Bye, bye Anbar

According to the chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq, Anbar province is lost. "We haven't been defeated militarily but we have been defeated politically -- and that's where wars are won and lost," noted one army officer who has read the report. Given that Anbar is the home of the Sunni Arab insurgency and Al-Qaeda in Iraq, this seems like terrible news.

In other news, the largest Sunni Arab bloc in Iraq's parliament is furious over legislation drawn up by Shiites and Kurds that would essentially carve Iraq into three autonomous regions. Recall that the Sunnis threw their weight behind the new Iraqi Constitution - which included provisions for the creations of autonomous regions - in the beief that the topic of federalism would be reexamined by parliament at a later date. Of course, regional autonomy is exactly what the Shiites and Kurds have always wanted and it seems unlikely that they will be willing to compromise with the Sunnis on such a critical issue.

Posted by Kingston