Meanwhile, in Iraq...

Things still don't seem to be going according to the Bush script. From Sunni Insurgents Seen as Increasingly Unified by Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service 02/15/06:

Despite reports of growing tensions and even occasional clashes between Islamists and nationalists, the predominantly Sunni insurgency in Iraq appears increasingly united and confident of victory, according to a new report released here Wednesday by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). ...

The notion, for example, that the insurgency is divided between Iraqi nationalists and foreign jihadis, most prominently al Qaeda's Organisation in Mesopotamia (QOM) allegedly led by Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, appears increasingly questionable, according to the report, which notes that there has been a "gradual convergence" in the groups' tactics and rhetoric. ...

"Practically speaking, it has become virtually impossible to categorise a particular group's discourse as jihadi as opposed to nationalist or patriotic, with the exception of the Baath party, whose presence on the ground has been singularly ineffective." ...

According to the report, four main groups now dominate the communications channels of the insurgency and publish regularly through a variety of media: QOM; Partisans of the Sunna Army (Jaysh Ansar al-Sunna); the Islamic Army in Iraq (Al-Jaysh al-Islami fil-'Iraq); and the Islamic Front of the Iraqi Resistance (al-Jabha al-Islamiya lil-Muqawama al-'Iraqiya, or Jami).

The ICG Web site has an executive summary available and also the full report.

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