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Risha Killed: Huge Blow to U.S. Efforts
The much-hyped Anbar Awakening has ended with a bang for Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, President Bush’s new best friend in Iraq.
Bush had met with the sheik, a key figure in the U.S.-funded revolt of Sunni leaders against Al Qaeda, in a fly-by visit to an airbase in Anbar on September 3.
Pentagon officials say that the assassination of Abu Risha, who along with two bodyguards died in a bomb blast, is a huge blow to U.S. efforts because it sends a message that other Sunnis who help Americans could meet a similar fate.
Suspicion for the deaths naturally falls on Al Qaeda, but Abu Risha was an extremely polarizing figure and was riveled by some tribal leaders for claiming to speak for all Anbar Sunnis.
More here.
9 Responses to “Risha Killed: Huge Blow to U.S. Efforts”
Its only a huge blow if you thought US efforts were actually making any real headway. If you are part of the majority who see the war for whats really going on, its utterly predictable.
I don’t understand this. Cable news is rolling on, analyzing the President’s speech before the speech and commenting on what the reaction will be before the speech has been given to react to.
The death of the sheik does not seem to figure in all the hoopla.
I hope this doesn’t mean that no reporter will ask thesident to comment on it!
This could change the Anbar dynamic dramatically, so I don’t understand the lack of interest.
Doma,
Like you, I’m skeptical. Just look at that supposed quote from Pentagon officials…………does that read to you like a statement “Pentagon” officials would be issuing…….and why an exclusive to a source like the UK Guardian???
CO:
I linked to The Guardian because its Iraqi coverage is among the deepest and most nuanced. Many other media outlets are all over the story. At last count (5:25pm EST), Google News had links to over 700 stories, albeit many wire service duplicates.
OK, Shaun. Thanks. Got the CNN version.
Although just for giggles, compare CNN’s Pentagon quote with Guardians………..
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said that despite the “tragic loss” of the sheik, “he has ignited a movement that will outlive him.”
“His death won’t stop this movement at all,” agreed retired Gen. David Grange, a CNN military analyst.
Grange predicted that the sheik’s killing — most likely by al Qaeda in Iraq — will backfire and will “mobilize more sheiks” to come out against the insurgent group.
Such attacks could actually be a measure of the success the United States is having in the restive province, Grange said.
How is that a measure of our success there? It seems to me that we pulled most of our troops out of the area and without them to shoot at the Iraqi’s dealt with AQI. Our contribution to the endevour was our lack of presence.
The official reading in Washington and Baghdad is that Abu Risha is a martyr and his movement will continue without him. That may prove true. But it’s very possible the opposite could happen. Abu Risha was a unique figure, able to organize Sunni tribes that long resented one another. He was a coalition builder, both between the US and other anti-AQI Sunnis, and just as importantly, among fellow Sunnis. Nobody else likely has the organizational prowess of Abu Risha to keep the coalition together – at least as of now.
Somebody could step into the breach and continue things as before. But there could very well be a power struggle for control over the Anbar Salvation Council; it is, after all, due $10 billion in cash. Surely somebody will want that money. But through whom will it flow? Who will maintain the anti-AQI coalition now?
Most people will focus on the message of insecurity AQI has sent to the anti-AQI Sunnis. Or, conversely, they will lionize him as a great martyr and pray for the movement to carry on even stronger without him. But the real story is what will happen internally in Anbar and between Sunni tribes. I’d love to hear from some of the Iraq experts out there on this.
‘Such attacks could actually be a measure of the success the United States is having in the restive province”-: as per Grange
And we’ll know we’ve won whan the whole province goes up in flames.?
This is ridiculous.
There is no way of knowing right now, how this will play out in the coming weeks. But when a critically important leader gets killed, it can’t be all good.
This is the nth time some Bush Administration official has said that casualties are a ‘measure of success.’ If it’s our troops getting killed, then that proves the militias are desperate; if it’s a key ally getting killed, then that proves we’re winning hearts and minds; and if it’s another No. 2 or No. 3 in AQ, AQI, or a local militia, then that proves we’re destroying AQ, AQI or the local militia.
And yet the militias aren’t disbanding, the civil war isn’t stopping, US and civilian casualty counts are not decreasing, the flood of refugees isn’t lessening… and the political situation gets worse, not better.
Either the Bush Administration has a very different definition of ‘success’ than everyone else on the planet uses… or the Bush Administration is recruiting its spokespersons from The Daily Show’s comedy writers.