The Iraqi newspaper al-Mada, which has recently been at the forefront in reporting the news of the “retreat” of al-Qa'ida from al-Anbar, has published another front-page article claiming that Al-Qa'ida is now facing in Falluja the same form of opposition that had forced its retreat from other Anbari cities.
Al-Mada quoted unnamed “sources” (perhaps the same sources that had informed the paper about events in Hit and Ramadi in the last weeks) who told the newspaper that al-Qa'ida is “in its death throes” in Falluja. Falluja is seen by Iraqis and Americans alike as a bastion of opposition to the US occupation and the pro-American Iraqi government.
Eliminating al-Qa'ida from the city, or even significantly weakening it, would be seen as a major step in depriving al-Qa'ida from its safe havens in Iraq.
Al-Qa'ida is resorting to harsher tactics as its popularity plummets in Anbar, claimed al-Mada. Among those new methods is the liquidation of ex-supporters who have left the organization, and different forms of collective punishment against communities that ally themselves with al-Qa'idaÂ’s enemies.
As expected, al-Mada heralded Maliki’s visit to Ramadi, Anbar’s capital, yesterday as a sign of the faltering of al-Qa'ida. The newspaper said that the visit was “the last nail in al-Qa'ida’s coffin..." |