Iraq ridding itself of foreign insurgents

Counter-offensives by the security forces over the past year have largely rid Iraq of foreign fighters recruited by insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda, a top police commander said on Monday.

"Arab fighters have left Iraq and we are done with them," interior ministry spokesman Major General Abdel Karim Khalaf told AFP.

"Before, there were dozens and Diyala was one of their strongholds," said Khalaf who is also acting police chief for Diyala, a province northeast of Baghdad that has long been regarded as an Al-Qaeda stronghold.

(Agence France-Presse)

Here's hoping that the Iraq national government progresses so well in terms of security and cooperation that not even Barack Obama plus a Democratic Congress can screw things up.

Sign of progress in Iraq

Karbala, Oct 6, (VOI) – A joint Iraqi army-police force arrested 11 gunmen, including three who belonged to al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq, during a raid on an area west of the holy Shiite city of Karbala, police said on Saturday.

"A joint force of the army and police under the command of Brig. Qassem Jassim, the Karbala chief of operations, conducted a landing raid on al-Aaskari neighborhood, (3 km) west of Baghdad on Friday evening, arresting 11 gunmen," Lt. Col. Hazem al-Rubaie, the spokesman for the Karbala operations command, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
(Aswat Aliraq)

Why single this out? It's the type of report that, as it becomes more routine, represents one of the important marks of progress in Iraq.

Independent and successful operations by Iraq's own security forces demonstrate that they can do the job. Of only slightly less importance is their ability to perform these types of operations without sectarian bias (not counting "bias" against violent extremist sects).


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