Some Sunnis seem to have figured it out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Ex-insurgents and al-Qaeda battle

Sunni former insurgents asked U.S. forces to stay away, then ambushed members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, killing 18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said yesterday.

Let us hope this outbreak of reality quickly spreads.

The Islamic Army in Iraq sent advance word to Iraqi police requesting that U.S. helicopters keep out of the area since its fighters had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to the police and a top Islamic Army leader known as Abu Ibrahim.

Abu Ibrahim said his fighters killed 18 al-Qaeda in Iraq members and captured 16 Friday in the fight southeast of Samarra, a mostly Sunni city about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

"We found out that al-Qaeda intended to attack us, so we ambushed them," Abu Ibrahim said. He would not say whether any Islamic Army members were killed.

Much of the Islamic Army in Iraq, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, has joined the U.S.-led fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq along with Sunni tribesmen and other former insurgents repelled by the group's brutality and extremism.

Golly. Now we just have to convince The Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion that Our Boys are the good guys.

An Iraqi police officer corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, but said police were not able to verify the number of bodies because the area was still too dangerous to enter.

Before the battle, the insurgent commander personally contacted Iraqi police in Samarra to tell them his plans, according to the officer and Abu Ibrahim. He asked that Iraqi authorities inform the American military about his plans, and requested that no U.S. troops interfere, they said.

The U.S. military said yesterday that it had no record of U.S. troops ever being informed about the operation, and that it was unclear whether Iraqi police followed through on Abu Ibrahim's request.

The police officer said the al-Qaeda in Iraq captives would not be transferred to Iraqi police.
Instead, he said, he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity.

Meanwhile, farther east, in Diyala province, members of another former insurgent group, the 1920s Revolution Brigades, launched a military-style operation yesterday against al-Qaeda in Iraq there, the Iraqi army said.

About 60 militants were captured and handed over to Iraqi soldiers, an army officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to media.

Afterward, hundreds of people paraded through the streets of Buhriz, about 35 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said. Many danced and fired their guns into the air, shouting, "Down with al-Qaeda!" and "Diyala is for all Iraqis!"

Like the Islamic Army, the 1920s Revolution Brigades includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and officers from his army. Hundreds of 1920s members now work as scouts and gather intelligence for American soldiers in Diyala.

Heck, maybe the Baath Party should run one of these guys for US president. They seem smarter than the dimwits the Democrass Party is offering us. Especially Chris Dudd.

And at Baghdad's most revered Sunni shrine, the Abu Hanifa mosque, voices blasted from loudspeakers yesterday urging residents to turn against al-Qaeda in Iraq: "We are your sons, the sons of the awakening, and we want to end the operations of al-Qaeda. . . . We call upon you not to be frightened, and to cooperate with us."

"Awakening councils" have sprouted up in communities across Iraq, where members swear allegiance to Iraq's U.S.-backed government and disavow the insurgency. U.S. officials say the councils have been key to tamping violence in recent months.

The backlash against al-Qaeda in Iraq among the Sunni Arab community began in Iraq's western Anbar province last year. Americans recruited Sunni sheikhs to help oust al-Qaeda from their home turf, and the movement spread to former insurgents who once fought U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.