Return to Iraq: A Fragile Peace That's Jarring

(NEWSER) - The imminent withdrawal of US troops and the lack of funds to keep Sunni Awakening members on the payroll has led to rising violence there, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steep decline in oil revenues has left the Iraqi government broke, and former insurgents hired by the US to provide security and do clean-up and rebuilding haven’t been paid in months. Their ranks are thinning. “Who knows what they're doing with their time,” one leader said. More»

Sunnis are quitting 'Awakening Councils' for al-Qaeda

(NEWSER) - A wave of Sunni fighters whose alliance with the United States has been critical in turning the insurgent tide in Iraq have rejoined al-Qaeda, or are acting as double agents, finds the New York Times . Though the number of defections is unclear, several hundred members of the Awakening Councils have either quit or been dismissed in recent months. Many have fallen prey to an intense recruitment campaign aimed at getting members to switch sides. More»

Disgruntled Awakening forces offered raises to switch sides again

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq is trying to make a comeback, by luring Awakening Council fighters to defect. Awakening leaders tell the Guardian that the terrorist group is offering to pay its fighters more than the $300 a month militia members get from the government. One says he believes 100 of his 1,800 fighters have defected, because they haven’t claimed their salaries in two months. More»

Disaffected voters look to military for credibility, inspiration: Toby Harnden

(NEWSER) - The American political parties are in shambles, and in the credibility gap that plagues voters and candidates alike, a dark horse is emerging: David Petraeus. The head of Central Command evokes Dwight Eisenhower, because not since Ike's heyday "have the chances of a military man winning the White House been more propitious," writes Toby Harnden, a Brit who serves as the Telegraph 's US editor. More»

(NEWSER) - A new book on the surge in Iraq could offer lessons to the Obama administration about Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins writes in the New Republic. Thomas E. Ricks’ The Gamble details the success of a small band of contrarian US generals, led by David Petraeus, in turning around the war. But “what Petraeus and the other generals have ensured, by staving off defeat, is a longer war,” Filkins writes. Could that be the fate of Afghanistan? More»