It was exactly one year ago tonight that President George W. Bush announced his plans for a surge of troops in Iraq disregarding the Dem’s plans for defeat.
John McCain and Joe Lieberman today report at The Wall Street Journal:
The Surge Worked
Al-Qaeda’s grip of fear is fading in Iraq.
The Iraqi people have had enough of their terror attacks and newspapers are speaking out against the killers.
A handout image provided by IntelCenter shows a video still grab from al-Qaeda’s as-Sahab Media which released a new audio statement from Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden warned Sunni Muslims in Iraq not to take up arms against the terror network and promised the “liberation of Palestine,” in a new online message. (AFP/INTELCENTER)
In a sure sign that things are shaping up in Iraq and that the terrorists grip on Iraqi society is waning, several Iraqi newspapers lashed out at Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden this week.
Aswat Aliraq reported:
Iraqi press on Thursday went on the attack, accusing al-Qaeda organization and its leader Osama Bin Laden of fueling sectarian sedition in the country, with a newspaper highlighting statements by the Baghdad security plan spokesman about the recent attacks on awakening councils and the security apparatus.
Al-Istiqama newspaper, a daily mouthpiece of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakeem, wrote, “After al-Qaeda organization in Iraq and its evil allies had given up their goal of triggering a sectarian war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites, they turned their attack on the faithful sons of the awakening councils…”
“Al-Qaeda has particularly mounted its attacks on awakening councils and its leaders in the aftermath of Bin Laden’s latest call on the councils to stop pursuing his followers in Iraq’s Sunni areas,” the newspaper said.
The independent daily al-Raya newspaper published excerpts from a statement by the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) about targeting the council members.
Expressing deep concerns about the return of violence to Iraq and Baghdad in particular, the front condemned the attacks on the councils, which it said have restored security to many parts of the country and helped spread the spirit of optimism to Iraqi society.
The front called on the Iraqi government to play a more effective role in protecting and supporting the councils…
Al-Watan, another independent daily, published excerpts from recent statements by an official spokesman for the Baghdad Fard al-Qanoun (The Enforcement of the Rule of Law) security plan, Brigadier Qasim Ata, in which he warned against al-Qaeda threat.
