US confirms it is arming Sunni insurgents

[Poiuyt]

US confirms it is arming Sunni insurgents, paper to report
John Byrne
Published: Sunday June 10, 2007

Monday's New York Times will lead with a story by veteran Iraq correspondent John Burns revealing that the U.S. military has confirmed that it is arming Sunni insurgent factions to try to contain al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, RAW STORY has learned.

"With the four-month-old "surge" in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni groups with insurgent links that have promised to fight al-Qaida."

more -

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_confirms_it_arming_Sunni_insurgents_0610.html

Whoo boy - does this sound smart to you?

[Enrique]

1. when it backfires, Bush will be long gone

[LuckyTheDog]

15. Imagine this scenario

Suppose, in the last debate, Dennis Kucinich had suggested arming insurgent groups in Iraq if they "promised" not to attack our troops. What would the loyal Bushies have said?

[mrcheerful]

2. Nope sounds like the same old republican plan they have used since arming Saddam

which is what got us into the mess to start with. Remember it was republicans who trained and armed Bin forgotten to stop commie aggression in Afghanistan. Remember republicans = one trick pony shows in the hopes that after all the other failures this time things will work out the way they want.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Instability...The Only Objective

The longer this occupation drags on the more profits ar eto be made. Be it from the instability in the oil markets through the manipulation of the various big money players in the region to the no bid contracts to the Whitewaters and KBRs to the massive defense contracts fot the Rayethons and General Electrics. When the war ceases to be good business, it will end.

The most hauntin part of this story is the real peril this horsetrading is doing for our troops. They have no "allies" in this area as everyone now has not only a gripe against the American occupation (and the soldiers who represent it) but additional weapons to kill them.

Mission accomplished for the boooshies...

[Duer 157099]

3. Give them guns now, gives an excuse to have to fight them later

Just like Saddam. Just like the Taliban. Typical US strategy that ALWAYS comes back to bite us in the ass. Always.

[frogcycle]

4. don't forget arms for hostages...

[KurtNYC]

10. I remember that they got arms but we didn't get hostages

Members of the Reagan Administration claim they believed that by selling arms to Iran, Iran would influence the Hezbollah kidnappers in Lebanon to release their hostages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair#Hostage_taking

but it didn't -- if that was really the plan/deal.

[DarkTirade]

9. But it sure helps those defense contractors...

[VP505]

5. Jesus H,

how many times have we made that mistake before, guess not enough for the powers that be to get it. Unless as someone else pointed out its part of the plan for an excuse to fight them later or as an excuse to keep a heavy troop presence there.

[Bozita]

6. ... and the US military industrial complex smiles.

I smell bonuses!

[Dhalgren]

7. So we give weapons to Sunnis who are our enemies and Iran

gives weapons to Shiites who are our enemies, but it is wrong for Iran to do it? Is that about the size of it? Shit-head Lieberman wants to bomb Iran for giving weapons to the Iraqis, so does he want to bomb the US for doing the same thing? Shitheads...shitheads all...

[enough]

8. K&R

[KurtNYC]

12. Al Qaida is Wahabbi which is a sect of Sunni

The administration rarely gives their true reason for any of their actions. Don Rumsfailed at one point said the strategy in Iraq was "a flypaper strategy" and that seems closer to the truth than any of the other stuff. The monarchy in Saudi Arabia has its hands full with these extremist sunni factions -- a flypaper strategy would mean that the Iraq war draws these extremists (the "flies")into Iraq to die fighting the US thus benefitting the monarchy of SA.

Perhaps our strategy in the ME is just to sell weapons, depopulate the region, help the Saudi government and keep oil expensive.

[Ganja Ninja]

13. You could of guessed it.

Is anyone really surprised?

[RogueSpirit]

14. Isn't this what got us into trouble in the first place?

Armin Afghans against the soviets and helping Saddam against the Iranians? Why do we do the same things over and over again and expect different results?

[mopinko]

16. we have been trying to bribe people to be on our side

since we got into this mess back in afganistan. fighting with greenbacks. cuts out the middleman, i guess.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Taking sides in a civil war worked so well in Vietnam.

Of course, our new friends would never turn the guns on the Americans or the Shi'a or Kurds...would they?

[GliderGuider]

18. How else is America going to be assured of a continuing supply of credible enemies?

A bunch of angry Middle Easterners armed with pointy sticks wouldn't do squat for General Dynamics' bottom line, now would it?