Is this 'empowering Sunnis' to run their own security, or is it simply giving in to the reality of an ethnically cleansed Iraq, with local warlords in control?
'The US high command this month gave permission to its officers on the ground to negotiate arms deals with local leaders. Arms, ammunition, body armour and other equipment, as well as cash, pick-up trucks and fuel, have already been handed over in return for promises to turn on al-Qaida and not attack US troops...
...But a reliable witness to a meeting this month between US forces and insurgents in the Sunni stronghold of Amadiya, in Baghdad, expressed scepticism about the strategy. Far from being a popular uprising against al-Qaida, only a handful of armed men turned up. The US handed over ammunition to them. The witness said that US soldiers watching the handover were dismissive, seeing it as a stunt.
The strategy was discussed in Baghdad this month between the new US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and his field commanders. They decided to leave it to each commander to decide locally.
'A U.S. program to combat al-Qaida in Iraq by arming Sunni Muslims undercuts the Iraqi government and years of U.S. policy, and is a tacit acknowledgment that the country's violence is really a civil war, some U.S. military officials in Washington and foreign policy experts say.
The program, which Bush administration officials have hailed as a sign of progress in Iraq, has sparked heated debate among military and foreign policy analysts. It is opposed by the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Supporters see it as a welcomed change in the American approach in Iraq, one whose benefits have been obvious in the drop in violence in Iraq's Anbar province, where al-Qaida formerly held sway. They say it could give impetus to the Shiites and Kurds to make political concessions.
But others contend the program has long-term repercussions that can only be guessed at now...' www.realcities.com
General Petraeus today announced that we would probably be in Iraq for the next ten years if we want to bring stability to the area.
Only ten? Look,in Northern Ireland we had to keep troops garrisoned in large numbers for thirty years.The sectarian troubles, killings and terrorism lasted that long. And one side of the sectarian divide was pro us, and wanted British rule to continue in the Province. Can't say anything similar about Iraq.
