Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

US Gives Iraq Control of Sunni Guards

Former insurgents will be given jobs in government

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 21, 2009 5:23 PM CDT

(Newser) – Baghdad took control today of 90% of the former insurgents employed by the US military to combat al-Qaeda, Reuters reports. Turnover of the roughly 84,000 “Awakening Council" Sunnis, who were paid about $300 a month to patrol neighborhoods, will test Iraqi reconciliation as the US prepares to withdraw combat troops by August 2010.

Some feared authorities would retaliate against their onetime enemies, but “a lot of concerns have not come to fruition,” said a US official. Baghdad will place a fifth of the members in security jobs, providing the rest with training or civilian work. “It'll take 6 to 7 months to complete the job transition,” the official said, “and I predict success.”

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

Iraqi soldiers pay salaries to Awakening Council members, also known as Sons of Iraq, at an army base in Taji, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)

U.S. and Iraqi soldiers walk with the Azamiyah Awakening council leader Amir al-Azawi stand at a shopping center which housed U.S. military base Callahan for more than a year. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

An awakening council member stands guard during a demonstration supporting them in the Azamiyah area of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

U.S.-backed Awakening Council fighters provide security in a street in Tarmiyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad in Iraq, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

A masked member of an armed group of local citizens flashes a victory sign while patrolling the streets of north Baghdad's Azamiyah neighborhood, Iraq, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The eyes of the world are on you, Iraq, and it's the opportunity to prove that you're going to pull it together in spite of the many, many doubts.
- Major General Mike Ferriter

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Which Entertainer Pulled Out of 'Inappropriate' Whitney Tribute? (NewsOne)

The French Government Wants to Tone My Vagina (Slate)

Obama Photo on Facebook Helps Catch Drug Dealer (HuffPost)

Hottest Women to Ever Appear in the SI Swimsuit Issue (Bleacher Report)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

Forderon

Mar 24, 2009 12:55 PM CDT

Um, thanks a lot Bush? I guess? If the goal was to free a nation from an oppressive regime, I can give you a whole list of others he could have kindly helped (invaded) also (Zimbabwe, Sudan, North Korea, Somalia). But he chose only Iraq. To make the argument that he did it to free the Iraqi people is so dishonest. Just because the violence is finally starting to go down at the cost of thousands of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars, a world economy destabilized, and increased terrorism, it doesn't make it a success.

riffran

Mar 22, 2009 10:22 AM CDT

truly a tough question........I don't really think it was worth the cost, and the lives lost....but...just to play the devils advocate (a little) I bet the "blue thumbed " ladies now able to vote, and those survivors of some of Saddams butchery might......so I geuss it just depends on who you talk to. It would be nice if NO body had to go into war in the first place though.

freethemall

Mar 22, 2009 2:40 AM CDT

Nevertheless, is it all worth the billions of dollars squandered, and the 10's of thousands of lives lost? I wonder.

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

Valentine's Day Role-Playing Goes Very Wrong

Reuters (Source Grid »)

Iraqis regain optimism
MSNBC

Iraq now safe enough for Western tourists
Associated Press

World

Iraq • US military • Sunnis • Sunni insurgents • Awakening Councils

More Newser Stories

Another Iraqi Blast Kills Dozens

Suicide bomber hits Shiite funeral

(AP) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad today, killing at least 28 people in the latest brazen attack since the US troop withdrawal. Police officials said the blast occurred at 11am in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah, where mourners had gathered for the funeral of a person killed the day before. They said 61 people were wounded. More»

With US Gone, Iraq Explodes

Violence rampant thanks to political crisis

(NEWSER) - Iraq has experienced a surge in violence since US troops left the country last month, with 327 people dying in explosions or assassinations by the Iraqi Ministry's official count. Bombings have hit Baghdad neighborhoods , Shiite pilgrims , and Sunni police, among other targets. "They are not arbitrary attacks. They are sending messages that security is not under control," one Baghdad analyst tells the Washington Post . In part, they reflect the sectarian political crisis that erupted as soon as the US left. More»

Wave of Bombings Targets Iraq's Shiites, Killing 72

Heightens fears that attacks will increase now that US has withdrawn

(AP) - A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people today, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December. The bombings began early in the morning when explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing at least 27 people. A few hours later, a suicide attack hit Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing 45; those explosions took place about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. More»

Biden Tells Iraqis to Mend Fences —Like, Now

VP urges Maliki to strengthen coalition with Kurds, Sunnis

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden called Iraqi officials today, urging them to calm rising sectarian tensions after a bombing killed at least 63 people there earlier this week, the AP reports. Biden and other US officials have been phoning Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as well as Sunni and Kurdish leaders all week, asking them to "stop hurling accusations at each other through the media and actually sit together and work through your competing concerns,” a White House official tells the New York Times . More»

VP: Maliki Pushing Iraq Toward Sectarian War

Tariq al-Hashemi accuses Shiite PM of eliminating rivals

(NEWSER) - Sunni VP Tariq al-Hashemi today openly accused Nouri al-Maliki of trying to eliminate his political rivals and run Iraq like a "one-man-show," a move that Hashemi says is pushing the country toward sectarian war. The comments came during an interview with the AP, which notes that the escalating tension between the two men , along with the series of bombings that killed at least 69 people yesterday , have hiked fears that Iraq could indeed be thrown into new violence following the exit of US troops. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

US Gives Iraq Control of Sunni Guards