Iraqis turn against insurgents in Baghdad

MNFI:

Iraqis who once aligned themselves with militants are now taking up arms against al-Qaeda, a top commander in the Iraqi capital said during a conference call Friday.

Likening members of terrorist organizations to “street gangsters,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commander of Multi-National Division-Baghdad and 1st Cavalry Division, said Iraqis are becoming tired of price gouging on staples such as gasoline and ice when militant groups move in and take over neighborhoods.

“We have found that throughout the city there is increasing distrust, fatigue and disillusionment by the population with al-Qaeda and Jaysh al-Mahdi (militia group),” he said. “There is a strong desire in the neighborhoods to turn away from them.”

Fil said Coalition troops are continuing to take away the enemy’s ability to control neighborhoods and to brutalize the population.

“Every day we’re working with Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi government to place power back in the legitimate hands of the average Iraqi civilian,” the general said.

Local citizens are more openly embracing Iraqi Security Forces and are beginning to respect and trust their fellow citizens in uniform, he added.

Now 10 months into their deployment, Fil said troops of the 1st Cavalry Division are fully integrated and “up to speed” with surge operations. “The division continues to excel in this campaign as we try to bring security and stability to the Iraqi capital,” he said, as he described that more than 50 percent of Baghdad is in the “control” or “retain” phase of the overall Baghdad security plan.

In a February briefing, Fil described the mission in Baghdad as “clear, control and retain.” In the “clear” phase of a mission, Iraqi and U.S. forces move into neighborhoods and clear out extremist elements. In the “control” phase, the combined forces maintain a full-time presence on the streets, Fil explained. The forces will man combined security stations, which are being built all over the city, and will work to establish conditions that allow Iraqi forces to take over operations completely.

The “retain” phase comes when Iraqi forces are responsible for day-to-day security operations and Coalition forces can move out of the neighborhoods and into areas where they can respond if assistance is needed.

Fil also said fewer innocent Iraqis are being murdered as a result of sectarian violence, and statistics show murders are at their lowest level since the beginning of surge operations.

“Markets that were once targets by indiscriminant killers are now safer and thriving,” the general said. “And more and more Iraqis are turning from the ‘rule of gun’ to the ‘rule of law.’”

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It seems to be happening throughout the country, making it difficult for the enemy and their useful idiots to have much to hang their hat on. Al Qaeda can still pp a few caps here an there and make an attack from time to time, but it has lost control of the country and it is losing control of the narrative coming out of Iraq. It is this loss of control of the narrative that threatens it as much as anything. It also is a threat to the anti war left which is desperately trying to regroup.

The LA Times has been pushing a counter narrative on morale issues. they are able to find some troops who want to go home to fill a story with. I suspect with modest effort they could find even more who want to stay and finish the mission. certainly Ralph Peters and W. Thomas smith had no difficulty doing so on recent embeds. Finding a few Scott Beauchamps to gripe does not speak so much for the troops as for the bias of the reporter.