Sunset

clipped from fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com Bill Roggio reports that "Abu Ibrahim, an Islamic Army commander in the region, told the Associated Press that he informed the Iraqi Police in the region that his fighters intended to attack al Qaeda. Ibrahim requested US forces stay out of the fight, as the insurgent groups could not be distinguished by uniform." Why do negotiated settlements between Jihadis fail? Groups of armed men whose primary source of legitimacy (and income) is the control of neighborhoods and towns have no incentive to share it. Without an overarching legal system to govern the division of spoils between Jihadi groups there can be no basis for sharing territory, money and authority except force of arms. In this case it means Samarra ain't big enough for the al-Qaeda and the Islamic Army of Iraq. Somebody's got to leave town before sunset or there'll be a showdown, which there apparently is going to be.