Terrorist Infighting In Iraq

Tomorrow's NYTimes reports:

... In October, the two insurgents said in interviews, a group of local fighters from the [insurgent group] Islamic Army gathered for an open-air meeting on a street corner in Taji, a city north of Baghdad.

Across from the Iraqis stood the men from Al Qaeda, mostly Arabs from outside Iraq. Some of them wore suicide belts. The men from the Islamic Army accused the Qaeda fighters of murdering their comrades.

"Al Qaeda killed two people from our group," said an Islamic Army fighter who uses the nom de guerre Abu Lil and who claimed that he attended the meeting. "They repeatedly kill our people."

The encounter ended angrily. A few days later, the insurgents said, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and the Islamic Army fought a bloody battle on the outskirts of town.

The battle, which the insurgents said was fought on Oct. 23, was one of several clashes between Al Qaeda and local Iraqi guerrilla groups that have broken out in recent months across the Sunni Triangle.

The bible, then Abraham Lincoln, said a house divided cannot stand. Being smart fellers, we know this, and US forces are already talking with the insurgents about allying against al Qaeda.

Such talks would not have been possible without the recent Iraqi election and the current government formation, both of which have begun to give Sunnis reassurance that they will have a voice in the future of Iraq.

Surprisingly, that's pretty much the NYT's take on the story as well. It's getting harder and harder to justify Murtha-isms and Sheehanigans that we're losing in Iraq.