Not surpsisingly, the enemy is feeling the pain and trying to play the victim:
Officials in several Sunni Arab groups charged that U.S. and Iraqi forces are pursuing combat and police operations aimed at cowing Sunni Arab communities.
Salih al-Mutlaq, a spokesman for the National Dialogue Front and one of the Sunni Arabs who helped draft the new constitution, said military offensives in Sunni Arab areas are meant to prevent Sunnis from voting in the Dec. 15 election.
"We strongly condemn the military operations and demand that they are halted immediately," al-Mutlaq said. "We demand that the United Nations, the Arab League and humanitarian organizations stop these massacres."
U.S. commanders insist the offensives are intended to encourage Sunni Arabs to vote by removing the threat of Sunni-dominated insurgents who want to scuttle the ballot.
Ayad al-Izi, a member of the Islamic Iraqi Party, complained about the deployment of Interior Ministry troops to Diyala province, where more than 310 people have been arrested. He charged the arrests were politically motivated.
"Such practices are aimed at foiling the political process in the country and they ignite the strife in such areas," he said.
Harith al-Obeidi, a senior member in another Sunni political party, the General Conference of the People of Iraq, also criticized the raids.
In Diyala, Maj. Gen. Mahdi Sabyh Ibrahim said Saturday that 310 people had been arrested in the province northeast of Baghdad after a series of car bombings, ambushes and other acts of violence. He said the Interior Ministry troops were acting on tips from local residents.
At another news conference, the Association of Muslims Scholars, a Sunni clerical group, condemned both the raids in Diyala and the U.S.-Iraqi offensive along the Syrian border. They called on Shiite religious leaders to join in condemning the operations.
Sheik Mohammed Bashar Al-Faydhi, the group's spokesman, reiterated that it would not participate in politics as long as foreign forces were in Iraq, or until a withdrawal timetable was announced.
This is good stuff--demanding that entities outside stop alleged abuse--when these thugs slaughtered hundreds of thousands whose graves are still being found.
Sadly, many in the West truly feel sorry for the so-called "downtrodden" Sunnis. But look a little closer and--Surprise!--the true killers are revealed. Truly, it takes a lot of balls for the Sunnis to claim victim status. They don't want to vote? Then don't. I won't cry for you. As the saying goes, when in a hole--stop digging. The Sunnis are just digging their own graves if they keep fighting. Once we do leave the fighting to the Iraqis, the Iraqi government will be far less kind to the Baathists than we are.
Drive on. Kill the enemy. Secure the west. Cow the enemy, as the enemy fears we are doing. And utterly defeat the Sunnis who still dream of stomping Shias and Kurds as their God-given right.
Victory is the only acceptable outcome.
