| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| 6,000 Sunnis helping to plug the remaining escape routes for terrorists |
| 2007-11-29 |
| H/T Captain's Quarters 6,000 Sunnis join pact with U.S. in Iraq U.S. officers describe deal as crucial for stopping militants' escape routes HAWIJA, Iraq - Nearly 6,000 Sunni Arab residents joined a security pact with American forces Wednesday in what U.S. officers described as a critical step in plugging the remaining escape routes for extremists flushed from former strongholds. The new alliance — called the single largest volunteer mobilization since the war began — covers the “last gateway” for groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq seeking new havens in northern Iraq, U.S. military officials said. U.S. commanders have tried to build a ring around insurgents who fled military offensives launched earlier this year in the western Anbar province and later into Baghdad and surrounding areas. In many places, the U.S.-led battles were given key help from tribal militias — mainly Sunnis — that had turned against al-Qaida and other groups. Tribesmen will man 200 security checkpoints The ceremony to pledge the 6,000 new fighters was presided over by a dozen sheiks — each draped in black robes trimmed with gold braiding — who signed the contract on behalf of tribesmen at a small U.S. outpost in north-central Iraq. For about $275 a month — nearly the salary for the typical Iraqi policeman — the tribesmen will man about 200 security checkpoints beginning Dec. 7, supplementing hundreds of Iraqi forces already in the area. About 77,000 Iraqis nationwide, mostly Sunnis, have broken with the insurgents and joined U.S.-backed self-defense groups. Those groups have played a major role in the lull in violence: 648 Iraqi civilians have been killed or found dead in November to date, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press. This compares with 2,155 in May as the so-called “surge” of nearly 30,000 additional American troops gained momentum. Anyone else notice this now often used phrase so-called "surge" It keeps poppin up in different spots. And prolly by the same folks that were so opposed to the "surge" to begin with! Now, it's the so-called "surge." |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #9 We are basically bypassing the Shiite-run central government's combination of corruption and anti-Sunni sentiment to hand out the goodies directly to Sunnis AND whacking any Sunni extremist leader who thinks he's got the right to kill anybody he feels like killing. I truly and personally believe that you're right,in your estimation. I just happen to have a deeply cynical view of Islam in general that has yet to be disproven. Three cheers for our ability to adapt to the ridiculous Arab antics we've been confronted with. This in no way makes your own analysis any less appropriate, Zhang Fei. I'm just having a great deal of trouble trusting any followers of a creed that recognizes religiously sanctioned lies. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-29 22:46 |
| #8 Z: Zhang Fei, I understand the partisan motivated political structure that you are identifying. I happen to have some exceptional reservations about just how far such previously inimicable forces can be trusted, if at all. I think individual Sunnis can be trusted to act in their own interests. I don't think getting killed because they disagree with some Sunni or Shiite leader or don't like going to mosque is in any Sunni's interests. We are basically bypassing the Shiite-run central government's combination of corruption and anti-Sunni sentiment to hand out the goodies directly to Sunnis AND whacking any Sunni extremist leader who thinks he's got the right to kill anybody he feels like killing. Ordinary Sunnis might simply be responding to our combination of benefits AND protection. Stateside, we have witness protection programs for people who have some likelihood of getting killed for providing information. In Iraq, spies and enforcers are literally everywhere, and we weren't providing protection for individuals who were risking their entire families' lives (as well as those of hundreds of friends and relatives - given the broad Arab notion of revenge). |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-11-29 22:26 |
| #7 I'm thinking that there might have been some kind of misunderstanding among the Sunnis. After all, they've always been our friends in times before this. The Shiite-controlled central government was mounting an economic embargo against Sunni areas. We weren't providing any economic help. Mebbe because they were doing their best to kill us in large numbers? They might have thought we were trying to kill them all by proxy. A less deserved fate is difficult to imagine after the 9-11 atrocity. Zhang Fei, I understand the partisan motivated political structure that you are identifying. I happen to have some exceptional reservations about just how far such previously inimicable forces can be trusted, if at all. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-29 22:02 |
| #6 Z: Right now, if we have to win "ugly, then so be it. I just wish we didn't need to rely upon people who—just a few short months ago—were trying to kill us. I'm thinking that there might have been some kind of misunderstanding among the Sunnis. The Shiite-controlled central government was mounting an economic embargo against Sunni areas. We weren't providing any economic help. They might have thought we were trying to kill them all by proxy. By switching gears and disbursing aid money directly to them instead of routing it via the Shiite controlled central government, we might have convinced the Sunnis that we weren't interested in their extinction, and were in fact concerned about preventing the Shiites from wiping them out. I'm sure the anti-American propaganda coming out from the Arab media's airwaves - combined with everything they learned in Saddam's school system - wasn't helping. (Of course, the Sunnis also learned from al Qaeda's actions who their friends were not). |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-11-29 21:53 |
| #5 They'd call Bush "so-called President" and Republicans "so-called humans" too, if they thought they could get away with it. And didn't you just love the fair and balanced selection of questions for the YouTube/CNN debate? You can't accuse them of double standards: for the Democratic debates they used questions by Democratic activists, and for the Republican debates they used questions by Democratic activists! And the Dems have the gall to boycott Fox because of bias?? |
| Posted by: ryuge 2007-11-29 19:12 |
| #4 Of course, they will never ADMIT eating crow S'Okay, the black feathers stuck in their teeth always give them away. Right now, if we have to win "ugly, then so be it. I just wish we didn't need to rely upon people who—just a few short months ago—were trying to kill us. Just because they figured out that their's was the wrong side of the equation doesn't mean that they'll stay loyal when Infidel push comes to Islamic shove. In typical Muslim fashion, this is an alliance of convenience and not any genuine convergence of ideologies. I can only hope Petraeus and his staff have full contingency plans in place for doing without the help of these one-time enemies. All of that said, my hat's off to Petraeus for turning around what was obviously a really sticky wicket. The man deserves our nation's thanks for saving untold numbers of our soldiers' lives. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-11-29 18:38 |
| #3 A quick google news search on "so-called surge" returns something like 345 stories using that phrase. It is probably now part of the style manual in most newsrooms. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2007-11-29 18:26 |
| #2 This can't be! We lost. Quagmire. More quagmire. Doom. Gloom. Retreat. Pull out. Harry Reid said so. Wheweee, what a bunch of leftards and morons are the donks and their fellow travelers. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-11-29 17:43 |
| #1 They can call it anything they want, but it's working, and that's all that matters. In the end, they will have to eat crow. Of course, they will never ADMIT eating crow, or that the surge worked, or that things are turning around quite nicely in Iraq, but that won't keep it from happening. Because it's happening from the bottom up, instead of from the top down, it's more likely to last past the withdrawal of most US combat troops, and will unite Shia, Sunni, Kurds, and the rest of Iraq far more closely than anything the US or the Maliki government could implement. Bush 10, Aq/MSM/Dems/BDS 0. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-11-29 17:26 |