to get the Americans out of Iraq is to get al Qaeda out of Iraq. Why it took them so long to comprehend this probably can be laid at their religious bigotry. It is clearly bad news for al Qaeda. Not only are they losing their sanctuaries, they are losing their supply lines and support facilities.

Reuters says al Qaeda and the Islamic Army of Iraq have entered into a truce. My guess is that neither will abide by the truce.