Iraq Sahwa ("Awakening") seek more US cash to fight Qaeda (threaten to rejoin insurgency)

[sabra]

Source: AFP

Ex-insurgents in Iraq threaten to rejoin Al-Qaeda ranks if US cashflow dries up.

BAQUBA - The Iraqi officer leading a US-financed anti-jihadist group is in no mood for small talk -- either the military gives him more money or he will pack his bags and rejoin the ranks of Al-Qaeda.

"I'll go back to Al-Qaeda if you stop backing the Sahwa (Awakening) groups," Colonel Satar tells US Lieutenant Matthew McKernon, as he tries to secure more funding for his men to help battle the anti-US insurgents.

Most members of the Awakening groups are Sunni Arab former insurgents who themselves fought American troops under the Al-Qaeda banner after the fall of the regime of executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Some, like Satar, had served in Saddam's army before joining Al-Qaeda. Others were members of criminal gangs before deciding to fight the insurgents, with the backing of the US military.

...

The US military knows perfectly well that many people joined Awakening groups simply because it was a good way to make money, and that if the cashflow dries up some would not hesitate to return to Al-Qaeda.

Read more: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=27098

[LynnTheDem]

1. More of that thar "SUCCESS" george bush & his rightwingnut wankers screech about!

The way the rightwingnuttery measure "success" is nothing short of insane.

[liam_laddie]

5. $ucce$$...

In the RWer's world, suck-ce$$ is measured ONLY by money. Thus the $300/month/man (or whatever) paid to the militias is called a success, only because the salary (bribe) allows the militia to buy stuff. Satellite dishes, night-vision goggles, other gear which WILL be used in the near-term future against our long-suffering armed forces. Every member of the administration and the federal behemoth who supports this "preznit's" insanity should be fired or replaced immediately.
They have fucked this country over is so many ways that there is no place left for them to
hide. YES, it's time for pitchforks and other means of persuasion. YMMV.

[kirby]

2. The 'Anbar Awakening' exposed as a fraud...

The only reason it 'worked' was because we were bribing them. We have created nothing of lasting value.

[Indenturedebtor]

3. So this is why we disbanded the Iraqi military?

So we could hire more armed thugs? WTG dipshits.

[Barrett808]

4. "'Blackmail' is such an ugly word. I prefer 'extortion.' The X makes it sounds cool."

-- Bender, Futurama

[Joanne98]

6. The surge's "success" has been all about money. They PAID them to stop fighting.

You know., we could stop gang violence in LA. All we have to do is PAY the gangmembers to not fight. (sarcasm)

The "awakening" knows the money dries up after the election. I hope they make a DVD of their high life experiences.

[hollowdweller]

7. Would have saved the US a LOT of money to put them all on the dole in 03

You listen to like Michael Ware of any of those reporters over there a lot and they say for a LOT of the insurgents it's all about money. They get paid for planting IED's and stuff. All funded by our oil dealers. Originally we were being outbid by Al Quaida. The Bush Admin was running the operation like Republicans do not wanting to give the little guy any money and channel all the funds to their political operatives. Now they have realized if they want to win they have to play the game.

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. Several steps

1. The Shia will not agree to revenue sharing with the Sunni, period.

2. The Sunni have no workable economy of their own, because the oil is located in the Shia and Kurd regions. This is why the Sunni ruled Iraq as a war tribe against those groups for the last 60 years: it was a matter of basic survival for them to dominate the areas where the only legitimate revenue stream came from. Everything that happens in Iraq is based on the relative lack of natural resources in the Sunni areas, and the relative abundance in the areas where the other ethnic/religious groups live.

3. The Sunni insurgency explodes largely around this issue: debaathification and the Shiitization and Kurdization of the Iraqi government meant only one thing: the Sunni would be utterly removed from any wealth producing sources, and no revenue sharing would prevail. Needless to say, the total fucking imbeciles in the CPA and subsequent US organizations were too busy with pet projects for complex oil derivatives to understand this basic fact of all Iraqi life: the Sunni have nothing, the Shia and Kurds have everything, so the Sunni rob them blind by force.

4. Petraeus gets smart and realizes that it's all about the Benjamins. He already knew this early on, when he paid off Iraqis in his sector early in the war. The Awakening is an extortion operation, pure and simple. If the Sunni can't get revenue sharing through government action, they get it through US submission. The remarkable fact is that the Sunni war tribes managed to put the United States of America to heel: pay us, or we keep up this shit. It's really not that different from what went on before. It's a racket, and the United States military (and we, the taxpayers) are paying protection money to the Sunni tribes.

Sahwa is a criminal extortion operation, and it's working well. Needless to say, it is completely unsustainable, since it is PREMISED on the complete inability of the Iraqi government to build an equitable system.

[hedgehog]

9. k&r

[DavidDvorkin]

10. This unfortunate development is entirely due to Obama's visit to Iraq

If he'd stayed home, where he belongs, this would not have happened.

Or possibly it's the fault of Bill Clinton. Or Jimmy Carter.

[WhiteTara]

11. the old mafia protection plan

works every time.