The Awakening Councils

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May 2009
- With Paychecks Scarce, Iraqi Awakening Unravels
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 9, 09 10:47 AM CDT
  
  (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 »
April 2009
- Smaller, Fiercer Insurgency Has Iraq Worried
  
  New York Times | Apr 1, 09 5:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As the US military prepares to withdraw from Iraq's cities, security officials in both countries have observed that a smaller but more lethal insurgency seems to be gaining ground. Several recent bombings, believed to be orchestrated by al-Qaeda in Iraq, have killed 123 people in Baghdad and elsewhere, while members of the Sunni Awakening Movement have faced assassination attempts. As the New York Times reports, the attacks are a reminder of instability in a country that has been relatively peaceful of late. More »
March 2009
- In Iraq, US Allies Fight Each Other for Control
  
  Washington Post | Mar 30, 09 9:50 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A showdown this weekend between Iraqi security forces and Sunni fighters known as the Awakening, both US allies, could signal challenges facing Iraq as the US prepares to leave, the Washington Post reports. After Iraqi and US forces arrested an Awakening leader Saturday, Sunni fighters swarmed a Baghdad neighborhood. "No Awakening member would remain silent over this injustice," one group leader said. At least eight Iraqi soldiers were injured. More »
- Sunni Fighters Say Iraq Will Never Hire Them
  
  New York Times | Mar 23, 09 7:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The US turned over tens of thousands of Sunni fighters to Baghdad this weekend to take government jobs and mend fences with ruling Shiites, but many Sunnis are skeptical, the New York Times reports. After helping tame al-Qaeda in Iraq, the militiamen say few jobs are being offered in return. “Until now, promises are all we’ve gotten,” said one, who added that al-Qaeda pays "generously." More »
- US Gives Iraq Control of Sunni Guards
  
  Reuters | Mar 21, 09 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. More »
- Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq
  
  Washington Post | Mar 20, 09 7:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Shiite party of PM Nouri al-Maliki has allied itself with Sunni political figures and even Moqtada al-Sadr, a major departure from earlier politics that followed ethnic and sectarian lines. writes Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post . All support a strong central government and advocate a united Iraq over a federated state—and they may even run as a grand coalition in key parliamentary elections later this year. Six weeks after provincial elections, "there is a new political map," said one Sunni who advises Maliki. More »
January 2009
- Iraqi Women Pressured to Run for Office, Fill Quota
  
  Time | Jan 13, 09 6:43 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Iraq has new rules to boost women's rights, but it may take a while for the nation's culture to get up to speed, Time reports. In this month's provincial elections, for instance, 25% of newly elected council members must be female. But in provinces such as Anbar, the idea of women in politics is regarded largely as a legal necessity—not an opportunity. "I don't want to be a candidate. He forced it on me," said one woman of her husband, a party leader. More »
- Cleric Journeys From al-Qaeda to US Ally
  
  Washington Post | Jan 13, 09 11:10 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A young man who holds sway over one Iraqi town embodies the country’s transition from dictatorship through insurgency to today’s “murkier contest,” the Washington Post reports. Sunni cleric Nadhim Khalil often slammed Saddam Hussein’s government when it was in power. But when it fell, he joined the insurgency, calling for the occupation “to be removed.” Now, he works with Americans to improve his domain. More »
November 2008
- 6 Dead in 4th Day of Baghdad Bombings
  
  Associated Press | Nov 6, 08 6:53 AM CST
  
  (AP) - A series of bomb blasts across Baghdad killed six people and injured more than 20 others today, the fourth consecutive day of heightened violence in the Iraqi capital. The deadliest attack came near a checkpoint in central Baghdad, while another targeting a government convoy killed six city workers. A string of daily bombings since Monday has now killed more than 30 people, reports the AP. More »
October 2008
- Pakistan to Arm Local Militias
  
  Washington Post | Oct 23, 08 10:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pakistan plans to give weapons to thousands of tribal fighters along its border with Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports—a strategy that has helped the US in Iraq. The move to link the militias—called lashkars—to anti-Taliban efforts is a boost to US confidence in Pakistan’s military efforts, and commanders say they’re seeing results across the border in Afghanistan. More »
September 2008
- Forces Key to Iraq Security Lose Steam as US Hands Off
  
