Iraqi rebels turn their guns on al-Qa'eda

Telegraph reports American troops on the Syrian border are enjoying a battle they have long waited to see - a clash between foreign al-Qa'eda fighters and Iraqi insurgents. Tribal leaders in Husaybah are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who established the town as an entry point for al-Qa'eda jihadists being smuggled into the country.

Fantastic news. Rather than killing Americans or innocent Iraqis they are killing each other

The reason, the US military believes, is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code.

Those worried about a theocracy taking control should take note.

Fighting, which could be clearly heard at night over the weekend, first broke out in May when as many as 50 mortar rounds were fired across the city. But, to the surprise of the American garrison, this time it was not the target. If a shell landed near the US base, "they'd adjust their fire and not shoot at us", Lt Col Tim Mundy said. "They shot at each other."

Let them kill each other.

The trigger was the assassination of a tribal sheikh, from the Sulaiman tribe, ordered by Zarqawi for inviting senior US marines for lunch. American troops gained an insight into the measures the jihadists had imposed during recent house-to-house searches in nearby towns and villages.

Captain Ed blogged The locals quickly discovered that they had a choice between two foreign forces -- an infidel force that wanted to rebuild their community and leave them to their own devices, or a foreign Islamic force that used murder and brutality to impose a second tyranny. It should surprise few that the tribal chiefs chose the former over the latter, and have decided to fight for themselves to rid the area of the Zarqawi lunatics. People may remain skeptical of the Iraqi desire for freedom, saying that the region has never known democracy and the divisions run too deep for representative government to work. Iraqis may not know democracy, but they certainly know oppression -- and they have consistently rejected it since their liberation. They fought their way to the polls in January, and they fight against the enemies of liberty in the streets of Qaim and elsewhere. On the celebration of our own demand for freedom and liberty, we should not forget that those impulses live in every human heart.

Michelle Malkin blogged Related posts on earlier reports of red-on-red fighting: Winds of Change, Small dead animals, and Indepundit.

Bill Roggio blogged US Marines are being treated to some Fourth of July festivities, watching members of the insurgent-friendly Sulaiman tribe and al Qaeda exchange high-caliber fireworks. Zarqawi's brand of governance is catching on like wildfire. "Sick and crazy" looks awful on a campaign poster, and even worse in practice. Zarqawi has advocated for a civil war inside Iraq, but likely he did not anticipate the one brewing between the foreign and domestic Sunni 'insurgents'.