Other Awakenings in Iraq

As I pointed you to in the previous post, the Shiia in Wasit Province are in the beginning phases of their own Awakening which is somewhat modeled after The Anbar Salvation Council, and in case you didn't follow the link, here's the same report via FoxNews.com - Officials: Shiites Interested in Alliance With American Troops. Thanks to NightTwister for the link.

• Sheik Majid Tahir al-Magsousi, the leader of the Migasees tribe here in Wasit province, acknowledged tribal leaders have discussed creating a brigade of young men trained by the Americans to bolster local security as well as help patrol the border with Iran.

Omar over at Iraq The Model has Abu Dsheer, a massacre and a moment of unity

• A story of the savagery of al-Qaeda and the compassion of Iraqis took place two days ago in one of the southern suburbs of Baghdad.
  The story began when the people of Hor Rijab, a village inhabited by mostly Sunni farmers, made up their mind that enough is enough and formed a "battalion" of local fighters to confront al-Qaeda hardly two weeks ago.
  Al-Qaeda was definitely not happy with this rebellion and on Tuesday morning attacked the village, Radio Sawa has the details

Bill Roggio has a report of citizens in southern Baghdad who are similarly "Awakening". This reconciliation group consists of both Sunnis and Shiites. Bill's post is up over at The Long War Journal called Standing up the Concerned Citizens in southern Baghdad

• In southern Baghdad province, the establishment of the Concerned Citizens, also referred to as Iraqi Police Volunteers, began to take hold in late spring. Initiated by tribal connections from Anbar province, the movement mimicked the rise of the Anbar Salvation Council in some respects, but differed in many ways. This bottom up process of local reconciliation consists of both Sunni and Shia tribes wishing to restore a measure of peace to the war torn regions south of Baghdad.

No less important, but somewhat unrelated to the ongoing Iraq Awakenings,

Several of the MilBloggers we reference were in a round table with President George W. Bush yesterday. Bill Roggio (The Long War Journal), Matthew Burden (BlackFive), Mrs. Greyhawk (Mudville Gazette), and Mohammed (Iraq The Model) were all participants. I'll point you to Steve Schippert over at The Tank as he has links to the posts by the others off his post. Meeting With President Bush On The War. All of their posts are excellent reads and I'd recommend you check them all out for their perspective on the meeting.

• It was an honor to be among the MilBloggers invited to speak with the Commander in Chief for a one-hour round table on the various theaters of the conflict at hand. This post is delayed - and brief - as I try and find the words to accurately convey the exchange - not just in content, but in what it meant both personally and historically.