A Big Oops For Al Qaeda In Iraq

It must have been quite a scene at the Iraqi Parliament today. Rubble was pushed aside and the chambers, normally empty on Friday, filled:

Iraqi lawmakers, meanwhile, gathered Friday in a rare — and defiant — session of parliament on the Muslim day of prayer. A red and white bouquet sat in [Mohammed] Awad's place in the parliament chamber. [Awad was the sole casualty; a moderate Sunni lawmaker.] Empty seats outnumbered people, though, as lawmakers took the podium one after another to denounce the bombing. One MP had his arm in sling and a woman lawmaker wore a neck brace. (AP)

The Islamic State, an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility, issuing a statement:

"A knight from the state of Islam ... reached the heart of the Green Zone ... the temporary headquarters of the mice of the infidel parliament and blew himself up among a gathering of the infidel masters."

Their attack may be the worst strategic error the Islamist terror-fighters have committed in Iraq. Feel what they may feel about U.S. actions and involvement, Iraqis are united behind their fledgling democratic institutions and this attack on the Parliament, their elected representatives and their free future is sure to turn people against the forces of tyrany and chaos -- just as Big Lizards wrote in his post, Al-Qaeda in Iraq Committing Institutional Suicide.

Iraqi VP Adil Abdul-Mahdi said in the Parliament's chambers,

"The more they (terrorists) act, the more solid we become. When they take from us one martyr, we will offer more martyrs. The more they target our unity, the stronger our unity becomes."

The Left, in its clouded view of reality, has seen the blast as another sign of defeat, another reason to run and cower.

It is not. It is rather a sign of desperation and confusion among the forces we are fighting, and another reason to stay, to fight, and to win.