Lest We Forget About "Over There"

In today’s New York Times, reporter Erica Goode tells us here of Ali Abdul Jabbar, a “Sunni Awakening” commander who was fortunate enough to prevent a standoff with the Iraqi army over any alleged involvement with al Qaeda (with the American army apparently mediating the dispute – the photo above shows members of the “Awakening” with alleged al Qaeda suspects in custody)…

(Jabbar’s) men — armed with Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition pouches hanging from their chests — guarded the door, prepared to defend him if the army arrived. Other members of the Awakening Council, one of the Sunni-dominated citizen patrols backed by American forces here, lounged around the room, drinking Pepsis and observing a one-day strike called in protest of Mr. Jabbar’s rumored status as a wanted man.

But a few hours later, the atmosphere appeared to have calmed. Mr. Jabbar and an Iraqi Army captain stood in front of the neighborhood’s Abu Hanifa mosque, shaking hands and exchanging mutual expressions of support and friendship. The strike was called off. And the warrant was forgotten, if it had ever existed; the captain told Mr. Jabbar it had never been issued.

I don’t really have a lot to say here, but the story does point out the following in particular…

The escalating events of the morning, and the abrupt turnaround by midafternoon, offered a vivid illustration of the mounting tensions between the Awakening Councils and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government, which is mainly Shiite. American and Iraqi officials have said that the Iraqi government will take full control of the Awakening patrols in and around Baghdad on Oct. 1.

So I would just ask that we all, in the midst of the most important election I can ever recall, please keep in mind that the transition will be taking place between the Awakening councils and the Iraqi government at around the end of the month.

Along with the rest of us, I can only hope and pray that al-Maliki and his people decide to do this right with our assistance and not try to settle old scores instead (if for no other reason, than to ensure the safety of our people over there), lest scenes like this one described in the story start playing out all over the place, again…

In other developments around Iraq on Wednesday, at least five Iraqis — two police officers, two soldiers and one Awakening Council member — were mistakenly killed and at least four others wounded by American forces in the Abayachi neighborhood near Tarmiya, north of Baghdad, according to Col. Muhammad Kadhum, of the Abayachi police.

An American military statement said that American forces conducting combat operations had exchanged fire with Iraqi forces, resulting in casualties.

Colonel Kadhum said the Americans were in a boat patrolling the Tigris when they approached an Iraqi checkpoint. The Iraqi security forces thought that the approaching troops were terrorists, Colonel Kadhum said, and began firing at them. An American aircraft then arrived and opened fire on Iraqi forces.

“The American commander came to my office today, and he apologized for what happened,” Colonel Kadhum said. “He promised to start an investigation.”

But how could this be? Senator McBush told us Iraq was “a peaceful and stable country” here.

That’s not "change we can believe in," my friends.