Sunni Guerrillas strike
Some of the Awakening councils in Iraq are going on strike. These are the Sunni groups who have entered into a temporary alliance with the US. And believe me, these guerrillas have been saying that all along. They have been stressing that they wish to destroy the Iraqi Shia government, and that they will return to fighting the US once that is accomplished. However, these so called “Concerned Citizens Groups”, as the Administration calls them, have been touted in Washington as one of the great successes of the surge.
Now some are saying they have not been paid. This is particularly ominous. The amount of graf and thievery going in Iraq has been astounding. An Iraqi Defense Minister who took billions, plane loads of vacuum shrink wrapped pallets of cash that simply disappeared. The culprits are both American and Iraqi.
Yet this is going to undermine a central pillar of what President Bush and John McCain are claiming as success.
But I will bet that the spinmesiters in Washington will call this a success too. “Oh, the Iraqi’s are striking. That is Democracy! See! America has succeeded in bringing democracy to Iraq!”
Posted: March 22nd, 2008 under Iraq.
Comments: 3
Comments
Comment from Pat
Time: March 24, 2008, 8:11 am
Bush has claimed that his surge worked with only 30,000 troops and the help of a few “concerned citizens.” The actual number of the surge was 110,000 when you include the 80,000 members of The Awakening.
Why aren’t we paying these guys anymore? Is bush so delusional that he actually thinks he can do without their help, plus bring 20-some thousand troops home by summer, and nothing will change?
Comment from Max
Time: March 24, 2008, 9:13 am
My guess would be corruption on the part of the Americans paying them, or the Iraqi Chiefs receiving the money. So much of the American effort is being done by private contractors, with little or oversight. Some contractor charged with paying those guys could just pocket the money, and nobody would know.
Comment from Max
Time: March 25, 2008, 12:22 am
Another big beef the Sunni have is that they were supposed to be integrated into the Iraqi armed forces. But PM Maliki has been dragging his feet here.
The Iraqi armed forces do not obey Maliki anyway. They take orders form the local American commander, or the local Shia militia leader. The national government is truly non functional outside the Green Zone.
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