Iraqis Taking Over Anbar Security (Great News)

Power Line ^ | January 18, 2006

[jmc1969]

Haider Ajina sends what sounds like great news from Anbar province in Iraq, a part of the Sunni triangle which has been one of the main centers of the "insurgency." This is a portion of Haider's translation of an article from the Arabic newspaper Dar Alhayat:

Dar Alhayat newspaper has learned that Iraqi Prime Minster Aljaafery has agreed to replace U.S. forces spread throughout Anbar province with locally enlisted forces. This agreement was drafted in a meeting between tribal leaders, Aljaafery, the U.S. Ambassador Khalil Zad and commander of the multi national forces General George Casey. The agreement was reached in a meeting last Sunday in the province. The local tribal leaders committed to expelling the foreign fighters and isolating the local Alqaida network lead by Zarqawi. In preparation for this local involvement local recruiting centers have been reopened and local training camps have been set up. These camps will prepare locals to take over full security responsibility in their province [as in Nejaf, Kerbala, Kut, parts of Baghdad etc…]. These newly (U.S.) trained local units' primary responsibility will be fighting, terrorists, and chasing down or chasing away-armed groups. This will be done as U.S. forces withdraw gradually.

Alhilli [a high ranking member in the leadership of the Aldaawa party the head of which is PM Aljaafery] said: "This agreement resulted from requests of Anbar tribal leaders (including the Dulaimy tribe) for government, monetary, political and social aid to defy and get rid of Zarqawi’s organization. Haithem Alalusi, an official of the “Congress of the Islamic Revolution,” confirmed this request. Families and tribal leaders in the Alkhalediah, Alfelahat and Alkermeh areas (south of Felujeh) have formed local councils. Council members are Local Imams and educated individuals who will educate locals to reject violence and terror.

Sources close to armed Iraqi groups said that Zarqawi’s organization is trying to gain favor with Iraqi resistance groups by shooting down three U.S. helicopters. But local fighters in Ramadi have labeled Zarqawi and his organization terrorist and have had armed clashes with them. These sources also said that the local resistance in Ramadi and the tribal leaders are trying to force Zarqawi out of Iraq and are looking for any means to get rid of Zarqawi. Some local families have asked for Zarqawi and his follower’s heads, after locals were killed in bombings while enlisting at police recruiting stations. Theses bombings have lead to armed clashes against Alzarqwi’s group, which resulted in the death a tribal leader.

Samara has also formed local committees to chase and keep away foreign fighters and reestablish the local council. Albubaz family of Samara was able to kill four and chase away 11 foreign fighters in joint operation with Iraqi security and other tribes. Tribes of Samara have asked to reopen military and police recruiting centers, government offices and promised to guard the city from attacks.

Haider comments:

This area is no longer a safe haven for Zarqawi and his followers nor is it an open recruiting ground any more. This is a 180-degree turn around from just 8 months to a year ago when these areas provided support for Alqaida in Iraq. Now these areas are recruiting grounds for the fight against Zarqawi and his ilk.

[jveritas]

Excellent news.

[RedRover]

Wow. This is great news. It seems that things have changed considerably in the last few months.

[jmc1969]

This is the only way for us to get out of Western Iraq quickly.

The Sunnis will build their own security force in western Iraq to force the insurgents out.

[Marine_Uncle]

Hey hey hey. The winds of change continue. It seems like zman's areas of influence are becoming nill.

[sono]

[jmc1969]

I actually heard about this last month. The US is mass enlisting Sunnis for the police and army in western Iraq after Sunni tribal leaders came to a deal with the US military.

The real problem that Iraq faces now is the issue of natural resource distribution. If Harkim cuts the Sunnis off from all oil revinue a civil war will happen in Iraq.

[okie01]

If Harkim cuts the Sunnis off from all oil revinue a civil war will happen in Iraq.

Which means the two essentially have each other by the scrotum.

An excellent method of maintaining a peaceful equilibrium...

[Prost1]

Murtha is distressed!

[jmc1969]

al-Qaeda and the insurgency is no longer the main threat to Iraq's future. The main threat now is politicians in the UIA as well as countries like Iran.

