The big story out of Iraq
The SoFA negotiations are important, but the Shia government trying to break up the US formed and funded Sunni militias is a really big deal. Today's story on the topic is from the LATimes.
This could be the sectarian conflict seriously reigniting, folks. Pay attention.
In the last week, we've also had stories on the topic by McClatchy and the NYTimes.
An emboldened Iraqi government has launched an aggressive campaign to disband a U.S.-funded force of Sunni Arab fighters that has been key to Iraq's fragile peace, arresting prominent members and sending others into hiding or exile as their former patrons in the American military reluctantly stand by.....
This could be the sectarian conflict seriously reigniting, folks. Pay attention.
In the last week, we've also had stories on the topic by McClatchy and the NYTimes.
posted by mikevotes at
11:59 AM
2 Comments:
From the link:
"The ones in Baghdad and Diyala province just changed their T-shirts. There are large numbers who were really Al Qaeda. We have to really look hard for those elements without blood on their hands," said Haidar Abadi, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party.
Wow. Who knew?
Wasn't that the original premise of the Sahwa (Awakening) concept? You co-opt the Sunni insurgents and get them to work for you instead of against you. It's a little like bringing in a chain gang to fix a road and then acting shocked that these people are convicts.
The Sahwa idea was a short-term fix at best. They were used and now they are getting thrown out. And now we have 99,000 trained, armed, pissed off guys who know all the inside information on our patrols and troops, having worked with them for well over a year.
While the Awakening model was never part of the original surge strategy, it was the only part of the surge that actually showed any results. Now it's set to blow up in our faces.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 12:26 PM
Well, if the Iraqi government had accepted the idea of taking them on the payroll and allowing them to self-police, it might have worked, but there was never any realistic reason to believe that would happen.
The US wants the Iraqis to move past sectarianism, but, frankly, they're not there. (yet?)
They still haven't resolved any of the underlying political issues.
(I assume that you, like myself, saw all this coming when they started the program.)
By
mikevotes, at 2:59 PM
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