In what could be considered an encouraging development, some of the most important elements of the disparate Sunni Iraqi resistance appear to have come together to form a united political front. These include the 1920 Revolution Brigade, named after the 1920 Arab revolt against the previous British occupation, and six other organisations. While fighting to end the presence of foreign troops, they are also apparently pro-Iraq unity, anti-terrorist and looking for international recognition. This development may possibly prove to be a milestone in the long path back to some sort of stability for this conflict ridden country.
From The Guardian
Seven of the most important Sunni-led insurgent organisations fighting the US occupation in Iraq have agreed to form a public political alliance with the aim of preparing for negotiations in advance of an American withdrawal, their leaders have told the Guardian.
In their first interview with the western media since the US-British invasion of 2003, leaders of three of the insurgent groups – responsible for thousands of attacks against US and Iraqi armed forces and police – said they would continue their armed resistance until all foreign troops were withdrawn from Iraq, and denounced al-Qaida for sectarian killings and suicide bombings against civilians.
Speaking in Damascus, the spokesmen for the three groups – the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Ansar al-Sunna and Iraqi Hamas – said they planned to hold a congress to launch a united front and appealed to Arab governments, other governments and the UN to help them establish a permanent political presence outside Iraq.
I guess that unless they reach some sort of understanding with their Shia and Kurdish equivalents, this is possibly the first step down the road towards an Iraq divided into 3 parts?
But at least it's a step in the right direction if the Sunnis end up not fighting among themselves as well as against the other elements in Iraq.
al-Sadr's response will be the key.
Still no Oil Law. Tsk tsk.
Two interesting articles in the Muslimedia.com and the World Socialist Web Site that I think you would like to read Craig.
http://tinyurl.com/2h3dbc
http://www.muslimedia.com/insurgentbk.htm
When you go to this site click on 'Proceed to this site'
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2cug7n
As Fisk puts it; 'censor, then whinge, and then cut and run. No wonder the bloggers are winning'.
The usual Guardian pap, write a bit of the truth, and pretend it is all right to fill the rest of the column inches with absolute pap, and unconscious drivel. There ought to be a law against wasting of good trees for the pulp that will wind up in the printing presses of the most of the dailies. It is unfair to the trees, and it means less wooden furniture for the rest of the people.
The meeting sponsored by none other than Prince Bandar, AKA Bandar Bush, doling out money like it is going out of fashion (he should know that inflation will be making it all worthless), getting together the Sunnis, al Qaeda, and MEK (Mojahedeen e Khalgh, the Iranian terrorist bunch, declared thus by no less than executive orders of two presidents; Clinton, Bush (current).
Just read the crap and judge yourselves;
'The insurgent groups deny support from any foreign government, including Syria, but claim they have been offered and rejected funding and arms from Iran. They say they have been under pressure from Saudi Arabia and Turkey to unite. "We are the only resistance movement in modern history which has received no help or support from any other country," Abdallah Suleiman Omary, head of the political department of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, told the Guardian. "The reason is we are fighting America."…….but rejected any link with the Shia militia and parties because of their participation in the political institutions set up by the Americans and their role in sectarian killings.
Abd al-Rahman al-Zubeidy, political spokesman of Ansar al-Sunna, a salafist (purist Islamic) group with a particularly violent reputation in Iraq, said his organisation had split over relations with al-Qaida, whose members were mostly Iraqi, but its leaders largely foreigners.'
Note the semantics of 'purist Islamic' which explains away the Salafist of Ansar al-Sunna, without mentioning Wahhabi, and no mention of the Saudi leaders (he who pays the money gets to choose the tune) but 'foreign leaders'.
All the while no mention of the OIL laws, and the dreams of divvying up the revenue among the great and the good of the belligerents, whom are making a packet out of the Iraq racket.
Now who would have thought old news (at least by ten days), with the nuanced twist is worth printing? Hey those folks in the Guardian rely on their lazy readers confusion, and enjoy the available revenue stream emergent from aiding the obscurantists whom are ruling the roost these days. Hence, the profound propaganda of; ' deny support from any foreign government, including Syria, but claim they have been offered and rejected funding and arms from Iran', Joseph Goebbels ought to be weeping in his grave for not having learned from the Guardian.