Good News from Iraq: Al Qaeda Leader Arrested

Iraqi police commandos have captured the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in a midnight raid. Not only is this good news in and of itself, but the implications for the success of U.S. efforts in Iraq are tremendous. First, the Sunni insurgency has been dealt a major blow. Second, the Iraqi police obviously were acting on an intelligence tip, which suggests the extent to which Sunni public support of Al Qaeda in Iraq has slipped. Finally, it demonstrates the increasing competence of the Iraqi military and police forces, and the success of U.S. efforts to train them, since they apparently initiated and executed this project on their own--U.S. authorities had been unaware of the capture of Al-Masri until his capture was announced by Iraqi officials.