A Lasting Truce In Iraq? :: Iraq

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December 18, 2005

A Lasting Truce In Iraq?

Topics: Iraq

Good news to start a Sunday morning - call it a whisper in the wind or the light at the end of the tunnel begining to shine through the darkness of the Sunni insurgency, but it looks as though that temporary truce honored by most insurgent groups during the recent elections, may be extended.

... Key Sunni Muslim leaders in Iraq's violent Anbar province have concluded that their interests lie in cooperating with the United States, and they are seeking to extend a temporary truce honored by most insurgent groups for last week's elections.

... But at the same time, they are demanding specific steps by the U.S. military, including a reduction in military raids and an increase in development projects for their vast desert province that stretches from the edge of Baghdad to the Syrian and Jordanian borders.

... A prominent Sunni religious leader in Anbar province, Sheik Abed al-Latif Hemaiym, told The Times in an interview in Amman that Sunnis were prepared to work with the Americans.

..."We now believe we must get on good terms with the Americans," Sheik Hemaiym said. "As Arab Sunnis, we believe that within this hot area of Iraq, facing challenges from neighboring nations who want to swallow us, especially the Iranians, we feel we have no alternative."

... The willingness of U.S. officials to talk directly with many, if not most, insurgents marked a huge change from American thinking at the onset of the war.

Not such a bad deal at all, especially since the U.S. has been trying to increase development projects throughout Iraq from the time we first arrived there.

This extension of the "election truce" just may be the beginings of something new in the direction of a lasting truce and the emergence of a political maturity among Iraqis. Of course, we can expect the die-hard insurgents and Islamoterrorists to continue their efforts to create mayhem, and it's important to remember that the real fly in the ointment is Al Qaeda, who isn't part of the truce - but nonetheless, we just may be seeing the very beginings of a lasting truce in Iraq.

Posted by Richard at December 18, 2005 6:06 AM

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