Archives » Thursday, September 11, 2008
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Larry Kaplow
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Sep 11, 2008 03:34 PM
A meeting today in the Rasheed Hotel's faded ballroom was meant to
reassure America's tribal allies. But the so-called Sons of Iraq tribal
fighters, so crucial in stabilizing Iraq, remained worried they are
being shoved aside and left vulnerable to their old Al Qaeda
adversaries. Some said the mayhem of 2006 could start again if they are
disbanded.
Starting next month, the command and bankrolling of the more than
50,000 militia men in Baghdad will be handed to the Iraqi military
(thousands more around the country will follow). As the hand-off
approaches, the anxiety is building. Many of the Sunni fighters suspect
that, since they have quelled Al Qaeda, they have outlived their
usefulness to a Shiite-led government that might now turn on them.
Moreover, there's personal prestige and local patronage at stake. The
U.S. ran the groups through local contractors, usually sheiks or former
Iraqi army officers, who will now see their men and their money
controlled by rival Iraqis.
Some U.S. commanders have couched the handover in the kind of rosy
pronouncements that characterized the coalition spin machine in the
early years of the war. They hail it as a victory for reconciliation
and tout Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's stated intention to provide a
soft landing for the militias in the security forces or government
jobs. But others say it's simply a transition that must be made, that
Iraq cannot be a real state if bands of armed men act outside of
government control. "There will be friction but our goal together," in
the U.S. and Iraqi forces, said Brig. Gen. Will Grimsley, "Is to help
mitigate the friction as well as possible. This day was inevitable."
American commanders – who stayed off the stage Thursday – vowed in
interviews to monitor the transition closely and even continue paying
the fighters if the government doesn't follow up.
But one by one, leaders of the Awakening movement – the name usually
used by Iraqis - aired their fears for Iraqi leaders on the stage
before them. Many of their fighters will fail literacy requirements for
the security forces. Many are officers from Saddam's old army who, they
predicted, will be excluded or relegated to foot-soldier status in the
today's Iraqi Army. They talked about the fighters and family members
killed by Al Qaeda. Amid concerns that the government is holding arrest
warrants for hundreds of fighters, one leader asked if they would face
prosecution for their killings of Al Qaeda militants.
Iraqi Baghdad Commander Lt. Gen. Aboud Qanbar promised that the
fighters could keep their guns during the transition – though the
weapons' serial numbers would have to be recorded. He said the
government still needed them for security for a limited time. But
otherwise the somber group, perhaps 50 or so of the more than 300
militia leaders in Baghdad, received little relief. Qanbar told them
the government could not assure their protection any more than it could
protect its own officials and that they would get no breaks in meeting
security forces recruitment criteria. One Sahwa commander warned, "You
are taking our power and that is a mistake."
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