PROGRESS IN IRAQ ON RECONCILIATION

AP:

In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party paid a rare visit Sunday to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal sheiks who have staged a U.S.-backed revolt against al-Qaida militants.

Ammar al-Hakim's visit was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, which has faced criticism for doing little to iron out differences between the country's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.

Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, last month at the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of al-Sistani's role as the nation's guardian.

Al-Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties.

Iraq's Shiite account for about 60 percent of Iraq's population, while the Sunni Arabs and the mostly Sunni Kurds make up most of the remainder.

Al-Hakim, son and heir apparent of Iraq's top Shiite politician, struck a note of national unity in Anbar, where a tribal revolt has significantly reduced violence in the vast province and inspired similar anti-al-Qaida uprisings elsewhere in central Iraq and Baghdad.

THIS COMES ON THE HEELS OF GREAT MILITARY NEWS - WHICH IS GETTING ABOUT AS MUCH ATTENTION IN THE MSM AS THE FACT THAT THE SOUTH POLE HAS ITS BIGGEST ICE SHELF EVER.

BOTTOM-LINE:

• IF THE DEMS DON'T EFF THINGS UP, WE WILL WIN.

• ONLY THE ENEMY'S FIFTH COLUMN - THE DEMS AND THE MSM - CAN STOP US!