Anbar Awakening Leader Killed
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the leader of the anti-al Qaeda revolt in Anbar, has been assassinated.
The most prominent figure in a U.S.-backed revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq was killed Thursday by a bomb planted near his home in Anbar province, 10 days after he met with President Bush, police and tribal leaders said.
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha was leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, also known as the Anbar Awakening — an alliance of clans backing the Iraqi government and U.S. forces. Officials said his assassination would be a huge setback for U.S. efforts in Iraq, because it sends a message to others who are cooperating with coalition forces or thinking about cooperating against al-Qaida.
It sends quite a few messages, one would think. Certainly, if we can’t protect our chief ally in the one region we’re pointing to as signs of the success in the Surge, confidence in assertions that the corner is about to be turned is undermined.
UPDATE: Marc Lynch has substantial background on Risha and observes, “His murder demonstrates that even America’s closest friends are not untouchable – not even on the day of a Presidential address expected to rely heavily on progress in Anbar. The political fallout of the murder inside of Iraq may well exceed Abu Risha’s actual role in Sunni politics.”
Give me a break! The surge is proceeding quite swimmingly, thank you. Its not like the oil-sharing agreement between the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites is collapsing or anything.
This is clear evidence that the political situation is stabilizing and that our troop escalation is working wonders.
I would hardly say that one death completely undermines the value and success of the surge, but it certainly does undermine military and political progress.
One would hope that this assassination would spur the Anbarians’ determination to get rid of the insurgents in their midst to even higher levels.
What makes you think this assassination was the work of insurgents?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1627400,00.html
And also http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001453.html
He wasn’t exactly liked outside of Al Qaeda either.
Was this guy relying on the US for his security? If so, how? The stories are silent on these little details. It is reported, however, that he apparently had his own security detail with him.
It will be interesting to see whether/how GWB covers this in tonight’s message.
It will be interesting to see whether/how GWB covers this in tonight’s message.
I’d be willing to bet a large amount of money, if I had a large amount of money to bet, that this incident will not be mentioned. The vast majority of Americans will remain unaware of Mr. Abu Risha or his assassination.
The list of suspects is long:
* AQI
* Holdout Baathist groups
* Rival sheiks within the ASC
* Shiite factions against America’s pro-Sunni tilt
* Iranian intelligence
It’s a “Kill Doctor Lucky” situation. Naturally anyone official will say he was killed by “Al Qaeda.” Too many doves will say the same thing, since it makes the Anbar Awakening rhetoric ring hollow. But we don’t know and aren’t likely to find out.
Pug:
I should have taken you up on your bet.
From tonight’s speech:
Michael: It doesn’t matter who killed him. My hope is for how his assassination will influence the non-insurgents in that area.
Boyd: My guess would be, not at all.
“there is no God but Allah and al-Qaeda is the enemy of Allah”
Is this al-Qaeda’s “a bridge too far” when al-Jazeera reports this kind of stuff ?