I am still unhappy about the elections. I remember seeing the election results for the first time about a month ago and knowing right off the bat the UIA engaged in massive vote fraud. Omar has a really great article about that at ITM by the way.

http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/

That is why the code word after the elections by the UIA was an "accordance government". Because, the Kurds, Allawi, and the Sunnis all knew the UIA cheated. So, they were planning on creating a government not based on the election results, but based on accordance in order to lessen the anger at the election. However, I am really worried Harkim is looking at renigging at his promise for an "accordance government" and there are signs in that direction.

The real battle in the next four months will be the US trying to pressure the UIA to form an "accordance government". And, to make sure the Sunnis have their fair share in oil revinues.

[gotribe]

So the sunni mafia keeps its smuggling and crime spoils away from Zarqawi. Whether that strengthens democracy in Iraq is another issue entirely.

[bnelson44]

Sources close to armed Iraqi groups said that Zarqawi’s organization is trying to gain favor with Iraqi resistance groups by shooting down three U.S. helicopters.

Three?

[Marine_Uncle]

"The real battle in the next four months will be the US trying to pressure the UIA to form an "accordance government". And, to make sure the Sunnis have their fair share in oil revinues."
I'm with you on all your talking points and in agreement. As you indicate if the UIA continue to play their games, things could get bad in a short period of time. Iraq badly needs a reasonable goverment that will represent all Iraq to take place in the next month or so or things could really go sour. Their people need solid leadership to emerge and really show they are taking charge in a positive way.

[Lejes Rimul]

Oh yeah, this is fantastic news. I mean, it all went well last time when Sunnis were given charge of Fallujah, right?

[jmc1969]

There were no real Sunni governmental leaders the 500 ex-Sunni officers were loyal to unlike today. And, what exactly was the 500 man Fallujah Brigade supposed to do with the 5000 foreign and domestic terrorists that had intrenched themselves into Fallujah.

The difference today is that the insurgency is far less powerful and entrenched in Western Iraq and the Sunni community has elected Sunni leaders that they are loyal to and are willing to take orders from. And, these Sunni leaders see the hard core Baathists and foreign terrorists as a threat to them.

[When do we get liberated?]

This all started with the bomb in Amman...A friend of mine just got back from a month in Jordan visiting family. Everyone wanted Z's head on a stick. This is their breatheren (misspelled, but I left it in) son. In a conflict of cultures, the man in the street arabian will side with the arabian 100% of the time. But Z pi$$ed in his own cheerios when he blew up a wedding in Jordan.

[Lejes Rimul]

The insurgency isn't "far less powerful" at all; they're still shooting down helos and killing our boys. If anything, it's even more entrenched and getting better tactically; the Apache downed Monday was brought down by a SAM-7, the very first time insurgents managed to use a manpad in the entire war. The elected Sunni leaders, which were essentially only Sunni Islamists, are just the political face of the insurgency. They have no interest in stopping the fighting. On the contrary, after 3 years of fighting all we can talk about is withdrawing troops and bringing Sunnis into the government. It's a bad precedent to let our enemies know that killing enough American GIs gets America to try and appease you with seats in parliament.

[SandRat]

Taking up the challenge the Iraqi's are.

[Marine_Uncle]

Actually long before the hotel explosions, both sunni and shia had it in for zman. About last September Sadr publically swore he was going to find zman and rip him into tiny pieces. Various tribal groups of Sunni in some of the al Anbar what we have come to call the rivertin towns along the upper Euphrates have been fighting zmans goons since mid 2005. It's more matter of timing as when the hotels went boom boom, things where reaching a threshold in al Anbar and elsewhere such as in the northern provinces, remember the reports of shia/sunni fighting openly against both the sunni insurgents as well as zmans goons in towns such as Tafar, Mosul etc..
So it has been a progressive changeover that simply is reaching a conclusion at this point. Zman can no longer work in Iraq. We should have been seeing literally hundreds if not more really tragic suicide attacks between last November to present to totally derail any chance of the elections taking place, or any follow up as has been taking place.
At any rate, I am sure we are in total agreement as to the good prospects Abu Musab al Zarqawi may soon be leaving the Iraqi theator, and concentrating on his European plans.

[jmc1969]

What the hell are you talking about. It doesn't take more then a few thousand people to create an insurgency that can get on the news every day.

The Sunni community is no more our enemy then the Shia community. The retards in Western Iraq that can't even retake a decient base for themselves after the Anbar campaign Bill Riggio described quite well.

Basically what we are doing is arming the elected Sunni leaders and building a force for them to fight the unelected Sunni leaders (who are our real enemy in Iraq).