Al Qaeda in Iraq pushes back

For two and a half years, the US has been trying to threaten, bribe, and cajole Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar to assist them in going after Al Qaeda. You know those tribal leaders noticed this.

A fuel tanker rigged with explosives killed 40 people when it blew up near a Sunni mosque in western Iraq on Saturday, a day after the mosque's imam had criticized al Qaeda militants, police and residents said.

Also: An interesting article on Sadr using the US crackdown to thin out the disloyal from his ranks.