  Washington Post | Sep 30, 08 1:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As Iraq's Shia-led government assumes greater control of security, US soldiers fear the sudden disintegration of the 54,000-strong Sunni force that had been key to improving conditions there, the Washington Post reports. The government has pledged to hire 20% of the so-called Sons of Iraq, but that still leaves the haunting prospect of thousands of young men “unemployed, with weapons,” says a US captain. More »
- Sectarian Arrests Threaten Iraq Security
  
  USA Today | Sep 23, 08 1:21 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sunnis of the Awakening Council, which helped the US fight al-Qaeda in Iraq, are in hiding to avoid arrest by the Shia-led government, USA Today reports. Such political harassment could allow al-Qaeda to regain footing in volatile Diyala province and elsewhere, US officials say. Iraqi government members insist their actions are motivated by security, not sectarian politics. More »
- Return to Iraq: A Fragile Peace That's Jarring
  
  New York Times | Sep 21, 08 9:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When Dexter Filkins left Baghdad in 2006, it was a city of shuttered buildings and fearful citizens, in a land that looked as though it would never recover from war. But, writes the war correspondent in the New York Times, “to return now is to be jarred in the oddest way possible: by the normal, by the pleasant, even by hope” —reopened, packed shops, people outside at night, women walking alone. More »
- US Hands Anbar Province to Iraqis
  
  BBC | Sep 1, 08 6:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The American military is finally handing over control of Anbar province, once the center of the Sunni insurgency, to Iraqi forces today. Once one of Iraq's most dangerous regions, Anbar was transformed as Sunni militants allied themselves with the US. The transfer of Anbar, delayed several times, brings the number of provinces under Iraqi control to 11 out of 18, reports the BBC. More »
August 2008
- Iraq Cracks Down on US-Allied Sunni Fighters
  
  New York Times | Aug 22, 08 6:30 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has begun a crackdown on groups of US-backed Sunni fighters, the New York Times reports. The government fears the fighters, part of what is called the Awakening movement, could be waiting to turn their guns on Shiites. In several parts of the country senior members have been arrested in recent weeks, and hundreds of others, many of them on the US payroll, have been targeted. More »
March 2008
- US Air Strike Kills 6 Sunni Allies
  
  CNN | Mar 22, 08 2:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US helicopters opened fire on two checkpoints manned by a pro-American group today, killing six members of the Sons of Iraq and injuring two civilians. The attack could exacerbate already strained tensions between the US and the Awakening Councils it employs, CNN reports. The US said that its helicopter opened fire after it spotted five people “conducting suspicious terrorist activity.” More »
- Sunni Militias Threaten Strike Over Late Pay
  
  Guardian (UK) | Mar 21, 08 9:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - US-allied Sunni militias are threatening to go on strike over late pay. At least two of the 49 Awakening councils that have been enlisted in the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq have already done so, reports the Guardian , and the dispute over their $10-a-day payments threatens the partnership that has been key to the reduction in violence in the last 6 months, say analysts. More »
- Baghdad Blast Kills 5 US Troops
  
  BBC | Mar 10, 08 1:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Five American troops are dead after a suicide bomber struck today in the Mansour district of Baghdad, the BBC reports. The soldiers were patrolling a busy shopping center when a young man wearing an explosive vest engaged them in conversation shortly before detonating, said a military spokesman. Three other service members and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded in the blast. More »
- Female Bomber Kills Anti-Qaeda Sunni Sheik
  
  Associated Press | Mar 10, 08 7:17 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A female suicide bomber assassinated a Sunni Awakening leader in his Diyala province home today, the AP reports, killing the sheik’s bodyguard, cousin, and 5-year-old niece along with him. The woman had come to see the sheik yesterday, saying her husband had been kidnapped and was begging for help. “She came back this morning and nobody checked her,” the sheik’s brother said. More »
February 2008
- Sunni Fighters Growing Tired of US Neglect
  
  Washington Post | Feb 28, 08 12:06 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The mostly Sunni volunteer forces that have drastically improved Iraq’s security are losing patience with US handlers, the Washington Post reports. Desertions are under way in key provinces over lack of resources, political disagreements, and disputed accounts of US troops killing members of the so-called Sunni Awakening. “Now, there is no cooperation with Americans,” one commander said. “We have stopped fighting al-Qaeda.” More »