Iraqi Government Launches Campaign to Disband Sons of Iraq, a U.S.-Funded Force of Sunni Muslim Fighters that’s been Key to Peace in Iraq
Sunday, August 24, 2008
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About photo: A Tribal Sheik from Tuz, Iraq, points out that better communication between Sons of Iraq members and Iraq security forces needs to be addressed in their District during the SoI conference held in the Kirkuk province of northeastern Iraq, August 14, 2008.
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‘Unity and Cooperation’ Resonates During Sons of Iraq Conference in Kirkuk, Iraq
Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Margaret Nelson - 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs
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* AP.Google.com has the following report posted this morning and it goes in part like this... The groups, known as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, have helped rout al-Qaida in some parts of Iraq. But Shiite leaders fear the Sunnis' switch of allegiance is just a tactic, and that they could one day turn their weapons against the Shiite majority...
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Iraqi prime minister: No arms in hands of militias..
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* BlueRidgeNow.com website had this take on the story... The Shiite-dominated government in Iraq is driving out many leaders of Sunni citizen patrols, the groups of former insurgents who joined the American payroll and have been a major pillar in the decline in violence around the nation... In restive Diyala Province, United States and Iraqi military officials say there were orders to arrest hundreds of members of what is known as the Awakening movement as part of large security operations by the Iraqi military. At least five senior members have been arrested there in recent weeks, leaders of the groups say... West of Baghdad, former insurgent leaders contend that the Iraqi military is going after 650 Awakening Members, many of whom have fled the once-violent area they had kept safe. While the crackdown appears to be focused on a relatively small number of leaders whom the Iraqi government considers the most dangerous, there are influential voices to dismantle the American backed movement entirely... “The state cannot accept the Awakening,” said Sheik Jalaladeen al-Sagheer, a leading Shiite Member of Parliament. “Their days are numbered.”... The government’s rising hostility toward the Awakening Councils amounts to a bet that its military, feeling increasingly strong, can provide security in former guerrilla strongholds without the support of these former Sunni fighters who once waged devastating attacks on United States and Iraqi targets. It also is occurring as Awakening members are eager to translate their influence and organization on the ground into political power...
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Iraq Takes Aim at Leaders of U.S.-Tied Sunni Groups
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* The DallasNews.com website reported the story this way...
U.S.-funded Sons of Iraq fighters being arrested by Shiite-led government
Also in the news...
* AFP.Google.com brings us the following report. It starts off like this... For some Iraqis voting is a way to avenge the killing of their loved ones, others hope the ballot will enact change, bring justice and maybe even reverse their fortunes... Nearly 100,000 voters in central Iraq's Samarra -- a city with a violent past and links to Al-Qaeda insurgents -- are flocking to register to vote ahead of the delayed ballot, which was originally scheduled for October 1... "This time we will vote. There is no doubt. We have to assert our rights," said Ahmed Hakim al-Samarraie, a 28-year-old biology lecturer in the Samarra College of Science... It's a dramatic turnaround in attitudes from four years ago when Samarra residents who had pledged to vote were cowed by Al-Qaeda bullying, threats and wholesale murder...
Read the rest at link below...
Iraq's bombed mosque city pins hopes on vote
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