"He's Cut, the Russian is Cut!"

Please allow me to continue my streak of bad metaphors--just as the invincible Russian in Rocky IV showed that he could bleed, this week there were two reports of suicide bombers that, although far from pointing to anything conclusive, show that the insurgency in Iraq may be bleeding.

The first story is about a Saudi who had a change of heart:

He wasn't supposed to live, and the way he tells the story today, this "suicide bomber" wasn't quite ready to die. Twenty-one-year-old Ahmed Abdullah al-Shayea had come to Iraq from Saudi Arabia to join the infamous terrorist known as Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in a holy war against the American infidels. On Christmas morning, 2004, he got his first assignment, to park a tanker truck full of explosives near the high walls around the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. He didn't know that four fellow terrorists in a Jeep Cherokee following a safe distance behind held the remote-control trigger. When they pushed it, an explosion thundered across the city, killing 10 Iraqi policemen. But al-Shayea, unlike scores of other bombers who've been vaporized beyond recognition, was blown through the windshield and, against all odds, survived.

This story sure doesn't tell the narrative of the fanatical Muslim willing to die in order to kill the enemies of "true Islam." In this instance a young man thought he was on a mission and, when completed, would go back into the ranks and fight another day. Much to his surprise, he was betrayed by the men to which he swore allegiance. His perfidious friends didn't count on their cannon fodder to survive and give up detailed information that would eventually lead to the arrest of some of Zarqawi's top lieutenants.

The treacherous methods that the insurgency is executing doesn't stop there. On election day, the insurgents strapped a bomb to downs syndrom patient:

The suicide attack that was performed on an election center in one of Baghdad's districts (Baghdad Al-Jadeedah) last Sunday was performed using a kidnapped "Down Syndrome" patient. Eye witnesses said (and I'm quoting one of my colleagues; a dentist who lives there) "the poor victim was so scared when ordered to walk to the searching point and began to walk back to the terrorists. In response the criminals pressed the button and blew up the poor victim almost half way between their position and the voting center's entrance".

I couldn't believe the news until I met another guy from that neighborhood who knows the family of the victim. The guy was reported missing 5 days prior to elections' day and the family were distributing posters that specified his descriptions and asking anyone who finds him to contact them.

Seems the insurgents are running out of loyal maniacs. None of these murdering slimeballs made the ultimate sacrifice by stapping a bomb jacket on themselves to disrupt the elections last Saturday. Is it possible that their ranks are so depleted that the leaders of the insurgency are forced to either deceive their own men or to prey on the weak?

The moral cowardice of these numskulls is nothing new. These men hide in schools, used women and children as shields and shoot at coalition troops from Mosques; it should not be surpising that they would stoop so low as to kidnap a handicapped kid, strap a bomb to him and blow him up in a line full of innocent people.

Although these acts are extremely morally deplorable, there may be a silver lining--the enemy is revealing signs that it is losing. If this is a hearts and minds campaign, it doesn't look as if the insurgents are gathering the multitudes of people willing to die for their cause. The Western Press is convinced that the insurgency is "growing" (continue reading that Newsweek article), yet these accounts belie that notion. On Saturday, eight million people publically voted, and the insurgents' big response was a bomb strapped to a weak man.

Time is now on our side--The Coalition strategy of empowering Iraqis to fight for themselves is building, while the insurgency continues to seek out the weak, expending them in the process. The momemtum given by the election will give the American cause a huge boost, while the insurgents continue to lose men, resources and time. I'm waxing confident that the Coalition is going to succeed in Iraq. At this point, we'd be advised to heed the advice that Duke told Rocky, "He's worried. You cut him. You hurt him. You see he's not a machine."

UPDATE: Strange Women Lying in Ponds links to another story in which bold Iraqis fight back:

Citizens of Al Mudiryiah were subjected to an attack by several militants today who were trying to punish the residents of this small town for voting in the election last Sunday.

The citizens responded and managed to stop the attack, kill 5 of the attackers, wounded 8 and burned their cars