The courage of our Iraqi allies

NY Sun Editorial:

The assassination of Sheikh Abdul Sattar al Rishawi, coming as it does during a crescendo of cynicism in the anti-war camp in Washington, is a reminder of the extraordinary risks that free Iraqis are prepared to take to side with America and the liberty for which we stand. The sheik was killed by a bomb planted under his car yesterday at Ramadi, ten days after his 90-minute meeting with President Bush and two days after the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The sheikh was on his way back from an event to hand out food, money and medicine to the poor.

We never had the honor of meeting this particular risk-taker for freedom, but the reporting of our Eli Lake and others have left no doubt about the significance of his entry into the lists and his accession to leadership in the rebellion against Al Qaeda in the heart of Anbar. At a time when our GIs and Iraq's sheikhs are fighting for the prospect of politics itself, Sheikh Abu Risha, as Iraqis called him, was the model of the warrior statesman.

Abu Risha was one of the sheikhs who rose up against Al Qaeda last September and began the awakening model now employed throughout the Euphrates River Valley. Others before him had challenged Osama bin Laden's terrorists, but he was the first to do so publicly and survive — until his murder. He strengthened his ties with the United States Marines in the spring, when Al Qaeda thugs left in front of the main hospital at Ramadi an ice cooler filled with the heads of the children of slain sheikhs.

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He was a true Iraqi hero and a real martyr in the truest sense of the word. His slaying was part of al Qaeda's desperate attempt to stay relevant as it is losing everywhere in Iraq. In someways it is like the destruction of the Samara mosque that started the sectarian conflict of 2006, but in this case it will only intensify the determination of the Sunni tribes of Anbar to defeat al Qaeda. There is more about the Sheik in the remainder of the editorial.