Newsweek: Petraeus admits alliances with new "Sunni volunteers" could backfire

[sabra]

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/checkpointbaghdad/archive/2007/08/15/petraeus-hints-at-troop-drawdown-next-year.aspx

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The point of the trip was to showcase the "Amiriyah Volunteers." These aren't the kind of volunteers that run neighborhood charity drives; they're Sunni ex-insurgents that have now teamed up with U.S. soldiers to battle Al Qaeda militants in their area. During the trip, Petraeus also hinted that a drawdown of U.S. troops would be likely some time next year. The group of "volunteers" looked more or less like the ragtag militia they are: many were dressed in slacks or jeans with khaki vests and Oakley-style wraparound sunglasses. Some sported camouflage headbands, and of course no militiaman outfit would be complete without an AK-47.

The alliance with these "volunteers" is problematic because of the chances that they'll shift their allegiances again. But for now it appears to be a much-needed positive turn in Iraq. Petraeus rolled breezily from a meeting with top American commanders to a meeting with these former insurgents, who, until a few months ago may well have been trying to kill Americans. Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih also joined Petraeus as he made the rounds. Petraeus met Abu Abed, a slightly built former insurgent commander, who described how he had turned against extremists in his neighborhood because they started targeting civilians. Many civilians had cleared out. "Can you get people to come back?" Petraeus asked. Abu Abed enthusiastically agreed to do an interview with an Arabic TV channel asking neighborhood residents to return. Petraeus later handed out a series of combat "coins" to the members of the "volunteers" as a token of appreciation. These souvenir medallions are usually given out only to U.S. troops.

Petraeus readily admitted that the alliance with the "volunteers" and similar groups could backfire, but pointed to recent successes the U.S. military had achieved. The American commanders in the region said they had recently killed two IED teams and found a number of weapons caches with the help of the "volunteers." Petraeus later explained how the alliances with these kinds of local groups, along with the buildup of Iraqi security forces, may provide the opening to cut back U.S. troops in the country, an unusually candid admission from the general, who has held his cards very close to his chest. "We know that the surge has to come to an end; there's no question about that," he said. "I think everyone understands that by about a year or so from now we've gotta be a good bit smaller than we are right now. The services need that. The Army and Marine corps are under considerable strain. We are sensitive to that. And so we recognize that we do have to come down. The question is how do you do that? And how do you thin out in certain places, how do you draw down in others? How do you thicken with Iraqi forces and 'volunteers' and so forth so that you can retain the gains that we have fought so hard to achieve?" He explained: "We are not at all satisfied with where we are right now. We have made some progress, but there is a lot of hard work still to be done against the different extremist elements that do threaten the new Iraq."

[kenny blankenship]

1. It's already 'backfiring' - Sunnis pulled out of unity government backed with our support

setting the stage for a straight up secession conflict.

The Sunnis take our arms and support as license to go their own way. But why wouldn't they? It's clear the Bush Administration's duplicity in Iraq has never stopped spiralling to new depths. 3,600+ Americans have died supposedly to secure and stabilize the integrity of the Iraqi nation state, and now we're backing secessionists in Anbar: 3,600+ American lives SHAT AWAY by Bush and Petraeus.