Deals in Iraq Make Friends of Enemies

[maddezmom]

Deals in Iraq Make Friends of Enemies
In Tactical Shift for U.S., Informal Amnesties Win Some Insurgents' Cooperation

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 20, 2007; Page A01

U.S. forces in Iraq are striking a variety of "handshake agreements" with Iraqi insurgents and militia groups, sometimes resulting in the release of fighters detained for attacking coalition forces, U.S. military officials said in several recent interviews.

Such informal deals mark a significant tactical shift in the Iraq war and represent a potentially risky effort to enlist former U.S. foes in the battle against hard-line militants. Despite a White House report last week concluding that a formal amnesty initiative would be "counterproductive" for Iraq today, U.S. military officials in Iraq believe that successful counterinsurgency campaigns almost always involve some form of forgiveness as a means to ending the fighting and achieving political reconciliation.

Though no formal arrangement exists for granting amnesty to insurgents, the current deals amount to a kind of don't-ask-don't-tell pardon system. U.S. forces cooperate with former enemies in exchange for information about roadside bombs, weapons caches and sanctuaries of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the mainly Iraqi group that has sought to intensify the country's low-level civil war.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071902432.html?hpid=topnews