"The focus on al Qaeda makes sense here, where local 
    officials have gone on record acknowledging that most of 
    the perhaps one thousand al Qaeda fighters in Baqubah were
    young men and boys who called the city home. This may 
    clash with the perception in US and other media that only 
    a small percentage of the enemy in Iraq is al Qaeda, which
    in turn leads to false conclusions that the massive 
    offensive campaign underway across Iraq is a lot of shock 
    and awe aimed at a straw enemy. But as more Sunni tribal 
    leaders renounce former ties with al Qaeda, it's becoming 
    clearer just how heavily AQ relied on local talent, and 
    how disruptive they have been here in fomenting the civil 
    war."