Progress Schmogress

Yeah, I know, I'm not exactly burning up the keyboard here, but I'm really focused on my own writing right now.

I did however make a point of looking for this story -- which I saw mentioned on television last night -- but I didn't see it in the Post or the Times. Oddly, when I found it, that we got one of the guys who had murdered our two troops so brutally recently, bonus, it turns out one of the death squads was shut down as well. And, interesting, some of the "sectarian violence" isn't being launched by sectarian groups as the press identifies them, but by AQI looking to spark off sectarian violence. Which, although it's never really mentioned any more now, was what happened in the Samarra bombing in the first place, you'll recall -- AQI bombed a holy Shia shrine in the hopes of sparking off sectarian violence. It matters that this was there plan put into place, and that should be the context within which the press reports this story whenever they remind people that that bombing was the kick-off for this.

Back to what happened when we got the guy who killed our soldier:

During the news conference, al-Rubaie also said security forces detained the leaders of the Omar Brigade group, a wing of al-Qaida in Iraq that had claimed to have carried many deadly attacks throughout the country.

He identified the group's leader as Jassim Mohammed, known as Abu Othman, his deputy Abu Aisha, who was in charge of financing the group, and Abu Ihab, who was in charge of recruitment. The fourth was Abu Islam, who was in charge of religious affairs, al-Rubaie said.

"The Omar Brigade is one of the death squads," al-Rubaie said, adding that the group was responsible for the deadly bombing in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City on July 1 that killed 66 people.

Al-Qaida in Iraq announced last year that it had formed the Omar Brigade to fight the Shiite militias. The group claimed to have killed many Shiite militia leaders since then.

He refused to say where they were detained for security reasons but added that the operation was carried out by Iraqi and multinational troops.

"This is a major blow to al-Qaida itself because this is a division that was trying to drive a wedge between Shiites and Sunnis," he said. (My emph.)

Whaddya know, things are more complicated than we've been led to believe.

In fact, far from noting a death squad has been badly hurt we get this from the Times:

The attack underscored the futility, at least in the short term, of the government’s latest efforts to short-circuit the vicious cycle of sectarian violence that has defined life in Iraq. (My emph.)

But of course until the attacks stop, you can write that sentence to pass judgment against any victory, so that the government will be able to pile up victory after victory and have each waved away as meaningless by the press -- and we'll never get a sense of progress because we aren't seeing any sense of cumulative progress..

That Times article, by the way, is about the horrifying death toll since the Samarra bombing, and it's going to take a lot of small victories like this one to make a dent in the violence, but if AQI is stirring the pot, then this is more than just a small victory, it's also evidence that the narrative we've been getting since Samarra -- Shia vs. Sunni, country on the brink of civil war, (or low grade civil war), completely aside from insurgent and terrorist violence -- may not be quite right, or at least may not be entirely complete.

Which means this little tale of the death squad among other death squads isn't the drop of water in the ocean that can be ignored. At a minimum it poses questions that the press ought be asking, does it not?

That's aside from the fact that, quite frankly, to most Americans, news that one of the people responsible for what happened to our soldiers, one would think, is news that matters.

Or should.

Comments

[Bob]

This is why I read your blog--for this kind of analysis. I saw the Yahoo report this morning, and rejoiced over getting the murderers, but missed the importance of getting the the Death Squad, too. And, covering the lack of coverage in our major media explains a lot. Thanks for all you do.

[Outlaw13]

It seems they are of the "glass is half empty" school. I get the feeling that they want so badly to be seen as being "fair" that they do and say things to avoid being accused as being "cheerleaders" for the "good ole' USA". This obsession causes them to skew toward the other extreme and they end up being collaborators for the terrorists.

It's a sad world they live in when they can't even stand up for what's right.

[dauber]

It might well be a case of "bending too far backwards," but I disagree with the idea of using the term "collaborators." That to me is a very specific term -- and it requires intent. If their actions have a certain result, that's worth pointing out, but it doesn't earn them that label.

And thank you, Bob, that's awfully kind of you:)