Abdul Sattar al Rishawi

The assassination of Sheikh Abdul Sattar al Rishawi, coming as it does during a crescendo of cynicism in the anti-war camp in Washington, is a reminder of the extraordinary risks that free Iraqis are prepared to take to side with America and the liberty for which we stand. The sheik was killed by a bomb planted under his car yesterday at Ramadi, ten days after his 90-minute meeting with President Bush and two days after the anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. The sheikh was on his way back from an event to hand out food, money and medicine to the poor.We never had the honor of meeting this particular risk-taker for freedom, but the reporting of our Eli Lake and others have left no doubt about the significance of his entry into the lists and his accession to leadership in the rebellion against Al Qaeda in the heart of Anbar. At a time when our GIs and Iraq’s sheikhs are fighting for the prospect of politics itself, Sheikh Abu Risha, as Iraqis called him, was the model of the warrior statesman.Abu Risha was one of the sheikhs who rose up against Al Qaeda last September and began the awakening model now employed throughout the Euphrates River Valley. Others before him had challenged Osama bin Laden’s terrorists, but he was the first to do so publicly and survive — until his murder. He strengthened his ties with the United States Marines in the spring, when Al Qaeda thugs left in front of the main hospital at Ramadi an ice cooler filled with the heads of the children of slain sheikhs.That is the kind of terror he was facing. His actions taught Al Qaeda that its barbarity would only earn greater enmity from their new Sunni foes. With his newly found popularity, Sheikh Rishawi did not make the mistake of so many other Iraqi leaders who placed the interest of their sects over the good of the nation. He took steps in March to integrate his militia into the Shi’ia dominated government. On the day of his murder it was the Shi’ia led Interior Ministry that announced the Iraqi government would build a shrine to Sheikh Abu Risha on the road that leads to the Anbar Province.The sheikh also made an impression on General Petraeus, who presented him with an Arabic version of Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and yesterday called his murder a “terrible loss for Anbar and all of Iraq.” We hear that Abu Risha privately told General Petraeus of his dream to lead an Arab army to the caves of Pakistan and the Mosques of Saudi Arabia to chase the enemy that Americans and so many Iraqis now share. That promise is the kind of thing that draws the laughter of the Democrats, but not of those who take this war seriously.The sheikh from Anbar had his detractors. Sunni leaders who tolerated Al Qaeda and were once courted by the Central Intelligence Agency, such as Harith al Dhari, who called the sheikh a fraud. Among the sheikhs in Anbar he had his rivals, some of whom spread rumors about him to the foreign press. Abu Risha certainly meted out his own rough justice to terrorists who had enslaved so many Anbaris before the revolt. But the scenes of purple fingers and dancing voters will be but a memory if others do not continue the prince of Anbar’s struggle for democratic polity.There are, even in this tragedy, grounds for hope. Part of Abu Risha’s genius was that he built an organization. Already the sheikh’s advisers are planning to finish the work of fighting the death cults — both Sunni and increasingly Shi’ia — that seek to enslave Iraq. The legacy of these cults are hamlets and provinces where smokers get their fingers cut off, wives are forced to become comfort girls, and children are murdered in front of their parents. Abu Risha’s rebellion was evidence that it is possible for the human spirit to triumph over evil. May his martyrdom strengthen our will here and in Iraq never to relent until our enemy is vanquished and liberty secured.

Abdul Sattar al Rishawi

Abdul Sattar al Rishawi

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