US Military Kicks Al-Qaeda Out of Baghdad

RUSH: I want to call for the attention of all military personnel, both in this country and around the world listening to this hour on the Armed Forces Radio Network. I have three stories. Two of them are big. The first one is just literally amazing. It is from page A-19 of the New York Times. May I share with you how giddy with awe and pride I am over the job our military personnel are doing in Iraq? Get this headline from the New York Times: ‘Militant Group Is Out of Baghdad, US Says.’ Well, now, who could that be, ladies and gentlemen? Let me just share with you some of the details of the story. ‘American forces have routed Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the ‘surge’ to depart as planned.

‘Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of United States forces in Baghdad, also said that American troops had yet to clear some 13 percent of the city, including Sadr City and several other areas controlled by Shiite militias. But, he said, ‘there’s just no question’ that violence had declined since a spike in June. ‘The Iraqi people have just decided that they’ve had it up to here with violence,’ he said, while noting that their demands for electricity, water and jobs have intensified.’ We have beaten Al-Qaeda — they call Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia — we have beaten Al-Qaeda in Iraq in Baghdad. They are out. They have been routed. ‘Militant Group Is Out of Baghdad, US Says.’ Only thing left is the 13% of the city controlled by Mookie and his boys. This is huge news. I don’t know if you go and declare full-fledged victory, but this is profound news, A-19 of the New York Times with a headline that’s not going to inspire anybody to want to read the story. You tell me that there’s not an agenda in the Drive-By Media. I have people still trying to tell me this. This is almost like, ‘Shhhh, don’t tell anybody, don’t tell anybody, whisper this, Al-Qaeda is gone from Baghdad, don’t tell anybody. We have to report it but we’ll try to confuse it as much as we can.’ That’s probably what went on at the editorial meeting at the New York Times.

‘Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown Sunni extremist group that American intelligence agencies say is foreign-led…’ That is a quote from the story. The homegrown group, started by a Jordanian who was reporting to Bin Laden, operating in Iraq during Saddam’s reign, the group to which all those Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, and other Arabs report after they pour in over the Syrian border. The group here is Al-Qaeda. Not Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, not Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The group is Al-Qaeda! And the US military has routed them from Baghdad. They can’t put this on page one. No, no, no. Gotta save page one for the global warming stories and the coming recession, and the snarky comments about French President Sarkozy.

Then, of course, this story from the UK Times online: ”First Sunni-Shia ‘Fatwa Against Violence’ to Be Signed in Iraq.’ Senior religious leaders in Iraq are preparing to sign an unprecedented ‘fatwa against violence’ that will help reconcile the rival Sunni and Shia branches of Islam and herald new hopes for peace in the war-torn country.’ Violence is down, reconciliation is up. ”There is not a quick, easy solution,’ he continued. ‘This is long-term work. We have to engage with these people continually. The key thing is talking to them every day. Never before has there been a Sunni-Shia fatwa against violence. It has never been heard of in history. Will it make a difference? Not immediately. But I hope eventually it will.”

‘Officials Cite Return Of Iraqis to Baghdad As Violence Declines.’ Forty-six thousand returned to Baghdad last month. Forty-six thousand and thirty of them, actually, returned last month from outside the country to their homes in the capital. So here basically are three terrific stories, this last one about the Iraqis coming back home to Baghdad is in the Washington Post today, and during all of these last — especially these intense last two or three months, maybe you could go all the way back to March when the surge was first plotted, and Dingy Harry came out and said, ‘It won’t work. We can’t win. The war is lost,’ and that became the Democrats’ political position. No wonder the Times has to put this on page A-19. You know where the Post put the story about the returning Iraqis to Baghdad? Page A-20. That’s why I wanted to bring this news to the forefront of the program today in our first hour and give kudos and congratulations to every one of you in the United States military, whether you’ve been to Baghdad Iraq, Afghanistan, or not, whether you are there, you are a unit, a fraternity that so many of us in this country love, honor, and respect and hold in great awe.

You have not been given the credit that you deserve throughout this whole thing. You have been used as pawns. Politicians have maligned you, have called you names, accused you of crimes that you haven’t committed. I’ve never seen anything like it. I didn’t see the outrage about these accusations in this treatment that I hoped to see around the country. But despite all that, these people in uniform persevered, kept their eyes and their hearts on the mission, and they rejected all of this talk and they didn’t let it affect them. The surge obviously has worked. All they gotta do is the 13% of Baghdad still run by Mookie al-Sadr’s boys. So once again, congratulations, and, as I say, I wanted to make this the first thing I talked about today because it’s being buried throughout the rest of the United States media.