It's a little long, but
THIS ARTICLE
by Nir Rosen is the best report I've seen on the subject. Having appeared in March's
Rolling Stone, it may not make too much of a dint in the faith of True Believers ("But things have changed!" the McCaingaroos will cry . . . and the wise owls at
FREE REPUBLIC responded with comments like, "I had no idea that Hippie rag was still around!" No kidding? Get out much?). Anyway, for anyone whose mind is not closed like a clam, some very thought-provoking reading.
Following Bob's lead, here's a teaser:
Quote:
Now, in the midst of the surge, the Bush administration has done an about-face. Having lost the civil war, many Sunnis were suddenly desperate to switch sides — and Gen. David Petraeus was eager to oblige. The U.S. has not only added 30,000 more troops in Iraq — it has essentially bribed the opposition, arming the very Sunni militants who only months ago were waging deadly assaults on American forces. To engineer a fragile peace, the U.S. military has created and backed dozens of new Sunni militias, which now operate beyond the control of Iraq's central government. The Americans call the units by a variety of euphemisms: Iraqi Security Volunteers (ISVs), neighborhood watch groups, Concerned Local Citizens, Critical Infrastructure Security. The militias prefer a simpler and more dramatic name: They call themselves Sahwa, or "the Awakening."
At least 80,000 men across Iraq are now employed by the Americans as ISVs. . . .
But loyalty that can be purchased is by its very nature fickle. Only months ago, members of the Awakening were planting IEDs and ambushing U.S. soldiers. They were snipers and assassins, singing songs in honor of Fallujah and fighting what they viewed as a war of national liberation against the foreign occupiers. These are men the Americans described as terrorists, Saddam loyalists, dead-enders, evildoers, Baathists, insurgents. There is little doubt what will happen when the massive influx of American money stops: Unless the new Iraqi state continues to operate as a vast bribing machine, the insurgent Sunnis who have joined the new militias will likely revert to fighting the ruling Shiites, who still refuse to share power.
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And just a little reminder to anyone who's forgotten. John McCain has tried to sell this "the surge is working" crap before. In April of last year, just as the "surge" was getting underway, he took a walkabout with fellow Rebublicans in downtown Baghdad:
Quote:
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"Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today," Mr. McCain puffed after his brief walking tour of the Shorja market. He remarked that he had left his helmet in his escort Humvee and felt utterly safe in the marketplace. Wearing a flak jacket, he neglected to mention that the pedestrian mall was patrolled by 100 heavily armed American soldiers and watched over by attack helicopters and snipers.
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My favourite line, though, came from Indiana Rep. Mike Pence "who marveled at the peaceful scene and compared it to a 'normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.'" Corn on the cob, anyone?
Read the full article
HERE .