Belmont Club

Samarra:

Don't miss the Belmont Club's analysis of the Samarra situation, especially the performance of the 36th Iraqi Commando battalion. It is the masterpiece of the new Iraqi Army, trained to special-ops standards by the US military.

This is not its first engagement, but it was a high-profile assignment of a type that would have been inflammatory if the US had undertaken it: capture of a mosque held by insurgents. Their success means that Coalition forces can now deny what has until now been a tactical advantage to Islamist insurgents. In Najaf, the insurgents didn't even bother to sandbag their mortar positions inside the Shrine of Ali, being so confident that America would not fire back. That confidence and security is no longer operative.

That is to say, the rebuilding of the Muslim world has passed a milestone. There is now a Muslim state capable of joint-force operations with the US Army, which also has the will to engage Islamists in mosques. Even six months ago, the Iraqi Army could not be used in that capacity, partially due to incomplete training, but also due to the lack of will. The Iraqi Governing Council was gutless, but there was a lack of will at the lower levels too. Newly-minted soldiers assigned to support US operations would sometimes desert, to avoid having to fight "their Muslim brothers."

No more. Six months on, the insurgents have so enraged the Iraqi army that all claims of Muslim brotherhood are broken. Insurgents are now the enemy; the US is an ally; and we are together clearing the streets of Samarra.