As Iraq Turns

Remember how it's important not to close the detainee camp at Guantanamo because we're still getting such valuable information there? Well, that suggests that the jihadist movement uses the same tactics for years and years (liek some armies I know) A recent report regarding the Iraqi insurgency suggests otherwise:

Despite reports of growing tensions and even occasional clashes between Islamists and nationalists, the predominantly Sunni insurgency in Iraq appears increasingly united and confident of victory, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG).

The 30-page report, based primarily on an analysis of the public communications of insurgent groups, as well as interviews and past studies about the insurgency, also concludes that rebel groups have adapted quickly and effectively to changing US tactics - in both the military and political spheres

This would explain the fits and starts with which attacks are now carried out in the country. The LA Times has an interesting rundown of this phenomenon today, suggesting that cease-fires have political goals, that Sunni insurgents are reaching out to and even becoming enmeshed within the government, that foreign fighters have become marginalized, and that a civil war on multiple fronts is taking hold.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi constitution has lost more support:

Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr has said he rejects the Iraqi constitution backed by his partners in the biggest parliament bloc, raising the possibility of a crisis over one of the country's most explosive issues.

"I reject this constitution which calls for sectarianism and there is nothing good in this constitution at all," he told Al Jazeera television.

I wonder if this will lead to more internecine fighting between Shiites like there was in Najaf last summer. Shiites battling Shiites? Insurgents battling insurgents? Not a pretty picture for a war that drags ever forward.