'Awakening' Movement in Iraq Battles al-Qaida

Residents of western Baghdad, tired of al-Qaida in Iraq's attempts to control their area, rose up against the terrorist group Thursday and called in U.S. troops to help them. The Associated Press reports that a member of the district council said people were tired of the random gunfire that kept them indoors and threats that prevented students from taking final exams.

The incident in Baghdad is not an isolated one, Bill Roggio notes in his The Fourth Rail blog at Military.com. Sunni anti-al-Qaida tribes, community leaders and even insurgent groups are increasingly coming together to battle al-Qaida in what is called the "Iraq Awakening" movement. Sheik Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi in the Ramadi region of Anbar province created the model for the Awakening movement. AP reported in April that 200 Sunni sheiks in Anbar joined together in Iraq Awakening to oppose al-Qaida.

At Pundit Review, you can hear an interview with Michael Yon, an independent journalist in Hit, Iraq, who talks about the success of the movement.

Al-Qaida has reportedly not taken the threat lightly. The Kuwait News Agency reports that al-Qaida gunmen attacked and seriously wounded a tribal chief who had been working with the Awakening movement and his wife.

The Marine Corps Times reports that coalition officials, while pleased to see the trend, said they have seen "too many false dawns" to publicly declare the movement a "turning point." "We're naturally cautious people," said a senior British coalition officer. "We don't do excitement."

(Tom's Update: Just saw this story from Agence-France Presse. Sunni tribal fighters from the Anbar region have gone to Baghdad to join the fight against al-Qaida in the Amiriyah neighborhood of western Baghdad.)

9:38 AM ET | 06- 1-2007 | permalink