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People power -- the rising of ordinary people of a nation or region in force against oppression -- has toppled more than one dictator in the last generation, or even in the last few years. The phenomenon started with Filipinos forcing an end to the Marcos regime two decades ago, and continued with Poles, Czechs, Georgians, the Lebanese, and others. The people of Palermo even rose up against almost a millenia of terror and crippled the Mafia.
Now it looks like the Sunnis in Iraq may have had enough of terror, too (via Power Line):
A battle raged in west Baghdad on Thursday after residents rose up against al-Qaida and called for U.S. military help to end random gunfire that forced people to huddle indoors and threats that kept students from final exams, a member of the district council said. ... U.S. forces backed by helicopter gunships clashed with suspected al- Qaida gunmen in western Baghdad's primarily Sunni Muslim Amariyah neighborhood in an engagement that lasted several hours, said the district councilman, who would not allow use of his name for fear of al-Qaida retribution. Casualty figures were not immediately available and there was not immediate word from the U.S. military on the engagement. swhitebull But the councilman said the al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained. Members of al-Qaida, who consider the district part of their so-called Islamic State of Iraq, were preventing students from attending final exams, shooting randomly and forcing residents to stay in their homes, the councilman said.
U.S. forces backed by helicopter gunships clashed with suspected al- Qaida gunmen in western Baghdad's primarily Sunni Muslim Amariyah neighborhood in an engagement that lasted several hours, said the district councilman, who would not allow use of his name for fear of al-Qaida retribution.
But the councilman said the al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained.
Members of al-Qaida, who consider the district part of their so-called Islamic State of Iraq, were preventing students from attending final exams, shooting randomly and forcing residents to stay in their homes, the councilman said.
Of course, this is one incident in one area, and it would take a brushfire of discontent to drive AQ out of Iraq. Sometimes it only takes one spark to touch off that brushfire, though. In any case, the Sunnis of the region understand that their lives will never return to normal until the terrorists leave -- and they knew who to call to get help with their impromptu battle against AQ.
Word also has come that the other, native insurgencies may have had enough:
U.S. military commanders are talking with Iraqi militants about cease-fires and other arrangements to try to stop the violence, the No. 2 American commander said Thursday. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders at all levels to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals. "We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said he has authorized commanders at all levels to reach out to militants, tribes, religious leaders and others in the country that has been gripped by violence from a range of fronts including insurgents, sectarian rivals and common criminals.
"We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video conference from Baghdad.
This actually follows up on the offer made by Nouri al-Maliki a year ago, granting amnesty to former insurgents if they agree to surrender and return to normal lives. Some in the US found the amnesty provisions distasteful, but some sort of national reconciliation is necessary if the Iraqi government is to succeed in securing the streets of Baghdad, Anbar, and Diyala.
In Illinois, one can also draw surprising relationships between diverse subjects that apparently have no connection, like analyzing the introduction of a substance into a water supply, measuring the rate of diffusion as that substance passes downstream, look at the number of households and population potentially affected by that introduction, then, connect the dots to the sources of the introduced substance, then compile a comprehensive list of those that have the skills to achieve such introduction. One can also look at traffic patterns and transportation systems, time and distance, and predict where such perps might move after said introduction thru the use of animal-movement tracking database applications. In Illinois, one can also then look at what first-responders are available, and get them dispatched, and pass that information to anyone in the world. Pretty simple stuff, actually, for those who merely manage "databases" in far-off Illinois. Oh, btw, same techniques apply to analyzing hot spot patterns in Iraq, rather than JUST regurgitating newspaper casualty reports. It's the difference between Forest People and Tree People - ask Flash Gordon what he thought of people that lived solely in trees.
swhitebull - Funny thing about the internet, one can be anywhere, like hanging out in incestual Washington thinktanks or in New York libraries, get your alter-egos crossed, still be over-educated, underpractical-experienced pompous sockpuppets that can only refute and offer snarky criticisms, and are tempermentally unable to offer advice or proffer solutions. Or you can hang out on the internet from an outside-the-beltway location, do world-wide research on a multitude of topics, have the ability to design relational databases using a lifetime of real-world experience that illustrate patterns and draw connections between entities that have no apparent relationship on the surface , and actually make a contribution to society that improves peoples lives or security by managing 'irrelevant' databases. Relevance indeed.
Must be why I keep hearing about that great database manager in Chicago and all the wonderful things he’s doing; whatever you got to tell yourself.
The funny thing about being “over-educated” in the DC area is you tend to get very relevant jobs in fields that most people only dream about from far-off places. But that’s enough banter with you lest you cry to SYOPS (again). I will leave you with this thought though: If I get paid for my analysis then why would I bring my “A” or even my “B” game to stratpage and give it away for free? I’m not going to be giving away trade secrets on a public use forum; much easier to use OSINT over the Internet to get my point across; it's limited to be sure but gets the job done. By the way speaking of the Internet, keep in mind that le Internet only has 1% of the world’s knowledge on it; so enjoy your 1%.
I posted my allusions to you in response to your post on my “Sadr appears” thread; rather than show some humility for your previous faulty analysis your hubris got the better of you. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone since I knew you couldn’t resist looking at any new posts on the Iraq thread.
You’ve become terribly boring swhitebull, at first it was amusing to get under your skin, now you’ve become an insufferable bore, who is long past his prime, and can't bring anything new to the table. I will leave you to your private fiefdom, oh lord of strategypage, knower of everything and master of nothing. Keep posting Captain’s Quarters though and passing it off as serious “analysis”.
The funny thing about being ?over-educated? in the DC area is you tend to get very relevant jobs in fields that most people only dream about from far-off places. But that?s enough banter with you lest you cry to SYOPS (again). I will leave you with this thought though: If I get paid for my analysis then why would I bring my ?A? or even my ?B? game to stratpage and give it away for free? I?m not going to be giving away trade secrets on a public use forum; much easier to use OSINT over the Internet to get my point across; it's limited to be sure but gets the job done. By the way speaking of the Internet, keep in mind that le Internet only has 1% of the world?s knowledge on it; so enjoy your 1%.