Iraqi Civilians 3; Terrorists 0

Sure, it's just one battle, and there have been many in which hundreds of civilians have perished.

But how sweet is it that the good guys won one for a change?:

Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon today, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming towards his shop and decided he had had enough.

As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their own AK-47's and opened fire, police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's young nephews and a bystander were injured, the police said.

"We attacked them before they attacked us," Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, said in a brief exchange at his shop a few hours after the battle. He did not give his last name. "We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen. I am waiting for the rest of them to come and we will show them."

Dang...! Didn't have to go all "pre-emptive," Dhia. I imagine the condemnation from Kofi Annan will be swift and fierce.

Well, not fierce. Kofi Annan doesn't do fierce. Fierce might rumple his thousand-dollar suits.

It was the first time that private citizens are known to have retaliated successfully against insurgents. There have been anecdotal reports of residents shooting at attackers after a bombing or assassination. But the gun battle today erupted in full view of half a dozen witnesses, including a Justice Ministry official who lives nearby.

The battle was the latest sign that Iraqis may be willing to start standing up against the attacks that leave dozens of people dead here nearly every week. After a suicide bombing in Hilla last month that killed 136 people, including a number of women and children, hundreds of residents demonstrated in front of the city hall every day for almost a week, chanting slogans against terrorism. Last week, a smaller but similar rally took place in Baghdad. Another demonstration is scheduled for Wednesday in the capital.

Let us have more of this. Much more.

But there may be consequences for this heroism:

Meanwhile, a group of armed neighborhood men stood watch on the roof of the house, guarding the streets leading to the Husseiniya mosque and Dhia's shop.

"I am sure they will be back," one of the guards said. "We killed three of them."

These men are savages and killers, so I don't doubt there's a good chance they'll be back.

But they are also rather cowardly, and prefer to score their "military victories" against buses full of twelve-year-old schoolgirls and other unarmed civilians.

We will see. Let's hope if they do come back, they die in even greater numbers than before.

Thanks for AndrewF for this great news on this sad day.

posted by Ace at 04:36 PM

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