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Shiites, Kurds Express Deep Doubts On
U.S.-Sunni Partnership In Iraq
18.6.2007
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June
18, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Shiite and Kurdish
officials expressed deep reservations on Sunday
about the new U.S. military strategy of partnering
with Sunni Arab groups to help defeat the militant
organization al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"They are trusting terrorists," said Ali al-Adeeb, a
prominent Shiite lawmaker who was among many to
question the loyalty of the Sunni groups. "They are
trusting people who have previously attacked
American forces and innocent people. They are
trusting people who are loyal to the regime of
Saddam Hussein."
Throughout Iraq, a growing number of Sunni groups
profess to have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq
because of its indiscriminate killing and repressive
version of Islam. In some areas, these groups have
provided information to Americans about al-Qaeda in
Iraq members or deadly explosives used to target
soldiers.
The collaboration has progressed furthest in the
western province of Anbar, where U.S. military
commanders enlisted the help of Sunni tribal leaders
to funnel their kinsmen into the police force by the
thousands. In other areas, Sunnis have not been
fully incorporated into the security services and
exist for the time being as local militias.
Some of these groups, believed to be affiliated with
such organizations as the Islamic Army or the 1920
Revolution Brigades, have received weapons and
ammunition, usually through the Iraqi military, as
well as transportation, food, handcuffs and direct
assistance from U.S. soldiers. In Baghdad's Amiriyah
neighborhood, a local group of Sunnis who call
themselves the Baghdad Patriots were driven around
earlier this month in American and Iraqi vehicles
and given approval by U.S. forces to arrest
suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members.
One of the main unanswered questions for American
commanders leading these efforts has been to what
degree the Iraqi government would support their
plans to fashion local Sunnis into these
neighborhood defense forces.
In an interview Friday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
told Newsweek that some American field commanders
"make mistakes since they do not know the facts
about the people they deal with." Maliki went on to
say that arming the tribes is appropriate in certain
circumstances "but on the condition that we should
be well aware of the tribe's background and sure
that it is not connected with terror."
Other Shiite politicians are openly opposing the
strategy.
"We cannot take weapons from certain insurgents and
militias and then create other militias," said Abbas
Bayati, a Turkmen Shiite lawmaker who is part of the
majority bloc in parliament. "You need to open
recruiting centers and provide training; now what is
going on is giving weapons and money to the tribes
and individuals."
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator, acknowledged
the potential benefits of reducing the strength of
al-Qaeda in Iraq but said of Sunni Arab groups:
"They take arms, they take money, and in the future
they will be a problem. Politically, they are still
against the Americans and the Iraqi government."
One senior Iraqi government official described the
American military policy of partnering with local
Sunni groups as "nonsense."
"Every three months they have a new strategy. This
is not only a distracting way to conduct policy, it
is creating insecurity for all. I don't think these
strategies have been thought through deeply. It is
all about convenience," said the official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
"In reality, they are forcing the Iraqi government
and the Shia and the Kurds to reconcile with the
Saddamists," the official added. "This is similar to
going to the South in 1865 and forcing the
Confederates to reconcile immediately with the
Northerners. And this is not going to happen."
American military commanders involved in the
partnerships with Sunnis say they intend to quickly
train and register them under the aegis of the
Interior Ministry, which oversees the police force.
In Anbar province, tribesmen have received training
and become policemen, and receive salaries from the
Interior Ministry, according to U.S. military
officials. The officials have said that as long as
the Sunni groups are watched closely and kept from
mistreating people, the intelligence they provide
about al-Qaeda in Iraq makes them valuable partners.
Mithal Alusi, a secular Sunni lawmaker, said he
supported the U.S. military efforts because
"al-Qaeda is danger No. 1 in Iraq."
"The prime minister has to understand this is not a
one-man show," Alusi said. "We cannot trust the
government to deal with al-Qaeda, to play this game
alone. We are very thankful for the American process
and the American point of view."
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a political adviser to Maliki, said
the government would like to absorb anyone who wants
to decrease violence as long as they accept the
political process and are recruited in a systematic
way to ensure that they are not using their newly
official status for nefarious purposes.
Meanwhile Sunday, a car bomb exploded west of Baiji
in northern Iraq, targeting an Iraqi military
convoy, said Capt. Raad al-Janabi of the Siniyah
police. The blast killed four people, including two
soldiers, and wounded 12 others, he said.
A suicide attacker blew himself up in a crowd near
Fallujah, killing six people and injuring 14,
according to Lt. Mohammad al-Dulaimi of the Fallujah
police. Mohammed Ismael of Fallujah General Hospital
said many of the injured were in critical condition
and the death toll could rise.
The U.S. military said three American soldiers were
killed on Saturday by explosions, two in Baghdad
province and one in the northern province
surrounding Kirkuk. Another soldier was wounded in
the Baghdad attack.
Also over the weekend, U.S.-led forces killed 10
suspected insurgents and detained 20 others while
finding bomb-making materials during a series of
missions targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in Baghdad,
Mosul, Anbar province and elsewhere, the U.S.
military said.
In one operation targeting a suspected Libyan
militant near Karmah, west of Baghdad, U.S. troops
took fire from seven people in a building, then
responded by killing six and wounding the other, the
military said.
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