Three Wishes

Once upon a time a Sheik traveled to a far away land. Once on those distant shores he expressed three wishes.

The first:

The leader of the tribal confederation that has fought to expel Al Qaeda from most of Iraq's Anbar province is offering his men to help gin up a rebellion against Osama bin Laden's organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
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When asked if he would send military advisers to Afghanistan to assist American troops fighting there, he said: "I have no problem with this; if they ask me, I will do it."
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"Al Qaeda is an ideology," Sheik Ahmad said. "We can defeat them inside Iraq and we can defeat them in any country."

In Washington, Sheik Ahmad also met with some members of Congress. He said he told them that American soldiers should stay in Iraq for at least as long as it takes to rebuild Iraq's national army. The Democratic majority in Congress has tried and failed to mandate deadlines for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq regardless of conditions on the ground.

"We have to rebuild a national Iraqi army, not built on sects, but the same way they built up the Anbar police," he said. "They must be well-armed, so they will be able to protect the country and all the American interests in the area. We also have to make a friendship treaty based on mutual respect between the two parties, and then the United States will be able to withdraw from Iraq, if they wish, and we will succeed in Iraq the same way America succeeded in Japan and Germany."
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"I would love to see both of them, McCain and Obama," the sheik said. "I have not asked though. If there is a possibility or opportunity I would love to see them. I know that both parties are really busy with the election now. That is why I have not asked for this."

And the Sheik's third expressed wish:

Sheik Ahmad said he wanted Hollywood to make a movie about the life story of his brother [ed note: see here], who was so revered after his murder that Iraq's interior minister dedicated a statue to him on the road from Baghdad to Anbar.

Footnote: Some might think Barack Obama would want to avoid a public meeting with this man. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Sheik represents the core of Obama's thinking on Iraq:

THE SURGE IS NOT WORKING... The reduced violence in Anbar Province is the result of cooperation between American forces and Sunni tribes, which started more than 18 months ago, long before the surge.