Rusted Sky

And eventually, they'll realize it isn't.

Counterterrorism Blog: The Sunni Insurgency Has Become a "Disaster": An Estranged Former Ally Lashes Out, Accusing Al-Qaida of Torture and Murder in Diyala

This isn't much of a surprise - if you look at the history of totalitarian movments (whether secular or religious) you'll see pretty much the same pattern. You get folks promising change for the better, they get into power, a 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss' situation develops, and things go to hell in entirely new ways 'unforeseen' by those in charge.

But what happens when those who were true believers stop buying it? In most totalitarian states, not much - because they don't have any way to fight the system. After all, they can't vote the bad guys out of office. In the case of the USSR and Cuba, they can't even leave - they're stuck in their glorious worker's paradise, for better or worse.

However - if they've got GUNS, and realise they've been shafted by their 'liberators' who have 'helped' them fight off the oppressive crusaders - then the folks who were slaughtering them wholesale under the guise of 'helping their brothers' better watch their backs.

In a rather stunning development, the Iraqi Islamic militant faction known as Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya (a.k.a. "the Iraqi Jihad Union") has issued a new statement dated October 5 suddenly accusing Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq" of deliberately killing its fighters in Diyala province and mutilating their bodies: "To make things worse, they dug up their bodies from the graves, further mutilated them, beheaded them, and showed them off from their vehicles while driving through the towns. [The ISI] even killed our men’s wives and children." An English translation of the communique is now available for download from the NEFA Foundation website.

Though this is actually the second time this week that similar charges have been leveled at Al-Qaida in Iraq by fellow Sunni insurgents, the source of the latest set of allegations--Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya--is most unusual. Less than three months ago, the very same organization was openly working in operational partnership with Al-Qaida, and was even rumored to be considering merging its forces with Al-Qaida's "Islamic State."

I'd imagine these guys know where Al Quaeda hangs out. If I were an AlQ affilate in that area, and I hadn't been SQUEAKY clean and respectful in my dealings with the locals, I'd seriously consider traveling to another climate for my health.

The Iraqi Jihad Union got what they wanted - and realized the cost was way too high.

J.