I'm grateful to Pete Wehner for drawing my attention to this article in The New Yorker. Lawrence Wright's essay examines Sayyid Imam al-Sharif and his "breaking with the extremist and violent ideology he helped develop
and popularise."
Throughout Iraq we have seen Sunni and Shia Muslims take a much more positive view of American soldiers after they have experienced the rule of either al-Qaeda or other extremist groups. There is some opinion poll evidence (this is the latest I can find) that global Muslim opinion has been sickened by what is carried out in the name of their faith. Let us all hope that the rebellion grows more and more powerful on every front.
